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Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)

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Battlestar Galactica is an Emmy Award winning science fiction television program created by Ronald D. Moore that first aired on October 18, 2004 in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sky One, and January 14, 2005 in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel. Repeats of episodes have been shown in the United States on NBC, Bravo, and in high definition on Universal HD.

The introduction to the television series is a three-hour miniseries that aired from December 8–9, 2003, on the Sci Fi Channel. The series has gained a wide range of critical acclaim and has won Emmy, Peabody, Hugo, and Saturn awards.

Sommaire

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Synopsis


Main article: List of Battlestar Galactica (re-imagined series) episodes

Modèle:Seealso

Battlestar Galactica continues from the 2003 mini-series to chronicle the journey of the last surviving humans from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol after their nuclear annihilation by the Cylons. The survivors are led by President Laura Roslin and Commander William Adama in a ragtag fleet of ships with the Battlestar Galactica, a powerful but out-dated warship, at its head. Pursued by Cylons intent on wiping out the remnants of the human race, the survivors travel across the galaxy looking for the fabled and long-lost thirteenth colony: Earth.

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Cast

Image:Batstarg.png
Partial cast: (standing, left to right) McDonnell, Olmos, Bamber, Penikett; (seated, left to right) Hogan, Callis, Sackhoff, Helfer, Park
Main article: List of Battlestar Galactica (2004) cast members

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Main characters

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Supporting characters

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Recurring characters

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Production

The series is filmed at Vancouver Film Studios, and on physical locations in and around Vancouver, Kamloops and Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.

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Season One

The first season of thirteen one-hour episodes was ordered by the Sci-Fi Channel on February 10, 2004, and aired in the UK and Ireland between October 18, 2004[citation needed] and January 24, 2005 on Sky One, which co-financed the series with the Sci-Fi Channel and NBC Universal. Produced in 2004 by David Eick and Ronald D. Moore, and starring the original cast from the 2003 miniseries, it was aired in the United States from January 14, 2005, and from January 15 in Canada. Moore left his position as producer on HBO's Carnivàle after its first season to concentrate more on BSG.

Battlestar Galactica's first season aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland three months ahead of the show's premiere in the U.S. and Canada. This rare example of a North American television show being aired across the Atlantic before its first broadcast "at home" was the result of Sky's partial funding of the first season's production.

The time lag between the UK and Ireland and the U.S. screenings led to widespread distribution of episodes via peer-to-peer networks, such as eDonkey and BitTorrent, often within only a few hours of Sky One airing them. Although Sci-Fi and Ron Moore deplored this, and publicly appealed for downloaders not to pirate the show, there was widespread speculation that its unauthorized electronic distribution contributed to the U.S. success of the show by creating a favorable word of mouth impression among key demographic groups. Perhaps in recognition of this, the first episode was later made available for viewing in its entirety, and without charge from the Sci-Fi website, although at relatively low quality. Moore also sought to address the "Internet Generation" by posting podcast commentaries on individual episodes on the official Sci-Fi website.

The series proved successful on its UK and Ireland premiere, attracting favorable comments from reviewers, and generating considerable anticipation in the U.S. The first episode aired in the U.S. became one of the highest-rated programs ever on Sci-Fi, with 3.1 million viewers. Successive episodes proved equally successful. The first episode of the regular series, "33," won the 2005 short-form Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

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Season Two

Following the success of the 13-episode Season One, the Sci-Fi Channel ordered a full 20-episode second season on February 9, 2005. The season premiered in the U.S. on the Sci-Fi Channel on July 15, 2005, with the UK, Ireland, and Canadian premiere in January 2006. In the fall of 2005, airing of the second season halted, as it was part of Sci-Fi Channel's standard airing schedule normally used for its Stargate series, which was to split a 20-episode season into two parts (a "winter season" and a "summer season") to avoid heavy competition with major networks that follow a spring/fall schedule. Universal Home Video took this break as an opportunity to package the episodes aired thus far into a DVD set, calling it Season 2.0. The final episode of the first half, "Pegasus," was originally 15 minutes too long for broadcast, but according to creator Ronald Moore, the production team decided to cut the episode to time rather than pad it out to fill 90 minutes, as this was deemed impractical. The longer version of "Pegasus" appears on the Battlestar Galactica Season 2.5 DVD set, which was released in the U.S. on September 19, 2006.<ref>TVShowsOnDVD.com - Universal Officially Announces Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.5</ref> Sky did not contribute financially to the second season, though UK broadcasts credit the company at the end of every episode, because many of the sets from the first season were co-funded by them.

