Thursday, July 31, 2008

TV Guide video from Comic-Con

TV Guide has just put up a ton of video interviews from backstage at Comic-Con with the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA cast.


Tricia Helfer:



Katee Sackhoff:



Jamie Bamber:



Michael Trucco:



James Callis:





For more TV Guide Comic-Con videos, go to to their main video page.

Study The Classics

Faithful Sitrep reader and eagle eyed BSG fan Wendy Towne, points to an interview with Ronald D. Moore in Agent DVD by John Latchem, about what is coming along for BSG in home video, new webisodes, and extended cuts of episodes in the second half of season 4. Excerpts follow:

The first 10 episodes of the fourth 
season recently aired and are likely to see a home video release later this year in anticipation of the final stretch of episodes, which Moore says will answer a lot of the questions raised during the first three seasons.

In the lead-up to the final episodes, Moore says the production team will create a new series of online shorts, similar to “The Resistance” webisodes that were made before the third season. Unlike “The Resistance,” the new webisodes will not take place between the episodes, but will go back and explain things that happened earlier during the course of the show. In this sense, Moore says, the shorts will serve a function similar to the Razor direct-to-DVD movie produced last year.

Also, Moore says the eventual DVD release of the final half of the fourth season should include a longer version of an episode he directed, called “The Disquiet That Follows My Soul.”

“We’ll probably do an extended cut of that with a new commentary,” Moore says. “And I imagine we’ll do a new cut of the finale.”

To follow “Galactica,” Moore is developing a pilot for Fox called “Virtuality,” about astronauts on a 10-year mission. He also has signed to do a trilogy of sci-fi movies for United Artists and is preparing what he calls a companion piece to John Carpenter’s The Thing.

But Moore is not completely abandoning the “Galactica” universe. Production is underway on a spinoff prequel, called 
“Caprica,” which delves into the origins of 
the robotic Cylons and the political rivalry between two families. The cast includes Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales, Polly Walker and Paula 
Malcomson.

“It’s coming together great,” Moore says. “It’s a very different time and a very different setting. It’s not about space, but about these families and their machinations.”


Justine of All About Tahmoh Penikett found a series of amazing pro photos taken of the BSG cast at Comic Con.

Crazyvictoria on the BSG Blog has an update and photos of upcoming BSG action figures, including Adama and Roslin figures, and figures tied to RAZOR.

Laura Bramley of Hamilton College reports on a new Battlestar Galactica academic study:
Texts like the Iliad may be old, but they are called classics precisely because they are timeless, turning up over and over again – sometimes in unusual places. Christopher Bouton (class of'09), a rising senior from Beverly, Mass., is spending the summer researching the connections between Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, and two slightly more recent productions: "Blade Runner" by Ridley Scott and the television series "Battlestar Galactica" by Ronald Moore.

Bouton is collaborating with Winslow Professor of Classics Carl. A. Rubino on the project, which is funded by the Emerson Foundation Grant program. Created in 1997, the program was designed to provide students with significant opportunities to work collaboratively with faculty members, researching an area of interest. The students will make public presentations of their research throughout the academic year.

A history major with a minor in classics, Bouton is no stranger to research. Last summer, he won a fellowship from the Society of Historians of the Early American Republic, which enabled him to attend an intensive three week program along with nine students from other colleges. Bouton worked with professors to examine school integration in Nantucket in the 1840s, a project that will be the basis of his senior thesis.

This summer the work is slightly different, however. Bouton has already studied modern ties to the Iliad, the Odyssey and the Aeneid in Rubino's "Heroism, Ancient and Modern" course, and he says that studying "Blade Runner" and "Battlestar Galactica" is very different kind of research from his work about Nantucket schools. "Listening to dialogue and watching action is much more engaging than looking at microfilm," he comments. At the same time, doing research on popular media brings its own challenges, one of which is making sure that the research is relevant to others. Bouton says he was drawn to studying "Blade Runner" and "Battlestar Galactica" because of his own interest in the productions, but to pursue a research project, it was important to have a broader underlying motivation than mere fandom.

That foundation lies in thematic connections on issues such as the nature of humanity and heroism. In the classics, explains Bouton, the characters are set apart from normal humanity, the "universal us," and the figures of the Iliad seem to be superhuman. "We get the sense that this is a story, but this isn't us," he says. In the dystopian future of "Blade Runner" and the world of "Battlestar Galactica," those same questions resurface, since each production features a small population of isolated humans in surroundings dominated by human-seeming robots. The classical themes turn into a discussion of what makes humanity unique when it can be simulated almost exactly by machines.

Now beginning the writing phase of his project, Bouton says that it has allowed him to extend his knowledge of the classics, something that he will not be able to pursue after leaving Hamilton, since he plans to attend graduate school and earn a Ph.D. in history. The chance to follow diverse interests is one of the reasons he came to Hamilton, he says, and his research this summer has been an opportunity to do just that.

I'd love to see the results of that research.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Apollo Bar

What Superhero power would BSG's Apollo, Jamie Bamber want? TVGuide.com asked a bunch of Comic Con attendees this exact question. Check out this video briefly featuring Jamie Bamber, Tricia Helfer, Rainn Wilson, among others in San Diego:



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.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

WANTED: PHAETON TOTE


Did any of you con-goers spot this Phaeton bag at SDCC, the subtle first move in VIRTUALITY's marketing? We are still roaming the net seeking reports of Ron Moore's other panel at the con, so if you were at the Saturday night TV Guide: Hot List panel, perhaps you could leave a comment here...

[Hat tip to The Good Ship Phaeton blog]

A desire so strong it's a tad painful.

[ETA on this post the next morning: Sorry folks, nothing to see yet, Sci Fi Channel did NOT show new BSG footage during EUREKA last night. But TV Squad still said what they said...we'll do some snooping and try to find out what's up.]


I may be projecting, but let's play connect the dots.

TV Squad has put their panel recap online today and it includes this line: "We were shown a preview clip that will air soon on Sci Fi, which had clips from the remaining episodes."

