New Battlestar Galactica Spin-off Series Announced

An anonymous reader writes "The Sci-Fi Channel's hit series Battlestar Galactica may soon be joined by a 50-year-prior prequel series, called Caprica. To be co-exec produced by Ron Moore and David Eick, the new series will follow the tale of the creation of the Cylons."

If Ron Moore were to produce The Phone Book...

I'd turn up. More power to ya, Ron.

BG has gone from strength to strength. Who'd have thought it, for a remake of such a camp piece o'crap. I went in with EXCEEDINGLY low expectations. Maybe that's the secret.

Anyway, Ron can tell a story. I'll be there.

Re:If Ron Moore were to produce The Phone Book...

You say that now, but you haven't seen the episode where Starbuck flies her viper over a tank full of Space Sharks.

Ooops! I forgot! SPOILER WARNING!! THE ABOVE IS A SPOILER!!! DON'T READ IT IF YOU HAVEN'T SEE THE EPISODE!!

I for one

I for one welcome our new Cylon Overlords.

This is a follow as well

The original series started back in 1954 and was called Paprika.

http://religiousfreaks.com/ [religiousfreaks.com]

Prequel?

Don't we write stories from the beginning anymore?

Re:Prequel?

I'm still waiting for the book before Genesis on the origin of God, It should make quite the prequel.

Re:Prequel?

Well, they clearly can't do a sequel, because the series isn't over yet. And in a fleet of 45 thousand people (ignoring "Lay Down Your Burdens II for a minute) there aren't really enough interesting things going on to have a a co-existing series. I mean, unless the fleet splinters for good along Pegasus/Galactica lines or something (in which case, it'd be two pretty much identical series).

Therefore, a prequel is really your only shot. And considering BSG started with the near total destruction of an entire civilization that looked pretty darn cool in its own right...

Honestly...

I'm not interested in a series whose name is an anagram of "I C A CRAP!"

You make a valid point...

I'm not interested in a series whose name is an anagram of "I C A CRAP!"

That may be a valid point, but I can't trust any comments by One Butch Orgy.

Re:You make a valid point...

So says the Anus Wood Acronym.

Re:Honestly...

And I think anyone objecting to a show about evil robots whose name is an anagram for "Cyborg tune ho" should be regarded with suspicion.

Don't hurt BSG

I just really hope that this doesn't hurt the quality of BSG by spreading writing/producing talent as well as budgets too thin. I mean, I think Stargate might be suffering from that right now, having two complete series to do.

I also think that having a prequel could hurt a bit, because I feel like a strength of BSG is its unpredictability. I mean, it changes so much (season finale anyone?) that I feel that knowing the ending (Cylons created, rebel, we fight to a draw, Galactica survives to the present day, none of the Colonies get totally destroyed, etc) kind of hurts it.

Re:Don't hurt BSG

I don't think Stargate is suffering because there are two SG shows. I think it's suffering because it's been around for so long. Once the Goauld (sp? and I don't care to remember :D) were taken out/neutered, the show started to lose its way. I don't really blame them, though, because that war had to end (probably a season too late, really).

I think both shows (SG1 and Atlantis) are still entertaining, but the best seasons are probably behind us.

Great idea, BUT...

...does anyone else think it might be a tad too early to start doing the prequels?

Its not really a prequel

You know adama wont die but thats about it.

Also regarding the prequel issue, lots of movies come about
world war II and are quite good despite people knowing
how world war II turned out they still seem to have good plots.

Rejected names

Boomer loves Chachi

Col. Tigh's Place

Laverne and Dualla

Caprica City 90210

A Different World

Law and Order: Special Cylon Unit

Another Pre-Series Possibility

I was hoping it would be ADAMA: The College Years.

Maybe in one episode, Adama has the sorority girls from Caprica Caprica Caprica over for a game of Strip Pyramid.

Steadicam?

Will this one also feature the "edgy", trendy, subtly shaky camera work designed to give that "gritty, real-world" feel? Sheesh, it's overdone and hackneyed already. I think there's even software now that can take perfectly-filmed stuff and shakify it "for artistic effect".

Smart Sci-Fi vs Idiot Plots

So, after finally getting around to watching "Tooth and Claw" (Doctor Who 28x2), I am reminded of Gregg Easterbrook's discussion of (someone's, I forget whose) theory of the sci-fi "idiot plot," a plot which can only carry on forward motion if everyone involved is an idiot. BSG has been full of them, especially of late, with fantastic "should we ask him if he still has that bomb we know was ours yet is the only one unaccounted for? Naaaaaah."-related activities.

Why do I mention Doctor Who? Because it, quite simply, is not that. Star Trek (at least TNG) likewise rarely ran into this problem, so it's not just an american thing. But why do we buy into these plots? They're ridiculous on their face, yet we keep watching more sci-fi full of them. Are we that impressed by apocalyptic stories and high technology that we ignore the whole reason we're watching the show?

I just don't get it.

Re:Smart Sci-Fi vs Idiot Plots

Every so often I read a slashdot comment that forces me to imagine it as if it were being spoken by the Comic Book Guy.

Re:Smart Sci-Fi vs Idiot Plots

BSG has been full of them, especially of late, with fantastic "should we ask him if he still has that bomb we know was ours yet is the only one unaccounted for? Naaaaaah."-related activities.

