01: Saga Of A Star World

[Eric Paddon]

Without trying to start any kind of controversial debate (which I'd rather not see in this kind of thread) I'll just point out that there are many people with religious/moral beliefs that make them shy away from certain programming that takes an issue oriented stance on that particular issue, and speaking only for myself, I'd rather not see things of that kind of controversy crop up in a Galactica storyline.

[Senmut]

Originally Posted by Tabitha

Well it would be nice to have GLBT people among our group of friends. They are people too you know. It may seem hard to believe, but everyone has feelings, thoughts and something of worth to contribute to the world. The people in that community I an friends with are very educated, most teach or are administrators for large companies. They are scifi fans, but find the lack of characters they can identify with bothersom, like we did here with a certain other show. If a person cannot look at a TV show or movie and say, I understand that character, for at least ONE character, the allure of the show fades fast. Given that BSG is a family show, it just seems to me that we can make room for all types of families in it. Is that too much to ask?

tabbi

Yes, basically.

[Pegasus4]

Like Baltar's home planet being Piscera, 12 Battlestars is a fan consensus, one that I don't agree with anymore considering how long the war was.

I agree that the Baltar on Caprica scene should've stayed but I can see your points Eric. Plus Caprica is an inner Colony, he probably had to pass Piscera to get to it and would wonder why there were fires all over it.

I didn't care for the StarKobol ship being destroyed earlier. I agree that it was the President's personal ship where the treaty was to be signed but it should be with the fleet. Destroying it before Apollo and Zac get out there takes away from Zac's death being the very first casualty of the Cylon/Baltar treachery. I always loved the irony that Adama is the great saviour of thousands of survivors after his own son was the first of billions murdered. His line "That was my son Mr. President" was what hooked me to the show.

[Eric Paddon]

I appreciate your thoughts on the "Star Kobol" sequence. The reason for it, was that I was trying to potentially harmonize my adaptation with a still unfinished fanfic epic by Sanna Guerin, co-moderator of the fanfic mailing list called "Game Of Life" (she's been letting it languish for years!) where one of the plot points revolves around the Star Kobol surviving from this type of predicament (this was why I ended the scene with it being attacked but not destroyed) and having it load up survivors who later catch up with the Pegasus, post-LL. I also felt that the use of the ship would help clear up the confusion about just where the "rendezvous point" between Colonial and Cylon fleets was supposed to be.

[captmiloman]

Originally Posted by Eric Paddon

Having outlined areas of Saga that in a rewrite should lend themselves to foreshadowing future episodes, I'd like to now focus on an aspect that I think the original tended to send confusing signals on. The nature of Apollo's relationship with Zac. I have to be honest, it's hard to make out what Apollo says when Serina says, "You and your brother must be close." Apparently the line is, "We were" but for many years it always sounded more like, "We weren't" to me, and frankly I always felt that line made more dramatic sense in light of how Apollo and Zac interact with each other at the beginning.

Why is Zac anxious to pull the patrol with Starbuck? He apparently wants to prove himself to Apollo that he's capable of being an equal, and he seems to indicate that to him, Apollo's treated him in a patronizing way when he says, "He still thinks of me as his little brother." So what Zac wants is a chance to show Apollo he's capable of being a warrior, and that he didn't become one just to tag along.

To me at least, that indicated why Zac was so wound up about doing a patrol that if there had been no ambush waiting, should have been routine and dull in every sense. Someone who's trying to impress an older brother who's probably looked down him all their lives, by standing up for himself would invest more meaning in a seemingly unimportant patrol.

So to me, I felt at least that it added more character depth for Apollo if in fact he and Zac had been cool in their relations, because then the loss of him would strike a more tragic note as Apollo only at the last minute realizes he'd perhaps not shown Zac enough respect for his potential ability as a warrior, and then as he's coming back to the Fleet, not knowing he's dead, is thinking that from this point on things will be different and better in their relationship, only to find out that it's never going to happen.

My take at least, as I wrote it. Would the rest of you say Apollo and Zac had been close or not close and how would you use that interpretation to explain some of Apollo's later actions? Does he gravitate so easily to Serina and Boxey because he suddenly feels this need to create a new extended family for himself after this painful tragedy?

Just another point to hash over that redoing this story would raise.

