Sci-Fi's Battlestar Galactica miniseries opinions (1 Viewer)

[Eric Paddon]

"with plenty of overheated bleating from fans of the original that has gone a long way toward giving sci-fi nerds a bad name"

Oh please. That Variety reviewer is utterly full of it, since the only reason why we felt compelled to speak out was beacuse of (1) Ron Moore's hijacking of a continuation project that had been well into the development phase and turning it into something that is anything but Battlestar Galactica (2) Ron Moore's condescending disrespect for the Galactica fanbase and the original series and (3) the lies and disinformation Ron Moore, David Eick and company spread in order to justify their end product.

I recently forced myself to listen to the three hour DVD commentary track just to see if there was one sign that these men have finally learned their lesson regarding the fanbase regard for the original, and all I heard instead was more condescension and more disinformation. Such as
"Galactica never had a syndication package". In fact, Galactica was sold into syndicated repeats in 1982 and had a very healthy syndication life. This little lie was done to try and promote the notion that Galactica's staying power with its fanbase has to do with love of FX and nothing to do with a genuine regard for the characters and storyline of the original.

I will mark tonight by breaking out the DVD set of the real "Battlestar Galactica".

 

[Rutgar]

People talk about ignoring Canon from one SERIES to the next, in Star Trek. From what I remember, Galactica 1980 wasn't even consistant from even one EPISODE to the next.

 

[Eric Paddon]

"Galactica 1980s'" existence stemmed entirely from ABC, and not from anything that Glen Larson wanted to do.

When ABC realized too late that their naive thought that the "Galactica" audience would watch "Mork And Mindy" on Sunday nights and let the network have their cake and eat it (by retaining the strong Galactica numbers with a cheaper product), they decided to bring Galactica back but the problem was that all the sets had been destroyed by then so getting the show relaunched properly would have been an even more expensive proposition and this ABC did not want to do. So they in effect ordered that it be brought back on the cheap with a "discovers Earth" premise that would allow for cheap Earthbound stories and they figured this time the audience would come back.

Unfortunately for ABC, what they couldn't get was the original cast back because during the interlude following Galactica's cancellation, the contracts of all the cast members had expired which meant they were under no obligation to return in the way Pierce Brosnan had to come back to do "Remington Steele" when NBC changed their minds about cancelling that show. As a result, when Glen Larson reluctantly wrote his pilot script for "Galactica 1980" it included the regulars like Apollo, Starbuck, Baltar etc. but Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict etc. immediately saw how cheap the premise was and turned it down on the spot. This necessitated changing the script to set it 30 years later, and originally there was no plan to bring back Lorne Greene but it was only after the project was well advanced that Greene suddenly pleaded to return so that left us with the implausible angle of him being the only cast member (apart from Herb Jefferson as Boomer) to return in a major way.

If these things weren't working against them, there was also the problem of being stuck in a 7 PM slot which meant that ABC was even more strict in terms of catering to the kiddie audience then ever which meant that Larson had no opportunity to try and make the best of a bad situation by writing some more challenging material in the midst of this flawed premise.

Ultimately, "Galactica 1980" was simply a misguided product of ABC only halfheartedly recognizing their mistake but still trying to have it both ways by only bringing back a name without a quality end product that fans had come to enjoy. Only the last episode "Return Of Starbuck", done after the show's cancellation was a foregone conclusion and a chance to recycle an unused original Galactica script, is remembered fondly.

The best word on "Galactica 1980" came from story editor Terrence McDonnell at the 15 Yahren Convention in 1993 when he dismissed the series by contemptuously spitting before he uttered the name. It brought unanimous applause from all those assembled.