I think the reason you don't get it is because you're missing the fact that Galactica is largely based around politics, which means that it is intentionally based around the "idiot plot", where everyone acts like idiots. For instance, if they accused Baltar of stealing a nuke, who are they really accusing? They're accusing the second most politically powerful human left, who also happens to be some sort of Bill Gates/Stephen Hawking celebrity mega-genius. Just look at all the accusations that have been levelled against George Bush or Dick Cheney, neither of whom are ridiculously popular outside of politics the way Baltar is. Regardless of that, those accusations go nowhere, even if they're from other powerful politicians.

The whole thing is about people knowing the right thing to do, but having their hands tied to the point where they're forced to act like idiots. In the finale, literally every main character knows Baltar is wrong... but he's the president, so WTF are you going to do? Plenty of Western heads of state have done very bad things, but very, very few end up like Richard Nixon.

Re:Smart Sci-Fi vs Idiot Plots

I think you should realize that any slashdot article about any series or movie that you haven't seen should be regarded as completely chock-full of spoilers.

Spoilers like this one: 1 year later.

Re:Smart Sci-Fi vs Idiot Plots

I really hate plots dependent upon idiots. They're so bloody banal and completely unbelievable.

Was reading this alt-history book about a completely useless and improbable war. Apparently there was this relatively evil empire barely beaten in a long war, and then a new, much more evil leader takes over the evil empire and manages to convince the leading powers to just give him entire countries, even when the other powers could have easily crushed him. Then he joins forces with another equally evil leader and surprises these idiots by launching lots of invasions. Then the other evil leader is shocked when the evil empire turns on him too. What a bunch of bloody idiots! Not to mention yet another set of evil idiots who picked a fight with a country twenty times their size, though that country was somehow surprised by the attack even though they could read all the encrypted transmissions. "World War II" was complete drivel and a pointless sequel to that fair-to-middling book called, imaginatively enough, "World War I". Can't remember who wrote it but, with the flatness of the plot and characters, it was probably Turtledove.

So I gave up on that crap and started watching a movie about some imaginary American president who never read the newspapers but somehow managed to start a war against some minor country on the basis of lies even a child could see through, after he was caught napping by a bunch of barely competent terrorists. Of course, to advance the plot, the minor country had nothing to do with the terrorists, and was ruled by some incompetent moustachioed kitten-eating dictator straight out of central casting, circa 1915. I think the director just wanted to draw the audience in with some big explosions with a villain so laughably evil that everyone would just hiss at him and ignore the huge plot holes.

Anyways, there was also this really pointless subplot involving some idiot who used to run some horse organization who, after being fired, was put in charge of emergency systems or something, and then he managed to sit twiddling his thumbs while some city was utterly destroyed. Not sure what the point of showing this idiot was other than maybe the director has some bug up his ass about global warming and wanted to make a point using a sledgehammer.

The film's plot was so completely dependent upon idiots that I left the movie early and have no idea how it ended. Feel free to post spoilers here.

So, yeah, there's no relvance to these idiot plots. Wish writers would stop using them and stop relying on special effects, banal good/evil imagery, and absolutely stupid characters to get their points across.

Re:Smart Sci-Fi vs Idiot Plots

Was reading this alt-history book about a completely useless and improbable war. Apparently there was this relatively evil empire barely beaten in a long war, and then a new, much more evil leader takes over the evil empire and manages to convince the leading powers to just give him entire countries, even when the other powers could have easily crushed him. Then he joins forces with another equally evil leader and surprises these idiots by launching lots of invasions. Then the other evil leader is shocked when the evil empire turns on him too. What a bunch of bloody idiots! Not to mention yet another set of evil idiots who picked a fight with a country twenty times their size, though that country was somehow surprised by the attack even though they could read all the encrypted transmissions. "World War II" was complete drivel and a pointless sequel to that fair-to-middling book called, imaginatively enough, "World War I". Can't remember who wrote it but, with the flatness of the plot and characters, it was probably Turtledove.

When I first read this, I realized that you could have already been talking about Iraq.
Apparently there was this relatively evil empire barely beaten in a long war (Iraq/Iran) and then a new, much more evil leader takes over the evil empire and manages to convince the leading powers to just give him entire countries, (Kuwait) even when the other powers could have easily crushed him.(France, Germany, Russia, China).
Or maybe you were talking about the old Soviet Union (Afghanistan, Eastern Europe).

Funny how you talk about idiots who do nothing when could-be powerful leaders start threatening everyone and all the countries that could stop them simply don't believe their tyrant rants. I think Iran is a good example of that today.

So, I see your point, if from a different angle, and still come to the same conclusion. The world if full of idiot plots.

First in a limited series

There are only twelve types of BG spinoffs.

Re:First in a limited series

There are only twelve types of BG spinoffs.

But there are many copies...

Re:First in a limited series

There are only twelve types of BG spinoffs.

But there are many copies...

And they have a plan.

Re:First in a limited series

There are only twelve types of BG spinoffs.

But there are many copies...

And they have a plan.

dingding-da-dingding-da-ding

Hollywood's fascination with prequels

What is it with Hollywood's fascination with prequels anyway?

First there was Star Wars with Eps I-III, then there was Star Trek with Enterprise and the new proposed movie on when Kirk/Spock were in the Academy. And, now this.