Twitterer Kenny Chiwa is apparently interning for the Sci Fi Channel in LA this summer. He wrote this yesterday: "Make sure to watch Eureka on SciFi tomorrow night at 9pm for some new promos!"


Is anyone going to watch EUREKA tonight? *desperation creeping into voice*



P.S. - TV Squad also mentioned Sci Fi Channel is promising to start giving video embed codes for their Con vids. That'll be nice. Maybe they'll be on Hulu? Heck, the entire DOCTOR HORRIBLE'S SING-ALONG BLOG is now on Hulu...why not a few panel vids.

Hot and Dirty

MSN Movies celebrates HOT & DIRTY: STARS WE LIKE BETTER GRIMY...



Our favorite frakked up pilot is in good company here with James Bond, Jack Shephard, Jim Morrison and Dirty Harry:

Katee Sackhoff Ace pilot Kara Thrace of "Battlestar Galactica" wasn't lying when she told Apollo, "Me in a dress is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Thank goodness.

That might have been one of the more ridiculous scenes in an utterly riveting show. A formal dance?

Curled hair? Thank goodness the writers have given us plenty of dirty, sweaty, and even bloody scenes with Starbuck.

She's an inspiration to all women who'd rather wrestle with aliens and assorted authority figures than with a blow dryer and brow tweezer. To us, that sounds totally out of this world.

Project Abraham update

Here's an update on Katee Sackhoff's role in the slowly unfolding transmedia/ARG for Resistance 2.

Multipleverses got a promotional USB drive at SDCC this weekend that contained all the videos left to date at Project Abraham...as well as the cover of a newspaper with more info about what Katee's character is up to.


The P.A. site has a lot more information on it now if you click ENTER. Katee is playing the military psychologist charged with choosing experimental subjects in this ARG. She has decided to let "a worldwide network" help her choose...and voting has just ended to select the next soldier who will undergo the top-secret treatment. Poke around for a ton of new video and audio footage of Katee.

In addition, two other related sites are now live: Get A War Job and America First America Only.


Monday, July 28, 2008

Super Size Me

BSG Executive Producer David Eick, talked to Nephele Tempest of Sci-Fi Wire about season 4.5 getting longer:

The second half of the fourth and final season of SCI FI Channel's original series Battlestar Galactica promises fans a number of extra-long, jam-packed episodes as it works toward the climactic finale, executive producer David Eick told fans at Comic-Con International in San Diego on July 26.

In a subsequent interview, Eick told SCI FI Wire that producers have been "able to convince the network to let us air ... long episodes--[to] take single episodes and make them double episodes, ... [and to take] double episodes and make them quadruple episodes."

Eick added: "Our episodes are always ... long, and we're constantly getting into the editing room with 10, 15, sometimes 20 minutes of material that you can't get into an episode." With just a half-season remaining, Eick said, "the story has become so critical in order to realize the arc of the series that we can't just cut stuff out and save it for later or push it 'til next year, the stuff we're used to doing. It's all got to be there."


So perhaps Eick means that some regular episodes will run a few minutes longer than usual and be super sized. We already know the original intention was that the Series Finale would be a 2 hour episode, that has since been expanded to run for 3 hours. But, the Final Episode was so epic in production, they have enough material to make it a 4 hour finale. We already know from Maureen Ryan's interview with Ron Moore that the Final Episode will be longer for the DVD version than what will be aired on TV. Unless, Sci-Fi has agreed to have it run for an additional hour.

To recap: Originally season 4.5 was going to be 10 hours. Then by adding a 3rd hour to the Final Episode it grew to 11 hours. So, if the Finale gets a 4th hour to air, we'll be seeing 12 hours of 4.5, hopefully if all this works out with the Sci-Fi Channel.

Entire BSG 2008 Comic-Con panel video

The entire BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 2008 Comic-Con panel is now online. Warning for adult language. Thanks Mr. Smith!

Mark Verheiden describes the event thusly:

Jam packed as usual with literally thousands of enthusiastic fans. Kevin Smith was a funny and blisteringly profane toast-master who elicited a lot of good stuff from the assembled cast. Plus there was a trailer with some new scenes from the next bunch of shows (with a lot of material from the episode I wrote, he notes proudly). It's always amazing to feel the intensity of the crowd at these events.


I know a lot of you are wondering when this 4.5 promo is going to leak to the nettywebs...well I say, we shall see. The footage from last year's Con, as well as that shown at the Dome event last year, never made it onto the web. So...we'll see what happens this time.

Oh, and SciFi.com? Your lack of video embedding code is so 2006. You slay me.


[If you're interested, all of Sci Fi Channel's panels are also posted now, via this Comic-Con page.]

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Photos from the EW/Sci Fi Channel party



More over at dryope's livejournal.

"This show is so good that it'll get you pregnant."


More news and panel recaps from Comic-Con:

Maureen Ryan's reports on the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA panel, and TV panels in general.

The LA Times Hero Complex blog.

Slash Film's Jon Christensen, who just drank the BSG kool-aid last summer, has the most detailed description of the Season 4.5 promo trailer that I've seen thus far. 4 out of 10 on the Sitrep spoiler scale. IGN.com's panel recap is also pretty well-detailed.

Fan reports/photos/videos from withaterrace and own_the_sky. (Photos above from own_the_sky.)

An LA Times post-DOLLHOUSE panel video interview that starts with Joss Whedon (with a bit of Adam Baldwin), and ends with Tahmoh Penikett discussing BSG:




Here is withaterrace's video of Tahmoh Penikett describing how he got his part in DOLLHOUSE:




Joss'd Blog has posted audio of the entire DOLLHOUSE panel.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

OT: Lost



The Tailsection has the complete video of Team Darlton's talk at Comic Con, including the new Marvin Candle video. AICN has more Lost panel info. James Hibberd adds his round up.

The New York Times has a general story reporting on Comic Con.

ETA: Maureen Ryan's excellent account of the Lindelof/Cuse festivities.

More From Comic-Con


i09 just posted their post-panel chat with David Eick and several castmembers...as well as some gorgeous BSG political poster art by Laurent-LX.

