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Sci Fi Upfronts Delight and Depress Battlestar Fans
Ron Moore by Steve Freeman/Sci Fi Channel Photo
Tuesday's upfronts for the Sci Fi channel brought both good and bad news for fans of Battlestar Galactica.
The channel has finally given the greenlight to Caprica a prequel to Battlestar, in the form of a two-hour movie/backdoor pilot. The movie is expected to head into production this spring for a fall airing, and if picked up as a series, could be seen by mid-2009. The prequel will take place 50 years before BSG, and executive producer Ron Moore tells TV Guide it will be very different.
"It's not action-adventure," he said. "In fact, it's more like a prime-time soap opera set on a planet. I really like this new world we've created. It's a radically different approach to the sci-fi genre."
While the "past" looks bright, Moore wasn't as optimistic about the future of Battlestar beyond its final season. When asked if the end of the television series could be the beginning of a movie franchise, the answer was a pretty resounding no.
"The honest answer is that I think the series works best an ensemble television piece," he said. "I think if it was translated into features, it would have to become a different animal. Part of the special quality of the show is… all these complicated storylines where you embroider and embroider on all these characters. Feature films have different expectations." — Adam Bryant, with reporting by Illeane Rudolph and Michael Logan
What's your take? Do you think Battlestar could work as a movie? What do you hope the producers explore on Caprica?
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Mar 19, 2008 11:46 AM
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Of coarse it would work as a movie, will it make money, no. Caprica seems boring, it will need a strong cast.
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Mar 19, 2008 12:54 PM
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I think Moore is dead-on about the movies, and this understanding of what makes Galactica work is one of the reasons why it's one of the best shows on television. And honestly, I just want the show itself to go out with a bang without dangling loose threads created just to set it up for a movie that may never happen. I don't quite get why fans would be depressed over this -- I mean, movies have beginnings, middles, ends -- why can't TV?
As for Caprica, the concept fascinates me, and although the phrase "prime-time soap opera" makes me a little nervous, I feel with the right ensemble cast it could be tremendous. Way to take sci-fi to a new level. I couldn't be more excited.
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Mar 19, 2008 1:14 PM
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It doesn't depress me at all to hear that BSG will likely end definitively with the series. There's nothing wrong with knowing when to call it quits and go out on a strong note.
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Mar 19, 2008 3:12 PM
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I disagree that Battlestar wouldnt make good movies, but I guess I'll have to defer to the creator. The reason its depressing (to some, myself included) is just that you get attached to characters and shows and its sad to lose them. I agree that its best to know when to end a show rather than overstay the welcome, but its still sad. It was nice, for example, to have a couple TNG movies to look forward to after that series ended. I think BSG would make such an excellent franchise. There is such a thing as good characterization and intricate storylines in film.
I don't know about this Caprica thing. It sounds terrible from the description, but I'll probably give it a shot. Wouldnt the first war still be going on 50 years ago? What, its a soap opera with bombs in the background? I love the BSG characters, but without the high-stakes of the Cylon war, I would lose interest pretty quickly. Lee and Kara in the cockpits? Yay! Lee's and Kara's marital dilemnas? Snooze.
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Mar 19, 2008 4:18 PM
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I'm with those that agree that Ron Moore understands this great show should not be translated to the big screen.
It would definitely lose something in the translation. Everyone should let this be what it will be: the best reimagining of any show from the past and one of the best sci-fi television shows ever.
And I don't think Caprica will be bad, either, as long as Moore and company have their hands on it.
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Mar 19, 2008 4:57 PM
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The nice thing is that it will end pretty much on Moore's terms. As far as Caprica goes? I dont know. I'll wait and see.
With SciFi dumbing things down so your average, illiterate, knuckle-dragging mainstream U.S. viewer will watch (Why else would they have wrestling on SciFi?) Its hard to imagine what the future holds for their programming.
I'm not disappointed about there not being a BsG movie. Looking back at how Paramount beat Star Trek to an undignified death with the Next Generation movies and finally that horrid "Enterprise" (I wouldn't have wiped my butt with the paper the scripts were printed on) should serve as a strong enough lesson on letting things go.
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Mar 19, 2008 6:21 PM
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Ron's right, one of BSG biggest strengths is it's large and diverse cast. I seriously doubt a 90 minute to 2 hour movie effectively utilize the cast.
It would probably be like the next generation flicks where the cast was largely ignored in favor of the Picard and Data show.
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Mar 19, 2008 7:19 PM
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I have to agree about the movies. Look what happened with Firefly and Serenity. Firefly made good tv but did not translate well into feature film.
I also like that Ron knows when to leave and start something new. I am going to give Caprica a chance with the two hour pilot. If it as good as BSG, I will watch the series. If it's as bad as Bionic Woman I won't.
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Mar 19, 2008 7:40 PM
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There wasn't any bad news in the article I just read. BSG should stay and finish on TV.
I am looking forward to Caprica. However, I have feeling that hardcore sci-fi fans aren't going to tune in due to the lack of action. A lot of people stopped watching BSG because they thought it was too soapy. Those people are idiots but nonetheless they have Nielsen boxes.
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Mar 19, 2008 11:30 PM
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Bad news??? Dream on. Ron Moore is a genius who brought me years of great entertainment in the late 1990s with his work on "Star Trek: Deep Space 9." He has done an even better job with his brilliant work on "Battlestar Galactica." Frankly, as a fan of both series, I think is 100 percent right: these complex, character-driven dramas don't translate as well to a 2 hour movie on the big screen unless you leave a lot of the characters out of it.
I admit I was skeptical when I first heard of "Caprica" a while back, but I will absolutely watch the movie, and I'm more than willing to give the series (if it happens) a shot, too. In general, I think prequels are difficult to do as a series, but I'm more than willing to give it a chance. I have no doubt it will be 100 percent better than most of the reality crap that most networks are pushing these days!!
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Mar 20, 2008 12:44 AM
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I agree with Moore. BSG, the way it currently is as a critically acclaimed TV show, won't really make a great movie. I'm actually more comforted by the fact that the show will end without the belief that it may live on in another medium. Maybe we can get a real closure to the storylines.
While there will be an audience that would love to see a BSG movie, it would either have to be a straight to DVD thing or a total sell out to broaden its commercial appeal/make it accessible to the non-fan of the TV show.
Caprica sounds a bit interesting but it can also be rather cheesy/boring.
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Mar 20, 2008 1:41 AM
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Yeah, I'm not sure where the bad news in this story actually is. It should never go to the movie theaters. After the story wraps up this season that should be the end of it.
While I'm a little interested in the Caprica series I don't care one way or the other if it moves beyond the 2 hour TV movie.
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Mar 20, 2008 6:55 AM
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Forget it, It had its day. No movie please. Let it rest in peace.
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Mar 20, 2008 7:05 AM
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Did anyone catch them on Letterman last night? I don't know, it just seemed to fall flat, like Dave and the gang had no idea who they were or what they were doing there.
I would have much rather them come out in their regular clothes as themselves and not the characters - reminded me too much of the geeks at those sci-fi conventions. The selling point of this show has been that it is a character-driven drama with a sci-fi element, not the other way around.
The actual Top 10, though, was hysterical!
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Mar 20, 2008 9:14 AM
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