I feel doing prequels is a bad idea and will never produce great entertainment.

There are three main reasons:

(1) Future is Known: Since the audience already knows what will happen to the characters in the future based on earlier movies, there is never that subconscious element of suprise. For example, no matter how much the main characters are in jeopardy, we know they will survive to justify their existence later in history. Writers basically paint themselves in a corner since they are bounded by the events that are supposed to come later.

(2) Risk to Established Canon: Sometimes the writers try to inject novelty by doing things that meses up the canon. They introduce things that no longer justifies what was established in the earlier movies. This leaves a bad taste in the audience's mouth because it invalidates everything they have come to believe. For example, the appearance of Borg on Star Trek Enterprise before the time of Kirk.

(3) Anachronistic Special Effects: Since prequels get made with special-effects technology that has evolved much beyond when the earlier movies were made, we end up seeing special effects and the general look of the movie not being in line with what we would expect how things would look in the past. For example, some of the consoles and user interface screens used by the cast in Star Trek Enterprise looked more advanced than the ones on Star Trek : DS9. This anachronistic anomaly again leaves a bad taste in the audience's mouths.

I feel Hollywood should abandon this fad of making prequels and just start making more novel sequels where what they can do is only limited by a good writer's imagination.

Re:Hollywood's fascination with prequels

I don't think any of your three concerns apply in this case.

1. "Future is known": While this is true in a "historical" sense, if the series is set 50 years in the past the only three main BSG characters who could show up are Adama, Tigh and the doc. Given that all of them would be at most late-teens, early 20s, I doubt that they're going to be a focus of the program. Thus, it would be more like watching a dramatization of events happening during World War II, in the sense that we know what happens between 1945 and 2006 but the story could still be entertaining.

2. "Risk to established canon": Since this series would be running concurrently with the only other material from the same reality AND it's being run by the same folks, this holds very little danger. They've really only gone into detail about events in the months right before the Cylon attack, so there's not much "canon" to put at risk.

3. "Anachronistic special effects": For movies and programs separated a large number of years, I can see this being a problem. Again, though, this doesn't apply at all to BSG.

I think I agree with you in general, mainly on the issue of screwing up what has gone before (or after - prequel/sequel tense confuses), but I don't think this particular concept is too dangerous.

Re:Hollywood's fascination with prequels

What is it with Hollywood's fascination with prequels anyway?

Do you really need to a$k?

Re:Hollywood's fascination with prequels

"What is it with Hollywood's fascination with prequels anyway?"

The sad thing is, I've yet to see a prequel done well. The reasons you've mentioned are limitations, but they're also windows of opportunity.

The future is known, right? So why make a prequel that supports it? What if what you thought you knew about it wasn't correct? What if the Sith were really the good guys? What if the Federation was built on slavery? What a difference a generation or three makes.

Risk of Established Canon? Typically a fair point. I'd refer back to my previous comment. First Contact was a semi-interesting example of it. Cochrane was recorded in history as a big hero to humanity, turns out he was just a regular guy with fairly selfish motives in mind.

On an unrelated note: I don't think your Borg example was very strong. They were the Borg from First Contact. If anything, they helped explain some of the other oddities in the series, such as the lack of the NX-01 in the 1701-D's conference room. I think a better example would have been the Feringi. The Federation had supposedly never met them, but obviously they ventured in to Star Fleet's space from time to time. That was not a smart move. Thanks B&B.

Anachronistic Special Effects: Okay, Star Trek was unusual here. The show started in the 60's. Deep Space Nine did a Forrest Gumpian venture into the past. They had no real choice but to follow that pattern. Modern shows like BSG wouldn't really suffer from this. Set construction these days has pretty much reached a point where just about any artistic vision can be made. Actually, this is one of the reasons the prequels come about anyway. When a movie alludes to a massive un-realizable event, a prequel made a few years later can offer the opportunity to make it happen.

Believe it or not, this is not a rebuttal to your post. Lots of opportunities are presented by prequels, but Hollywood just doesn't seem to be able to zero in on them. If they can't take these simple steps and make something compelling, then I agree, they shouldn't go this route. Gimmick gimmick gimmick.

No!

Bad idea! Distracting the writing talent from one show is not a good thing, plus prequels never work out well. If they have different talent, that may be just as bad.

Too Adama-Centric?

The article [zap2it.com] is rather scant on details, but includes this information:

"Caprica" will be set more than 50 years prior to the events of "Battlestar Galactica" and focus on the lives of two families -- the Adamas (ancestors of future Galactica commander William) and the Graystones. Humankind's Twelve Colonies are at peace and on the verge of a technological breakthrough: the first Cylon.

As "Battlestar Galactica" is about a lot more than space battles, "Caprica" will be as much family drama as sci-fi tale.

I have mixed feelings about this spin-off. On the one hand, I have become more or less addicted to Battlestar Galactica and want something to tide me over until the third season starts. On the other hand, the plot of Caprica, as presented in this write-up, strikes me as cheesy. Is this a family feud? With billions of people in the twelve colonies, why does the Adama family need a central role in the new show? (Isn't one series enough? Was there a pre-William Adama back story in the original show or in Hatch's books? Being a BSG fan of only recent vintage, I don't know. This just reminds me of the 130-year McFly-Tannen conflict in Back to the Future.)