EW.com PopWatch has posted about the BSG and DOLLHOUSE panels.

Thanks to reader canadiangirl-86 for pointing up this short Tricia Helfer interview with mahalodaily.com:



[btw, mahalo has a terrific load of other con interviews and panel videos on their youtube channel.]


Fans are beginning to post their photos on the skiffy board...try here and here for starters.

Photos by ptanabe and CylonRomo; click to embiggen

Miscellaneous Comic-Conery

Ahhhh, only at Comic-Con, right? This photo of Richard Hatch and Walter Koenig is by own_the_sky (check out her great picspams of day one , two and three; she also has THE BEST LJ HEADER EVER!)...


All About Tahmoh is tracking all the liveblogging, tweets, and whatnot from the DOLLHOUSE panel that Tahmoh Penikett took part in. EW.com has just posted a great little pre-panel interview with Penikett, Eliza Dushku and Joss Whedon:




Firefly Shipworks just announced a great new limited edition ship model, the Cylon Raider Artisan Replica (pictured above). Sounds pretty frakkin' fine:

Limited to just 500 replicas, each one of these babies is being hand built by the model-making wizards at The FX Co...We were also extremely lucky to have just about the entire cast of Battlestar Galactica, plus Executive Producer Ron Moore, sign a bunch of the Raider plaques – every Raider will come with a signed plaque from one the BSG crew, at no extra charge. As for whose signature you’ll get if you get a Raider, well, let’s just say we’ve left that up to the Gods.



io9 cornered Paul Campbell at his KNIGHT RIDER panel and confirmed we will not be seeing any more Billy Keikeya on BSG. Sigh. While we wait for SciFi.com to get the panel video online, NBC.com has the KNIGHT RIDER panel posted.


The LA Times Hero Complex blog posted a short interview with con guest (and con guest booking agent) Erin Gray.


The first videos from the con are starting to trickle onto youtube (or, in the case of TWILIGHT, they're pouring into youtube)...below is a snippet of Richard Hatch at the Thursday panel. Let us know in the comments if you find any good stuff; or post it over on our friendfeed room.




Discover blog is promising to post video of Thursday's Science of Sci Fi panel. Meanwhile con-goer b!x has photos of the Hatch/McCreary panel starting here.


Speaking of videos...take a look at this TRON 2 preview that leaked this morning. Wow. I am so, so there!

"They wouldn't kiss, though, no matter how much I begged them."

Here are some more reports from the BSG Panel at Comic-Con...

The Live Feed (non-spoilery)

io9.com (mild spoilers)

PopCritics Liveblogging the BSG panel

Go here to read it.

I got a text that Jamie Bamber and Tahmoh Penikett are on stage with the previously announced folks.

ETA: just got a text from a friend describing some of the new Season 4.5 footage shown...for mild spoilers, it's posted over in this skiffy thread using white-out text.

ETA 2: Well PopCritics' feed seemed to die partially through the panel, but The Futon Critic has something up. More as it comes in today.

Off Topic...but related

Fun but OT: the video of LOST's showrunners that was shown just before their Comic-Con panel today. (hat tip to Watch With Kristin)




Can you guess what the "related" part is? :P

CapriCast - video #1

The folks who do the BSGcast video blog have done their first CapriCast...for the trailer that came out of last week's CAPRICA TCA presentation.


Comic Con Report for Day 2 - Lines, lines, lines.....and a Big Frakkin Bag!


As most of you know, when I'm not doing my day job or my other blogs, I have fun with the Adama for President site. I brought a selection of stickers and mini posters to give away while here, but so far it's been a bit limited. Why?

Because there's a rule here - if you give away something...anything you will be besieged by millions of fans, instantaneously. Trying to get the Big Frakking Bag or a complete set of Battlestar Galactica buttons was no easy matter. We realized quickly that if we started handing out something for free, we might get trampled by the mob and miss today's Dollhouse and BSG panels. So we're giving 'em all away, today while we wait in line for a good spot in Ballroom 20. (Please, don't mob us!)

One thing that became apparent as we made our way around day 2 was that we had a choice - do all the panels like we wanted, or do the Con floor, but doing both was tricky. We ended up going to some "off topic" forums for "Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends" and "24" that were hilarious, though. Our strategy today is to fight like frakk to get into the "Dollhouse" Forum, since they do not clear the room in between panels, and it's just before the BSG one. Folks if you see two nerds in Adama for President shirts desperately trying to get in, help a fellow traveler if you can, please....

This morning we're going to try and get more BSG buttons and assorted swag before going to the Big Panel Discussion. We're armed with tape recorders, cameras, batteries and a whole lotta queue karma to do a proper write up on what Our Favorite Show's Actors are up to!

As always , follow me on The Twitter and look for more pics on The Flickr!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Lucy Lawless at Comic Con

Here are a few clips of Lucy Lawless on yesterday's SCREAM Like A Girl panel at Comic Con, moderated by Kevin Smith:








Buzz Sugar has a fun description of the panel...

When asked who his favorite female character of all time is, Kevin Smith replied, "God." So, yeah. I'm kind of in love with that Kevin Smith.

In The News

Sci-Fi Wire and Buddy TV talked to Jamie Bamber about the big Galactica finale, and his upcoming new series in London, Law and Order: UK.

Variety reports that BSG's uber director Michael Rymer is set to direct a new feature film for Platinum Studios, Inc., Top Cow Productions and Arclight Films of the comic book Witchblade. Rymer also recently wrapped production on "Revolution," a two-hour series pilot for NBC Universal Media Studios and the Sci Fi Channel.

G4 and CVG report that former BSG writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle are scripting a first person shooter video game set in the Alien universe called Aliens: Colonial Marines.

BSG fan Joss Whedon recently explained what's going on with the shooting of a new pilot for his upcoming Fox series Dollhouse, co-staring Tahmoh Penikett. Maureen Ryan talked to Whedon after a tour of the Dollhouse sets to get further information.

Jenna Busch of UGO talked to Grace Park about BSG and her new show The Cleaner. Grace Park was also profiled by FHM.