In the original novel it was mentioned that whenever Apollo and Athena would butt heads, Zac would get inbeween them and say something like, "let's just settle down and go get drunk." Something to that effect anyway. I would have liked to have seen more of the relationship between the Adama siblings(Apollo, Athena, & Zac). If the original were to have been remade(not "re-imagined"), it would have been interesting to have seen what would have been done with today's visual effects and camera work(handheld ala "Firefly").

[captmiloman]

Originally Posted by Eric Paddon

"One criticism, if i may... You may have taken two throw away characters and overblown their importance. One or two scenes to set-up who they are should be enough, why integrate them at all into the narrative as anything other than background characters?"

I'm not sure I know who you mean there. If you mean the Charybdis-Ortega scene I open with, that's deliberately done to provide accurate foreshadowing for "Murder On The Rising Star" later on in the series. My approach is that there shouldn't be any sudden revelation about a past event from out of the blue in a later episode.

"Nice to see you trying to expand on other characters, like Adama's wife, but why turn her into a boring homewife?"

Well, I described her as being retired from a professional career of her own, looking forward to when her husband would soon retire as well. The particular career I chose for her was one I've used in other fanfic stories in the past. I felt it highlights Adama's own sense of loss ultimately if in fact he was on the verge of retirement and having a chance to make-up for lost yahrens with Ila, who had already done her share of what she wanted to accomplish in life in terms of a professional career.

"If you have access to the comics check out... well... I think it was between issues 3 and 8 (?) ... Best as I recollect she appears therein in command of a ship. (Mean looking military vessel too!) Apollo stumbles on her vessel, which was trailing the Galactica, sadly they'd all taken a dose of the Thorian (?) radiation and died. But not before she extracted a promise from Apollo that he'd never reveal to his father that he'd found her."

That's issue #15 of the Marvel Comics series, and it was Boomer who found her. There was never anything there to indicate she had anything to do with the military in her life before. For the most part, that was a case of my looking at what someone else did and deciding not to utilize it. THe one thing I did do was not write a scene of Ila dying, since at the time I wrote this I was trying to keep the door open to harmonize things with another fanfic author's story where she does turn up alive and well yahrens later with ships found by the Pegasus.

"I scanned the document and found no reference to Centitilla. Go back and re-watch the pilot. Pay close attention to when the Galactica is re-entering the system. There should be a bit of dialogue to the effect (from memory):

Adama: "And Centitilla?"
Tigh: "The planet's in flames."


Actually, the planet mentioned in the broadcast is "Sagitara." I kept that scene but changed the planet's name to Piscera, because I decided earlier that (1) Baltar would be from Piscera, a point that a number of fanfic authors had come to a kind of general consensus on for no particular reasons and (2) I wanted Adama's question about a particular colony to be tied to his suspicions about Baltar's invovlement in the ambush, that if the colony he knows Baltar from is untouched that would tell him everything right then and there.


"I think it is great that you've expanded on so many characters, but I'd also like to see a bit of expansion detailing the background setting!"

Fair point. One thing I generally prefer to do is write dialogue and character exposition, but background settings and physical descriptions is not the thing I focus too much on since I always have a sense that I'm stopping the flow of the story cold whenever I take too much time to do something like that.

Thanks for the comments!

Writing out a detailed description of settings are okay if you're writing a script to be storyboarded later for a film, but if someone else is just going to read it I'd say just give a brief idea of where the action's taking place and let the readers' imagination take it from there. I used to dabble a little in writing when I was in high school as a hobby. It's great for handling stress, too.

[captmiloman]

Reading all this has inspired me to start working on a script of a remake, not a "re-imagining". The story and characters are the same as the original with the exception of a few minor tweaks & peaks.

[Eric Paddon]

Go to it! The more diversity we see in projects like this, the more we end up proving that concept-wise there was never anything wrong with TOS to begin with, and that a straight remake with appropriate adjustments could easily be done in today's expectations of what good TV should be.

[Pegasus4]

I reread this recently and see that you killed off Dr. Paye. However he's alive and well in Virtual Second Season.

I think it was wrong not having Adama and Tigh shedding some tears on the bridge while watching Caprica under attack. I realize they want to be strong for the crew but they're only human. I always thought that was a well done emotional scene showing the top 2 officers crying along with just about everyone else and Adama going over to his daughter. Was like Pearl Harbor (the real life attack, not that bad 2001 movie). Higher ranks did cry in public seeing that.