The second half of Season Two began airing on January 6, 2006, after a three-month hiatus, during which the Sci-Fi Channel mounted a huge publicity effort. Battlestar Galactica picked up considerable critical acclaim from the mainstream press, including being named the #1 show of 2005<ref>TIME.com: Best of 2005: Television</ref> by Time Magazine, and being listed on numerous Top Ten lists by publications such as the Boston Globe. The American Film Institute also named it one of the ten best television shows of 2005. There was some criticism that a few episodes following "Resurrection Ship, Part 2" were not up to par with previous episodes, such as the episode "Black Market," for which even Ron Moore expressed some disdain. Moore stated in his blog that he felt this was a result of the larger workload the series faced with twenty episodes, instead of thirteen in Season One. However, episode 15, "Scar," was thought to bring the series back up to its high level of quality, and subsequent episodes "The Captain's Hand," "Downloaded," and the two part finale "Lay Down Your Burdens," were hailed by fans and critics alike. Moore expressed that the longer break between Seasons Two and Three (seven months instead of two) would help to ensure that all episodes were up to the high level of quality that the production team strove to maintain.

Season Two was released on DVD in Australia on August 15, 2006. The entire season is collected in one box set. Season Two, however, began its first run on Australian television just two weeks prior to this on Network Ten, at 11pm on Wednesdays, meaning that the complete season became available the day before the third episode aired.

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Webisodes

Ten "webisodes" called Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance were designed to focus on events that take place on New Caprica between seasons two and three of the television series, and aired on SCI FI PULSE. Because of legal issues, almost no news appeared after the original announcement,<ref>Hollywood North Report - Galactica Webisodes Threatened By Dispute</ref> but the broadcast date was eventually revealed on August 28, 2006 on Sci-Fi's website by Sci-Fi's Head of Internet Programming, Craig Engler. The release schedule was twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The first webisode was posted Tuesday, September 5, 2006, and the last posted on Thursday, October 5, 2006, one day before the first episode of Season Three.

The webisodes themselves have caused a conflict between NBC and those involved in their development, relating to the royalties that the developers should receive. NBC Universal, the major studio behind the reimagined series, refused to pay residuals to or credit the webisode writers on the grounds that the webisodes were promotional materials[1]. In response, Ronald D. Moore said he would no longer release any webisodes to the studio's custody. NBC Universal then took control of the webisodes, and filed an unfair labor-practices suit against the Writers Guild of America. The Guild told Moore and other NBC Universal television show producers to halt production of any further webisodes until a deal over residuals had been reached.[citation needed]

It has been officially confirmed that the Resistance webisodes will be included in the upcoming DVD release of Season Three, and will in fact be expanded in content and running-time from their original online incarnation.<ref>Battlestar Galactica Webisodes to Get Extended Treatment?</ref>

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Season Three

The Sci-Fi Channel ordered a 20-episode third season on November 16, 2005, which premiered in the U.S. on October 6, 2006, and in Canada on October 7, 2006, with the first two episodes being shown together. The broadcast schedule for Season Three did not include a long hiatus in the middle of the season, as with Season Two. Production began in April 2006 in Vancouver, British Columbia.<ref>GateWorld - Galactica set for October season premiere</ref> The Sci-Fi Channel moved the show to Sundays on January 21, 2007, the first time the show had changed nights since it began airing.<ref>Variety - New 'Battlestar' orbit - Sci Fi Channel drama moving to Sundays at 10</ref>

Season Three was broadcast in high-definition on Sky One in the UK and Ireland, starting on January 9, 2007, and in the US on Universal HD, starting on January 27, 2007.

After the initial five episode long New Caprica story arc, Season Three consisted of mostly stand-alone episodes. In the podcast for the Season Three finale, Ron Moore stated that in an effort to attract new viewers, the Sci-Fi Channel pressured the production team to make stand-alone episodes, instead of focusing on previously established storylines. However, this met with a negative critical reception, and Moore stated that by the end of Season Three, the critical reaction and declining ratings following this paradigm shift forced the Sci-Fi Channel to admit that stand-alone episodes simply do not work in the format that the series has established for itself, and Moore went on to say that because of this the Sci-Fi Channel promised that it would not put any pressure to make stand-alone episodes in Season Four.

