Friday, August 31, 2007

You snooze, you lose.

Kevin Smith has explained the whole directing gig hullabaloo on his MySpace page (with a little assistance from BSG Producer David Eick).

NBC Universal's Naked Greed

Have you been downloading Battlestar Galactica and other NBC Universal shows from iTunes? Well, forget about it, because thanks to NBC's greed, all their properties will be gone from iTunes by the end of December. Apple released this statement that says NBC wanted the per episode sale price raised from $1.99 to $4.99. The New York Times reports, on all the details of NBC's greedy demands, and their demands for more shady DRM schemes.

As the Times notes:

Among the most popular NBC Universal shows available for sale on iTunes are “Battlestar Galactica,” “The Office” and “Heroes.”
If you are concerned about NBC's egregious actions here, you should let NBC know what you think about their war on consumers.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Directing at last.

MrsRon continues to feed us scoopage this week - this time announcing to the faithful on The Forum that Ron Moore will be directing an episode in the second half of BSG's final season. [Hat tip to Maureen Ryan.]

DVD

TV Shows on DVD has the first photo of the packaging for the HD-DVD release of Battlestar Galactica season 1.

They also report on a promotional DVD NBC will make available at Blockbuster that will included Katee Sackhoff in Bionic Woman, along with Chuck, Life, and Journeyman.

Women of BSG

Video is now online at Sci-Fi Pulse of Mary McDonnell, Tricia Helfer, and Katee Sackoff answering fan submitted questions from the San Diego Comic-Con.

Be aware that they talk about the season 3 finale, plus give a few hints about what to expect in season 4.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Freak on a Leash

brokenmnemonic has made a new Lee-centric fanvid to Korn.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

John Dahl


Terry "MrsRon" Moore has posted on the skiffy forum that John Dahl (director of many features including YOU KILL ME and THE LAST SEDUCTION) is directing an episode this season.

For all you non-Americans

For all of fandom outside the USofA who couldn't watch the clips today while voting for the RAZOR region 1 cover art: here's the first and second clip on YouTube.

Hurry before they snatch 'em down! Maybe they won't...I'm just sayin'.



We Were Centurians




What would happen if a 'Chrome Toaster' got tired

of being treated like a second class Cylon?

It's an uprising, Centurion-style.

Find out what happens here.

Manipulating human emotions

Apparently Kevin Smith may NOT get to direct that ep afterall, due to scheduling conflicts. Keep your fingers crossed. Say Joss Whedon are you available? :)

The S3 DVD covers are up for your voting pleasure...all US-based voters get to watch a RAZOR clip after voting, and if you sign up for DVD announcements you get to see a 2nd clip.

(click image for larger view)

Monday, August 27, 2007

Fans to choose Season 3 DVD cover

A press release hit the internet today announcing a new dance that SciFi/Universal has dreamed up to do with fandom:

In a groundbreaking first, fans of Battlestar Galactica will be able to vote for their favorite DVD packaging of the Battlestar Galactica: Razor Unrated Extended Edition, which will be released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on December 4, 2007. The website http://www.scifi.com/battlestar will display a selection of three choices for fans to cast their votes starting tomorrow and continuing to 12 AM midnight Pacific Standard Time on September 7, 2007. The final selection will be posted on the site on September 14.

From the creators of the action-packed television phenomenon Battlestar Galactica comes the exclusive DVD event, Battlestar Galactica: Razor Unrated Extended Edition, on December 4, 2007, just 10 days after the SCI FI Channel's world premiere of Battlestar Galactica: Razor on November 24, 2007.

Pretty nice, eh?

The release includes further info on the RAZOR extras, promising deleted scenes, cast members describing their favorite episodes, BSG's Director of Photography Stephen McNutt discussing the show's look, and a sneak peak of Season 4 with Moore & Eick. Sounds yummy.

:: runs off to pre-order ::

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Live long and prosper

Fans on the SciFi.com BSG Forum are creating a scrapbook for the cast & crew, to be delivered to set this winter. For details of how to add something, go here.

A Myspace page, complete with countdown clock, is set up for the UK DVD release of S3.

Amazon is taking price-locked pre-orders for the DVD of RAZOR and the HD DVDs of Season 1.

Livejournalist shasplim has made a nice list of 10 reasons why BSG trumps STAR TREK.

Tricia Helfer has posted some (mildly spoilery) photos shot by her sister, during shooting of S4x08 scenes with her and Michael Trucco, directed by Michael Nankin. Oooh, Cap 6 and Sam? Heh.

Brown student J.L. Russo takes a closer look at the SciFi.com Videomaker Toolkit as part of her thesis study of fandom.