[Eric Paddon]

The Dr. Paye thing is the one bit of discontinuity between the adaptations and the VS that has seeped out owing to lack of awareness on that point beforehand. Unofficially, I'm taking the view that the Paye in the VS is another gent entirely and I'm just waiting to explain that in the future.

[Senmut]

His mama had twins? Cool!

[Athene]

Originally Posted by Lord Kingjason

Which is why i've loved this series. Its mythology and setting made it unique and fasinating with the names, places and most of all. A very powerful storyline tale told, about a group of humans actually looking for Earth, rather than from Earth originally cos they lost their own homeworlds and find out where their lost brothers from an almost long forgotten 13th tribe went. Its a premise that always rivaled Star Trek and Star Wars in terms of a grand sci-fi universe with heroes and villains within it.

I whole heartedly agree with that statement.
You wouldn't believe how many times I've seen Saga of a Starworld. I highly recommend watching the movie version if you have a copy of it.

[Athene]

Originally Posted by Lord Kingjason

Agreed! looking back the series pilot let alone the series kinda glossed over TONS of set up material and characterization of the settings, characters, and universe Battlestar Galactica is set in. Truth be told even the 3 hour pilot didn't bring enough justice to the grand and epic scale both Richard Colla/Alan J Levi and Glen Larson originally brought to the pilot episode.

Taking one of the original script drafts after the Cylons became a race of "super-machines" rather than non-humaniod 'Alien Reptillians', and drawing on other elements the novels and abandoned early scripts touched upon we could address an alternate universe where had the show developed properly and slowly had a storyarc with enough action and SFX matching the onscreen drama and the existing pilot was more similar to the original mini-series intentions, Battlestar might have had a stronger basis to allow the stories to continue and make the characters interact with one another tus generating even bigger potential storyarcs that might've kept the series going beyond the existing 24 episodes.

Although plenty of elements effect the creation and filming of a TV series, i imagine Galactica might have done well if several things were indeed more fleshed out from the writing angle thus eliminating the obvious later flaws in the characters and science of the plot situations (faster-than-light-travel, knowing what a Galaxy is Vs 'Starsystem' etc), the budgets, casting of guest stars etc. i reckon with several changes to the existing storyline of the pilot, that the later episodes would as Eric's pointed out benefited from better writing.

Things that could have happened in order to produce a better BSG series continuity, character, SFX and storyarc wise

1) Pilot episode split into an actual mini-series. Two 3 hour TV movies in 1978 or 3 individual 2 hour movies. First part covers the introduction to the series settings last of the battlestars, main characters, the holocaust. While the second or third parts; would naturally cover, the Escape/Exodus flight to Carillion near escape and destruction of Cylons/Ovions at Carillion.

2) Athena would be a much stronger character overall. And would be the hands on 'Tomboy' Warrior Larson originally wrote for the series. Strong yet caring of her father Adama. She and Apollo would clash often and have trouble getting along but respect one another greatly regardless of their duties to the ship and fleet.

3) Zac wouldn't be killed off until early in the series after Serina died or something. Finding out who he is and what was like originally before he died, would've made more sense. Then Ric Springfield could've reappeared to Apollo time and time again. As realistically, he was really gulity and felt haunted by his younger brother's death which made Apollo far more dedicated to duty to distract himself from really grieving! Zac loss might have played off better if he died later rather than minutes into the pilot at the beginning of the series. Only to keep on reappearing "Lost style" to characters like Apollo and Adama through dreams and illusions etc. What if in 'War Of The Gods' later on Count Iblis tormented Apollo by taking on Zac's features? Thus is te real reason Captain Apollo starts shooting Iblis?

Zac and Serina might've both been used in this way had the writers thought of ways to utilise them better in order to flesh'em out moreso.

4) Cylons. Fleshing out their motives and their machine race from the beginning a little more clearly but keeping most of the later season 1 revelations as they are. Would've worked far better. But the series certainly could've used some of the novels more fleshed out backstory and included elements such as the Cylons Centurions being decorated in "spoils" and trophys from captured worlds and using alien technology from conquered worlds, the whole '2 brained' and '3 brained' Cylons concepts, being far more explained and extrapolated on.

