For those who saw the entertainment news several weeks ago, Battlestar Galactica show runner/revamper Ron Moore finally admitted that he and the other writers never put together a plan for the Cylons. It was revealed during the closing panel at Austin’s Television festival which I attended…just the BSG part.
As much as I loved both versions of the show, I’ve always been apprehensive with Ron Moore’s direction. Sure it’s better than Glen Larson’s cheesy original soaked in Mormon mythology like the Twitard vampire franchise yet the show was padded with the similar tactics used on Star Trek. Plus having Cylons who resembled 12 people felt like a lazy, low-budget cheat. Still, I ponied up the money for a ticket to go.
One special treat was the flubbed attempt to have Jamie Bamber drop from his vacation in France via Skype.
The MC did a good job keeping things moving, letting Moore and the cast get out their anecdotes on how they landed the roles, what they did during the series, how they couldn’t keep Starbuck’s disappearance a secret, etc. The funnier ones were when some rented the old show to see who the characters were before the gender swaps got implemented.
My favorite was Jame Edward Olmos, the show’s best and strongest actor, explained his skepticism and would only do BSG if it was taken seriously. It paid off, his scene in the pilot with the immediate funeral after the massacre by the Cylons was a demonstration of his powerful acting. He even got the audience to band together and say the Colonial version of “amen,” “So say we all.”
There was a dreadful part sadly. They opened the floor to questions. UGH. All festivals, book signings, whatever need to implement what I call the Elvis Costello Rule. Questions need to be submitted earlier and the staff can weed out the crap ones and the part I hate the most…the assholes who blather on about themselves and maybe there’s a question at the end. You know the types, “Me! Me! Me! Oh, and can I have a selfie with you? The hell with the other few hundred people.”
I’ll end on a positive note. I am glad I went despite standing in the late-day heat outside the venue. Battlestar Galactica (2003) was a vast improvement on numerous levels. The 1978 run looks very dated along with its horrendous Astronomy, Moore’s did its homework on Science often. Then comes the SciFi network. This show was one of the few things justifying its existence amongst the abundant turd sandwiches they’ve aired such as wrestling, a hack psychic and chasing ghosts.
Now I’m hoping to go to a convention where I can have my picture taken with Katee Sackhoff. I doubt James Edward Olmos bothers, the man has a credible SciFi resume though: Blade Runner, Agents of SHIELD and Eureka.