Battlestar Galactica is a riveting show. Hopefully its creators will achieve similar success with Caprica.

First Cylon!

I'm most excited about meeting the first Cylon. In the series, the Cylons a sophisticated belief structure and a strange confidence in those beliefs (although we know they sometimes change their minds). We get to see a little of how Cylon society is structured in the second season, but there are a lot of unanswered questions. How did an artificial intelligence creat a monotheistic belief system? How did it come to believe anything at all? Why do Cylons believe they're God's chosen species?

In the director's commentary for the first-season episode "You Can't Go Home Again," Moore and Eick say that they think the key to a great BG episode is to give away secrets. There's a lot of secrets left.

Re:First Cylon!

I really hope this element gets some treatment in the prequel.

For example, what if it turns out that the early Cylons were unsafe machines, or made judgements that were too cold and treated walking-toasters and biological humans equally? Maybe the people tried to fix this by introducing a form of the Three Laws of Robotics by impressing the Cylons with a human religion: biological humans are "chosen", follow God's rules, etc.

So after the war, they sulk about how they're not biological, and then they have a eureka moment and figure out how to evolve themselves to be biological humans too. Maybe then they could claim to be God's children too and finally be at peace with their beliefs.

Of course, I'm just pulling this out of my ass, but there's a lot of possibilities here that would make for a very entertaining story.

UH OH! Family Drama?

This could be really, really bad.

I'm picturing families having dinner with cylon servants....

This could easily ruin the other series for me...

Barrel Bottom Scraping: Von Dummiken Miniseries

Also in the works are a miniseries based on the book "Chariots of the Gods"

Oh, Puh-LEEZE!

I was a gullible little tweener dweeb when Chariots of the Gods? was a hot paperback. It didn't take long to see that it was a crock.

Now, it's an old crock. (Heck, the idea was getting kind of corny when the first Battlestar Galactica series cribbed from it for their background.) There are tons of SF books that Sci-Fi could be adapting that would have better name recognition.

Filing Erich von Daniken's "Chariots of the Gods"

I worked for the Boston Museum of Science's Lyman Library when I was in high school. One afternoon someone came in and asked for "Chariots of the Gods". I'd not heard of it (I volunteeered in the Planetarium, and knew Erich von Daniken's premise, just didn't recognize the title right off) so I walked them over to the card catalog to look up where the book was shelved.

On the way I passed my boss, who had overheard the request. He gave me a nod, and directed me to Humor, where he'd shelved the von Daniken books. I do recall someone once complaining about the von Daniken's being in that section, Les's comment was we were a science library and they'd be shelved there or nowhere.

I really wish the Scifi Channel would stop with the psuedoscience-as-science bs, talking-from-the-dead scam, and big-bug-o-the-week movies, and get on with telling some really good SF: Strong stories with powerful ideas. Stargate et al is nice light comedy in the SF genre, but von Daniken presented as legitimate, well, give me a snarky G'aould any day.

Re:Filing Erich von Daniken's "Chariots of the God

I actually read something in a magazine a few months ago, and basically the reason Sci-Fi does the monster of the week movies is because they're so low budget but still bring in advertising. They cost under a million dollars a piece to make, and they run them a few times and probably break even pretty fast. I guess that's basically the bread and butter of Sci-Fi, it's version of "reality TV".

David Spade: "I loved this show..."

"... back when it was called Enterprise"

Old and Future Content

This is great news for science fiction fans everywhere and if it hasn't been said the approach to Battlestar Galactica this time (comparing with the 70s) fits well with this time's (era) viewing audiences preferences; generational one might say and definitely very watch-able.

Wonder what the slant on the new Battlestar Galactica will be in 2050? and after that... That makes me wonder what Slashdot will be like in 2050 too?

Nice to hear about new and fresh connect, TV wise at least, on the horizon while old (or current) content remains entertaining.

Cheers .t.

Chariots of the Gods?

Isn't it ironic that there's a Von Daniken-inspired series being announced at the same time as the new-school BSG prequel? Old-school BSG, circa 1978, was heavily influenced by Von Daniken....

I was hoping for...

..."Battlestar Pegasus". Basically a way to leapfrog back and forth and continue the story at a faster pace (or, they could split the ships up from time to time). But this might be interesting.

Re:I was hoping for...

What is it with the unoriginal ship names...

ST:TNG has a pegasus, and an episode named after it
SG1/Atlantis has an entire pegasus galaxy

Therefore BSG had to have a pegasus!

Uh, hello? The original BSG had a Battlestar Pegasus, and its Admiral Kane was played by Lloyd Bridges (thus providing karmic balance: Katee Sackoff > Dirk Benedict, but Lloyd Bridges >> a PMSed Ensign Ro). Therefore, TNG and Stargate ripped off BSG. This is something that only a slight amount of research could have informed you of.

Those who don't research their history are doomed to end up looking like a fool on /..

don't get your hopesup this time either.

Even if the show is good, it will cheapen the works ROn Moore et al have done. The series works because it is well written, with great actors playing characters that act and react believably in the context of their situation, and the storyline is tightly woven with little distracton from that story. The series works because it has been distilled down to its core, no scene is wasted, no character redundant, and except for two episodes, no episode extraneous to the greater story. Any new series will only serve to distract and dilute the original show's strengths. Less is more when it comes to storytelling. Starwars eps 1-3 and Star Trek:yourseriesormovienamehere has proven that out.

initially....