Baltar being trained and exercised out by Lucifer via the use of holograms in the 'Tombs Of Kobol' novel to prepare him after he is spared by Imperious Leader (but really cos Lucifer wanted to experiment with Baltar for his own curiousity) would've been an interesting take on Baltar being spared and seeing the traitor at work with the Cylons before he gained control of a basestar might have shown a different side to Colicos portrayal of Baltar from invulnerable human to power mad madman with machine as his allies. Seeing his cahracter turn into that mad slowly would have been better. Also seeing Karibdis's involvement in the sabotage of the colonial defences, might've been more interesting to see and witness firsthand, knowing Baltar had a secretive ally in the fleet later on (who probably wouldn't try to kill him) and was just as dangerous to the poeple's of the fleet being a wolf in sheep's clothing as Baltar was, as an attacking force trying to destroy the fleet with the Cylons.

5) Proper reasons for Baltar's betrayal. Control of your own colony doesn't mean he wanted to see the rest destroyed! Nor would he be so foolishly guliable to trust the Cylons completely without a backup plan of his own just in case.

6) A vast universe? Humans with interstellar travel wouldn't all be at home the same time the Cylons made their final all-out attack. Nor would the military be down to just 5 giant warships, and place them all in one location just to be destroyed, considering not everyone (like Adama) trusted the Cylons or their attempts at peace! An hour in both pilot episodes (see number 1#) or so might have had a subplot about telling their peoples outside of the 12 colonies to scatter and hide, while others nearby attempt to reach the Galactica and her fleet of newly assembled ragtag ships after the holocaust.

7) The 12 Colonies Of Man. Both before and after their destruction would need a closer view of how these people existed before they lost their homes in a sneak attack. How they relate to our ancient forefathers in realtion to the motifs, references to earth culture etc. Their actual starsystem and its enviroment, their neighbouring starsystems (Borallus, Proteus, Arcta, Starlost?). As well as where the Cylon Homeworld is and how well defended it is etc?

8) The Battlestar Commanders? Besides Adama and possibly Baltar of the Pacifica? Who commanded the other ships? Wouldn't it have been great, if one of the commanders was actually onboard the Galactica and was unable to return to his own Battlestar ship only to see it destroyed from the Galactica. And spent the series at odds with both Adama and Tigh about styles of Command etc and wanted to gain command of a ship of his own again? Or it was left totally mysterious if every Battlestar was indeed actually destroyed? Cos in a chaotic battle don't ships disappear? Something that might've put a big question mark after Living Legend, if yet another Battlestar turned up, but was also at Cimtar (unlike the Pegasus) and has been trying to relocate the Galactica and her fleet. And what if her commander outranks Adama and doesn't want to go searching the universe for Earth? (dramatic possibilites)

9) More to the Carillion trap by the Ovions/Cylons. Also what if the Galactica picked up more alien passingers like the 'Tucan singers', 'Borays' etc?

10) Adama. Making Adama bit more like his Berkley novel counterpart, might've been far more interesting. Seeing as he was more of a "darker figure" who was more complexed in places than how Lorne Greene played him. Being a bit strict *tyrant* to maintain command, or being noted for possessing strange powers?, to not being heard when *sneaking up* on someone. Could made Adama more of a character with a deep but controversial history.

Things to consider far as a new twist on the series itself eh?

KJ

I've often wondered how the series might have taken shape if all those changes had indeed been made.

I'm responding to this thread again since I am watching the movie Saga of a Starworld and then the TV version in honour of having seen it 30 years ago this July. It had it's movie premiere in the movie theatre in Canada in July of 1978, before it's release in the States and later it was released in the American movie theatres in 1979.

Again, I wonder what might have been.

I love Saga of s Starworld just the way it is.

[Punisher454]

I just joined this board, but have been a fan of the show since before it aired.
After the disappointment and kick in groin that RDM's GINO was I sure am ready for a proper remake.
I read a few suggestions here about making SOASW into a 6 hour mini. I think a six hour mini would be great, but end it with the fleet leaving the colonies, make Carilon a whole separate arc.
I think that about 80-90% of the sets and props had a design that would look good if being made today. The Vipers and Raiders would only need minor tweaks to look convincing, and the battlestar model design was perfect the first time.
I think showing some things from the Cylon side would be very interesting and would help explain the story to the audience better. "Tora-Tora-Tora" spent a lot of time showing the Japanese side of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Even the cheezy "Starship Troopers"movie spent some time setting up the audience for the initial bug attack. SOSAW was just too rushed and the characters do seem one dimensional to people now days who have never seen it, and watch it for the first time.
Another thing is that the proud traditions of the colonial military need to be conveyed to the new viewer. To be a Warrior is an honor and Warriors are very respected in colonial society. Unfortunately it takes a few episodes of galactica to come to really understand that.
IF done properly a remake could be a big success, but if the wrong people get a hold of it, it could turned into something as bad as "Wing Commander"

