And So It Begins...

Above is a photo posted to Twitter by SyFy exec Mark Stern of a Blood & Chrome production meeting. You can see David Eick to the immediate right of the frame. (click to embiggen.)

And here's the new rookie viper pilot William Adama, call sign "Husker" to be portrayed by Luke Pasqualino:


Entertainment Weekly broke the casting news:

Syfy has cast Luke Pasqualino (Skins — U.K.) as Adama. While Ben Cotton (Hellcats, Riese) is the other lead, playing Adama’s commanding officer.

First, here’s some official character descriptions that give you some new details about the show:
Pasqualino will star as the young, talented fighter pilot William Adama, a recent Academy graduate who finds himself assigned to the newest Battlestar in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica. Full of ambition and in pursuit of the intense action that the Cylon war promises, Adama quickly finds himself at odds with Coker (Cotton), the battle-weary officer to whom he reports. With 45 days left in his tour of duty, Coker desires an end to battle just as much as Adama craves the start of it. Though they clash at first, the two men forge an unlikely bond when a routine mission turns dangerous and becomes a pivotal one for the desperate fleet.

Blood & Chrome is set during the 10th year of the first Cylon war. The show will debut with a two-hour pilot on Syfy, executive produced by David Eick.

Several sites have read the script for Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome either in full or in part, and if you click on the following links you will find spoilers here at, io9, Trek Web, and Spinoff Online. Readers are reacting positively to the storyline as Charlie Jane Anders wrote:

The best thing I can say about Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome is that it feels like BSG. More than the BSG TV movies, more than Caprica, this feels like the gritty, intense show about real characters in impossible situations that we fell in love with. Of course, this time around, we’ll know how everything turns out in advance — but the journey may actually be pretty gods-damned compelling, judging from these pages.

In other news....

Check out this highly detailed map of the Twelve Colonies that you can order from Quantum Mechanix.

Ronald D. Moore's original Series Bible for Battlestar Galactica has been leaked online, and reveals the original shape of the show and the plans for the first season. (Or is this the real show Bible?)

CNN profiled Jane Espenson.



Katee Sackhoff and Tricia Helfer were recent guests at the Women of Sci-Fi Expo in Texas where they talked to fans and did an Acting Outlaws live stream.

And Jamie Bamber has a new BBC show, Outcasts which looks to have some BSG qualities. Watch the trailer here.

Katee Sackhoff on Olmos Directing The Plan

From the set of 24 Katee Sackhoff talked to The TV Addict about Edward James Olmos directing The Plan:


Bear McCreary details the music of The Plan on his blog.

In other very big Bear news, Bear's BSG music is finally showing up on iTunes, along with video content:

Best of all, there is (and will be even more) exclusive iTunes content available. First up, the world premiere music video and single of “Apocalypse (Theme from ‘The Plan’)” performed live by the Battlestar Galactica Orchestra in concert are now on iTunes.

This video captures all the energy and intensity of our live performances this summer. If you missed the shows, this is the next best thing.

Also, Mojo reviews the recent Stu Philips birthday tribute concert, that Bear contributed to. And check out Mojo revealing how to find the secret special BSG easter egg on the The Plan DVD and Blu-ray. Without revealing what the easter egg is, lets just say that if you watched the original BSG, I think you'll dig it.

Oh, and check out this out too, it's hilarious.

New clips from THE PLAN

Last night BATTLESTAR GALACTICA fans were treated to two different sneak peaks at the upcoming telefilm THE PLAN, which promises to revisit the events of the BSG timeline from the cylon perspective.

SciFi previewed a new clip of Cavil talking to Ellen last night on air, and we at the Sitrep are not against aiming the frakkin' Flipcam at the TeeVee now and then for your pleasure:



ETA Sunday: SciFi has posted the official clip now:



Meanwhile, at the World Science Festival panel last night in New York City another exclusive clip, of Cavil with Boomer, was screened for the audience. Uberfangrrl and friend of the blog prolix_allie was nice enough to write up a description of it for us. In honor of our more spirginal readers, we are putting that info in the comment section of this post.

