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

[BridgetJZ]

Personally, i wasn't such a fan of the original series, i think maybe because it's a bit before my time, so i really have no issue reimagining anything.

Such being said, i thought this was just great. I'm looking forward to new great episodes and some awesome intergalactic space fighting.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Eric, I wish I had all the time you do to come here and shoot down a series that is actually better than the original in many respects and the money to buy DVDs to shows (and movies) that I dont like.
You either like it or you dont and I respect that but if you dont like it, time to move on and find something you really do like and support that. God knows Sci Fi needs all the support it can get these days.
I loved the original show just as much as anyone else that watched it during the season it was on but it was a product of the time and upon viewing it recently, has not aged well. I definitely think there is room for both.

 

[Eric Paddon]

"Eric, I wish I had all the time you do to come here and shoot down a series that is actually better than the original in many respects"

I only believe in standing up for the original series from the misinformation and lies from Ron Moore's PR machine used to justify his inferior end-product. As a Galactica fan for many years who's had to live with a lot of rude disappointments in the past, it never takes much time at all for me to say a word in defense of a show that I continue to enjoy and for reasons that have nothing to do with the phony ones that Moore, Eick and company think were what caused it to have a fanbase in the first place.

"You either like it or you dont and I respect that but if you dont like it, time to move on and find something you really do like and support that."

Except the PR machine for Moore's series keeps feeling this need to trash the original series to justify itself and when it does that, I see no reason why I or any other fan of the original series should sit on our hands. Blame the Moore PR machine for why we keep registering our views, because they're the ones who keep adding the fuel to the fire.

"I loved the original show just as much as anyone else that watched it during the season it was on but it was a product of the time and upon viewing it recently, has not aged well. I definitely think there is room for both."

And this is the fallacy people like you operate under, in that you think that a continuation of the original series storyline was somehow supposed to be done as if we wanted to make it according to 1978 TV production standards. OF COURSE there had to be changes made, but not at the expense of trashing the underlying philosophy and values of the original series which is the real cause of its staying power with its fanbase, and that is the point that Moore and all of his defenders are clearly incapable of grasping.

Star Trek and Lost In Space were products of their time when they were TV series, yet no one seemed to think that "reimagining" those properties was such a good idea (with LIS) or would have been a good idea (with Trek). It's amazing how inconsistent standards are applied once again for the original Galactica by those who are so quick to want to bash it.

 

[Win Joy Jr]

Can you PLEASE give us an example of this statement?

 

[Eric Paddon]

"Can you PLEASE give us an example of this statement?"

Where shall I begin?

We can start with Moore's arrogant diss of the old Galactica fanbase more than six months before the miniseries debuted when he basically said that the fanbase objections to his script were rooted out of nostalgia for 70s hairstyles and FX.

Or maybe I can fast forward to Universal's decision to run as it quote blurb on the DVD for this something designed to take a shot at the original series rather than just run a positive quote that doesn't refer to the original at all.

Then there's Moore, Eick and company in the DVD commentary at one point calling the original series "fascist" because civilian government officials were always shown in a bad light (never mind that the original series was hardly any different than Star Trek or Space 1999 in that regard), the bizarre comment of theirs that the show has never had a syndicated rerun package and that Galactica's enduring popularity is strictly due to a name and nothing to do with its fanbase actually enjoying the storyline and characters that were established.

Shall I go on? The list is endless in terms of beauts that have come from Moore, Universal and Sci-Fi execs over the last year and a half.

 

[Win Joy Jr]

Eric -

What is fanning your flames here?

That the mini was not an utter failure that was predicted by the BG fan base before it's release?

That it generated attention here for people to search it out BEFORE it was even broadcast here in the states?

That it looks like it is being green-lit for a second season before it has even aired in the US?

Or that it may be seen as being BETTER than the orginal?

And, your #1 force driving for a continuation breaks ranks and actually appears in the new series. Not one, but TWICE!

Battlestar Galactica has emerged from the ashes of its former self. It may not have taken the form you had expected. But, neverless, it is here, and people seem to accept the re-imaging of the concept and actually ENJOY the show. The fan base of the old show gave themselves a black mark when they resorted to hate mail to the stars of the show during the production of the mini. The fan boys actually twisted EJO's statements claiming victory that he was admitting that the mini was garbage.

 

[Win Joy Jr]

So, you admit that there is not constant bashing as you claimed? The only thing NEW is the commentary on the mini DVD? Everything else you mentioned is from 12 to 18 months ago...

 

[Eric Paddon]

First off, I did not admit there wasn't constant bashing, I merely pointed out several examples that are spread out over a lengthy chronological period which shows just how constant this has been. And the DVD commentary track is just the latest example of how for Moore, running down the original is a key toward justifying his end product.

