Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome teaser

[Batman]

Helo and Sharon (who, incidentally, turned out to be a Cylon) were pretty much the only likeable characters in s1.

[Aniron]

Helo and Sharon (who, incidentally, turned out to be a Cylon) were pretty much the only likeable characters in s1.

When did Helo stop being likeable? The only such instance I can think of that is up for debate is his interference in the obliteration of the Cylons.

[Aniron]

Well, it's not going forward, at least on television.

http://collider.com/battlestar-galactic ... ed/154170/

[Adrian McNair]

I'm sorry, have you actually watched the series? Pretty much every main character is a psychic wreck and a lot of the series focused on them when the focus should have been on the SciFi action.

I own seasons one to four on DVD so you could say that I have some experience in that regard. And I found plenty to like about them. Their courage and camaraderie under fire for instance. The brother/sister dynamic between Lee and Kara. Adama being a father to his men. Only in portions of the third season and the latter half of the fourth did some of them start to become tiresome. But seasons three and four are widely acknowledged as having problems. We're talking about the season one to two period here.

I just want to know, in your own words, why you see them as "dicks." Is asking you to provide some examples too much? I just want to understand your mindset.

Helo and Sharon (who, incidentally, turned out to be a Cylon) were pretty much the only likeable characters in s1.

Oh, I thought that "there wasn't a single likeable main character" from the start. I guess you should have made that clearer.

[Aniron]

I'm sorry, have you actually watched the series? Pretty much every main character is a psychic wreck and a lot of the series focused on them when the focus should have been on the SciFi action.

Yeah. Instead of showing some of the effects of isolation we should have just had spaceship pewpews. Instead of having themes that are still relevant today (utilitarianism, torture, military dictatorships, distrust, genocide, etc) we should have just seen space battles. Instead of having character interaction and development that was caused by the never-ceasing enemies, the writers should have just been tasked to show Viper pilots constantly engaging the enemy and having to run. How engaging that would have been for 70+ episodes!

[Batman]

I considered Helo and Sharon secondary characters? What with the focus being on the Adamas, Starbuck, and whatshername President.

[Adrian McNair]

I considered Helo and Sharon secondary characters? What with the focus being on the Adamas, Starbuck, and whatshername President.

Technically, Sharon could be considered to be a main character since she was portrayed by one of the main cast.

Okay, let me repeat this for you. I just want to know, in your own words, why you see them as "dicks." Is asking you to provide some examples too much? I just want to understand your mindset.

[Batman]

I'm sorry, have you actually watched the series? Pretty much every main character is a psychic wreck and a lot of the series focused on them when the focus should have been on the SciFi action.

Yeah. Instead of showing some of the effects of isolation we should have just had spaceship pewpews.

Damn skippy.

Instead of having themes that are still relevant today (utilitarianism, torture, military dictatorships, distrust, genocide, etc) we should have just seen space battles. Instead of having character interaction and development that was caused by the never-ceasing enemies, the writers should have just been tasked to show Viper pilots constantly engaging the enemy and having to run. How engaging that would have been for 70+ episodes!

Yup. Because, you see, unlike what we got, that would actually have been entertaining. Other than the mini oBSG was essentially 'can we have the Cylons win already'?

[Aniron]

Yup. Because, you see, unlike what we got, that would actually have been entertaining. Other than the mini oBSG was essentially 'can we have the Cylons win already'?

I find the battles invigorating when they're well done. Not many were. I'd take Baltar being tortured and him admitting his complicity in the destruction of the colonies over repetitive Viper battles. I'd take Baltar's trial over Pegasus colliding with a Basestar. I'd take Baltar treating the Cylon prisoner on the Pegasus with dignity and respect over Galactica jumping above the rebels on New Caprica. I'd take the boxing matches that exemplify the rage and frustration among the crew on Galactica over the assault on the Cylon colony. I'd take seeing Roslin's internal conflict over letting Baltar die from his wound for his traitorous activity with Six.

[Batman]

I considered Helo and Sharon secondary characters? What with the focus being on the Adamas, Starbuck, and whatshername President.

Technically, Sharon could be considered to be a main character since she was portrayed by one of the main cast.
Okay, let me repeat this for you. I just want to know, in your own words, why you see them as "dicks." Is asking you to provide some examples too much? I just want to understand your mindset.

Fair enough request.
You know what-I'm not going to bother to try, I'll simply concede. I'm watching SciFi, not a soap opera in space. Yes, the pew-pews and the stardrives and the laser swords do take precedence over the relationship garbage.

[Aniron]

You know what-I'm not going to bother to try, I'll simply concede. I'm watching SciFi, not a soap opera in space. Yes, the pew-pews and the stardrives and the laser swords do take precedence over the relationship garbage.

If you follow the premise of the miniseries, then the survival of their people should take precedence over love triangles. If you had said that, I wouldn't have objected. But it's good to know that you'll throw out something as idiotic as all action and no character work and then cave when pressed for examples.

[Batman]

The problem being that all the character work done in nBSG was 'can the Cylons win already' whereas all action would at least have given us plenty of pretty fireworks.

[Aniron]

So, style over substance is the solution? At least elaborate on why the themes didn't work for you.

[Alkaloid]

Relentless action works for half an hour and gets boring. It's why most people regard Michael Bay movies as being shit even if there are plenty of pretty explosions. There is no tension in an action sequence if you don't care about the characters at risk, and you only come to care from being exposed to them as people and learning what makes them tick. Even if you learn you hate them, that's still caring.

I'm watching SciFi, not a soap opera in space.

No, you were watching a military drama in space.