...i thought it said Crapica. Then i was like "woah!". I guess if its a spin-off i cant be too far-off from my initial interpretation. Good call i suppose...

More Family Drama? Why not more Space Battles?

As "Battlestar Galactica" is about a lot more than space battles, "Caprica" will be as much family drama as sci-fi tale.

It is just me, or isn't there enough family drama on TV? Why can't we have more Space Battles??? I mean with quad dual cores for less than the cost of a compact car and the effects shipping as presets in most 3D packages, why not a space battle every show? At least 50/50?

Hmm, maybe a Spacebattles.com channel?

Cyclon Babes - Missing Agenda

I don't know if the prequel will work.

Especially when Boxem Babes [wikipedia.org] like this weren't created 50 years prior to Caprica and Earth were infiltrated!

young adama?

Oh man, this would be cool! Can they have a young Adama character? All they have to do is put a moustache on him like it was a flashback!

SpaceThyme Continuum...

I have never been able to bring myself to watch a single BSG episode. Aside from SG-1 modern dramatic sci-fi shows make me roll my eyes in disgust. I have no idea what a Caprica is, but I immediately thought of a combination of capsaicin (the spicy chemical compound found in chile peppers) and of course paprika (your mom's favorite chile pepper seasoning). This show sounds delicious! *sigh* Another hardcore fan only space ship drama. I'll eat later.

Anachronistic Cylon Design

Thinking back to the miniseries, the schematic the guy in the space station had for the cylons were the centurions we knew from the 1978 series.
Does this mean the new series will have to go back to men in suits to maintain that canon? Or will there be new CGI-tastic cylons that are supposedly created for more mundane tasks that humans origonally used them for?
i.e. this show will be set before the cylons split off and created the centurions?

Doctor Who is much, much better!

Who cares about BSG when we've got Doctor Who?

YESYESYESYESYES!!!

YES!

okay.. I am a big fan...

The Day the Gods Died

From the brief comment in the article about Chariots of the Gods, I think they might actually base it a lot on The Day the Gods Died. It's an obscure book that I was lucky enough to stumble across about 20 years go; it was written by Walter Ernsting -- a German SF author who was a big follower of Von Daniken.

The Day the Gods Died was about Ernsting's supposed encounter with aliens during WW2, and his attempts to track them down again after the war (using correspondence with Van Daniken as a guide!). It's written from a non-fiction "I was there" point of view, with the quaint old excuse that "I had to submit this to the publisher as fiction because nobody is ready to believe these things are real".

At the same time, it's a great adventure story with everything but the kitchen sink: an alien base on a mountaintop in the Swiss Alps (guarded by a yeti, no less!), an alien laser pistol that somebody accidentally dropped down a well (putting it just out of reach from investigators), a time machine hidden in a Peruvian pyramid. . . which conveniently collapses in on itself just *after* the human adventurers return from a visit to the ancient alien base there. Fun stuff!

You might say Ernsting treated Von Daniken's theories with the seriousness they deserved.

I hope Sci-Fi Channel follow Ernsting's story (as far as they can get away with, anyhow), it could make a good, fun mini-series.

More exciting

Is that Morena Baccarin has been cast for Stargate SG1 :)

Classic Cylons?

I think one of the interesting parts of doing a BSG prequel of the new series will be the fact that the miniseries showed that Cylons and Vipers once looked like they did in the classic series. Wonder how manyelements of the new prequel series will be influenced by the designs in that show...

It'll be amusing to see old low-tech (non-CG) Cylons in a big-budget series.

Dr Who / Buffy Spinoff comparison

Spinoffs have become fashionable since Buffy had a popular scifi spinoff with Angel. Doctor Who now has Torchwood (and K9 the animated series!), Stargate SG1 has Stargate Atlantis, and now BSG is falling in line. But, unlike Torchwood, I don't think it will star a bisexual conman from the 28th century. Then again, you never know.

I would prefer

If they made BSG "tv movies" about Cylon War 1 instead of a whole series, with flashback episodes as part of the current series.

At the very least, if they go for the whole prequel tv series, I would hope that they dont have the shows run simultaneously... and have them on alternating seasons, so we can watch one show while the other show is off-season.

Galactica __80 Coming Soon?

In an interview [bearmccreary.com] series composer Bear McCreary said:

"Bear McCreary sees Battlestar Galactica's music as taking a more emtoional turn as it gets closer to the long-lost colony of Earth ."

So, for those of you who missed Galactica 1980, your chance will come! (a show so bad even SciFi Channel won't re-air it). It makes you wonder though, when they will turn up though.

More SFX?

This show has the potential to be exceptionally expensive. In BSG, we see the result of the Cylon war: Battlestar Galactica is a non-networked machine. There are isolated computers, but everyone works with printouts and handsets. Computers are not trusted.

Let's see a show from the creators of the Cylon. Those who can create an AI that's capable of running off, cloning its creators and switching to monotheism ("I typed 'God'? I meant 'Gods'!"). Let's see what a piece of technological marvel the Viper Mark I is. Let's see what taught the lesson to stop networking computers.