 

[Bert Greene]

Appreciate the info on "Galactica 1980." I'd never seen any episodes before, but I did recall seeing the network commercials for it back when it aired, involving a bunch of kids hopping around like jumping beans. Apparently I wasn't enticed enough to tune in. Finally caught up with the series 25 years later, on the Sci-Fi channel yesterday and today, as they have been rerunning them. Wow, it really is a stinker! One episode featured Robert Reed, and I was just awestruck by its lameness. I gave up after about 15 minutes. Another episode, airing this morning, seemed to start out fairly innocuously, with Barry Van Dyke unintentionally robbing a bank, but it quickly went downhill, becoming both irritatingly dumb and annoyingly preachy. I think I hated most the aspect of Lorne Greene suddenly being rather subserviant to some goofball, know-it-all kid. It made me pine for "Bonanza," and scenes of Ben Cartwright loudly laying down the law on Hoss, Adam, and Little Joe.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

He I saw about the first 4 eps when they aired and caught the Starbuck ep in Reruns but did they ever explain where this Dr. Zee came from, he's narrating the starbuck ep so is he supposed to be Starbuck's Love child???? What the HELL ? And I always expected Kent Mccord's character (Boxey yeah right..) to pull someone over on those Viper Bikes they drove around so they could imitate a ratings winner in CHIPS.

Seeing this series pretty much gets Ron Moore's show off the hook for anything they do.

 

[Eric Paddon]

To understand "Return Of Starbuck" and where Dr. Zee comes from you have to remember the original Galactica episode "War Of The Gods" and the mysterious "Ship Of Lights." A follow-up "Galactica 1980" script that was never filmed called "Wheel Of Fire" clarified some aspects of "Return Of Starbuck" by making it clear that Dr. Zee's mother was one of those "Ship Of Lights" beings and that Starbuck was going through a series of tests to see if he could end up becoming one himself (because in "Wheel Of Fire" Starbuck appears again this time as one of the beings). He is *not* Dr. Zee's biological father.

This explanation doesn't make things all that better, but it does clarify some of the stranger aspects of what is the only worthwhile episode of G80. That said, compared to Moore, I would rather sit through G80 because G80 at least made no pretense of being some wonderful thing when it really isn't.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Why spend the money and listen to a 3 hour hour commentary on the New B.G. if you dont like it? So you can come here and go on and on and on about it not being the "Real Galactica." I just dont understand why people are overreacting. Sure, I wasnt real happy about the project either when it was announced and I boycotted it (more because Farscape was cancelled than anything else)but I watched it this week and loved it. You either like it or you dont which is fine but why keep whining about it?

 

[Eric Paddon]

"Why spend the money and listen to a 3 hour hour commentary on the New B.G. if you dont like it?"

Because I wanted to hear what the men responsible for this had to say about it, because if I plan on being critical of them I like to do so with reference to actual specifics. That's what is known as doing one's homework and making sure that when you criticize it's in reference to specific facts, rather than shooting from the hip without doing any homework (which can be said of all of the gents who did the commentary with regard to everything they said about the original series). But I also listened because I wanted to see if there was just one remark these men could make in three hours that I could construe as an olive branch to the fans of the original because believe me it gives me no pleasure to find that there's only negative things for me to have to say about them.

"So you can come here and go on and on and on about it not being the "Real Galactica.""

The only reason why I made a new comment today was because someone else saw fit to reprint some remarks in Variety that attacked the original series and its fanbase, and when that happens, especially when the criticism is based on a false premise, I see no reason to not respond to it.

"You either like it or you dont which is fine but why keep whining about it?"

I don't consider it "whining" to stand up for the original series when it constantly comes under attack from Moore and his propaganda machine, and it's only in the context of when more attacks are made on the original that a response is then invited.

 

[Rutgar]

Sort of sounds like the guy who thought his 17 oz. steak was terrible all the down to the last bite.

 

[Eric Paddon]

Nope. I also own a copy of "JFK" which I think is one of the most offensive movies ever made, but I have to keep a copy because on occasion I write material that requires analyzing what was actually said and done in that movie to make a point, and I also own books written by authors who I think did a lousy job but with them a reference copy is required if criticism is to be done accurately. The same thing is true with the DVD of this, because if I'm going to be critical of what they actually say about the original series, then at least I can check back and know I quoted them accurately.