[Athene]

Originally Posted by Punisher454

I just joined this board, but have been a fan of the show since before it aired.
After the disappointment and kick in groin that RDM's GINO was I sure am ready for a proper remake.
I read a few suggestions here about making SOASW into a 6 hour mini. I think a six hour mini would be great, but end it with the fleet leaving the colonies, make Carilon a whole separate arc.
I think that about 80-90% of the sets and props had a design that would look good if being made today. The Vipers and Raiders would only need minor tweaks to look convincing, and the battlestar model design was perfect the first time.
I think showing some things from the Cylon side would be very interesting and would help explain the story to the audience better. "Tora-Tora-Tora" spent a lot of time showing the Japanese side of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Even the cheezy "Starship Troopers"movie spent some time setting up the audience for the initial bug attack. SOSAW was just too rushed and the characters do seem one dimensional to people now days who have never seen it, and watch it for the first time.
Another thing is that the proud traditions of the colonial military need to be conveyed to the new viewer. To be a Warrior is an honor and Warriors are very respected in colonial society. Unfortunately it takes a few episodes of galactica to come to really understand that.
IF done properly a remake could be a big success, but if the wrong people get a hold of it, it could turned into something as bad as "Wing Commander"

Welcome!
I think that a 6 hour mini of SOASW would be a great idea.
I would also would like to see a movie version as well.
I was watching Saga of a Starworld last night and it's special effects have stood the test time, including the sets and the viper models.
As for the character being one dimensional I have to politely disagree with you on that. I think we got to know Starbuck, Apollo, Adama, Athena and Cassiopeia, Baltar and the other main characters rather well.
I remember the scene when Starbuck is confronted by Athena and Cassiopeia on Carillon. A classic!

[Punisher454]

No I dont think the characters actually are one dimensional, I''m just saying that in the span of SOASW they are not developed enough for an audience of 2009.
I like stories where the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad. I do believe that shades of grey are good, but those shades of grey should be very slight and not right in the middle like RDM does.
We all here understand the depth of TOS characters, but a new viewer of the current day watching TOS for the first time does not get a chance to really understand them very well. At least thats what I've gathered while attempting to introduce people to the series who have never seen it.

I hate to compare anything good to "Starship Troopers" but there are a couple of things they did right in that movie. The audience was given just the right amount of character history before the action really started. The rest may have been crap, but that was done really well, not too much and not too little, just right. Speaking of which, I suggest Michael Ironside for a role.

I agree that the special effects stand the test of time, mostly. But the modern audience will be expecting more technical accuracy of course.
One thing that must not be forgotten is that the galactica is a big warship made of metal, and the sets need to reflect that, and not have the soft plastic look of so many other productions. The riveted bulkheads beams and struts must be maintained.
Also the size and general shape of the colonial warrior sidearm should be preserved, its Iconic.

[Kester Pelagius]

Many yahrens ago I posted a idea for what I'd like to see done with a remake/reboot/redo/whatever. It went something like this:

You will have three parts, a minimum of an hour devoted to development of each segment/act.

ACT I: Background. Here we would see the colonies. Meet characters, be filled in on the 12 worlds, their history, &tc.

ACT II: The Armistice/Cylon invasion. Act I would lead organically into Act II, where we'd see FLEET BATTLES. The Colonies don't just have 5 Battlestars. They have cruisers, fighters, et al. The Cylons would probably take a beating. Let's take a page from American history and have CADETS fly up to meet the invaders, or something.

ACT III: Exodus/Carillon. Bigger, better, bolder. Make Carillon the den of hedonistic depravity it should be. And, oh yeah, NO PLANETS BLOWING UP. (We don't want Lucas filing another lawsuit.)

ACT IV. Technically this would be the outro. Keep it short and sweet and allow it to set the stage for future movies but allow there also to be a sense of closure.