Comic Con Floor Report-Day 1

Hello SitRep readers! My first posting of all things BSG/Comic Con is a bit late as we were out late at a replica of "Joe's Bar" from BSG, graciously provided by Diamond Select Toys. It was fun, there were photos posted on Flickr, but the cumulative effect of walking for 8 hours plus staying up late each night caught up so here's the first day's recap a bit late.

First, to sum up what it's like to be at Nerdvana: Wow. There are a LOT of people here. Over 125,000 people, all like minded folks who like their pop culture, and all of 'em in one small place. Frankly, it's amazing to see so many people with poster tubes and giant swag bags around. There are lines for EVERYTHING, and it's at times a bit overwhelming.

But it IS fun!

The highlight of the day (aside from all the free buttons and stickers and whatnots) was the 30th Anniversary of Galactica Forum, headed up by Richard Hatch, and featuring Bear McCreary, Tom DeSanto, Kevin Grazier, et al. Others have done a fine job writing up the proceedings (my stupid tape recorder crapped out on me so I couldn't do a transcript like I wanted) but the true highlight was Bear Mc Creary's "behind the scenes" faux documentary with James Callis, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, Mike Hogan and Eddie Olmos.

We were not allowed to film this which is unfortunate because it was so funny. To try and recap it would not do it justice - instead, we as fans should lobby Bear to post the video on his blog. (The scene of James Callis playing a caricature of himself, composing the worst song ever about Gaius Baltar alone was the funniest thing I saw all day, I think.)

What has amazed me the most here at Comic Con is just how many people are here, and for at least a few days the buses are covered with Shepard Fairley-esque portraits of Dexter and tons of ads rolling everywhere for movies, tons of people in amazing costumes, everyone here is One of Us, and for a few days you can dress however you like and do what you like and not be judged.

I've been able to keep a handle on the spending (but after seeing some of the high end memorabilia they're selling here, it's tough!). I'll continue to cover the Con and post more timely posts as we go through the weekend, and I'll also be posting stuff on Twitter and Flickr with breaking news.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Comic-Con reports, Day One

Our man on the ground in San Diego, Greg Dewar, has begun posting photos in this Sitrep Flickr pool...If any of you folks who are at Comic-Con want to add to the pool, go right ahead, it's open to everyone.

Turns out he is lucky to have arrived on time and in one piece, as many folks (including Mark Verheiden) faced huge delays stuck in traffic caused by highway accidents and...er...railway murder.

Fans at the Sci Fi forum have a pinned thread to discuss the Con and share experiences and photos, like this one by Scarbuck:

Richard Hatch & Bear McCreary

Wired, Discover blog, TV Squad and io9 were at today's BSG 30th Anniversary panel with Richard Hatch, Bear McCreary, Tom DeSanto and Kevin Grazier.

According to io9, DeSanto discussed the aborted Bryan Singer version of BSG being developed with Fox in 2001, and shared concept art and animations:
...The new-old BSG, which would have been a continuation of the original series, was eight weeks away from filming, with sets partially built — when Sept. 11, 2001 happened, and network execs panicked that the story of a Cylon sneak attack was "too close to home."...Singer's production company was working on a $13.5 million backdoor pilot for a new BSG, which would air on Fox and then on the Sci Fi Channel. The episodes would have been letterboxed, and the repeat airings on Sci Fi would have had extra footage. DeSanto said the story of the humans "forgetting their purpose" and living in super-capitalist decadence on New Caprica mirrored what he was seeing of his friends during the tech boom around 1999-2000, with people obsessing about their stock portfolios. And just like the Cylon attacks in the abortive Singer pilot, 9/11 brought people back to a sense of purpose.

Sounds like they screened that hilarious faux documentary that McCreary showed at his Los Angeles concerts recently. Can someone confirm that?


io9 also made it to Kevin Grazier's other panel, in which he discussed the accuracy of the science in BSG:
Grazier said that sometimes the actors on the shows are as rabid about getting the science right as he is: James "Baltar" Callis and [EUREKA's] Joe "Henry Deacon" Morton often do independent research to verify that the science on their respective shows is correct. Apparently Callas was particularly fascinated by whether "black body radiation" was represented accurately.

...One more little tidbit from Grazier had to do with cylon downloading. An audience member asked if there were any rules for cylon downloading. Grazier said there are a few, and that he doesn't see the downloading process as a cylon's entire personality being broadcast at death. "I see it as a live update every day," he explained. So the cylons are downloading daily, and when they die they can use what they've already got backed up. But another panelist issued a warning: "I've been trying to BitTorrent Tricia Helfer and it didn't work."


As for the SCREAM LIKE A GIRL panel with Lucy Lawless, so far only this Spout liveblogging post has appeared. More as it develops.

BSG Props & Costumes to be Auctioned off

From SciFi Wire:

More than 3,000 props, costumes, memorabilia and other items from SCI FI Channel's original series Battlestar Galactica will be auctioned off as the fourth and final season draws to a close.

The auction, sponsored by NBC Universal Television, DVD, Music and Consumer Products Group and Propworx, will include such items as the uniform worn by Adm. William Adama (Edward James Olmos) and a life-sized Cylon Centurion costume.

NBC Universal and Propworx will conduct two live auctions in Los Angeles, along with a series of Internet auctions coinciding with the airing of the show's final 10 episodes, which starts in early 2009.

Items that will be available to purchase include the flight suits worn by Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) and Apollo (Jamie Bamber), several life-sized Vipers and Raptors and Cylon Raiders and pieces of the Combat Information Center (CIC).



[wait...I thought Katee Sackhoff was having that viper jock bronzed?...]

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

First Sighting of BSG Con Swag

TV Squad's Comic-Con correspondent was just handed a special Sci Fi Channel swag bag containing some familiar-looking temporary tattoos...



They also gave him a set of those cool pewter BSG ship models. You can buy those via the links here btw.

Sweet, eh? According to a Cinematical writer, this is not something most press will receive... so you con-going plebians who want a copy may need to sweet-talk some unsuspecting TV journalist just the right way...worth a try... Or try lurking at the SFC booth a lot.

