It Was Nice While it Lasted... by RiveR6213

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

It Was Nice While it Lasted...

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POSTED BY: RIVER6213
UPDATED: Sunday, June 3, 2007 11:05
SHORT URL: http://goo.gl/RGfvJ
VIEWED: 2425
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Friday, June 1, 2007 4:03 PM

So I guess this is it!

Frak, No! Battlestar Preps Final Voyage
by Josh Grossberg

The Galactica is ready to be mothballed.

The brain trust behind Sci Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica on Friday announced plans to wrap up the critically acclaimed cult series after its upcoming fourth season.

"This show was always meant to have a beginning, a middle and, finally, an end," executive producers Ronald Moore and David Eick said in a statement.

"Over the course of the last year, the story and the characters have been moving strongly toward that end, and we've decided to listen to those internal voices and conclude the show on our own terms. And while we know our fans will be saddened to know the end is coming, they should brace themselves for a wild ride getting there: We're going out with a bang."

And despite losing their top-rated original series, the Sci Fi overlords are okay with the move.

Mark Stern, the network's executive vice president of original programming, said he and his fellow suits "respect the producers' decision to end the series."

Last month at the Saturn Awards, where Battlestar was named Best Syndicated/Cable Series, star Edward James Olmos hinted that the show was ready to make its final voyage.

That prompted Eick and Sci Fi to issue a statement asserting "no decision had been made" on the show's fate. "I promise you that when Ron and I make a decision about Galactica's future, we'll let you know," said Eick, who is also producing NBC's buzzed-about remake of Bionic Woman, which debuts next season.

Premiering in 2003 as a miniseries, Moore and Eick's Battlestar Galactica was a "reimagined" take on ABC's 1978 Star Wars-riffing sci-fi show and its spinoffs. Moore and Eick stuck to the original's basic premise—the robotic Cylons rebel against their human masters and virtually annihilate the race, sending the few survivors in a quixotic interstellar journey to find a mythical, lost "13th colony" known as Earth. The "rag-tag fugitive fleet" is led by crusty Admiral William Adama (Olmos) and cancer-stricken President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell).

However, the new Battlestar jettisoned the high camp of the original in favor of a taut serialized drama focusing on strong character development and emotional conflict, while taking plot cues from 9-11 and the war in Iraq.

The storytelling formula has proved a success with TV critics. Although it has yet to earn a top-tier Emmy nod, the new Battlestar received a Peabody last year and was named to the American Film Institute's Top 10 list of television shows for two years running.

"It's been a wonderful, creative experience," Moore said during a conference call Friday. "I feel like we've had enough time...It feels like the momentum of the series is moving to a conclusion."

He added that he and Eick planned on tackling the series' lingering questions in the remaning episodes.

"The intention is to concentrate on the characters and their relationships and bring them all to an end point. I don't know if we'll resolve every single thing…but the intention is to move toward what is the final chapter," Moore said. "The show has always been about a search for Earth…so it will definitely figure into this year's story line."

Eick, meanwhile, said he intended to use Battlestar actors on Bionic Woman and other future TV projects. "We stumbled onto the greatest collection of actors I've ever been a part of...[and] I'm trying to make use of this cast as much as possible." Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) guest stars on the Bionic Woman pilot and will likely be a recurring character, he said.

Perhaps because the rumors of the show's demise have persisted, diehards took the news in stride Friday.

"Seriously, it's sad to know it for sure, but I'd rather know now than find out with just a few episodes left. We can savor every moment with the full knowledge that the journey is almost over," TowelOfApollo wrote on Sci Fi's Battlestar message board.

"Every end is a beginning," added Punchface. "In this case, it's a point in the history of sci-fi as a genre where we will be able to say 'this is where the genre began to really get respect.' Firefly and Farscape may have started it, but it was Battlestar Galactica that really got the ball rolling."

So much for the resistance.

The swan-song season is currently in production in Vancouver, with the first of its final 22 episodes scheduled to launch in early 2008. To tide fans over, however, Sci Fi has commissioned an extended two-hour Battlestar Galactica stand-alone episode, titled "Razor," to air in November focusing on the adventures of the Galactica's sister ship, the Pegasus.

*sigh*

-River

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Friday, June 1, 2007 4:49 PM

MONKSDAD

well that sux, but it could be a good thing for Browncoats...hate to see the battlestar come to an end, but makes room for firefly/serenity

"And I think calling him that is an insult to the psychotic lowlife community."

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Saturday, June 2, 2007 2:21 PM

TRAVELER

I do not have cable so I have yet to see this show, but friends have told me it is better than the original. I always feel sad when any SciFi show comes to an end. It is my favorite type of programing. With science fiction you are free to create any number of possibilites and with talented writers you can really make something that will last the test of time. We just lost Farscape about a year ago and I had the opportunity to see a couple of its episodes. So now we lose another one. Well science fiction is here to stay and I am sure their are people out ther who will produce more fine shows for us to enjoy.

Good-bye Battlestar, but you won't be forgotten.

Traveler

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Saturday, June 2, 2007 2:45 PM

HURLEY

Quote:
Originally posted by RiveR6213:

So I guess this is it!

Frak, No! Battlestar Preps Final Voyage
by Josh Grossberg

The Galactica is ready to be mothballed.

The brain trust behind Sci Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica on Friday announced plans to wrap up the critically acclaimed cult series after its upcoming fourth season.

"This show was always meant to have a beginning, a middle and, finally, an end,"

Well in the original series sort of took a nosedive when they finally reached Earth so I was kinda scared what they were going to do once they'd hit Terra Firma. They didn't know what to do with the characters and just drove the rocket powered motorcycles around California...very bad.

The good thing is that they will actually finish the story instead of just dropping it. It has definatley set a high benchmark for future shows to follow but that is good as well. Remember how Babylon 5 was just dropped and the Ranger series just evaporated. Firefly and Farscape, VR5 and Sliders. All these shows were just left behind so for once it will go out with a bang and finish a story.

Let's hope that in the next series they try they give as much creative freedom to as Battlestar has seen. I can't remember too many that had as good of a production and story. Hopefully they wont bring back Greatest American Hero or Alf. Space 1999 was always pretty cool that might be good one to reinvent. And of course FF would be good to bring back.

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Saturday, June 2, 2007 3:42 PM

CHINDI

I love BSG but I am glad that the PTB are ending it before it jumps the shark..

I think Moore and Eick have always said they had a story arc and knew where it started and where it will end.. and I am glad they are not dragging it out, just for ratings.. that makes it a better show.

so, I will be sorry to see it go, but I will have the DVDs and that will be ok.l

Chindi

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Sunday, June 3, 2007 10:54 AM

LWAVES

Erm, Babylon 5 wasn't dropped. Not to be picky or anything...

I know they ran the main story out in season 4 coz they weren't gonna get a season 5 and then they got that as well, so the final season wasn't totally planned. But JMS always planned on a 5 season arc and that's what they ended up with.

And if it was left behind why do we have the DTV movies??

Regarding BSG I would have liked to have seen two more seasons. I always think 5 is a good run.
But at least they are going on their terms, but I will miss it as it's the best show around at the moment.

"If I hear voices and someone is really there, does that mean I'm going REALLY crazy?"

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Sunday, June 3, 2007 11:05 AM

LEADB

Ah, well. At least it is coming to a planned end, rather than cut off in the middle. Depending on how it wraps, they wriggle a movie or two out of it later.

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