Or something like that.

[Punisher454]

Make Carillon the den of hedonistic depravity it should be

For sure! Carilon was supposed to represent the Israelite's falling into sin and idol worship while Moses was on the mountain. They had just been delivered from the Egyptians and behaved Very badly. Wandering in the wilderness was their punishement.

[Athene]

Originally Posted by Punisher454

No I dont think the characters actually are one dimensional, I''m just saying that in the span of SOASW they are not developed enough for an audience of 2009.
I like stories where the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad. I do believe that shades of grey are good, but those shades of grey should be very slight and not right in the middle like RDM does.
We all here understand the depth of TOS characters, but a new viewer of the current day watching TOS for the first time does not get a chance to really understand them very well. At least thats what I've gathered while attempting to introduce people to the series who have never seen it.

I hate to compare anything good to "Starship Troopers" but there are a couple of things they did right in that movie. The audience was given just the right amount of character history before the action really started. The rest may have been crap, but that was done really well, not too much and not too little, just right. Speaking of which, I suggest Michael Ironside for a role.

I agree that the special effects stand the test of time, mostly. But the modern audience will be expecting more technical accuracy of course.
One thing that must not be forgotten is that the galactica is a big warship made of metal, and the sets need to reflect that, and not have the soft plastic look of so many other productions. The riveted bulkheads beams and struts must be maintained.
Also the size and general shape of the colonial warrior sidearm should be I spreserved, its Iconic.

I see what you mean in terms of the characters for the audience of today.
I've had friends who've watched TOS BSG for the first time. We always start with the Saga of a Starworld movie. They absolultely loved it!

[Athene]

Originally Posted by Kester Pelagius

Many yahrens ago I posted a idea for what I'd like to see done with a remake/reboot/redo/whatever. It went something like this:

You will have three parts, a minimum of an hour devoted to development of each segment/act.

ACT I: Background. Here we would see the colonies. Meet characters, be filled in on the 12 worlds, their history, &tc.

ACT II: The Armistice/Cylon invasion. Act I would lead organically into Act II, where we'd see FLEET BATTLES. The Colonies don't just have 5 Battlestars. They have cruisers, fighters, et al. The Cylons would probably take a beating. Let's take a page from American history and have CADETS fly up to meet the invaders, or something.

ACT III: Exodus/Carillon. Bigger, better, bolder. Make Carillon the den of hedonistic depravity it should be. And, oh yeah, NO PLANETS BLOWING UP. (We don't want Lucas filing another lawsuit.)

ACT IV. Technically this would be the outro. Keep it short and sweet and allow it to set the stage for future movies but allow there also to be a sense of closure.

Or something like that.

I like those ideas.

[Kester Pelagius]

Originally Posted by Punisher454

For sure! Carilon was supposed to represent the Israelite's falling into sin and idol worship while Moses was on the mountain. They had just been delivered from the Egyptians and behaved Very badly. Wandering in the wilderness was their punishement.

And don't skimp on the aliens.

The novel mentions them in passing. Doesn't really even describe them! Starbuck and Boomer arrive at the hedonistic resort and, oh, look, every alien known to man.

:sigh:

I know some can't help but draw parallels to the cantina scene in Star Wars for the casino scene on Carillon but, I hate to bruise Star Wars fanbois egos, the space bar full of aliens is a classic cliché of the genre. Even Babylon 5 did it, and with modern FX and prosthetics it looked great. (And that was back in the 90s!) Can you imagine what could be done with Carillon now?

I'd hire strippers as extras.

What?

[Athene]

Originally Posted by Kester Pelagius

And don't skimp on the aliens.

The novel mentions them in passing. Doesn't really even describe them! Starbuck and Boomer arrive at the hedonistic resort and, oh, look, every alien known to man.

:sigh:

I know some can't help but draw parallels to the cantina scene in Star Wars the casino but, I hate to bruise Star Wars fanbois egos, but the space bar full of aliens is a classic cliché of the genre. Even Babylon 5 did it, and with modern FX and prosthetics it looked great. Can you imagine what could be done with Carillion now?

I'd hire strippers as extras.

What?

I think everyone draws parallels to many sci-fi shows and movies.
You can't have good sci-fi without the aliens and the more realistic looking the better!

[Senmut]

And, sadly, such parallels are ofttimes used to slam or otherwise denigrate the thing the other person likes.
Only 7 basic plots.
Get over it!!!!!!