For a bit more footage of THE PLAN, here's the trailer released a few months ago:

Time Sensitive

A couple of time-sensitive things have popped up this week, so let me post them all here right away:

There is a contest over at Wet Paint BSG Wiki to win a CAPRICA pilot film DVD, which asks you to guess how many BSG characters will still be standing at the end of the finale.

AfterEllen will be hosting a live chat online with BSG/CAPRICA writer/producer Jane Espenson, this Thursday at 9pm ET.

Something to read (and bitch about) before Friday night: Ron Moore discussing the fan theories that have popped up around Daniel The Cylon, during the podcast commentary for "Islanded in a Sea of Stars." Since we don't have a spoiler-cut here, I've posted a transcript at the BSG blog. Thanks to reader Trey for typing it up!

Preview Photos

An intrepid YouTuber has turned some recent preview photos from Daybreak Part One into a neat slideshow set to music.

Very minor spoilers for the episode. Most of the preview photos are from the Adama speech scene on the hanger deck we saw in the trailer for Daybreak. The set also includes some behind the scenes photos, including Jamie Bamber together with his wife, Kerry Norton who plays Doc Cottle's assisant Ishay:

Space promo for #419 Someone To Watch Over Me

Space Canada's latest promo spot. HT BSG Blog.


Looks like Weddle/Thompson/Nankin's final BSG episode is going to do something those guys all do very well: Starbuck. Lots and lots of Starbuck...

For you spoilerish types, over here are some promo photos of Starbuck from the episode. And here are slightly more spoilery ones for another part of the ep.

For you toaster lovers out there, this busy fan put together a nifty collection of BSG cylon photography from the entire series.

Space in Canada

Space promo for Blood on the Scales posted to YouTube by pennyfeline:

SPOILERS!

"You're the 5th"

photo by Randee St. Nicholas for the L.A. Times.

In The Los Angeles Times Geoff Boucher has an exciting and interesting interview with Kate Vernon.

Kate reveals that she's held the secret Ron Moore told her for quite some time:

All of this was a tremendous surprise considering Ellen was poisoned to death in Season 3, but with the Cylons, the usual rules of mortality don't apply. Vernon is thrilled to be back. Her character was originally written for a four-episode arc, but she endured and became a key character -- until she was murdered by her on-screen husband.

"I wasn't done with the character," Vernon moaned. "They killed me off. I was devastated. Why me? What did I do wrong?"

A small reprieve came when executive producer Ron Moore told her she would return as a dark vision of her husband's tortured mind, but Vernon resigned herself to the fact that her role in "one of the greatest shows ever made" was over. Then, on an especially wrenching afternoon many months ago, she got a phone call.

"I was crawling down Sepulveda and I had just come from a therapy session and I was crying, my eyes were swollen like clam eyes, and I was hanging on my steering wheel wondering what was going on in my life and my career. The phone rang. It was Ron's assistant."

For the next 45 minutes (traffic was bad) Moore explained that Ellen would return as a centerpiece presence. "Now I'm in seven of the last nine, and they are just absolutely brilliant. I can't tell you how good they are," she said.

Kate and Ron also talked to The Deadbolt about how trilled she was to return to BSG for the last episodes.

The L.A. Times also responded to reader complaints about their article, which ran a front page photo of Vernon in the Calendar section, with a large headline and with no spoiler warning. The L.A. Times responded:

"We really did think about it, but the story was too good to pass up for the few people who would inevitably be mad at us," says TV editor Kate Aurthur. She explained: "Entertainment journalism is a competitive medium, and this was a huge exclusive scoop for us. We took great pains to make sure it didn't export to the Web early by accident, and even held the Web version up so it published after the episode aired Pacific Time (letting our East Coast competitors perhaps get the jump on us, but out of consideration for Sci Fi's wishes and our core readers in California)." As for a reader who sarcastically asked if editors were aware that some readers record shows to watch later, Aurthur responds, "Though we certainly know that many readers have DVRs, we can't hold back on our coverage when something very important happens on a show people love. We must assume that people who care the most watch in real time, or close to it."

