Battlestar Galactica Resurrection Effort Described
MistGhost writes "A background story of the effort, both by Richard Hatch, and Ron Moore to resurrect Battlestar Galactica (NYT link so remember to lie on their free registration). Now that the show has started it's second season (at least here in the States) this article appears. " I sat down with the Tivo last night and really enjoyed the premiere. I think the SG-1 retooling as real potential too- that show has been stale for a long time.
Am I the only person on the planet who remembers the original Battlestar Galactica as being a steaming pile of crap? Aside from being a rather blatant attempt by Glen Larceny (who also brought us Tron^w Automan and American Werewolf^w Manimal), the plots were the utmost juvenile tripe.
My theory is that you had to be about ten at the time to think BG was actually cool. Once you're past the nostalgia, does it really stand up? There was an awful lot of silliness involved. For example, the man who single handedly sold the humans out to the Cylons got what ammounted to kitchen duty. That'll teach him!
While I haven't seen all of the new BG, what I have seen I've liked very much.
And one thing I will say for Glen Larson: putting Erin Gray in spandex ("Buck Rogers") was, indeed, friggin' genius. Kudos for that.
Let's face it folks.
The BIGGEST reason why the new version of Battlestar Galactica is so good is that one of its creators (Ronald D. Moore) has strong experience doing excellent work with a sci-fi TV series. After all, some of very best episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space 9 was done with his assistance.
That's why Enterprise sorely missed Moore's presence. If Ron Moore had been Enterprise Executive Producer I guarantee that we would be waiting with baited breath for the upcoming season, that's to be sure.
In personally think years from now, the Ron Moore-created version of Battlestar Galactica will go down as one of the truly great sci-fi TV series of all time
When I heard about Atlantis, I didn't understand how they could spin off so late in the game. Now it looks like an attempt to build a safety net for the franchise knowing that RDA was leaving the show.
Finding a replacement for RDA had to be the worst job ever. He was the face and personality of the show. Bringing in Ben Browder seems like a good decision based on his acting personality. His cocky, slightly confused John Chriton character always reminded me of a younger, more tormented version of Jack from SG-1. Not having the rest of the cast immediately want to follow him was perfect. He will have to prove himself worthy of trust and friendship. As long as he is given a chance to grow his character on SG-1 like he did on Farscape and the SG-1 and Farscape fans can keep the shows separate I think it could work.
Bringing in Claudia Black might break the mix. Her character is vastly different than her Farscape character (other than the leather, not that I'm complaining). She's more like a smarter version of the Chianna(sp?) character, without the ticks. She's a loner who will do anything (legal or not, uses her sex appeal) to get what she wants or needs as opposed to a outwardly stern, inwardly insecure moral soldier. It's hard to pass up excellent acting tallent when it comes along, especially for a scifi show. Making her a supporting character was a good idea. Possibly after Browder is accepted she could join the main cast to ween in the Farscape actors a little at a time. There are plenty of good actors left from Farscape so I wouldn't be suprised to see more of them pop up on Atlantis or SG-1 in the future just as they have borrowed actors from Star Trek from time to time.
I have to say that the spin off idaea worked very well. Atlantis turned out different enough to allow unique story lines while still keeping the Stargate feel. The choice of actors was done well too. All of the primary cast are convincing, interesting and work well together. The male lead in Atlantis (sorry, don't know his name) could have been a viable replacement for RDA instead of Browder.
Overall, I think that both strategies will be successful. Not an easy thing to pull off.
If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. - James Madison