[HDE]

Do you believe that there is any possibility for the original BSG universe to come alive again. Don't get me wrong, I did (and I still do) really love the original series, but after quite succesfull new series, I doubt in the ppossibility of anyone going back to work on the originals. Let's face it: more people are familiar with the new version and the public might not be so trilled about returning to the past.

Perhaps there is an option of reviving the original Battle of Molecay and Pegasus adventures. With some tiding up of the original universe (speed of light travel, galaxy jumping and similar paradoxes), this might be worth trying and if succesful, it could proceed to the new Saga of a Starworld in the next season.

[Senmut]

Yes, I do. I know many fans do, as well. The original (and one and only true) BSGniverse was wonderful, and there was, IMNSHO, adequate character development over the course of the 3-hour pilot film. I think today, too many people expect the characters to go from just meeting, to pouring out their life's story, after the obligitory sexual interlude, by the end of the show, and call this character development.
Give me the real BSG!!!

[Dawg]

Originally Posted by HDE

... Let's face it: more people are familiar with the new version and the public might not be so trilled about returning to the past. ...

I keep hearing this and frankly, I think it's felgercarb of the bovine variety.

Thinking like this justifies burying Battlestar Galactica and allowing a pretender to take its place. Thinking like this allows the over-write of an entertainment icon, and a sci-fi treasure.

Thinking like this makes me cranky.

But thanks to thinking like this, I now believe any possibility of seeing a professional studio production actually based on Battlestar Galactica in the next 10 years is virtually nil. It almost certainly eliminates any possibility of a production including the original actors. Universal would have to give permission, too - and we all know what boneheads inhabit the loftier levels of the Black Tower.

That's not to say everyone at Universal is a bonehead - but you have to wonder sometimes.

I hope I'm wrong, but in the meantime it's up to people like us to keep the old girl alive and kicking. And maybe, just maybe, before we die we will see something out of Hollywood that we can identify as Battlestar Galactica.

I am
Dawg

[HDE]

Don't get me wrong. The original BSG remains my favourite piece of science fiction. And that in spite of a couple of weak episodes, inconsistent use of 3 dimension movement, time, speed of light, galaxy vs. solar system travel etc.

For me the original space alligator remains the sexiest flying machine ever filmed. There also is a great appeal to the mystic of colonial civilization and the amount of alien cultures nicely adds to this feeling. BTW, I was crying as a kid when the series ended and there was no continuation. When I watched the series again now, decades later, I was kind of afraid, that my feelings toward the original BSG are more of nostalgic value, but was proved wrong. The ship designs can still easily match any modern, acting and dialogs are (with a few exceptions) among the best in the genre (way above especially the cheesy episodes 1 to 3 of Star Wars), special effects are more than decent and the mystical appeal is thill there.

But. To have this filmed again, someone has to invest money, and the success of the new series is a bad omen for this to happen. That's unfortunate, even if I liked the new series a lot as well, but the point in the new series is so far away from the original.

Old BSG fans appear to be among the most persistent and I have a feeling that most of actors loved their roles in BSG (I know about Richard Hatch and have a feeling that I've read similar affection from some other actors as well). The fans, actors and forums like this have come with wonderfull ideas for reviving the original universe, making many nice episodes and even bringing the scientific part to a consistent level.

In my opinion, if we want the new episodes in the old universe, it's not the question of writing good stories or fixing sicntific problems, but finding an idea about who might start and finance the production and how to persuade them.

[HDE]

BTW, is anyone of you familiar with practices concerning movie rights and selling them? I mean, if it is cheaper to buy the rights for a spin-off from Universal, it might be possible to work a way around one or two problems.

Just one idea, that might be worth working on: One season of Battlestar Pegasus is filmed, covering some battles during the Human - Cylon war and explaining some loose ends from the original series like Baltar's plan, Humans being so naive at Cimtar and some scientific lapses. If the series convinces the right people to film the original episodes with new improvements -fine, if not, Season two can continue after the events in the Living Legend and all of the original series fit in the new concept. Pegasus hopefuly eventually reunites with Galactica later.

[Athene]

Originally Posted by Eric Paddon

As the story that launched the series, Saga works wonderfully. To me though, there were just two problems within the episode overall as it first aired.