Mark Tuit, director of BLOOD: A BUTCHER’S TALE, discusses the film and Aaron Douglas’ part in it on the film’s official site. [Tip o’ the hat to The Chief’s Deck]

Buddy TV lays odds on who might be the final cylon model. Personally I’m starting to hope for one of those BUFFYesque “we are all Slayers” sort of endings. *wink*

Stylin Online has some great BSG tee shirts for sale.

Livejournalist languor has posted an immense (and incredibly spoilery) picspam of the entire series, as a tribute to how much she misses her BSG right now. Part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4. I just watched Crossroads Parts 1 & 2 last night - and yeah, I am so hiatus-beaten today. More FARSCAPE may help...I'm just starting season 3.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

What the frak is the deal with BSG?



Thanks to hollywoodgrrl for finding the clip. The entire episode is streaming from here. If any of you were looking for Joss Whedon like I was - watch what happens after the show's end credits...*g*

Friday, August 24, 2007

Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith recently told AOL TV Tatler that he will be directing an episode of BSG this season. [via TV Squad]

Season Zero



To fill in the time before BSG starts up again, Dynamite Entertainment has new Battlestar Galactica: Season Zero comic books.

A bit off topic... Battlestar Galactica fan Wil Wheaton occasionally puts out a podcast called Radio Free Burrito, and the most recent installment, episode nine, was one of the best, with a great mix of cool music that was put together in a highly entertaining package.

Robot Chicken!

Our dreams have come true: PopCandy tipped us off that this weekend's new ROBOT CHICKEN episode will feature a BSG sketch voiced by Katee Sackhoff and other cast (and, for added goodness, a sketch voiced by Joss Whedon *sigh*).

Based on what these folks did to Star Wars and Harry Potter, this should be nifty.

ETA: It's short. It's up here (1st half at 2:20 in). Voiced by Katee Sackhoff, Michael Hogan and Tahmoh Penikett. (Say does anyone know which voice is Whedon?)

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Romo Lives!



We will, in fact, get more Romo.

(Linked article also has minor speculation, along side the fact that Mark Sheppard will return to BSG in season 4.)

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Writing

BSG's co-exec producer Mark Verheiden reports back from the "super double-secret BATTLESTAR writing summit" where he and the other writers finished sketching out the rest of BSG's final season.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Conventions

Mary McDonnell had to cancel her appearance at London Comic Con next month.

Katee Sackhoff is not going to make it to Dragon Con. Fans are speculating that she is busy shooting BIONIC WOMAN. Aaron Douglas has been added to the schedule. There is a rumor that Jamie Bamber may not be able to attend. Dragon Con has added new guests Claudia Black, Ellen Muth, and Adam Baldwin…And don’t forget that Richard Hatch, Mark Sheppard, Juliet Landau, James Marsters, Tippi Hedren, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, and Nichelle Nichols are still scheduled to attend.

A fan named Patrick sent a detailed Wolf Con writeup to All About Tahmoh Penikett and posted more at his livejournal. Well done sir, thanks for all the deets…Meanwhile, The Lone Gunman posted a bunch of terrific Wolf Con photos.

Some off-topic stuff, but still Con-related:

I really enjoy Wil Wheaton's writings for his blog and for SuicideGirls. This week he posted a piece offering advice about conventions, aimed at everyone - guests, promoters, tradespersons, fans. Great stuff.

Another recent find for me is the hilarious writings of Amateur Scientist at PINK RAYGUN. Here's a fine sample: his extremely entertaining take on San Diego Comic Con panels (Preview night / Thurs. / Friday / Sat. / Sunday).

Raygun also caught the Mayor of San Diego dissing the Con – tsk tsk!

TV is The Place To Be.

UGO has come up with a list of The 50 Best TV Shows Of All Time, and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is #3 – above THE SOPRANOS, second only to THE WIRE and BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. An interesting list, with SEINFELD in the bottom 10 and THE PRICE IS RIGHT in the top 10...but if you’re looking for DVDs to watch on the Hiatus of Doom, you could do a lot worse than these shows.

I’ve been a cinephile for most of my life, very rarely finding TV that I loved as much as films. Ten years ago, THE SOPRANOS and SEX AND THE CITY changed my mind about TV. A few years later, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, THE WEST WING, SIX FEET UNDER and BSG got me absolutely, definitively hooked on the longer, endlessly unfolding and shifting ride of good TV storytelling - and in particular the serialized mode. Newspaper A&E critic Robert Butler has written a wonderful expression of this idea, as he explores his own journey from film-nut to TV-nut.

