Source: Ron Moore's Blog
News and Q & A (Battlestar Galactica Season 3)
So, yes it's been forever and a day since I've last blogged. I feel shame.
To catch up on things: we're currently filming episodes 10 & 11, our mid-season cliffhanger episodes, after which we're going to take a four week hiatus from shooting, then resume production on the remaining eight. "Eight?" you ask, perceptively recognizing that would only add up to 19 and our much-publicized order was for 20. "Are you in trouble? Are they cutting back your order? Or did you fail math?"
No, no, and yes, but that's not the issue.
In another of our patented feats of editorial derring-do, we've taken what was to be episode 3, "Exodus" and crafted two episodes from it, thereby obviating the need to shoot one more show. As it currently stands, we will be opening Season Three with a two-hour premiere of what were originally two stand-alone episodes, "Occupation" and "Precipice" ("Occuprice," as it were) then resume airing normal one hours with "Exodus Part One." Confused? Good, that's the way we like it. Gotta keep the audience guessing.
Since I last blogged, the show received the George Foster Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting at a ceremony in New York. The entire writing staff attended as well as myself, David Eick, and several members of the cast and a good time was had by all. Terry and I (Mrs.Ron to those of you in the know) did a series of podcasts from the event and they'll be available for download at some point.
Personally, I can tell you that being in that ballroom, alongside of the other recipients of the award was a truly humbling experience. We were watching clips of documentaries dealing with fake pharmaceuticals in Asia, coverage of Katrina, exposes on Army recruiting practices, AIDS issues -- it was an extraordinary gathering of talent and material and to even be considered in the same breath with most of the work on display was a jaw-dropping experience that I'll cherish the rest of my life. It was truly one of the highpoints of my career and I'm grateful to continue to be allowed to do this show with this incredible group of people.
And now, on to your questions:
"Hey Ron, a lot of Buffy fans are very excited that Jane Espenson will be writing an episode of Battlestar Galactica next season. My question is can you please get her to write more than one, or better yet get her to join the staff? Please! "
We were pretty excited to have Jane too. I actually took Jane's first pitch way back in my early days at Star Trek and I had the pleasure of buying what turned out to be her first sale. I hadn't seen her since, but I'd followed her career from afar and was very proud to see her do so well. Turns out that Jane was a huge fan of Galactica and really wanted to do a script for us, so we jumped on the chance. I think we're all hoping that we could get her on staff at some point in the future, but we'll have to wait and see how everything shakes out for Season Four -- and whether she's even available, she's very much in demand these days. Her episode this year is "The Passage" (originally Ep 9) and deals with a harrowing voyage of the rag-tag fleet and focuses on Kat.
"I'm sure you know that BSG has a large following in the gay community. Obviously I'm not saying a show should change because of who watches it, but it has appeared so far that there are no gay characters on Battlestar Galactica. I'm just wondering if it's the case that homosexuality doesn't exist in the world of Battlestar, or it does exist, there are gay characters, and it just hasn't been discussed because it isn't relevant toward the plot. I love the show, and I know you wouldn't want to have a character just be gay to please the audience, or even necessarily to touch on any issues, but couldn't characters be gay and it not be an issue? It seems unlikely that homosexuality completely wouldn't exist."
It's a fair question. I think homosexuality definitely exists in the world of Galactica, but I frankly haven't found a way to portray it yet. It's a texture that I'd like to introduce into the series without doing "the gay episode." It's something that gets talked about internally periodically, but so far there hasn't been a good story or character arc or scene that's seemed like a good way to establish the fact without really hanging a big neon sign out that says, "See, we're doing a gay theme now!" Ultimately, it's probably a failure of imagination on my part and a reflection of the fact that I've never made this a priority for us, so pin the blame on me for not moving this bit of reality into our universe.
"Question: Why were the 'Boomers' naked on that basestar at the end of season one but the cylons on Caprica wear clothes? If the cylons on Caprica are trying to mimic humans so much, why weren't the ones on the basestar?"
First and foremost, the naked Boomers were just a neat idea and that's really why we wanted to do them. But beyond that, the idea was that on the Baseships, the Cylons live closer to their true nature as machines and that certain concepts and social conventions of human society would be less relevant to them than when they were interacting in an inherently human setting like on Caprica.
"Since Roslin's cancer is gone *wink wink* I was just wondering something. She proclaimed herself to be the dying leader of Colonial prophecy and people followed her as a religous leader, but now that she's no longer dying *wink wink* is she still considered to be "The Leader"? Are people in the colonies still looking to her as a sort of Colonial Moses who will lead them to the promise land of Earth? And since she is no longer suffering from her cancer I would assume that she's no longer taking the Chamala, so is she still having visions? Will she be having visions later on? Has the experince on New Caprica taking a toll on her faith? Is the experince on New Caprica mentioned at all in the Pythian Texts? Are you still planning on exploring Roslin's role in Colonial reglion?"