Weren't the Conlonies actively at war?

Someone please explain the timeline to me. I thought that the mini-series started after a 40 year armistice with the Cylons, which came after a long shooting war. If this proposed new series takes place 50 years prior to the current timeline, and it is to include the creation of the Cylons, doesn't this cause problems? Isn't 10 years too short of a time to have a "technological breakthrough" by creating the Cylons, have them revolt, go to war during which networking of all computers becomes a no-no, and then to resolve that war and have an armistice? Also, if the show is to feature Adama's "ancestors", and he's about 50, wouldn't the show be more about Adama's direct realatives, and him for that matter since he was likely alive during this timeframe?

I think the writing is on the wall.....

if you are a Firefly fan. Sci-Fi was on the short list of networks that could bring the show back. I doubt they have enough money to do it now.

Who?

"Caprica" will be set more than 50 years prior to the events of "Battlestar Galactica" and focus on the lives of two families -- the Adamas (ancestors of future Galactica commander William) and the Graystones.

Colour me uninformed, but who exactly are the Graystones? Or are we not supposed to know or care at this point?

(Disclaimer: I haven't seen season 2 yet (not on here in Oz) so if it's all explained there, just say so... no spoilers please.)

Look everyone!

Sharks are jumping!!!

Not a bad idea considering....

I think people will watch it. Stargate Atlantis is pretty weak but I still watch it because of its connection to the original series. That John Doe series they're running is weak. They need to bring back Serenity/Firefly

Bring back Firefly instead!

Ok, the excuse that they don't have the bucks to support BSG and another original series falls flat now...

Essential Plot Element

Essential Plot Element: Someone in each episode saying: This is a Really Bad Idea!

Yes, There's a Battlestar Galactica Wiki

Many of the questions and comments here have been asked and answered before on a growing Battlestar Galactica Wikipedia site.

Visit here for the Wiki containing info on the new and old shows.

http://www.battlestarwiki.org/ [battlestarwiki.org]

Timeline doesn't work out

Caprica takes place 50 years prior BSG. The Galactica is 50 years old and was used during the Cylon wars, that took place over a span of about 10 years. So are we to believe that the first Cylon was created at the same time Cylons were numerous enough to start a war? Sheesh, someone needs to go back and take Duh 101. And yeah, I'm one of those rabid fans of the new series, though I really do like the old one as well.

DeSanto had the best idea a continuation.........

"BG has gone from strength to strength. Who'd have thought it, for a remake of such a camp piece o'crap. I went in with EXCEEDINGLY low expectations. Maybe that's the secret." From the channel that has The Flintstones, Passions, Braveheart & soon Law & Order. c'mon.......... BSG has lost a large percent of its viewers, gone are it's halcyon days when it was a remake of the original series everyone remembers. Especially Ron Moore and David Eick who used the fans of the original series to foster a bogus "in spite of" TOS fans that this new production bravely faced down. Indeed they where never a factor in the re-imagining of BSG. Only Katie 'Starbuck' has used TOS fandom and the comparison between Dirk Benedict's Starbuck to her very lacking acting inadequacies, than Ron Moore still does to foster a nonexesistant fan feud. The ratings have gone from 2.6 Mini-series down to mere 1.6 for the last ten episodes of season 2.5. Somehow The Scifi Channel decided to reinforce the mediocre BSG with a prequel? This means one or both of the Stargate series is to be canceled. The Farscape fans did not flock to Stargate-SG1 after Ben Browder and next season new regular Claudia Black, maybe they did? Stargate-SG1 is getting about the same ratings as Farscape. On IESN I noticed Tom DeSanto damned Ron Moore's version of BSG with faint praise. His version after Bryan Singer left has been plagiarized by Moore & Eick. As have the titles to several original series episodes created by Glen A. Larson been taken but any resemblance to the original was cast out. Larson's BSG was slightly conservative, the new series like Hollywood is way left of center. The critical acclaim from U of Georgia's Peabody Awards used to mean something when CBS's Harvest of Shame, Civil Rights documentaries and brave southern local news that interviewed Dr. King, when a Peabody really meant something. Now unless you have a second rate show of a niche cable channel, the public relations department could care less. Except, The Scifi Channel is showing "second rate show of a niche cable channel". Indeed not only are they riding the rating of BSG into oblivion they are tacking on a prequel. Anyone notice BSB is already lower in the rating than Enterprise?

Re:Battlestar Galactica worse Sci-Fi show ever

But the idea was to make it as appealing as possible to females for maximum audience acceptance. That's why Starbuck is now a tough girl and the show is essentially a soap c/w on/off again love affairs and some intangible Cylon blonde babe that manipulates that guy.

Re:Battlestar Galactica worse Sci-Fi show ever

If it's anything like the "re-imagining" of this show, count me out. No idea why so many people fall for this show. The new BG is below par in just about every aspect of production....

Dad? I didn't know you read slashdot!

Re:Product Placement, Anyone?

yet somehow the accursed Sir Walter Raleigh has travelled through time and space to bring them the same cretinous habit that is killing millions of addicts here and now?

Well, according to his own testimony Ron Moore is a pretty hardcore smoker. (I confess: I downloaded the podcasts.) I agree with you; though it would be hard to imagine Starbuck without the cigars.