Mini-sode Air Dates

Sci Fi Channel has announced a bit more about the minisodes:

Beginning in October, SCI FI will air Battlestar Galactica "mini-sodes" entitled "Razor" during episodes of the hit series Flash Gordon, Fridays at 9 p.m. The two-to-three-minute shorts will lead into the Nov. 24 premiere of "Razor," the two-hour Battlestar special TV movie, which will tell the story of Lee Adama's (Jamie Bamber) first mission as commander of the Battlestar Pegasus and will reveal the story of how Adm. Cain (Michelle Forbes) served her ship during the original Cylon attack on the Colonies. "Razor"…will provide a backdrop to events in the rest of Battlestar, which returns for its fourth and final season in early 2008. "Razor" is written by Michael Taylor and directed by Felix Alcala.

Fans have created a countdown clock till January 6, 2008 - which is when we all HOPE season 4 will start airing.

Vote or Die

Battlestar Galactica is nominated for various SyFy Portal Genre Awards and E!Online Tater Top Awards…Go vote!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

I'd watch this series

BattlestarSupernova put together this idea for season 4's opening credits:

Summer Viewing



If you haven't yet picked up a copy of Babylon 5: The Lost Tales on DVD, you should check it out.

(See also: B5 on Myspace.)

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Pegasus Comic

From Comic Book Resources:
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT today released images and information announcing Battlestar Galactica: Pegasus, a one-shot issue featuring an adventure of the crew and commander of the Battlestar Pegasus. Scheduled for an October release, Battlestar Galactica: Pegasus will be available with a cover from Greg Tocchini and with a Battlestar photo cover.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

On My Christmas List

More news from Highdef Digest, on the HD release of the Mini and S1:

...Featuring the original 2003 mini-series, the full pilot episode and the complete first season of the show, Universal will roll out the high-def red carpet for 'Battlestar,' in a six-disc set brimming with supplements.

In addition to audio commentary with creator Ronald D. Moore (and guests) on the complete mini-series, pilot and nine additional episodes, extras include more than a half-dozen featurettes, multiple deleted scenes, a still gallery and the "Encyclopedia Galactica," an interactive guide including ships, characters, colonies and flight training manual.

Also exclusive to the HD DVD release will be a picture-in-picture video commentary on the entire mini-series, featuring Moore, cast and crew and additional making-of footage.

In-picture video commentary? An Encyclopedia? FUN!

Razor on DVD

New announcements on the Universal Home Video web site: the RAZOR DVD, and Season 1 in HD, are both being released on December 4, 2007. [Thanks to DVD Times and HD DVD format blog for the heads-up.]

Wolf Con

photo: Shirl

Fans have posted tons of photos of Tahmoh Penikett, Alessandro Juliani, Leah Cairns and Rekha Sharma at Wolf Con this past weekend. [If anyone has seen any other reportage, interviews, or descriptions, let us know...we can't seem to find any...YET.]

*giggles*

photo: meivocis

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Cool Montage



Video by Youn2000 with Bear McCreary's music, "Martial Law" from season 2 soundtrack.

Writers

Battlestar Galactica co-exec producer Mark Verheiden reports that he and the other writers are taking a retreat to an undisclosed location to work out the plots of the remaining episodes of Battlestar Galactica's final season.

But, could a potential Writers Guild strike impact on BSG's production? Probably not, if all the scripts get written before November/December. But, such negotiations drag on for ages, so there isn't likely to be any impact on BSG. And Canada has their own labor issues.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Well behaved women...

The "Women of Battlestar Galactica" video from Comicon has hit the internets:



There are several bits of RAZOR throughout. Kinda plays like a fanvid, eh?

Yahoo TV has also posted a huge pile of Comicon-related videos. [Thanks to Mo Ryan for the tip.]

Friday, August 10, 2007

New Razor promo

SciFi Channel broadcast a new promo for RAZOR tonight during the season premiere of FLASH GORDON:

Of vidding and tomatoes.

Intense new fanvid by canadiangirl-86:



"Lunch: another heirloom tomato salad. If you haven't tried heirloom tomatoes, you're missing out. As varied and lovely as tropical fish, only made out of tomatoes." - Jane Espenson

Indeed Jane, indeed. *stomach grumbles*

[poster by Gary Ibsen]

Thursday, August 09, 2007

It's a deal, Ron.

Ron Moore has signed a two-year overall deal with NBC Universal (owner of Sci-Fi Channel). This piece also points out that David Eick already has a long-term pact with the studio. [via Syfy Portal]

BSG Co-producer/writer Jane Espenson has penned a piece for The New Republic, discussing what she considers crucial elements that allow sci-fi and fantasy writing to work as mainstream TV or film material. Maureen Ryan expands on the idea by looking at several current TV shows beyond the spec-fic genre.

Roadrunner has posted her very nice photos of the Saturday Comicon panel.

