morjana
January 13th, 2005, 12:57 AM
From the Boston Globe (Boston, MA):
http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2005/01/13/sci_fi_reverts_to_original_space_mission_and_launches_weekly_battlestar_series/
ON TV
Sci Fi reverts to original space mission and launches weekly 'Battlestar' series
By Suzanne C. Ryan, Globe Staff | January 13, 2005
For the past 10 years, Richard Hatch has been on a mission to return the classic space drama ''Battlestar Galactica" to the small screen.
The actor, who starred in the original 1978 series about a group of space colonists desperately searching for earth as they are pursued by evil robots, has written seven books advancing the story line. (His latest, ''Redemption," will be published in April.)
He produced a four-minute film trailer illustrating his ideas for a spinoff. And he's made the rounds at about 30 sci-fi conventions, signing autographs and appearing on panels, all in the hopes of resurrecting those pesky red-eyed villains, the Cylons.
Tomorrow night, Hatch's dream becomes a reality. A retooled version of ''Battlestar Galactica" will return to television as a weekly Friday-night series on the Sci Fi Channel at 10.
The premiere follows a successful ''Battlestar" miniseries, which aired on the channel in December 2003 despite objections from fans who disliked some of the new twists, as in the dreaded Cylons now looking humanoid and mingling undetected among people.
Much to his delight, Hatch, 58, will guest star in two episodes this season, although he'll portray a terrorist -- not the daring fighter pilot Apollo, his former character.
''People love space-adventure series. . . .." Hatch said. ''Hopefully, the show will get a chance" to thrive, unlike the original program which lasted just one season on ABC, he said.
The launch of ''Battlestar Galactica" represents a flip-flop in the Sci Fi Channel philosophy. Two years ago, it wanted to move beyond the space odyssey, because viewers were no longer impressed by gee-whiz technology and portrayals of the future.
In March 2003, the channel ignored the pleas of fans and dropped its first original series ''Farscape" in favor of higher-profile programming such as the Steven Spielberg-produced miniseries ''Taken" and ''Frank Herbert's Children of Dune." It also introduced its first original reality series ''Scare Tactics" and a horror-comedy series spun off the movie ''Tremors."
While ''Taken" broke Sci Fi's viewership records (it attracted an average of 4.97 million viewers), ''Scare Tactics" and ''Tremors" didn't fare as well. ''Tremors" was canceled after one season and ''Scare Tactics" (whose reruns are currently airing) may not return.
Now management is backpedaling, having filled the cable network's schedule with space adventures, including its top primetime original shows ''Stargate SG-1" and its spinoff ''Stargate Atlantis." ''Andromeda," ''Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," the original ''Battlestar" series, and ''Star Trek" are also airing, although those four programs are re-runs that air during the day.
''We can never totally abandon the space opera," said Sci Fi's president Bonnie Hammer. ''It's such a part of science fiction."
''Battlestar" is sort of a compromise, she said, because it's not a traditional space tale but more of an intense drama where people are focused on war and survival.
Long term, Hammer promises, the channel will continues its quest to diversify. This year, it plans to air the films ''Painkiller Jane," which is based on the comic book of the same name about a female superhero, and ''Eureka," which is an earth-based story about a town inhabited by geniuses. If the films are successful, they will be developed into series, she said.
The channel will also air ''The Triangle," a miniseries about the myth of the Bermuda Triangle and a group of characters who come together to try to solve its mystery.
In the spring, Sci Fi will also be launching the second season of the reality show ''Ghost Hunters," which follows a group of plumbers who visit haunted houses at night.
''We're trying to find a balance," she said. ''We have to expand into other realms besides space."
The entire cast from the ''Battlestar" miniseries will be returning tomorrow, including Oscar-nominated actor Edward James Olmos, who plays Commander Adama (the Lorne Greene role). Ronald D. Moore, a former writer for ''Star Trek: The Next Generation" and ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," also returns as executive producer.
Moore said the series will address contemporary issues as the colonists stay on the run. ''The Cylons are not Al Qaeda but there will be a lot of oblique references to the war on terrorism, issues about religion and its place in society," he said. ''The point of the series is to make people question things going on around them."Tomorrow, the series opens with a devastating premise. The fleet that survived the deadly attack seen in 2003's miniseries must now jump to a new location in space every 33 minutes to evade the clever Cylons who keep finding them. Existing without sleep and the help of stimulants has exhausted the crew and raised tensions to the breaking point.
As a sci-fi fan, Michael Laing, 31, an Ashland resident and information technology specialist, can't wait to tune in.
''I thought the miniseries was fantastic," said Laing. ''It was incredibly written. The characters were really fully developed. It wasn't traditional science fiction."
© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company
|*|(*)|*|(*)|*|
Morjana
SG1-Spoilergate
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http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2005/01/13/sci_fi_reverts_to_original_space_mission_and_launches_weekly_battlestar_series/
ON TV
Sci Fi reverts to original space mission and launches weekly 'Battlestar' series
By Suzanne C. Ryan, Globe Staff | January 13, 2005
For the past 10 years, Richard Hatch has been on a mission to return the classic space drama ''Battlestar Galactica" to the small screen.
The actor, who starred in the original 1978 series about a group of space colonists desperately searching for earth as they are pursued by evil robots, has written seven books advancing the story line. (His latest, ''Redemption," will be published in April.)
He produced a four-minute film trailer illustrating his ideas for a spinoff. And he's made the rounds at about 30 sci-fi conventions, signing autographs and appearing on panels, all in the hopes of resurrecting those pesky red-eyed villains, the Cylons.
Tomorrow night, Hatch's dream becomes a reality. A retooled version of ''Battlestar Galactica" will return to television as a weekly Friday-night series on the Sci Fi Channel at 10.
The premiere follows a successful ''Battlestar" miniseries, which aired on the channel in December 2003 despite objections from fans who disliked some of the new twists, as in the dreaded Cylons now looking humanoid and mingling undetected among people.
Much to his delight, Hatch, 58, will guest star in two episodes this season, although he'll portray a terrorist -- not the daring fighter pilot Apollo, his former character.
''People love space-adventure series. . . .." Hatch said. ''Hopefully, the show will get a chance" to thrive, unlike the original program which lasted just one season on ABC, he said.
The launch of ''Battlestar Galactica" represents a flip-flop in the Sci Fi Channel philosophy. Two years ago, it wanted to move beyond the space odyssey, because viewers were no longer impressed by gee-whiz technology and portrayals of the future.
In March 2003, the channel ignored the pleas of fans and dropped its first original series ''Farscape" in favor of higher-profile programming such as the Steven Spielberg-produced miniseries ''Taken" and ''Frank Herbert's Children of Dune." It also introduced its first original reality series ''Scare Tactics" and a horror-comedy series spun off the movie ''Tremors."
While ''Taken" broke Sci Fi's viewership records (it attracted an average of 4.97 million viewers), ''Scare Tactics" and ''Tremors" didn't fare as well. ''Tremors" was canceled after one season and ''Scare Tactics" (whose reruns are currently airing) may not return.
Now management is backpedaling, having filled the cable network's schedule with space adventures, including its top primetime original shows ''Stargate SG-1" and its spinoff ''Stargate Atlantis." ''Andromeda," ''Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," the original ''Battlestar" series, and ''Star Trek" are also airing, although those four programs are re-runs that air during the day.
''We can never totally abandon the space opera," said Sci Fi's president Bonnie Hammer. ''It's such a part of science fiction."
''Battlestar" is sort of a compromise, she said, because it's not a traditional space tale but more of an intense drama where people are focused on war and survival.
Long term, Hammer promises, the channel will continues its quest to diversify. This year, it plans to air the films ''Painkiller Jane," which is based on the comic book of the same name about a female superhero, and ''Eureka," which is an earth-based story about a town inhabited by geniuses. If the films are successful, they will be developed into series, she said.
The channel will also air ''The Triangle," a miniseries about the myth of the Bermuda Triangle and a group of characters who come together to try to solve its mystery.
In the spring, Sci Fi will also be launching the second season of the reality show ''Ghost Hunters," which follows a group of plumbers who visit haunted houses at night.
''We're trying to find a balance," she said. ''We have to expand into other realms besides space."
The entire cast from the ''Battlestar" miniseries will be returning tomorrow, including Oscar-nominated actor Edward James Olmos, who plays Commander Adama (the Lorne Greene role). Ronald D. Moore, a former writer for ''Star Trek: The Next Generation" and ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," also returns as executive producer.
Moore said the series will address contemporary issues as the colonists stay on the run. ''The Cylons are not Al Qaeda but there will be a lot of oblique references to the war on terrorism, issues about religion and its place in society," he said. ''The point of the series is to make people question things going on around them."Tomorrow, the series opens with a devastating premise. The fleet that survived the deadly attack seen in 2003's miniseries must now jump to a new location in space every 33 minutes to evade the clever Cylons who keep finding them. Existing without sleep and the help of stimulants has exhausted the crew and raised tensions to the breaking point.
As a sci-fi fan, Michael Laing, 31, an Ashland resident and information technology specialist, can't wait to tune in.
''I thought the miniseries was fantastic," said Laing. ''It was incredibly written. The characters were really fully developed. It wasn't traditional science fiction."
© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company
|*|(*)|*|(*)|*|
Morjana
SG1-Spoilergate
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/SG1-Spoilergate/
Richard Dean Anderson Fans
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/rdandersonfans/
Fans of Joe Flanigan
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/fansofjoeflanigan/