[Guardsman Bass]

Well, it's not going forward, at least on television.

http://collider.com/battlestar-galactic ... ed/154170/

My guess, based off of other articles as well as this one, is that the pilot went over budget, and they couldn't figure out how to do a live-action series on a smaller budget. A couple of articles mentioned that they were trying to figure out the "economics" of the show.

I'm surprised that they're not even keeping the option open for a live-action series if the pilot-turned-TV-movie gets good ratings. The worst that could happen is that the pilot gets poor ratings, and they dump the idea of doing a live-action series (which also might mean that the BSG franchise goes dormant again).

[K. A. Pital]

Who says it will be anything like the cool early nBSG? It will be very much like the new nBSG/Caprica.

If by "new nBSG" you mean the later part of the series (including "Razor"), that's still not too bad. Like I said a few times, the only bad part of BSG is the ending. It feels seriously botched in many ways, especially the Kara Thrace angle, but otherwise it is tolerable.

There's still a huge quality chasm separating even the final episodes of nBSG and Caprica, that stillborn soapy android drama.

[DaveJB]

B&C will probably be pretty different to the last few years of nBSG-verse stuff simply because Ronald D. Moore is no longer involved with the franchise. I believe Michael Taylor is supposed to be the new head writer going forward.

[Nephtys]

If you want space battles, why are you even talking about Battlestar Galactica? Unless you want to see Vipers doing the same 2 combat maneuvers against 3 Raiders that'll do the same immelman turn. And occasionally Galactica gets strafed by the same footage.

[Batman]

At least oBSG was fun

[FSTargetDrone]

Well, it's not going forward, at least on television.

http://collider.com/battlestar-galactic ... ed/154170/

Oh well, so much for that. With this information, I seriously doubt we are going to see a series now. There is quite a lot of good, professional-looking (and otherwise) video entertainment on the web, but I have little confidence anyone is going to be able to sustain a series such as this.

[jollyreaper]

You don't see Adama as a hero?

'Hero' does not equal 'likeable'. 'Hero' merely means you did something good somewhere it mattered. That doesn't prevent you from being a miserable piece of shit as a person. I should know-I'm the world's second most prominent superhero and I am a miserable piece of shit as a person.

Just to be clear, whatever the ambitions of the original creators and writers behind BSG were, the mandate was "Holy shit, make us a Star Wars for the small screen. It's crazy popular." And Star Wars was "Let's try doing what I remember with fondness from my childhood" which was good good guys, bad bad guys, and so forth.

I grew up with TNG, enjoyed it, but could see the argument from the people who said the characters could be a bit cloying. Everyone was too perfect, everyone was too altruistic, even the Klingon was warm and friendly. Trek became Roddenberry's Mary Sue paradise.

So darker, gritter characters were a change for space opera. They were a genuinely different approach for a time. But they may have been new for space opera but they were old hat for cop dramas and all the other stupid network shows the geeks never watched. This could be why the reimagined BSG felt new. Crapsack world, crapsack characters, everything doom and gloom.

The problem I had with BSG is that they went too far the other way. They went so grimdark that there weren't any sympathetic characters left in the show. That might work if you're doing a gritty cop drama but it doesn't work for space opera. You make Lord of the Rings gritty and dark with every character a shit who is beyond redemption, well maybe you have Game of Thrones. But the novels/show aren't done yet so we don't know if it ends in shit as a giant failure. If every character is a reprehensible shit you don't care about then that might be the case.

[Aniron]

The problem I had with BSG is that they went too far the other way. They went so grimdark that there weren't any sympathetic characters left in the show. That might work if you're doing a gritty cop drama but it doesn't work for space opera.

Nonsense. They have a reason to be depressed, angry, emotional, lonely, paranoid, etc. When I watched it again weeks ago, it didn't seem as "grimdark" as I thought it was when I watched it when it aired. Why exactly can it work for cop dramas but not space opera? Should we have happy go lucky in space after an entire race is nearly wiped out?

As for non-sympathetic characters, I sympathized even with those I'm not fond of. Adama finding out that a friend he had for decades is a Cylon works because Olmos sells it. We have decent back-story about him and Tigh as well as years of bonding and helping one another while on the run. Tyrol is another sympathetic character because he never catches a break: Boomer is a Cylon and shoots Adama, he nearly beats Cally to death, he is part of a brutal resistance, he is a Cylon, Cally dies, Boomer comes back and mind fucks him again, etc. This works because the actor sells it and we have a great deal of development for his character.


I've yet to hear a good reason why Helo is such a bad character.

[jollyreaper]

What I'm saying is that as a remake they changed the tone. If you want a tortured comic hero, go with batman. If you do spider-man, don't make him angsty. And if you want to do Star Wars for the small screen, if you want to remake a show that did that, why go grimdark?

As for nugalactica, ymmv. I found the drama you cited above contrived and silly. How could Tigh be a Cylon when he fought in the war? It made no sense.

[Ultonius]

How could Tigh be a Cylon when he fought in the war? It made no sense.

His memories of fighting in the Cylon War were false. He only met Adama after the war, and his false backstory had him as one of a few survivors from a destroyed ship, which would minimize the chances of anyone questioning his identity.

[Aniron]

[quote="jollyreaper"]What I'm saying is that as a remake they changed the tone. If you want a tortured comic hero, go with batman. If you do spider-man, don't make him angsty. And if you want to do Star Wars for the small screen, if you want to remake a show that did that, why go grimdark? [quote]
Do you have a source showing they wanted to make Star Wars for the small screen? This is the first I'm hearing of it.