ETA: If I am reading this Seat42F post right, these SFC "purple big Frakkin bags" are going to be available to the rest of the unwashed masses - gentlefolk, get down to that booth while they last!

Comic-Con Has Landed

Alrighty folks, Geek Prom starts tonight in San Diego.

Sitrep will cover the frak out of it, naturally, so stop by here often. I will be covering a ton of non-BSG film and TV stuff over at FanGrrl Magnet.

Our Comic-Con correspondent Greg Dewar will be on the ground at Prom getting the low-down on everything BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and VIRTUALITY, CAPRICA, DOLLHOUSE, etc). Greg is the founder of the inspiring Adama For President project, so keep an eye out for cheerful men in ADAMA '08 tees roaming the floor -- that's probably his posse. Greg will be posting here all week, and uploading his photos to this Flickr stream.


BATTLESTAR GALACTICA-related events this year include:

Richard Hatch, composer Bear McCreary, science advisor Kevin Grazier, producer Tom DeSanto and "surprise guests" on the panel "BSG 30th Anniversary" (Thursday).

Richard Hatch will be signing autographs; more info here (Thursday - Sunday).

Lucy Lawless on the "Scream Like a Girl" panel moderated by Kevin Smith (Thursday).

Patrick Lee, editor of the Sci Fi Channel's marvelous Sci Fi Wire news service, on the "Science Fiction That Will Change Your Life" panel (Thursday).

Science advisor Kevin Grazier on the "Science Behind Science Fiction" panel with EUREKA's Jamie Paglia (Thursday).

BSG & CAPRICA production designer Richard Hudolin on the "Production Designers" panel (Friday).

The "Exceeding Expectations and Exploring New Worlds" panel with Zoic Studios plans to include BSG Special Effects department folks, though no names are listed yet (Friday).

At booth #2607 (Diamond Select Toys): Bodie Olmos promoting DST's "Hot Dog" action figure; purchase autograph package in advance (Friday and Saturday).

At booth #3945 (Genius Products/The Weinstein Company): Jamie Bamber promoting his feature film PULSE 2 on DVD (Saturday 11am-1pm).

BSG writer/producer Mark Verheiden on the Dark Horse 12pm panel discussing his feature film MY NAME IS BRUCE...possibly with some surprise guests? (Saturday)

Tahmoh Penikett on the panel for his new show DOLLHOUSE (Saturday).

THE MAIN EVENT: Saturday's BATTLESTAR GALACTICA panel with Ron Moore, David Eick, the human/cylon couples James Callis/Tricia Helfer and Katee Sackhoff/Michael Trucco...and the wicked modding skillz of truefan Kevin Smith.

Ron Moore discussing his new project VIRTUALITY on the "TV Guide: Hot List" panel (Saturday).

Adam Levermore-Rich, aka Lexigeek, is the artist behind those wonderful BSG propaganda posters and the "How To Spot A Cylon" poster. He is involved in a contest taking place at SDCC this week; see details here.

And, to top it all off: the Bear McCreary/Singers of Battlestar Galactica gig on Sunday evening at Anthology near the convention center. Featuring "some surprise Galactica guests"...


...whew...I'm getting excited...

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Eric Stoltz talks to io9


io9 interviewed Eric Stoltz this week about CAPRICA and BLANK SLATE, his two projects at the Sci Fi Channel this season. Looks like Mr. Graystone gives good interview...he'll fit in here quite nicely methinks.

io9: I know you guys run into a bit of a conflict when you recreate your past loved ones mechanically, how does your character's reaction differ from Esai's?


ES: I'm not sure I should talk about this, as it involves spoilers.


io9: How would you describe Caprica to our readers (since they are very anxious to see it)?


ES: It's a show that takes place in the not-so-distant future, on a not-so-distant planet, that deals with a family struggling to stay together, class warfare, religion, and our never ending search for meaning in a world that over-values stimulation, consumerism, and facts.



Another thing I can check off my Bucket List

We are prepping a much longer Comic-Con round up post for you fans who are going to San Diego this week, but I had to share this right frakkin' now. Cuz it makes me so darned happy.

I just noticed that Spike TV's Scream Awards Comic-Con panel "Scream Like a Girl" this weekend will feature Lucy Lawless onstage talking with Kevin Smith. Oh joy of joys.


Here are all the deets:

4:45-5:45 / Ballroom 20

"SCREAM" Like a Girl

Spike loves women. And the coolest women on the planet are the ones who destroy aliens, defeat serial killers and battle evil villains with their superpowers! In honor of Spike's ScreamAwards 2008—the first and most important televised event that celebrates the genius creative talent behind the powerhouse Hollywood genres of comic books, science fiction, fantasy and horror—Spike brings you a candid discussion of these genres from the women they love, who are poised to rule the fanboy's universe! Moderator Kevin Smith (Clerks), the brilliant writer, director, and comic book genius hosts an all-female panel of actresses, artists, writers, directors, and producers, including Gale Ann Hurd (Terminator, Terminator 2), Lucy Lawless (Xena, Battlestar Galactica), Jaime King (The Spirit, Sin City), and Pia Guerra (Y: The Last Man), in a discussion about working in these genres from their unique point of view. Twenty lucky panel attendees will win tickets to the 2008 Scream Awards.



Meanwhile, speaking of Kevin Smith: EW's Marc Bernardin is moderating the "Visionary Filmmakers" panel with Smith, Zack Snyder, Judd Apatow and Frank Miller -- and is seeking fandom questions for the panel over here.

Depth

via Sci Fi Wire:

Caprica As Deep As Battlestar

Ronald D. Moore, co-creator of SCI FI Channel's upcoming backdoor pilot film Caprica, told SCI FI Wire that the Battlestar Galactica prequel will foreshadow events in that series while dealing with some of the same weighty issues.

"It's something that Adama [Edward James Olmos] said in the [Battlestar] miniseries, you know: 'You don't play god and then get to walk away from what you created,'" Moore said in an interview at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., on July 20. "And that's really the story of Caprica. We're going to watch them create this [Cylon race], and then wrestle with the ramifications of it. They're not even going to realize what they've created at first."