That the Sci-Fi Channel would pressure for changes in the series' formula is remarkable, considering that Moore and his production team routinely cited the network's "hands off" approach to the series as one of its strong points; that the writers were being given free rein to do what they thought best in the first two seasons. Moore infamously explained in the episode podcasts for season 1 that literally the only time Scifi Channel asked him to change something in the first two seasons, was early in production when they were a bit uneasy about the extremely dark tone of the series, and asked if Moore could insert some lighter material, such as everyone having a birthday party for someone. The result was that Moore sarcastically inserted a scene into the beginning of the fourth episode, "Act of Contrition", in which a large number of pilots have a party to celebrate one pilot's 1,000th landing, when a bomb accidentally goes off, killing all of them. Moore said that Sci-Fi Channel responded by saying "we get it" and never tried to interfere in the running of the series again.

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Razor Flashbacks

Beginning October 5th, 2007, the Sci-Fi Channel began airing short, two-minute vignettes chronicling the rookie mission of young William Adama during the First Cylon War. These short presentations include depictions of Cylons and their vehicles in incarnations similar to those made popular by the original 1978 series. The mini-episodes, collectively known as "Razor Flashbacks," serve as a backdrop leading up to the television movie, Battlestar Galactica: Razor, and aired during the Friday-night presentation of Flash Gordon for eight weeks as well as being made available online at SciFi Pulse.<ref>[2]</ref> The Razor Flashbacks are actually taken from the made for TV movie Razor and were not originally intended as stand-alone web features. Instead they were aired early as a promotion for the main feature. As of November 25th, 2007 the Razor Flashbacks are no longer available on SciFi, and the entire Razor website on SciFi.com has been removed.

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Season Four

Modèle:Seealso The Sci-Fi Channel confirmed on March 22, 2007 that Battlestar Galactica has been renewed for a fourth season of 20 episodes, an increase from the previously-announced thirteen episodes. The order — originally announced as a 22-episode commitment — which included the two-hour TV movie "Razor" which went back and told a story involving the Battlestar Pegasus.<ref>SciFi news - Battlestar Galactica</ref><ref>Sci-Fi Extends 'Battlestar'</ref> and aired in the fourth quarter of 2007. The regular, 20-episode fourth season is rumored to be split into two halves — the first 10 episodes airing beginning in March 2008, and the second 10 installments possibly airing as late as 2009.<ref>What The Frak?? BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Finale To Air In 2009??!!</ref>

Following the renewal announcement, there were rumors the upcoming season would be the final one, inspired in part by statements from series stars Olmos and Sackhoff.<ref> Confirmation of the show's end</ref><ref>"Battlestar Galactica" Will End After Fourth Season, SyFy Portal, May 10, 2007</ref> Producer David Eick initially denied this, stating that no decision has been made over the show's future.<ref>Flight of Battlestar Continues</ref> However, on May 31, 2007, Eick and co-producer Ronald D. Moore issued a press release announcing that the fourth season would conclude the series.<ref name="Variety-lastseason"> 'Battlestar' burns out next year 

. Variety 
 
 (2007-05-31)

. Retrieved on 2007-06-01. </ref><ref name="LATimes-lastseason"> 'Battlestar Galactica': Say it ain't frakkin so! 

. Los Angeles Times 
 
 (2007-05-31)

. Retrieved on 2007-06-01. </ref> Executive producers Ronald Moore and David Eick released a statement, saying, "This show was always meant to have a beginning, a middle and, finally, an end. Over the course of the last year, the story and the characters have been moving strongly toward that end, and we've decided to listen to those internal voices and conclude the show on our own terms. And while we know our fans will be saddened to know the end is coming, they should brace themselves for a wild ride getting there — we're going out with a bang." More recently, Moore acknowledged that due to the writers' strike, the series might not be completed.<ref> Final Season of 'Battlestar Galactica' May Not Be Completed</ref> Production was suspended on Nov. 16, 2007, all personnel have been laid off, and only 13 of the 22 episodes have been completed (including 2 episodes comprising "Razor"). Completion of the season is not a certainty.<ref> Galactica wraps</ref>

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Theological references

Modèle:Mergeto Religion and theology flavored the original series, and they are prominent in the reimagined series.

Perhaps the most prominent religious component is the series' overarching theme: the human survivors' search for Earth. That search is motivated by ancient religious texts' references to a 13th tribe of humans that established a civilization on a distant planet called Earth. Various religious relics and ruins, both on the 12 colonies and elsewhere in the galaxy, provide clues to Earth's location.

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Human polytheism

Many of the humans share in polytheism, worshipping the gods of Kobol. This appears to be the official state religion of the colonies; government oaths reference the gods and, back on the 12 planets, public museums housed artifacts of the gods.