Hollywood.com caught up with Katee Sackhoff at the SciFi/EW party at Comicon. If any of our readers spot Katee and Tricia riding Harleys in Vancouver or Los Angeles...you're gonna send us a photo, right?! (proggrrl at gmail dot com)

TV Shows on DVD confirms information we’ve already heard about the RAZOR DVD, and that there still is no firm announcement about the release date of BSG S3 disks for Region 1.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Season 3 BSG CD cover art

Bear McCreary has updated his blog, and revealed the cover art (above) for the Season 3 soundtrack album due this fall from LaLa Land Records.

Bear also reports that there will be a live concert in L.A. around the time the album is released. In his update he also talks about scoring Razor, working on Eureka, Wrong Turn 2, and The Sarah Connor Chronicles. So check it all out here.

Meerkat Battlestar



Who knew that even the Meerkats were into BSG?

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Taking Flight

SyFy Portal has a few Galactica spoilers and speculations focusing on Admiral Adama's relationship with Starbuck in season 4. (They also report on a pretty cool spoiler for Adama, something that Edward James Olmos has wanted to do for a while on the show.)

Yahoo has several videos of panels and events from the San Diego Comic Con.

Monday, August 06, 2007

Friar's Club vid

Sci Fi Channel has posted the entire Ladies of BSG panel from SDCC. At last. Thanks skiffy...Lucy Lawless, you are HILARIOUS.

Friday, August 03, 2007

More from our Nerd Prom

The Ladies of BSG [from E!Online]

Aaron Douglas at SDCC [from cranberries]

Mark Sheppard hangs with the Romo fans during panels [from Scarbuck]


IGN has posted an edited-down video of Saturday press panel, which happened after the fan panel, available for download.

LiveVideo has a short glimpse of the BIONIC WOMAN panel and audience reactions.

Comic Book Resources interviewed writer/producer Mark Verheiden about how he became a pro writer, working on BSG, and his other current projects.

The Televisionary has posted his report on Saturday’s panel.

The Power of EJO

Edward James Olmos is on The Hollywood Reporter’s Latino Power 50 this year. He will be the keynote speaker for Hispanic Heritage Month at Northern Kentucky University on September 27th, and the Celebrity Narrator for Disney World’s Candlelight Processional from December 20-22nd.

BSG episode “Downloaded” is competing for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation / Short Form. The award ceremony is in Japan on Sept. 1st at the Nippon WorldCon.

Tricia Helfer and Richard Hatch will be guest starring at Wizard World Chicago during the weekend of August 10-12th. According to a fan I know, “there will be panels, presentations, and a special sneak peek of Richard Hatch's new movie.”

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Now it's getting exciting

EW.com has video of Katee Sackhoff, Mary McDonnell, and Tricia Helfer discussing their final BSG season at EW's Comic-Con Party, and Katee lets slip an important spoiler. (Also the video has cameos from Stan Lee, Sarah Silverman, Mark Sheppard and other Sci-Fi personages.)

On the blog of BSG co-exec producer Mark Verheiden, he talks about how the early cuts of season 4 episodes are coming together. (No spoilers!) As Mark notes:

One of the joys of being ON the show is that I don't have to wait until January to see this stuff, but trust me, the wait will be worth it...

Roadrunner on LiveJournal reports on a major spoiler (or rumor) revealed by TV Guide's Michael Ausiello.

Browncoats



















The California Browncoats with Firefly's "Badger" and Battlestar Galactica's "Romo Lampkin" Mark Sheppard, are raising funds for St. Jude's Children's Hospital.

Speaking of Mark Sheppard, SyFy Portal speculates that Romo Lampkin might make it back to Galactica before the series finale. (Moderate spoilers.)

Katee on Kimmel

A Comment on Comments

The policy of the Galactica Sitrep on spoilers is that when we report on spoilers, we clearly label them as spoilers, or we will use invisible text you can highlight to read. So, please don't post spoilers in the comments. (You can send me links to spoilers via email to logan dot gawain at gmail dot com.)

Naturally we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive. But, in general freedom of expression encouraged.

Thanks.

L.G.
&
P.G.

Kandyse McClure speaks


I was very excited to see this new interview that Kandyse McClure has done with Slice of SciFi. We so rarely get to hear in-depth discussion with the supporting cast and the crew. Michael Hogan, Michael Trucco, Aaron Douglas, Nicki Clyne, Lucy Lawless, Callum Keith Rennie and Dean Stockwell: please step forward! (Hey while we're mentioning it, we could use some more delving inty's with Mary and James as well. I'm just sayin'...)

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Visitor

Tonight Katee Sackoff is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC. Katee also talked to Sci-Fi Wire. (Minor spoilers)

Nana Visitor (Col. Kira of ST: Deep Space Nine) reports that she's guesting on Battlestar Galactica, reuniting with DS9 co-exec producer/writer Ronald D. Moore.