State of Fandom Address PLEASE READ!

[peter noble]

Hi there!

My name’s Peter Noble, I reside in the United Kingdom and have been a fan of Battlestar Galactica sine I saw the movie version in 1979.

Most of you don’t know me from Adam, but I want to share with you a vision I have.

As you know the reimagining of the mini-series IS going ahead.

Most of you are still clinging to the hope that Universal will pull the plug on the mini. I’d love this to happen, but I don’t honestly think they will. It'd be a miracle if they did, but I’d rather make my own miracle

Well what are we supposed to do you may ask?

Well for a start, if you’re thinking of watching said mini-series, DON’T WATCH IT. If you really are a fan of the ORIGINAL Battlestar Galactica, you will know by now this production goes against the spirit and ideas of the series and is driven by several people’s ego and arrogance.

By watching the mini you are giving validation to these people and undermining the efforts of those who are STILL fighting for their dream of the original Battlestar Galactica’s return in some form.

Well, you may say I’ve signed petitions and written letters, and they are still going ahead with this mini-series, what else can I do?

YOU can do the ultimate PROTEST, something no one else can take away from you. You, as a consumer of film and TV entertainment, can refuse to watch or buy any merchandise associated with the mini!

By doing this you are sending a message to TPTB, that is enough is enough, and you WILL listen to what I’ve got say regarding your programming.

I said earlier that I like to make my own miracles.

In the next few weeks, hopefully, you will see the rag-tag fandom that is BSG fandom grow closer together in its aims and ideas. Lines of communication will be opened up all over this planet and the rag-tag fleet will come to close quarters for the first time in 25 years!

There are fans of the original show all over the world that remember the show fondly and are out there with money in their pockets and their faith to be renewed!

TPTB’s failure to understand the global potential of their FRANCHISE by authorising a U.S-centric production is a commercial lack of vision on their part of major proportions.

I myself can think of FOUR spin-offs from the original show, yet all these Hollywood types could think of was a remake!

As Battlestar Galactica fans we MUST be of singular purpose and determination now more than ever.

STOP engaging trolls and RDM fans in multi-post pontificating that serves no purpose and is a distraction from our main goal.

Every fan of the original show must be able to stand up and be counted and do their part in keeping the show alive as we have done through all these years.

At the moment it is my great honour to be friends with fellow fans who are great motivators and coordinators, and who are incredibly PASSIONATE about the show after all this time.

We are working to create our own miracle, you might call us the Impossible Missions Force!

Join us in making a miracle. Keep watching the message boards and on Sci-Fi make your handles emailable – you never know when YOU might be called to help in the fight for BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!

NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER SURRENDER!

Keep the Vipers flying, and shape up and fly right,

Peter

[Sept17th]

Peter, I am with you...but I think you knew that.

[peter noble]

I did!

[Micheleh]

Well said, Peter. That's exactly the message we need to convey.

[jewels]

But I still believe there can be a miracle.

[Dawg]

Peter, I like what you are saying, I like it a lot. I fully agree with everything you have said, and this effort of ours has my full support and backing. But, I have a question that has been bouncing around the back of my mind, and this seems the best time and place to ask it.

Where should we, as fans, draw the line?

Most of us, the true fans of Galactica, have favored a continuation, set 25 or 30 yahrens after the series left off, featuring many of the original cast in the original roles, mentoring a new generation of Galacticans. However, as you said, they are not going that route at all, rather some kind of remake is in production (unless they have been deliberately misleading us, which I wouldn’t put past them). The question now seems to be whether or not it’s that piece of trash attributed to Moore.

Because it is not a continuation, do we turn our backs on it, condemn it just because it is not a continuation? Do we continue to debate the merits of a continuation as we discuss this particular project, or is that now a waste of time, energy and focus?

OK, it’s going to be a remake. Could we, the true fans of BSG, ever accept a remake? I think this is the key question. And, as much as I would prefer to see a continuation, I think we could and should accept a remake, providing - and this is the important part - it honors and respects the original. I believe it would be a mistake to dismiss it only because Richard Hatch isn’t playing Apollo, for example.

There was a great deal of original thought applied to the original BSG story, intermingling biblical and other mythological premises into a single complex, intriguing history of the “lost brothers of man.” That is entirely missing from the script we’ve seen. If the mini is following this script then we should take off the gloves and show the producers and directors and writers what it means to be in a fight. I would hope that, as our President and Council are elected, they will lead us on that fight. I would hope plans are already in the works, behind the scenes.