#1-The conduct of other Battlestar commanders. Of course we need to be given the premise of the Galactica as the last surviving battlestar, so everyone else gets wiped out in the opening battle, but realistically wouldn't we have expected to see some of the other commanders, or at least one other put up more of a fight?

#2-Why does Serina seek Apollo out? Of course in the footage that was originally shot this had an explanation. Serina was dying and looked to Apollo as a potential father-figure for Boxey since he'd have no one soon.


Ultimately, as the rest of the series aired, it was possible to go back to Saga and realize that some critical elements of foreshadowing could be called for as well so that future episode storylines wouldn't quite come out of left field.


#1-How did Baltar get off the Atlantia? And how was the Colonial defense network for the 12 worlds sabotaged so that the attack on the planets was sudden? We got our explanation to both points in "Murder On The Rising Star" with the Charybdis character. He's identified as Baltar's pilot and also the one who sabotaged the computers. So therefore, in redoing Saga, foreshadowing of MOTRS can be handled effectively by introducing Charybdis as a character, and Ortega as well to set up the circumstances of just how they met and how Ortega knew who Charybdis was (this point was never explained at all in MOTRS. We learned that Ortega knew who Charybdis was, but not how he learned his true identity).

#2-Starbuck and Aurora. I think of all the "where did that come from?" plot twists in the series, the revelation of Starbuck having a serious girlfriend other than Athena at the time of the Destruction was the hardest to swallow. In "Take The Celestra" Starbuck confounds the matter further by talking about "flying over her house the night the Cylons attacked and seeing it took a direct hit." Where did he find time in Saga to do that? In hindsight though, maybe the realization that someone he had been close to explained his awkward attempt to reach out to Athena in the locker room scene. So when I wrote my adaptation, I added some dialogue to the locker room scene that covered the whole Starbuck-Aurora-Athena angle that went this way. I segue way from actual dialogue in the episode to this new addition.

"Athena," he began awkwardly and then started to pace up and down the room, never keeping his attention on her, "This is a time for....sticking together. Maybe it's time we finally talked.....about things."
"Us?" she sighed, "Is that what you mean?"
Starbuck bit his lip and lowered his head. His back remained to her.
"Well," he said as though he were summoning all the strength he was capable of, "After three yahrens, it is kind of overdue isn't it? I mean.....God knows Athena, I've been putting it off for a long time because of my.....well because of my nature. You know that."
"Aurora's dead, isn't she?" Athena decided to go ahead with her instinct, "That's what you were checking out when you and Boomer went down to Caprica for the last time?"
Starbuck slowly exhaled, "All right I admit it, I did check. Can you blame me for that?"
"No," Athena shook her head, "No I can't blame you for that. I know she meant a lot to you before you and I started going together, and because you never completely cut your ties to her was why we've....put off other matters for a long time."

This is the kind of continuity rectifying touch I have in mind when I talk about the idea of remaking the episodes at a new level without disrupting the overall familiarity.

#3-We learn about Commander Cain and his disappearance two yahrens before with the entire Fifth Fleet in "Living Legend." This means that if we go back to Saga, foreshadowing of LL is called for in a BIG way. Perhaps it was the loss of Cain that played an important role relevant to the desire for peace talks with the Cylons? And wouldn't we need to adjust Cassiopeia a bit to foreshadow her past relationship with Cain?

Next time, I'll go into more detail about what elements of the story I changed/altered in significant ways. In the meantime, as I said in the intro post, feel free to not just comment on these aspects and my ideas, but share your own on what you would change to improve the episode and address these matters! There's a lot of untapped creativity waiting to be shared that goes beyond mere episiode revie commentary.

Very good questions.

Also would have liked to have seen how Cassiopeia became a med tech.

The locker room scene with Athena and Starbuck should have been left intact. I've got the movie version that has that scene. Other versions of Saga of a Starworld do not.

And the scene with Starbuck with Cassiopeia in the launching bay tube with his shirt off.

They should have used yahrens in Saga of a Starworld not years.

And also the deleted scene where they are all singing. That should have been kept in.

[Eric Paddon]

That brings back some good memories.

The extended version of LPOTG does sort of imply Cassie's decision to become a med-tech in a cut scene where Apollo goes to the Life Station to check on the sick pilots and Cassie mentions how the Destruction has been a kind of cleansing fire to a lot of people.