I have to agree with the Times on this one. This was a major event in the history of the show, so it's logical that it would make big news. My view has always been that once the show airs in the U.S. it's no longer a spoiler, and any embargo on the information can be lifted. At least that's our policy here. There are other sites on the web that specialize in spoilers, and they do a fine job at it. But on Sitrep, after an ep airs, the information is fair game to report and discuss.

3 More Days. Keep Your Head Down.

ETA: It is the next morning...and another commenter posted a response to Adam's comments saying this is a bunch of baloney. Then again, I just read this. So...I say: you could survive for a few more days staying away from the danger zones...just in case. :)


I hope our reader Adam doesn't mind if I repost here something he just wrote in the comments section on an earlier post:

The identity of the Final Cylon has apparently leaked due to the Sci-Fi Channel letting the relevant episode's script be put on eBay. Pictures of the script seem to confirm who the person is.

As a result, if you don't want to be spoiled about the big reveals in this week's episode I would suggest avoiding any spoiler sites at all for the next few days. Duck and cover!

We have no idea if this is true. But be careful out there, spirgins...You may want to stay off the SciFi.com boards, io9.com, SpoilerTV, etc.

Where Do We Go From Here?

There was an interview conference call this week with Ron Moore and David Eick, and many bloggers have been reporting on it in bits and pieces. Here’s a bunch of nifty highlights from various sources including Cinema Blend’s full transcript of the call...

• The BATTLESTAR GALACTICA season 4 finale will indeed be three hours long. SciFi is still working out how to air those 3 hours on their schedule. There are apparently plans to air the entire three hours all together at least once.

• Other projects Moore is working on right now include CAPRICA, VIRTUALITY, and new drafts of the THING movie*. Moore says he’ll be “bouncing back and forth” between CAPRICA and THE THING. Both Eick and Moore both list CAPRICA as top on their current to-do list.

• BSG: THE PLAN and CAPRICA do not have air dates planned yet, but THE PLAN is shot and is being edited now.

• Moore had this to say about CAPRICA:
  

We start shooting probably in July, we're putting the writing staff together now and the crew, and just staffing up and getting ready to go. We'll start breaking stories probably in February, and maybe as soon as the end of the month depending on when all the pieces go together. We have a game plan of what the general storyline is and some directions so we're not starting completely from scratch.

... We sort of set out deliberately to set up Caprica so that you didn't have to see Battlestar. I think you could literally watch the pilot of Caprica without seeing a single frame of film from Galactica and you would get it. You could invest in that story completely on its own from there. We want it to stand as its own project.

• From Clique Clack:
  

As far as the webisodes go, Moore didn't know that the webisodes were leaked. He didn't seem all that bothered by it but he was surprised. Moore said he does read some reviews online and will look at some commentary as the show's airing, to see what people have to say.

Someone asked Moore if, out of all the theories he's read out there, has anyone been right? He said there are definitely some spot-on theories, but he hasn't seen anyone who's nailed the whole thing down.

* Bloody Disgusting got a tip recently about the outline of Ron Moore’s THING script (spoiler warning)…and if you STILL haven’t seen THE THING 1982, what are you waiting for? It’s awesome, and it’s on Hulu!


[Sources: Cinema Blend, Deadbolt, Zap2It, CliqueClack, TV Guide, GeekSugar]

11 More Days. Time For a Spoiler PSA.

Before the final season starts and the final webisodes air, Logan and I wanted to take a moment to discuss the spoiler policy around here.