As the production progresses I would expect to find out, despite the secrecy, whether any of the “backstory” has been returned to that of the original - that the Cylons were another race, not Hienlienian robots turning on their masters - that 13 tribes of man left Kobol, the 13th bound for Earth - that the colonial warriors aboard Galactica exhibited some form of military discipline and didn’t shout ‘60s rock lyrics at each other in the corridors.

That their names aren’t from 20th Century Earth - that Apollo was a respected name in the line of Adama’s family, not some lame callsign.

Perhaps the focus of all true Battlestar Galactica fans, for right now, should be to support the best possible production to revive the franchise - if it can’t be a continuation, then at the very least a faithful retelling of the “real story” of the 12 Colonies and the search for Earth - and not the crap we’ve read so far.

I submit this as a topic for discussion; I would be interested to know your thoughts.

Humbly,

I am
Dawg

[peter noble]

Dawg, I COULD accept a remake IF it was a remake in the true sense of the word. If they had shot Saga again but updated it in the design and costume departments and ironed out the bad science. The screenplay credit would read blah blah, based on the screenplay by Glen A Larson. But everything would still be the same. Starbuck would still be a man etc and all the mythology and echoes of Earth civilisations would be there. Also the whole family could still watch!

Peter

[peter noble]

Originally posted by Micheleh
Well said, Peter. That's exactly the message we need to convey.

Thank you! As you are skilled in the organising and coordinating department I sincerely hope you can help in making this a reality!

Regards,

Peter

[Dawg]

That would be the ideal for a remake, I agree, Peter. But then, I'm about twice as old as the target audience that a tv network aims for (with the possible exception of PBS).

The audience today is far more sophisticated than the audience 25 years ago, too. The 18-35 age group has the most disposable income, so that's the group that gets targeted more often than not. That's business, and we have to face the fact that this is a for-profit business. That means that a remake of a 25 year old movie is going to include some of the changes in sensibilities that have occurred over the past quarter-century.

What's my point? That I'm not convinced a gender change is a deal-breaker. If you look at Farscape, Star Trek, Firefly, etc., there are women combatants and they take their (rightful, I think) place next to their male counterparts. This wasn't the case 25 years ago, because the audience wasn't as ready to accept women in combat roles; they were very unusual when they were portrayed, and they were usually portrayed in a "last resort" kind of scenario (as in BSG).

The script we have is unadulterated crap, and will produce an unwatchable movie - I am firm in that belief. But if they have changed the script so that the rest of the basics are true to the original, we lose a brother-brother relationship and get an even more complex possibility for a relationship - comrades in arms, drinking buddies with possible sexual undertone (no porn reference intended - something healthier, more family-friendly). Do you know what I mean?

I want to see Battlestar Galactica when this thing airs, that's my bottom line. So, where do we draw that line - what is Galactica, and what isn't?

I am
Dawg

[peter noble]

Dawg, the line is drawn, RDM's mini-series is not Battlestar Galactica.

Peter

[Dawg]

I agree.

But what if it isn't all RDM's anymore?

We keep hearing conflicting information about the production - little rays of hope. That leads me to believe that one of two things are happening: Either there have been some fundamental changes to that script (as I devoutly hope) , or somebody's jerking our chain to keep us off balance (woe to him, if that's the case and we ever find out who it is...)

But I care less about Starbuck's gender than I do that the product is Battlestar Galactica. That script is not Battlestar Galactica. If that script is what they are filming, they are not filming Battlestar Galactica and my wrath will know no bounds if they air it.

I'm already warming up my keyboard, just in case.

But I am keeping the faith.

I am
Dawg

[peter noble]

Originally posted by Dawg
If that script is what they are filming, they are not filming Battlestar Galactica and my wrath will know no bounds if they air it.

They ARE filming that script.

Peter

[Dawg]

Frankly, Peter, I don't see actors the calibre of Edward James Olmos seeing that script and not believing as we do, that it's a load of crap (that's such a namby-pamby word to describe it).

*Dawg is, after all, an eternal optimist*

Perhaps I'm being naive, but I'm keeping my hopes up. I've never been involved in a production of a movie or tv show, but I've read enough to know that first scripts rarely make it intact onto the screen; there's a famous story about how Herb Solow had to literally stand on Gene Roddenberry's desk to get him to finish the re-write of that day's shooting script.

We'll see, my friend, we'll see. If there's something we can do now, let's do it. There will be many other things we can do when this sucker airs...

I am
Dawg