"What is fanning your flames here?"

I've already answered that question, and the fact that you won't accept that answer says a lot. I respond when the original series is continually bashed, and that's when I feel the need to say something especially if the bashing is rooted in an inaccurate premise.

"And, your #1 force driving for a continuation breaks ranks and actually appears in the new series. Not one, but TWICE!"

I think you need a reality check because Richard Hatch has never been a beloved figure in Galactica fandom for quite some time. The #1 driving force for a continuation was Tom DeSanto, whose continuation project was already into the development stage quite extensively and on the verge of happening before it got derailed and then along came Ron Moore to trash everything that we had been on the verge of getting after 25 years of patient waiting.

"The fan base of the old show gave themselves a black mark when they resorted to hate mail to the stars of the show during the production of the mini."

Excuse me, but it was actually clone artists on message boards on behalf of Moore who did a lot to further poison the atmosphere with their constant ripping of the fanbase who simply registered their very legitimate objections to what was going on. As for hate mail to Moore, Sackhoff etc., why should that have been surprising in light of their own public remarks ripping the original and its fanbase when that fanbase is ultimately responsible for the fact that Galactica was an enduring property to begin with? A smart person shows respect for the original like Burton did when he was reinventing POTA.

"The fan boys actually twisted EJO's statements claiming victory that he was admitting that the mini was garbage."

False. We applauded Olmos for exposing the Sci-Fi brass as liars when they were trying to sell the notion that the new product could appeal to the original series fanbase and was essentially the same story when it wasn't. That's all we ever did in the message boards I frequent, so thank you for providing me with another example of why people like me have to keep answering the disinformation put out by the Moore PR machine.

 

[Bob-R]

If I can chime in here, I checked out the season premiere of the new Battlestar Galactica series and it was depressing, downright depressing. The real Battlestar Galactica (which I proudly own on DVD) was about hope and it had likeable characters, this new show has none, it has lots of hopelessness, so much of it they just beat it into our heads, I thought, "Okay, you're hopeless, we've got it already!", at the end of the shows I was thinking, just kill 'em all and get it over with.

I actually thought this new show had something going for it but the depressing nature bored me a bit, so much that I checked out the next episode for a total of 15 minutes, the sexual undertones seemed unnecessary and the "realism" of the dogfight camera work didn't impress me one bit.

I may give this "re-imaging" another shot especially since Richard Hatch is appearing in the next one, but to me, sexual situations are not Battlestar Galactica, the dogfight camera work needs work, and depressing show means depressing television = boring.

This is off topic but I just wanted to say I like Galactica 1980 and I hope that it comes out on DVD.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Well the Genocide of an entire race is pretty depressing. I have a problem with the old show having the colonists whooping it up after being wiped out. The scene in the new show with the LT seeing the Posted pictures of Loved ones stretching thru the hall is very touching and chilling a homage to 911 perhaps.

 

[RickER]

True the new Galactica isnt like the old, but it is good. Getting mad that it isnt the same is like getting mad that Voyager isnt Star Trek. Couse now that i think about it maybe i should have gotten mad? Anyway,if i like a show i watch it, doesnt matter what name they put on it. They use name recognition to draw you in, but quality is the only thing that will keep it alive.

 

[Win Joy Jr]

Please. Richard was torch bearer for YEARS via novels and "Trailer" that he put together. I give the man credit for trying. And he has now seen that the landscape has changed and had two choices, either get involved or not. He accepted a recurring role. THAT speaks volumes... Now that he has "betrayed" the cause, you try to dismiss his involvement.

 

[Win Joy Jr]

Sorry, double post.

 

[Win Joy Jr]

No, the boards I read, including this one, rallied that EJO was saying that it was crap, it was going to fail, and so on. It was NOT "The Moore PR Machine" that you seem to blame everything on.

I was part of the orginal series fanbase. The product appealed to me, and I (along with a lot of others) find it to be better than the orginal. So there were no "liars" on the part of the producers or management of the network. What next? A "vast conspiracy" against the orginal series that scuttled the continuation so Ron Moore could swoop in and molest the concept??? The continuation idea was in development. If it was SUCH A GOOD CONCEPT, then the team attached would not have been lured away. So the project died in "Development Hell". LOTS of projects end up that way.

You just might need the "Reality Check" you suggested for me.

 

[Eric Paddon]

"Please. Richard was torch bearer for YEARS via novels and "Trailer" that he put together."

Novels that were not particularly well-liked by BG fandom given their appalling disregard for basic continuity with the series (Richard couldn't even remember the gender of the Rigel character, and he claims he had a crush on Sarah Rush!) and the fact that after years of turning his nose at the fanbase suddenly Richard was trying to embrace Galactica again as if he was desperately looking for one last chance to be a bigshot.