Galactica Sitrep has run with a “spirgin-sensitive” policy* for some time now, and we will continue to do so through the rest of the series and as far forward as this blog is going.

With even some journalists now wanting to establish an admirably hardcore anti-spoiler stance for season 4.5, this seems like a good time to explain the policy here in more detail.

While we link all the time to spoilers on other sites, and once in a while may actually announce a tiny one ourselves…in truth, neither Logan nor I wants to read spoilers about any more of the show from here on in. I have been avoiding about 95% of them since last spring; Logan has decided to abstain from any further spoilers starting now.

What does this mean here at Sitrep? For one thing, PLEASE DO NOT POST ANY SPOILERS IN OUR COMMENTS. Even with a “spoiler warning” notice, your comment will get deleted.

You can post a link to a spoiler on another site. That’s OK – as long as you warn about it, and you do not afterwords try to discuss said spoiler in our comments section. That will get you deleted.

After an episode (or webisode, or sneak peak clip, or promo ad) has aired, feel free here to discuss anything that happened in that ep. But you should not be randomly dropping spoilers about the future episodes into the conversation. That might get you deleted.

If there is a post where Logan or I specifically warn of spoilers in the comments, or want to discuss a certain spoiler in the comments, obviously you can openly discuss that item. But it does not mean we want to discuss any other random spoilers. That will certainly get you deleted.

If you see something in the comments that is spoilery, and it bugs you, feel free to ping ProgGrrl at gmail dot com and say something.  Maybe we missed it.

[* spirgin = spoiler virgin; the state of being utterly spoiler-free]

Sepinwall’s List

Another excellent interview with Ron Moore has just popped up online – Alan Sepinwall (alt link) spoke to Moore at length during the Summer 2008 TCA press events, about the end of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, his goals for CAPRICA, the Emmys and the challenges that sci-fi faces these days finding its wider audience attention.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call this interview spoilery…but Sepinwall asks Moore about a list of his own burning unanswered questions after the end of season 4.0. And Moore responds to everything on the list. Perhaps you can skip that part if you are 100% spoiler-free.

Sitrep would love to hear about your burning questions remaining for season 4.5. Come down into the comments to discuss – BUT PLEASE, NO OUTSIDE SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS, K?

A few more holiday treats...

Can be found over here today.

SciFi.com posts "An Epic Journey"

SciFi.com and Sci Fi Wire have now posted the 4.5 promo that fans caught on Space this weekend.

The SciFi.com version is the largest and clearest yet available for US viewers.

Enjoy it again...why the frak not!

Oh and for those of you wanting something to discuss over the long holiday weekend, I have a special present: fan smcki10 has posted the promo running IN SLOW MOTION. Frakkin' awesome! Beware of spoilers...

Season 4.5 First Look

Promo for season 4.5 promo to air during a Bond marathon on Thanksgiving day on Sci-Fi from YouTube user SevorTB

In other 4.5 news io9 rounds up all known spoilers and speculations the final 10 episodes of Battlestar Galactica.



Fan vid by Roslin14.

Another Coming Out Party?

Ain't It Cool News has posted some intriguing tidbits about BATTLESTAR GALACTICA's final set of mid-season bridge webisodes:

From one of our most reliable sources ever:

The new Battlestar Galactica webisodes "The Face of the Enemy" start going on line next month. Two recurring male characters are revealed to be gay.

One hears the first webisode was shown at some sort of Producers Guild event or something. Full-on making out was apparently part of the fun!

Who are the recurring males? Gaeta, whose very name has “gay” in it, never seemed too interested in the girls – but perhaps that’s too obvious?

My money’s on Tigh and Tyrol. Remember how sore Tigh got when he found out the chief was secretly boning Boomer? (source post/SPOILER ALERT)

We here at Sitrep can not only confirm this info -- we can give you a bit more. If you'd like to know for sure which two characters will be sucking face on screen in the webisodes, check out the comments section (SPOILER ALERT).

