Battlestar Galactica
From Wikinfo
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television film and series, produced in 1978 by Glen Larson and starring Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict. The series was revived in 2003, starring veteran actors Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell.
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Synopsis of the original pilot film
The show is set in a distant part of outer space in what is disclosed as "the seventh millennium of time". There, the human colonies had been fighting a thousand-year war against the mechanoid Cylons who sought to exterminate humanity. The series began with the Cylons suing for peace thanks to the diplomatic efforts of human councilor Baltar. In reality, he had betrayed humanity for personal power by leading the fleet of the main ships of the line, giant fighter carriers called Battlestars, into a trap.
At the rendezvous, the Cylons attacked the unsuspecting ships and destroyed all of them except for the Galactica. Commander Adama of the Galactica had already been suspicious of this uncharacteristic peace offer, and was the only one to put his ship on battle alert after his sons Apollo and Zac found the attack force on patrol. Realizing that the home worlds were now vulnerable, he withdrew to intervene, only to learn that the Cylons had already devastated them.
With the human colony civilization in ruins, Commander Adama proposed the only chance for humanity to survive. He would lead a refugee fleet in search of the lost human colony, a planet known only as Earth. Thus, with the Galactica leading a ragtag fleet of ships of every variety and state of repair, Adama with the help of his second, Colonel Tigh and his best fighter pilots, his surviving son Apollo, and the hotshot pilot, Starbuck, search for that planet. Unfortunately, the Cylons are in determined pursuit. The Cylon Imperious Leader, however, is displeased with Baltar's part of the deal and orders him sought and executed (at least in the theatrical version of the pilot).
The fleet finds brief haven on the resort planet of Carillon. Meanwhile, our heroes discover a trap with the Cylons plotting to turn over the entire population of the fleet to the Ovions. Starbuck and Apollo, while rescuing their fellow comrades, set fire to the tylium mine below which will cause the planet to self-destruct at a certain point in time. The humans escape, the fleet battles the Cylons, and Starbuck & Apollo manage to intercept the Cylon Base Star before Carillon is destroyed. The rag-tag fleet continues their quest for Earth.
In the uncut television version of the pilot, there is an epilogue in which Baltar's life is spared, thus setting the stage for the series to come.
The balance of the series followed the fleet on their journey. The series is also noted for its references to Mormonism.
Broadcast History
Original
The pilot to this series, the biggest budgeted of that time, originally was released theatrically in Canada and Europe in the summer of 1978 in a 125-minute version, and in most cases outgrossed "Star Wars" in terms of box-office receipts. Months later, in September, the uncut 148-minute pilot premiered on ABC with spectacular ratings, but as the series continued they slid as the writing declined and the budget restrictions meant that the established special effects shots were overplayed into tedium. Star Wars creator George Lucas sued the producers for plagiarism, and in April of 1979 the network executives cancelled the still strong-rated show in a failed attempt to position Mork and Mindy into a more lucrative time slot. A month later, the theatrical version of the pilot was finally released to U.S. theatres.
Galactica 1980
A sequel series, called Galactica 1980, in which the fleet found and protected Earth, was a quick failure due to its low budget, widely-panned writing, and ill-placed time slot (Sundays at 7:00 PM, a time slot generally reserved for family-oriented programming and news shows).
Revival Attempts
However, the original show has maintained a cult fandom ever since which support competing efforts by Glen Larson and Richard Hatch to revive the premise.
2003 reimagining
Despite attempts to revive the series over the years, none came to fruition until it was reimagined in 2003 by Universal Television in association with Sky One and the Sci-Fi Channel with Ronald D. Moore as the creative force behind it. Edward James Olmos stepped into the role of Commander Adama. A weekly new Galactica series followed, premiering on Sky One in the UK and Ireland in October 2004, and on Sci-Fi in the U.S. in January 2005.
Miniseries
In December 2003, the American Sci-Fi Channel broadcast a three-hour miniseries that reimagined Battlestar Galactica. This miniseries was so successful that Sci-Fi opted to develop this new version of Galactica into a television series.
Television series
Featuring critically-acclaimed veteran actors Edward James Olmos as Commander William Adama and Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslin, the new series first aired in the UK and Ireland on Sky One in October 2004. The series debuted in North America on the Sci-Fi Channel in January 2005.
An edited version of the "pilot" miniseries was broadcast on NBC—a corporate sibling of the Sci-Fi Channel—on January 9, 2005, five days before the Sci-Fi series premiere. NBC also aired three selected first-season episodes to promote the show in advance of the second-season premiere in July 2005. Three seasons aired on Sci-Fi and Sky One between 2005 and 2007. A two-hour film (set during the show's second season), Battlestar Galactica: Razor, aired on Sci-Fi on Saturday November 24, 2007, as a prelude to the fourth season. A fourth and final season began airing on April 4, 2008.[1][2] Owing to production delays caused by the 2007-2008 Writers Guild strike, it has been reported that the fourth season will be split into two 10-episode pieces, the second part of which may air as late as 2009. The fourth season will also air on Universal HD beginning in July 2009. [3]
The series has won widespread acclaim among many mainstream non-genre publications. Time magazine,[4] Rolling Stone magazine[5] and New York Newsday[6] named it the best show on television in 2005. Other publications like The New York Times,[7] The New Yorker[8] and National Review[9] also gave the show positive reviews.
Webisodes
The webisodes were a series of shorts produced to promote the third season of the show. They filled in some of the events between the second and third seasons and featured some of the main cast. These webisodes were made so as not to reveal what would happen in the beginning of season three. Season 3 was also set up so that missing the webisodes would not leave a viewer confused about the story.
Each of the ten webisodes was approximately three minutes in length, and they were released twice a week leading up to the U.S. Season 3 premiere.
Razor
Battlestar Galactica: Razor is a television film produced and broadcast in the gap between Seasons 3 and 4. It chronicles events on Battlestar Pegasus in two time periods, both of which are "in the past" with respect to the Season 4 continuity. The "present day" framing scenes are set during Lee Adama's command, in the latter half of Season 2, while "flashback" scenes depict Helena Cain's command in the period between the Cylon attack and the reunion with Galactica in the second season episode Pegasus. It aired in the United States and Canada on November 24 and in Britain and Ireland on December 18, 2007. An expanded version was released on DVD on December 4, 2007.
Caprica
Caprica is a proposed television series described as "television's first science fiction family saga". Caprica will be set on the fictional planet Caprica around fifty years before the events depicted in the 2004 reimagined series. The show will revolve around two families, the Adamas and the Graystones, the building of the Cylons, and the beginnings of the first Cylon War. A two-hour backdoor pilot is scheduled to air in late 2008.[10][11]
External links
References
- ^ Blend Television: Battlestar Galactica Premiere Date Set
- ^ LA Times Show Tracker: 'Battlestar Galactica': Say it ain't frakkin so!
- ^ Blend Television: Now That The Strike Is Over, When Will My Shows Come Back?
- ^ Time Magazine Dec. 16, 2005 issue
- ^ Rolling Stone Magazine Jan. 27, 2006
- ^ New York Newsday Dec. 25, 2005
- ^ "Ron Moore's Deep Space Journey," The New York Times July 17, 2005
- ^ "Across the Universe," The New Yorker Jan. 23, 2006
- ^ "Starborn Society," The National Review Jan. 20, 2006
- ^ The Hollywood Reporter: Sci Fi unveils 'Battlestar' prequel
- ^ Blend Television: Scifi Greenlights Battlestar Galactica Prequel
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Battlestar_Galactica" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlestar_Galactica, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