Tom DeSanto though was the man who got a series greenlit and who had one in development, and who had actually gotten Dirk Benedict, Herb Jefferson, potentially Anne Lockhart and even Richard on board to appear in. He ultimately did a lot more in terms of actual progress, and unlike Ron Moore he is a person who understands the original and respects its fanbase.

"And he has now seen that the landscape has changed and had two choices, either get involved or not. He accepted a recurring role. THAT speaks volumes... Now that he has "betrayed" the cause, you try to dismiss his involvement."

I dismissed his involvement years ago when he was writing bad novels! I'm not alone in those who don't have a high opinion of Richard Hatch and for those like me, we weren't a bit surprised by what he did. OTOH, God bless Dirk Benedict who told Moore to take a flying leap when he was asked to appear.

 

[Eric Paddon]

"No, the boards I read, including this one, rallied that EJO was saying that it was crap"

You didn't see that from me, and you didn't see it on Galactica boards like Colonial Fleets, the Battlestar Galactica mailings lists I belong to, so don't lump me in with people I don't associate with. The people I associate with correctly called it for what it was, which was Olmos making liars out of the Sci-Fi brass who were trying to con the Galactica fanbase into thinking that what they were doing was true to the spirit and tradition of the original.

"So there were no "liars" on the part of the producers or management of the network."

Bonnie Hammer, David Eick, Ron Moore. That's three liars right then and there.

"If it was SUCH A GOOD CONCEPT, then the team attached would not have been lured away."

Wrong again. Tom DeSanto was not "lured away" by anything, he ran into the obstacle caused by 9/11 causing the production startup date to be postponed to a point where Bryan Singer could no longer participate because of a prior committment. DeSanto wanted to keep it going but it was the loss of Singer caused by an event no one could have foreseen that doomed the project at that time.

So I think the matter of where the Reality Check belongs is still clear.

 

[Mike_G]

I think what bugs me the most is that this new BG was "reinvented" so much that it should have just been called something else, and the BG franchise should have been moved along with the original cast.

And as for what was considered "bad", I just picked up the Buck Rogers series on DVD. THAT was bad. Galactica wasn't EVER NEARLY as bad as BR.

I've been a BG fan since day one. I own one of two known 35mm prints of the original 3-hour pilot (NOT the theatrical movie, the actual pilot). What people don't seem to realize is that the show never ended properly. I think that if the show ended in some way (let's say a miniseries) and THEN "revinvented", nobody would care. We'd have a series we could put on a shelf and be proud of. However, again, the show will never "end" (as many shows didn't back in those days).

That said, I've been watching the show, trying to look at it objectively and I just can't. The direction is awful, the editing is atrocious, and the plots go nowhere. If they wanted to make the show "better" somehow, they failed. It's not better. The spirit of the original show is lost somehow. It's a shame we'll never get to see a proper ending to the original show. A damn shame.

Mike

 

[Chris Dugger]

Mike....

One only has to just look at the overall ratings for the new show.

For a series that fans of the old consider horrible, it will far out live the OS in episodes.

The new version is certainly much more believable in today's environment that the OS would be.

I remember the OS fondly.... I remember the SENSEROUND theatrical release.... but.... in today's world, a continuation of the OS with the older original cast just would not hold water....


Dugger

 

[Mike Williams]

I wasn't a big fan of the miniseries when it debuted last year, as I found it to be extremely slow and quite boring. I didn't even tune in the second night. When it was released on DVD, I decided to give it another chance and I also watched the 2 hour series premiere or the first two episodes. I'm hooked!!!

I certainly think the show is a bit depressing and hopefully that will turn in time, but we are living in a 9/11 generation and I think anything other than that weighty somber mood so soon after their entire civilization was wiped out would just be ludicrous. I don't mind Starbuck being a woman, but I think Boomer could have at least been an African American woman. I think EJO has done a tremendous job thus far and far exceeded my expectations. I love the female president and the jury is still out for me on Baltar's character, although the actor portraying him is very good. I grew up with the original and still like it, but I have made room in my heart for both versions.

 

[Eric Paddon]

The overall ratings for this show won't ever do better than one-fifth to one-tenth of the ratings for TOS on its best day.

Just something worth remembering.

A point was made earlier about the miniseries being better in terms of depicting the destruction of humanity compared to the original series, and the false point was raised that in the original people were soon "whooping it up." Actually, it was in the original that you actually saw scenes of devastation and cities being attacked and battlestars being destroyed which you never saw once in the miniseries. And the people were not "whooping it up" afterwards, they ended up at a pleasure resort that some people tried to grab as a quick and easy solution to their problem that turned out to be a false hope.