Sitrep is also hearing that the webisodes will premiere online in mid-December, though the Sci Fi Channel has yet to make any announcement. Last week The Futon Critic posted the webisodes are to be broadcast on air January 15.

Massive Spoiler Alert

Actor Aaron Douglas (Galen Tyrol) was recently on Cort and Fatboy of KUFO, and revealed massive spoilers for season 4.5. (Though he seems to think he was talking about the ending of the midseason finale for 4.0 Revelations. Instead, it seems that he was talking about the first ep of 4.5, Sometimes a Great Notion.) While confusing, it does appear that the thrust Aaron's comments are basically accurate.


However, SyFy Portal attempts to clarify some of the confusion surrounding Aaron's comments and adds some details from unnamed sources.

Don't read any of the above linked articles if you want to remain spoiler free about the rest of the series.

It'll be interesting to see if TPTB have a talk with Aaron about his Non-disclosure agreement.

Touching spoilers for 4.5 and the Series Finale

As many of you have already figured out, there is an extremely spoilery cast/crew wrap video now floating around the interwebs. It was apparently created for the eyes only of the BSG cast and crew, and as a tribute to (or appreciation for) director/producer Michael Rymer. The video features a bunch of still photos and video snippets shot while season 4.5 was being filmed, including during the finale, and on the final day of shooting. It's filled with the most adorably sweet behind-the-scenes candid shots of the cast and crew -- as well as a ton of spoilers, mainly reveals of sets and props for season 4.5 that I certainly didn't want to see.

Logan thought the whole thing was very touching.

I peeked at a few parts, against my better spirginal judgement. I regret it. I give this video an 8 out of 10 on the Sitrep Spoiler Scale.

A very kind fan known as wisteria was nice enough to grab a bunch of frame caps from this video and post two galleries: spoilery, and non-spoilery. Maybe this will satisfy you...cuz you're gonna have a really, really hard time not watching this until next spring. ETA: at the request of TPTB this link is now friends-only. Sorry charlie. However, you can still find some of the footage "out there" if you look.

Watching Kristen

E! Online's Watch with Kristen has some BSG news in their Spoiler Chat Q&A:

Mena in Los Angeles: I just read that Battlestar Galactica will air its "final, final" season in January. Any hints on what to expect?

I can tell you that when I asked Jamie Bamber about the last 10 episodes, he was positively effusive. This wasn't just an actor reading his lines flogging the show—he was truly in awe of the final three eps. According to Jamie: "They're amazing. Ron's finale is just sensational. All I can say is they're well-deserving of being the last episodes of Battlestar Galactica." So excited! Also, by the by, Jamie's wife is just about the coolest girl you could ever meet. She's the kind of girl who tells you that you have something in your teeth before you interview her husband and helps you get it out...(Not that that happened to me or anything. No thireee! Wait, thorry...need to get this rathpberry theed out of my teeth...No siree!)

For a really big spoiler/speculation about a possible fate for Number 3 Lucy Lawless, read Kristin's full report, and scroll down a bit to find it.

Nice Frakking Hat

The July 14-20 issue of TV Guide has a preview of Caprica, showing Eric Stoltz and Esai Morales on set. Click the above photo to embiggen. Scan from Kelsrealm. (Minor plot spoilers.)

[ETA by ProgGrrl: the most interesting thing about that scan is that it says Caprica will air THIS FALL. YAY. Also, I heard elsewhere that this TV Guide issue has a SCI FI TV special theme.]

TV Week's summer critics poll has Battlestar Galactica listed as number 7 out of the top 25 series for January through June 2008.

Here's the top ten:
1. Lost
2. The Wire
3. 30 Rock
4. The Office
5. Friday Night Lights
6. House
7. Battlestar Galactica
8. Breaking Bad
9. John Adams
10. In Treatment & The Tudors (tie)

Full list of Best and Worst Series (PDF)