Wow! It's Richard Hatch!

Hey Richard! It's great to see you posting but you really should get an account.

Re:Product Placement, Anyone?

You think that BSG is bad? Did you see the Lord of the Rings? Product placement all over the place! Pipeweed this, pipeweed that. Sheeesh! It's a good thing not that many people saw Lord of the Rings, or we might be facing a sequel.

Re:rut ro

Nah, this would be like Enterprise covering the whole, I dunno... Earth-Romulus War maybe? I doubt they'll pull time-travelling crap in the pilot episode and instad get to the juicy bits of the backstory that people want to hear about.

Re:rut ro

And most importantly, who will be introduced as the newest Sci Fi hot chick.

Velma?

frack that

I *like* this show but it does seem to descend into wishy washy sentimental crap all too often, particulary in series 2, when what I really wanna see is more action and drama, more battles with cylons and lots of 'frackin' laser beams! (ok frackin machine guns but you get the point.)

Oh and whats with all the frack frackin motherfracker and other variations of frack used to distraction in series 2? Don't recall it being so overused in series 1.. its getting ridiculous.. couldn't they dream up a few more substitute expletives?

Re:rut ro

Grace Park is fine with me. She can have prior clones! (Here's hoping)

Anyway, there's not really much explaining needed for those who has seen the BattleStar Galactica MiniSeries (A mini-prequel to the actual series, which explains quite a few things.)

Re:Battlestar Galactica worse Sci-Fi show ever

If it's anything like the "re-imagining" of this show, count me out. No idea why so many people fall for this show. The new BG is below par in just about every aspect of production. Bad casting choices, terrible acting, cheesy sets, barely acceptable lighting, herky-jerky camera work, exceedingly shallow politically correct plotlines and characters, not to mention the barely concealed pro-USA anti-terrorism propaganda agenda in the writing. [. . .] If the original plan to do a continuation of the original series created by Bryan Singer and Tom DeSanto had gone forward, the show, and subsequent spin-offs probably would have been very watchable and entertaining. As it is now, the show has no soul, because it's nothing more than a hijack of someone else's great concept.

Best. Troll. Ever.

C'mon folks. Really. How could someone complain about the bad casting choices, terrible acting, cheesy sets, and exceedingly shallow plotlines and characters, as well as barely concealed propaganda agenda of the new Battlestar Galactica, and then argue for bringing back the OLD Battlestar Galactica, with its absurd casting choices (Laurette Spang, anyone? Nothing like casting by still photo), terrible acting (Maren Jensen), cheesy sets (how many times did we have to see that recreation center?), exceedingly shallow plotlines and characters ("Fire in Space" - what a concept! And can you get more shallow than the old Commander Tigh?), and barely concealed agenda ("War of the Gods" with a bad guy named Iblis - Iblis! I mean, really, sometimes it's the Book of Mormon in Space! - the Colonies = Israel, Earth = the Americas). And don't get me started on the last "continuation" of Battlestar Galactica: SuperScouts!!!

YHBT!.

mindless troll

"Bad casting choices, terrible acting,"

Terrible acting?! Bad casting choices?! Are you kidding or just being a mindless troll? This is one of the best elements of the show, bar none.

"cheesy sets,"

I hope you're not an Star Trek fan...

"barely acceptable lighting, "

"herky-jerky camera work, "

The camera work -- with its sudden pans and zooms -- tries to be realistic and convey the feeling of iminent attack. It feels just as the nervous cameras depicting the attack and fall of the Two Towers... It was a novelty back then and is still a very powerful instrument of dramatization...

"exceedingly shallow politically correct plotlines and characters,"

politically correct?! gimme i break, will ya! Boomer and cast are all but politically correct. Adama lies to the tripulation. There is a scientist with a moral dillema. There are alcoohol adicts... gimme a break!

"not to mention the barely concealed pro-USA anti-terrorism propaganda agenda in the writing."

while i agree the show depicts this "anti-terrorism propaganda agenda", i don't believe it's a weakness. In fact, it's one of its strong points.

In conclusion, i believe you're just trolling against what is one of the best shows -- SciFi or not -- to ever grace TV. If i had any moderation points left, your Insightful +5 would be history...

"If the original plan to do a continuation of the original series created by Bryan Singer and Tom DeSanto [battlestargalactica.com] had gone forward, the show, and subsequent spin-offs probably would have been very watchable and entertaining."

yeah, Cylons would be mutants in a soap opera setting... gimme a break!

Re:WHY does SCIFI channel do this?

Calm down CBG. I saw the old BSG, it can't hold a candle to the new series. Dirk Benedict? Sure, he was okayish, but rather plain, if you ask me. The only cool actor from the old show was papa from Bonanza, and they found a suitable replacement for him in the new show.

Re:Battlestar Galactica worse Sci-Fi show ever

Dude, you're so right! The continuation script called for Boxy to be the main character replacing Adama as commander. I could see it now... Commander Boxy walking around the Galactica with that monkey-dog-robot in tow, just like Gene Hackman's dog in Crimson Tide [imdb.com]. So awesome!

BTW, for more amusing rants from old-school Galactica fans, check out Dirk Benedict's embarrassingly silly "Lost in Castration" [dirkbenedictcentral.com]. But the best has got to be the utterly asinine open letter that some moderators wrote to Ron Moore a while back. Enjoy:

"Give it a chance."