The Kobol gods have the same names and characteristics as the Greek Olympic gods, and the show makes repeated references to Zeus, Hera, Athena, Ares and Apollo. In one story in season 3, the crew fights with the cylons to obtain "The Eye of Jupiter"; Jupiter is the Roman equivalent of Zeus. As evidenced by prayers offered by the human characters, the Kobol gods are morally refined and are believed to watch over and intervene benevolently in the lives of the just. This is similar to the conception of the gods during the Greek classical and Hellenic periods, not the amoral (and very human) gods of the Greek archaic period.

In another parallel to Western (Terran) polytheism, the names of the Twelve Colonies and their planets are similar to the names of the characters in the Greco-Roman zodiac. In the early days of the 12 colonies, each colony's flag showed the stellar constellation of its zodiac sign ("Home Pt. 2").

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Divine Texts

The principal means of transmitting divine knowledge is the Sacred Scroll. The Scroll chronicles the early period of human existence, when people and the gods lived together on the planet Kobol (at the beginning of the series, the location of Kobol is unknown). The Scrolls tell that at some point in time, twelve human tribes left Kobol and founded the 12 colonies, with a 13th heading towards Earth (miniseries et al.). This is also referenced in the opening words of the Scroll, "Life here began out there" (miniseries).

So far, the show has offered little detail of the Sacred Scroll, other than that it contains the Book of Pythia, which chronicles an ancient female (similar to the Oracle of Delphi), who journeyed with the 13th tribe on their voyage to Earth. Pythia also described the exodus of the twelve tribes, and the things to happen to them. She is described as a dying leader, who will guide the tribes to salvation. Among other things, the scriptures tell of the return to Kobol, stating that bringing the Arrow of Apollo to the Tomb of Athena will reveal the road to Earth. The dying leader is to die just before the end of the journey. President Roslin sees herself as playing the part of the leader in the texts, as she is dying of terminal breast cancer which was cured for a time, but has now returned.

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Cylon monotheism

Many of the human-form Cylons also share a religious belief—in this case, monotheism. The Cylons' monotheism seems to share many traits of Earth monotheistic religions: belief that God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent, that he will one day deliver divine retribution, and that he intervenes in the world. The actual teachings and laws of the Cylon god are infrequently referenced, but when they are, it is usually conveyed by Number Sixes.

In the DVDs of the shows, the subtitles alternate the use of upper case and lower case "G" for Gods and gods. In general, Cylon references to divine power use an upper case "G", while human references to divine power use a lower case "g".

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Military rank structure

Commissioned officer
Admiral
Vice Admiral
Rear Admiral
Commander
Colonel
Major
Captain
Lieutenant
Lieutenant Junior Grade
Ensign
Enlisted crewmen
Master Chief Petty Officer
Chief Petty Officer
Petty Officer (first class)
Petty Officer (second class)
Specialist
Deckhand
Recruit

The Colonial military is organized much the same as in the original series, however both are significantly different from any existing military organization. From the episodes aired, a battlestar is the lead vessel in a battle group which normally consists of many smaller vessels. The re-imagined series explicitly places the Galactica as one of two (or three) battlestars within Battlestar Group 75. A Colonial Fleet and Colonial Marines exist.

Officers in the Colonial Fleet are given ranks that are a fusion of those presently used in western armies and navies. Ronald D. Moore outlined the rank structure in a blog entry<ref>Ron Moore blog - Season Two and Q & A</ref> in February of 2005, stating that he wanted to keep the "co-mingled" ranks of the original series rather than reassign ranks based on real-world naval structure. Below is a list of ranks for both officers and enlisted crewmen with the highest rank at the top.

The Colonial Marines have a different rank structure for enlisted men: Private, Corporal, Sergeant, etc. Their officer rank structure has not been shown and it is unknown whether any commissioned Marine officers survived. (Marines on the show have only been led by Fleet officers such as Apollo, Starbuck, Tigh, Athena or Sergeant Hadrian — the Galactica's Master-at-Arms).

The commanding and executive officers of the Galactica are a Commander and Colonel, respectively, and have been since before the destruction of the colonies. Dr. Cottle holds the rank of Major, as did Lee Adama prior to his promotion to Commander (this is later reversed). There are a few senior officers with the rank of Captain as well as several lieutenants. The second season introduced Admiral Helena Cain (played by Michelle Forbes), in command of the Battlestar Pegasus (mentioned by then Commander William Adama as being specifically a Rear Admiral at one point).

Recurring Marine characters include Galactica's Master-at-arms, Sergeant Hadrian, played by Jill Teed. The character, however, is never explicitly identified as a Marine. Another recurring Marine character is Corporal Venner, played by Chris Shields. In addition to these Marines, numerous Privates and at least two Gunnery Sergeants are known to exist (one appeared in the season 2 episode "Sacrifice" and another appeared in the season 3 episode "Exodus Part 1").