Though the show will be relatively planet-bound and take place in an urban reality not unlike our own, Moore said the SF-tinged story will nevertheless enable him to tackle serious issues in the same way as Battlestar.

"Well, we're still going to be dealing with things that are similar, in that there are still going to be issues of terrorism and security and how society should protect itself or not protect itself," Moore said. "You know, what is the line between civil liberties and protection of the homeland? We're still going to be dealing with a lot of those things, because they're going to be spiraling out of certain events that happen in the pilot. And, you know, but you're also dealing with ethical responsibilities. You're also dealing with things like, you know, what is a person? What does it mean to be a sentient being? Does that being have rights? What are you allowed to do to something that you've created out in a laboratory? ... Does it have a soul?"

A decision on when and how the TV movie will air is due later this year.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Some Caprica Cast Spoke to TV Guide



Polly Walker, Eric Stoltz, and Paula Malcomson talked to TV Guide about Caprica.

Jamie Bamber is wrapped.

Watch With Kristin has posted this video of Jamie Bamber at last night's NBCU TCA party, where he talks about the end of BSG and his next project, LAW & ORDER: LONDON.

Video: CAPRICA TCA clip

The LA Times has posted a first glance at footage from CAPRICA.



[Hat tip to Discovering Esai.]

Update: Sitrep's Michael Taylor interview

If you've been reading all the TCA coverage below, you have probably figured out this is crunch time for Ron Moore and the cast & crew of VIRTUALITY.

Many of you have been asking about the status of the Sitrep interview with BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and VIRTUALITY writer/producer Michael Taylor. We also delivered a ton of great questions from you, our readers, as promised.

Rest assured: you will get your answers...but Mr. Taylor is intensely busy this month, so our interview will be delayed.

It's a long hiatus friends. Have patience.

"It's not called Pillowfight Galactica"...

BSG visual effects artist Mojo posted this weekend about BATTLESTAR GALACTICA's Emmy nominations. At the bottom of his post he shares some fan-frakkin-tastic insider stuff -- the FX "breakdown sheets" created by BSG's CGI Supervisor Doug Drexler.

These sheets are part of the materials that are submitted to the Academy for Emmy consideration. *cue nerdgasm*



[By the way, that Emmy nom BSG received for the oddly-worded "Special Class - Short-Form Live-Action Entertainment Program"? That's the newly established webisode category. Hat tip to Tech Radar.]

Jamie Bamber takes up Law

Jamie Bamber shared some exciting news last night with Watch With Kristin about his next TV role:

According to Jamie, "I'm doing a series in England called Law & Order: UK, and I'm being a cop. And, yes, the show is London judiciary and London cops. It's got the same premise as the original American Law & Order, same everything, just with a UK production company and UK actors. My partner's going to be to be a British guy named Bradley Walsh."

The series, which begins production this August in London, will air first on ITV in the United Kingdom.


[PS: one of the commenters on that post mentions that DOCTOR WHO's Freema Agyeman has been cast as a prosecutor.]

More from the TCAs...part deux

From a Sci Fi interview with Ron Moore:

Ronald D. Moore, who co-created Fox's two-hour SF backdoor pilot film VIRTUALITY, told SCI FI Wire that the film is gearing up to shoot at the end of this month..."Virtuality is in preproduction," Moore said in an interview at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., on July 20. "We start shooting the end of the month. We've got a cast. Peter Berg's directing. It's for Fox. It's a completely different kind of show."

Virtuality will air as a movie of the week, Moore added.

That's an interesting tidbit at the end...combining this with Moore's other statements last night, and what Fox exec Peter Liguori was saying earlier in the week about VIRTUALITY, it sounds like the pilot/movie will be truly unusual television -- and everyone involved needs to see a finished product before there is any news about this going to series.

So cross yer fingers.



From The Live Feed:
Sci Fi had a panel for "Caprica" during the network's TCA session, where showrunner Ron Moore and cast members took the stage to answer questions from critics. The project has long been called a two-hour backdoor pilot, and is supposed to air sometime this fall. An upgrade to a series order would likely push its air date until sometime next year, a Sci Fi spokesperson says. Certainly the very act of paneling a mere pilot at the critics tour suggests network enthusiasm for the project.

Moore says that it won’t matter that people already know how the prequel story ends. In fact, he's counting on that to add suspense.

..." 'Caprica' is a different animal [from the current series]," he says. “It’s about a vibrant society that is at the height of its power and the height of its decadence. It’s going to come apart. It’s sort of like a roller coaster.”

The action will be firmly grounded on the planet of Caprica rather than lots of space-based jumping around between different locations. Executive producer David Eick said technological emphasis in the new show will be on artificial intelligence instead of space travel.

“That’s what’s new on this show, rather than space travel, which we take as an existing technology," Eick says.



From TV Week on CAPRICA:
"The tension comes from the fact that you know where it's going," said executive producer Ronald D. Moore.

"The idea is to say, 'All that you see here is doomed.' There's an ominous (tone)," he said.

Moore compared the situation to producers of war movies.

"You know how World War II is going to turn out. You know the Nazis are going to lose," he said. "That doesn't mean you can't tell compelling stories."


From a Sci Fi interview with CAPRICA cast member Eric Stolz:
Stoltz told SCI FI Wire that he will play Daniel Graystone, a wealthy computer whiz who bears a resemblance to a mogul in our universe.

"A lot like Bill Gates, only richer," Stoltz said in an interview.

..."I would say there are two poles that fuel the drama, but I'd be hard pressed one is a good guy and one is a bad guy," Stoltz said. "What it has similar with Battlestar is that there's a gray area. No character is all good or all bad. We all have our gray areas that we live within. But it's interesting that way: You're not quite sure who you should or shouldn't be rooting for."

Unlike Battlestar, Caprica takes place in a world not unlike our own, Stoltz added. "I think Caprica taking place 51 years before Battlestar happens, it's very similar to our society now," he said. "There are no flying cars. There are no spaceships. We're on an Earth-like planet. We wear the same clothes. We have similar problems. Ideally, people will be able to watch Caprica and think, 'This is similar to what we're [doing], to what's happening in the States right now.'"