That was the oft -repeated mantra of the folks on the old Sci-Fi board. Give the new show a chance, don't pre-judge it; watch it, see what you think. So we did. We watched it and in the spirit of fairness, we matched words with deeds, here at Colonial Fleets, and created a completely separate but equal sub-forum, strictly for new show conversation. It seemed to be the right choice, at the time.

Since then, we have been educated to the mindset of the author that the offerings on this show, called Battlestar Galactica (2003), were to be a reflection of society and we were challenged to "think about it"; that there would be parallels to real-life events such as the Sept 11 attacks and told, by the author, to "make your own judgments as to what they say to you"; and that this new show would completely "re-invent" the sci-fi genre.

Well, we have thought about it and have spoken those thoughts on these forum pages, for much of the past 2 years. Ever since the new series came about, this fanbase has been in a tenuous place and Colonial Fleets was often a tension spring within the fanbase for allowing and even promoting, at times, discussion of the new series. Through that time, we made a concerted effort to separate the comments from the commentator and to keep the debates focused on the issue. Primarily, though, each of us has strived to employ our own personal standards of morality and decency when presenting these thoughts.

An example of these standards of decency and morality can be witnessed by the following remarks by our good friend, Malkyte, who very eloquently expressed the thoughts of many members, here and elsewhere:

"Throughout the many years of human existence, there has always been a line. A line that represented on one side, the best of human decency and morality, and on the other, the pure animalistic and monstrous evil that humans can be. This line has moved back and forth throughout those same years, and depending on individual experiences, it has always been in different places."

"Society in general has appeared to become more tolerant of rude and disrespectful behavior, to the point where it is celebrated when someone is deviant or rebellious. It's rather disheartening and disturbing at the same time. But our society more and more rewards liars, killers and celebrity deviants, who in some cases are only in the news because of the crap they do, and not for any talent they may possess."

We share those same concerns about society and can see, for ourselves, the truth in the remarks. In addition, we agree that the "line" has been shifting back and forth with a decided tilt toward the less than desirable aspect of human society. We also realize that the entertainment industry has "pushed the envelope as far as they could", only because we have allowed them to do so.

We have allowed the entertainment industry to tell us that it was "ok" to have a baby's neck snapped (the script originally called for Number Six to drive her finger through the baby's skull); it was "ok" to draw a parallel of sympathy toward the terrorists who carried out the Sept 11 attacks - in other words, we got what we deserved; but, the straw that snapped the proverbial camel's back was the use of rape as a military torture tool in the "Pegasus" episode.

We will NOT allow the entertai

Re:Battlestar Galactica worse Sci-Fi show ever

For what it's worth, I agree with you that the show is bad.
But, you are still a fucking moron troll who completely missed the point of the show.
BSG is bad because nothing happens. The episodes simply move too slowly. The acting is solid, the CGI fantastic, and not, as you say, poorly put toghether. If you're complaining about a lack of action, you're watching the wrong show. BSG is about people-people interactions, not fist-fights.

What the show needs to do in order to be better, is take an approach like Farscape or Firefly (or even B5, to some extent) used: Lay down the whole fucking story, give some hints as to what is going to happen, and then make EVERY SINGLE EPISODE have something to do with the main storyline.

The problem is, too many episodes give the impression that the creators have no idea what is going to happen next.
appart from, maybe, finding earth, but that's about it.
Really, the episodes that have something to do with the main story are good (perhaps great), but the random episodes pretty much feel like "terrorist of the week" (you know, that thing we all hate Enterprise for, only substitute "alien" with "terrorist").

That's my thoughts, anyway. This being /., and full of fanboys, I'll hit -1 and a dozen freaks in a few minutes, but oh well.

Re:Product Placement, Anyone?

Tobacco doesn't kill millions of addicts. Diseases such as those that tobacoo can cause kill millions of people; the actual number of tobacoo-caused deaths is very small. Indeed, only 24 smokers in 100,000 develop lung cancer, compared to 7 in 100,000 non-smokers. Recognize that this statistic means that smokers are 350% more likely to develop lung cancer. Recognize as well that these same numbers also show that _99.975%_ of smokers never develop lung cancer. Additionally, the number of premature deaths attributed definitively to tobacco use in Great Britain in a given year is about 900, that out of a population of 60 million, of whom about 15 million smoke.

I'm not saying tobacoo is good, and I don't smoke tobacco myself, but the bullshit the anti-tobbaco lobby has been spreading recently is ludicrous. If Capricans like cigars, let us see it as a cultural element of Caprican life. If you're so caught up about smoking that you don't enjoy BSG because the characters often smoke after missions, loosen up.

Re:More like CRAP'rica BSG sucks

On one hand, you wonder "What the hell are they Cylons doing?"

On the other hand, we really don't know what they're doing. They could have crushed "The Fleet" at any point, but it seems that their ultimate goal *is* "fucking with us".

The lowest point in the show? Curing cancer in Roslyn using unborn half-cylon baby blood. I was half expecting them to turn the baby into Jesus after that.

"Wow! It's the half cylon baby! He's the key to everlasting peace between the cylons and the humans using his unexplainable powers. Neat!"