 

[Moore Maxx]

Question about "Galactica 1980 - Return of Starbuck" episode.

This was the first time seeing it and actually I liked it quite a bit.

I did casually tune in to the earlier Galactica 80 episodes run during the Sci Fi Marathon for curiosity but quickly tuned out.

I guess I should put a SPOILER WARNING here for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

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At the end of the episode, after Cy shoots down the three Cylons who landed after tracking down Starbucks homing signal, isn't there a perfectly good Cylon ship sitting there for Starbuck to use or did I miss something?

Of course I was also wondering why Starbuck just didn't get into the ship earlier with the woman and child?

Maxx

 

[Rekka Alexiel]

I have yet to see this miniseries... but what is their reasoning for changing Starbuck's sex? lol It just seems wrong.... especially if they intend on doing a ApolloXStarbuck pairing. lol The original will always be the best in my opinion, however cheesy. lol

 

[David Norman]

Maxx, the original reason for Starbuck not going with Angela and Baby was to give them both a better chance at surviving since it would make the fuel and life support last longer.

After Cy and he killed the 3 Centurions, I'm not sure what would have stopped him from using the Cylon ship to escape though I'm not sure regular Cylon ships have Oxygen based life support or not -- the ship he built basically had the Human Cockpit and Cylon engine. The ships that Baltar used may very well have been special ships.


Personally I was in college when the original series came out and did a couple 10 page English Comp on the series and the Special Effects wizards. I liked the original, but the writing was pretty bad at times even with the original series (BG1980 is/was beyond awful and shouldn't even be lumped in with either). I really have liked waht I've seen from the new series and just have to take it as a new series rather than having anything to do with the original. I think the scripts from 33 and Water were better than even the best of Lorne Green's BG.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

According to the commentary one reason was to bring the show up to modern gender roles, by having female Viper pilots, just as the military now has female fighters and combat pilots. It's a little weird to digest, but I don't mind it as much as I thought I would. If they do try a Starbuck/Apollo pairing, THAT would be a bit too weird.

 

[Eric Paddon]

"According to the commentary one reason was to bring the show up to modern gender roles, by having female Viper pilots,"

Which is another nice bit of proof of how utterly ignorant Ron Moore is of the original (unless he's out and out lying to justify his bizarre behavior) since a female viper pilot named Sheba was an important part of the original series and original Galactica was in fact the first sci-fi series to show women in that kind of role, breaking the Star Trek mold of communications officers and captain's yeomans only.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Sheba was NOT a principle character.

 

[Eric Paddon]

Oh yes she was. The original Galactica was an ensemble effort and Sheba had more to do in her half-season on the show than Uhura ever had in three seasons of Star Trek. To say that Starbuck had to become a woman because Ron Moore supposedly is wanting to take a breakthrough step that wasn't present in the original series is just another case of Ron Moore showing a disregard for the facts.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I dont' think Moore ever said he was doing it to create a breakthrough, just that having females in the Viper fleet reflects the modern military, and Starbuck (and Boomer) are and were both far more prominent characters than Sheba was.

 

[Eric Paddon]

You'd be wrong on that. Sheba was an equal character to Boomer in terms of overall prominence in the original series (with very significant roles in the three most important episodes of the series second half, "Living Legend", "War Of The Gods" and "Hand Of God"), and Moore in fact on more than one occasion justified the gender change for Starbuck on the basis of saying there had never been any strong female characters in the original series (another fine example of his doublespeak).

 

[Qui-Gon John]

I can accept and enjoy this new BSG as a completely different series, yes a re-imagining. What I just wish though is that they'd have just come up with different character names. It's so different, there's no real need to have a Starbuck, Apollo, Boomer, Tighe, Adama, Baltar. They should have come up with originla names for these new characters.