From The TV Addict on CAPRICA:
The clip reel they showed during Sunday’s Television Press Tour Panel had a real detective / film noir look to it. Men wear suits, fedoras, and live in a world where people smoke and drink. Plus, they also apparently go to strip clubs, as there was a pretty clear shot of some side boobage. CAPRICA looks to be trying to up the “hot” factor with this spinoff. According to Remi Aubuchon, writer and executive producer, they weren’t specifically trying to emulate the look of MAD MEN, but he said that that show and CAPRICA do a “good job of making the viewer realize immediatelty that you’re looking at a different era.”

...Esai Morales, plays the father of Edward James Olmos’ William Adama character, and a young boy plays a version of Olmos’ character. Moore quipped, “Eddie wantd to do it. He came in doing one of those things where he’s on his knees with the shoes. He’s really upset that we didn’t use him.” When asked why we haven’t seen other Adama characters played by Hispanics, Moore said “Well, within the world of Battlestar Galactica, the Adama’s aren’t Hispanic. He’s an immigrant from a colony called Tauron, and he changes his name to Joseph Adama to try and assimilate himself.”


And, for fun, BSG writer/producer Mark Verheiden (who is currently working on an an additional CAPRICA script) adds his non-spoilery half a cent:
Nothing much I can add, except having read the pilot script, I'll just say Caprica is as fascinating, daring and intriguing as Battlestar, though in a completely different way. I know what you're thinking, what does THAT mean? Is it shot in Smell-o-vision? Do the characters speak backwards? Is it powerful, thought-provoking drama? If you picked "C", you win...


The Hollywood Reporter mentions that Sci Fi is expanding their brand:
Sci Fi has expanded and reorganized its wide-ranging businesses under a new umbrella, Sci Fi Ventures, it said Sunday at the TCA press tour...

In addition to the cable channel, Sci Fi Ventures is to include Sci Fi Media (SciFi.com, Dvice and Fidgit and a new theatrical film banner, Sci Fi Films); Sci Fi Games (a partnership with Trion Worldwide and an equity stake in BigPoint Games); Sci Fi Gear (licensed product lines); Sci Fi Publishing (Sci Fi/Virgin Comics); and Sci Fi Kids (fantasy and imaginative products for youngsters).

And...OT but fun: LA FEMME NIKITA fans out there take note, they mention working on an original movie featuring Peta Wilson.

The Watcher Watches


Chicago Tribune television critic, Maureen Ryan has a really comprehensive interview with Ron Moore she conducted Friday after the TCA panel on Caprica, in which he talks about the finale of Battlestar Galactica, the future of Caprica and Virtuality, and the next BSG DVD movie written by Jane Espenson and to be directed by Edward James Olmos. Ron also touched upon the possible production of webisodes that will bridge season 4.0 and 4.5. Ryan also briefly spoke to Sci-Fi exec David Howe as well.

The proposed “Battlestar Galactica” TV movie would take place during the time frame of previous seasons, but it would air after the series finale.

Howe said the final episodes of “Battlestar” will begin airing in January.

The final set of episodes will be at least 11 hours long, and the series finale will occupy three of those hours. However, there’s a chance that the series finale could expand even more.

The “Battlestar” series finale will definitely expand on DVD. Regardless of the length of the finale that airs on Sci Fi next year, an even longer cut will be released on DVD.

Howe said that if “Caprica” gets a full series order, it will air in 2009. If “Caprica,” which was written by Moore and Remi Aubuchon, does not get a series order and airs as a standalone 2-hour movie, it could air this fall.

Regarding when the network would decide whether to pick “Caprica” as a full series, Howe said the decision would come in September. He and his team are considering two other pilots as well, “Revolution” and “Warehouse 13.” Executives will get a cut of “Caprica” in early August, then decide in September whether it will become a series.

Howe said if “Caprica” does get a series order, it will not be something that is designed to end after 13 episodes. It’ll be a regular series that could potentially go on for years, not a limited-run series.


Ryan's interview is must read, so read it here.

The Los Angeles Times has a Sunday Conversation with Grace Park. At the end of the conversation she had to kill a spider:
There's one [BSG] episode [late in season 4.5, before the finale] where everything is explained and I had to read it three times. . . . Then we had to sit down -- like, how does this guy know anything? And where was this thing orbiting? And who died? We don't want to lay it out in the script so much, because if you laid it out that way, it'd be dead boring. There's a spider on my wall I'm going to nab right now! He's a fast one -- I don't want to kill it, I'm just going to grab it. Eek! He's on the ground. I had to kill it. I'm sorry.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

More from the TCAs...


BuddyTV on both shows:

...the final season of Battlestar Galactica will air in January 2009. Sanctuary will premiere in October, and there is currently no set date for Caprica. The executives at Sci Fi are waiting to see the two-hour TV movie to decide whether to air it in the Fall or to save it to air along with the eventual series.

...[Caprica] will be pre-apocalyptic, but it will not rely on making constant references to Battlestar Galactica. Moore stated that we most likely won't be meeting Gaeta's grandfather, primarily because in this old world, the 12 colonies are not unified under one government.

...Moore added that when he and Eick first discussed a companion piece to Battlestar Galactica, the prequel was the only viable idea. He revealed a continuation wasn't likely since BSG will have a definitive ending. “We're going to end Battlestar with a period at the end of the sentence.”

Caprica will most likely not include references to the families of characters in BSG beyond the Adamas. Moore said in Caprica the 12 colonies are not united, so there is no president.


Robert Philpot's blog indicates that Eric Stoltz, Paula Malcomson and David Eick were also present with Ron Moore and the Sci Fi execs.


iF Magazine on CAPRICA:

The biggest news on CAPRICA, [Sci Fi Channel's Mark] Stern reveals that even though it's a backdoor pilot, it may not air as a movie first.

"We’ll take liberty of [looking at the series] over the next two weeks and then decide it whether to hold it and make it part of a full blown series or air it first as a two-hour movie," says Stern.