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Main title

Season one's main title is divided into two segments, the first containing clips from the 2003 miniseries and previous episodes, and the second an action-oriented montage of images from the coming episode. Moore intended the montage sequence to be a direct homage to the titles of Space: 1999, which used a similar device at the start of each episode of its first season.[citation needed] The original Battlestar Galactica used a similar device, where clips from the episode gave a reasonably detailed summary of what was about to happen.

The Sky One version of the title sequence for season one featured a Hindu mantra, the Gayatri Mantra, taken from the Rig Veda (3.62.10). In the U.S., the music was an original instrumental piece by composer Bear McCreary called "Two Funerals" originally written for the episode "Act of Contrition". As of season two, the main title sequences in all territories where the show airs now use the Sky One title sequence, the Gayatri Mantra version written by miniseries composer Richard Gibbs.

The words in the mantra are "Om bhūr bhuvah svah tat savitur varēnyam bhargō dēvasya dhīmahi dhiyō yō nah pracōdayāt", which may be translated in various ways but means approximately: "Oh all-protecting lord, please guide our intellects, so that we may proceed in the right direction towards enlightenment"

For season two, the Sci Fi Channel eschewed Moore's "in this episode" montage until the fifth episode, as some fans complained that the sequence spoiled the episode.[citation needed]

The opening from the season two onwards, with the exception of a few episodes, lists the exact number of survivors in the fleet. The number is updated for each episode following deaths and births from the previous one (and anything that occurs during the pre-credits sequence, such as the discovery of the Battlestar Pegasus).

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Opening text

The opening text changed from season to season, most notably the middle section of Season 1 was removed and the second and third lines have been swapped several times.

Modèle:Col-3Season one
The Cylons were created by Man.
They Rebelled.
They Evolved.
They Look
And Feel
Human.
Some are programmed to think they are Human.
There are many copies.
And they have a Plan.

Modèle:Col-3 Season two

The Cylons were created by Man.
They Evolved.
They Rebelled.
There are many copies.
And they have a Plan.

Modèle:Col-3 Season three

The Cylons were created by Man.
They Rebelled.
They Evolved.
There are many copies.
And they have a Plan.
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Spin-offs

On April 27, 2006, the Sci Fi Channel announced that a prequel spin-off of BSG (known as Caprica) was in development.<ref>SCI FI Wire - SCI FI Announces Caprica</ref> It will take place over 50 years before the current series, before the original Cylon War, and will chronicle the Adama family and Caprican society as well as show the advancement of technology leading to the Cylon revolt.

On March 26, 2007, Ronald Moore said that the Sci Fi Channel was not picking up Caprica as a pilot, though a movie or DVD release were still possibilities. According to Moore, the show was currently "on the back burner."<ref>Tuned In Journal - Executive producer Ron Moore discusses thrilling 'Galactica' cliffhanger</ref>

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Tie-in books

  • In 2006, Tor Books inaugurated a series of Battlestar Galactica tie-in novels, though the television series writers do not consider them canonical:
    • Battlestar Galactica (the miniseries), by Jeffrey A. Carver—a novelization of the 2003 miniseries
    • The Cylons' Secret, by Craig Shaw Gardner—an original prequel novel, set 20 years after the end of the first Cylon war
    • Sagittarius Is Bleeding, by Peter David—an original novel, set during the time-frame of the ongoing series
    • Unity, by Steven Harper—an original novel, set during the time-frame of the ongoing series (forthcoming)
  • Titan Books has published official companions to the mini-series and the first and second season. These companions feature photos, cast and crew interviews, behind-the-scenes info and episode guides. A Season 3 official companion will be released in August 2007.
  • Dynamite Entertainment also started several comic book series in 2006:
    • An ongoing series, set sometime in Season 2 between the episodes "Home" and "Pegasus". In the first story arc, the fleet finds a debris field from an earlier inter-Colony war and ends up meeting resurrected lost loved ones, such as Zak Adama. The current arc introduces a group of old-model Cylons that are still loyal to the Colonies and serve Galactica.
    • A four-issue miniseries, serving as a biography of Tom Zarek
    • A BSG flipbook, issued on Free Comic Book Day in 2007
    • A six-issue miniseries entitled Battlestar Galactica: Year One that may expand to an additional six issues
    • An upcoming four-part miniseries based on the First Cylon War
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Awards

. Time (magazine)

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  Starbuck Wins! 
. RedEye

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See also

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References

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External links

Modèle:Wikiquotepar

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