What that means -- if the show is good, they see a viable option, expect an announcement of ordering it as a series, before it gets a chance to air as a TV movie.


The iF piece also mentions more on the backdoor pilot WAREHOUSE 13 (Rockne O'Bannon is involved), and that Sci Fi is developing a new mini-series based on an idea by Bryan Singer -- to be scripted by Richard C. Matheson. No word yet on the previously-mentioned David Eick CHILDREN OF MEN adaptation...

Season 4.5 Airs January 2009

The LA Times has this from the TCA event:

At Sunday afternoon's press tour session, Dave Howe, the president of Sci Fi Channel, announced that the final -- or as he put it "final, final" -- season of "Battlestar Galactica" will premiere in January.

And then we will come to the end.

Caprican twitters

From press twittering live at today's TCA event...


Zap2It:

Ronald D. Moore says that the tension of "Caprica" will come from knowing where the story is going...


TV Squad:

2-hr backdoor pilot for Caprica, then will decide on series based on response to that.

There are no plans to flash-forward or include any current BSG into Caprica, as the 2 shows are so different.


Friday, July 18, 2008

Montage



Music vid edited by freelancerxo02.

Some Video

USA Network interviewed Tricia Helfler in Vancouver about her work on USA's Burn Notice.

Shifting off the topic of BSG for a second, "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes." (Who watches the watchmen?)

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Emmy nominations

The nominations for the 2008 Emmy Awards were announced this morning (full list here), and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA has six nominations as listed below.

Congrats everyone!


Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series
Battlestar Galactica • Six Of One
Written By Michael Angeli

Outstanding Cinematography For A One-Hour Series
Battlestar Galactica • Razor
Stephen McNutt, Director of Photography

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing
For A Drama Series

Battlestar Galactica • He That Believeth In Me
Julius Ramsay, Editor

Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series
Battlestar Galactica • He That Believeth In Me
Gary Hutzel, Visual Effects Supervisor
Michael Gibson, Visual Effects Producer
David Takemura, Visual Effects Coordinator
Doug Drexler, CGI Supervisor
Kyle Toucher, CG Artist
Sean Jackson, CG Artist
Pierre Drolet, CG Modeler
Aurore de Blois, Senior Compositor
Derek Ledbetter, Compositor

Outstanding Sound Mixing
For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One-Hour)

Battlestar Galactica • Razor
Rick Bal, Production Mixer
Michael Olman, C.A.S., Supervising Re-Recording Mixer
Kenneth Kobett, C.A.S., Supervising Re-Recording Mixer

Outstanding Special Class
Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Programs

Battlestar Galactica - Razor Featurette #4
Ronald D. Moore, Executive Producer
David Eick, Executive Producer
Harvey Frand, Supervising Producer

* By the way, that last oddly-named award is for webisodes...

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

A Four-Quadrant Show

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan spoke the Fox’s chairman, Peter Liguori, about "Virtuality," the pilot "Battlestar Galactica" executive producer Ron Moore and co-executive producer Michael Taylor are making for Fox, and also about Joss Whedon’s mid-season show for the network, "Dollhouse."

MR: What’s going on with “Virtuality”? It seems like there’s so much positive buzz about it, but that doesn’t always translate into a pickup [to series].

PL: Yeah, look, this is why do you pilots. Especially, the more ambitious the show, the more important the pilot is – just being able to do that exercise and figure out, do we have the characters right, can we [execute] this. Ron Moore, honestly, he’s the real deal. When you sit there and talk to someone and say, “Does he have a strategy? Does he have a 100-episode plan, does he have a grip on his characters?” He’s got it. It’s a very ambitious pilot, it’s a very ambitious premise. I think we cast it really well....

MR: So there’s a gay relationship on the show. Can you talk about that, about things you find interesting about the show?

PL: What I think is interesting about it is, it’s the first 21st or 22nd Century office show, office drama. It’s a bunch of people working in a claustrophobic environment, working for a business with a specific mission. Where do you have to go to with that? You have to go to character, you’re not going to go to “Star Trek”-ian moments. You’re really going to go back to the characters to get to the core. And that is the genius of Ron. Plus there’s a social commentary, he does that in “Battlestar” and he has that here. The gay relationship is one part of that.

About Joss Whedon Liguori said:
You can launch a show and it’s a 4-share show. It’s not going to become a 24-share show. The thing with Joss, you launch his show and instantly it becomes somebody’s favorite show. To me, in this current television environment, if you can be somebody’s favorite show, you’d better be patient with that show.

[It used to be] and 18-share show, that was the bar you had to jump over. If you’re looking at a 7-share show in an 18-share-hit environment, wrap it up, move on. Done. Today, I sit there and say, you know, I sat there from a distance and saw “House” premiere at a 7-share. I know I have certain tools at my disposal for promotional platforms. And you know what, I’d rather know I have a very strong, loyal core that I can build on. That being said, getting out of the gate is important in this environment.


Other news & notes:

Tim Goodman of The San Francisco Chronicle reviews "The Cleaner" the new Benjamin Bratt series that co-stars Grace Park:
This is quite a departure for Park, who plays it sassy, sexy and spunky here, not her measured "Battlestar Galactica" persona.

Trek Movie Report also rounds out all the details about the collapse of JumpCon.

Newsrama has information about a new Battlestar Galactica comic book series from Dynamite called "Battlestar Galactica: Ghosts" by Brandon Jerwa. The four issue miniseries is an original story about a black ops Viper squadron out on their own since the time of the attack on the colonies.

io9 recently reported that manga publisher Tokyopop will be publishing an anthology of Battlestar Galactica manga called, "Echoes of New Caprica" in March of 2009. Tokyopop has previously produced Star Trek manga.

io9 also wrote about the theory oriented website Battlestar Revealed.

The recent Astronomy Picture of the Day for July 15th, was the Lagoon Nebula which you may recall from the Battlestar Galactica episode "Home Part 2" in the Tomb of Athena Planetarium show.

That last link to Nebulae in fiction reminds me of this xkcd comic.