Good questions all. We have had numerous discussions of the fact that since Laura is no longer dying she may not, in fact, be the "dying leader" mentioned in the scriptures. There's also been talk of how that would be reflected throughout the fleet and in particular among the religious community and there will be some follow-up in this area. She isn't taking chamalla any longer, but she will experience some... "experiences" which will indicate that this part of her life isn't necessarily over. Her life on New Caprica will definitely influence her outlook on religion, indeed it will influence her role as president from now on.
"Another question if you don't mind. Is there any significance in the specific model numbers you assigned to some of the known cylons? D'anna is a three, Doral is a five, Six is, well a six and Boomer is an eight? The running fan theory is that each model corresponds with a specific colony and thus a specific astrological sign, but Boomer was supposedly from Aerilon and Aries is the 1st sign of the Zodiac whereas the eighth sign is Scorpio.
So just wondering if you had a reason for assigning the cylon with the model numbers you gave them or did you just make up them up on the spot?"
Number Six was specifically a homage to "The Prisoner," but the rest were assigned their numbers randomly.
"With the amazing lengths you've gone to, to show all of the military detail (many of my friends who were in the service watch the show and remark on this), I'm struggling with a few little things and it's probably just me and the guys at work nitpicking. Is there significance to the props used, like the hummer and thompson automatic on the wall of the Pegasus ready room? Is there an implication that these items evolved in a similar way to the way they have on Earth or is there something deeper to look forwards to? LSO Kelly, for another example, we would have thought him to be an integral part of any scene involving the launch or landing of vipers, yet we rarely (3 episodes?) see him. Wasn't he left in charge of the Galactica at some point? I feel like I've just handed the keys to my jaguar to a valet thinking about a character we've barely seen being handed control of the most powerful ship in the human arsenal."
The props are all deliberate choices that imply more than just a passing connection between our world and the world of Galactica and there are deeper connections yet to come.
The appearance/disappearance of Captain Kelly has more to do with the budgeting process on the show than any creative issue. We only have so much money to spend each week and it's not worth it to pay to bring in Kelly (or any other recognizable guest-star for that matter) unless he's integral to the plot. So, we ask you to take the leap with us and assume that characters like Kelly and Kat and Hotdog and so on, are still aboard ship and doing their jobs even when they're not featured on camera, and therefore are ready to step into action the moment we actually need them for a story.
-------- Previously posted by "Bladerunner" on July 23rd -----------
Source: The Chicago Tribune
Without any clever preamble (I'm about to get on a plane and leave the country for two weeks, and boy, do I need the break), here's my last bit of TCA reporting for you. I spoke last night with Bradley Thompson, one of the writers on "Battlestar Galactica," and got a few interesting tidbits for fans of the show, which returns in October.
There's some semi-spoiler-y info here, but don't fret -- I'll warn you when that stuff is coming. And trust me, I will have plenty more "Battlestar Galactica" coverage when the show returns in the fall.
One final "Galactica" note before we get down to business: The second half of Season 2 comes out on DVD Sept. 19, and it features an exclusive extended version of "Pegasus."
Anyhow, here goes:
* The first outing of the third season will be a 2-hour episode. Early in the season, there will be two linked episodes as well; episode 3 will end with a "to be continued."
* Thompson and his writing partner, David Weddle, produced 10 2-minute "Battlestar Galactica" Webisodes which could debut online as early as August (when Sci Fi confirms a date on their debut, I'll let you know). Those Webisodes will concern the birth of the resistance movement on New Caprica (as you'll recall from the show's breathtaking finale, the Cylons, after leaving the human survivors alone on New Caprica for months, invaded the planet and took over).
Weddle says the Webisodes will give viewers more information about why certain resistance fighters take certain actions fairly early in Season 3. You don't need to have seen the Webisodes to enjoy Season 3, but it sounds like you'll have much more back story on the resistance fighters if you do happen to see the Web stories. "You find out why they do what they do," Thompson said.
We'll meet two new characters in the Webisodes, which take place a few months after the Cylon invasion, and they'll also feature Tigh, Cally and her baby, Tyrol and other characters we already know.
Thompson said he and Weddle didn't really view the Webisodes as 10 totally discrete stories, but more "a half-hour episode broken into 10 chunks."
* Jane Espenson, one of television's best and most versatile writers (she has a great blog too), is writing an episode called "The Passage." It's episode nine of Season 3. "We had a freelance slot," and Espenson got the call, Thompson said. Just some of the shows that Espenson has worked on: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel," "Firefly," "Gilmore Girls" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (where Weddle and Thompson were staff writers). So, yeah. I have a strong feeling that her episode is going to rock. (Jane on "Galactica": "It's been a long time since I've seen a show that does such a good job of crafting plot developments that defy prediction without feeling arbitrary." Word.)
Anyhow, Espenson's episode arose when the show brought in Dr. Kevin Grazier, a scientist from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who talked about how one would navigate through space; how one would figure out how to get from one point in the universe to, for example, Earth. Grazier's talk prompted the story at the heart of Espenson's episode.
* I asked Thompson about Adama's actions in the finale -- had he let the fleet protecting New Caprica dwindle because he was just tired, because so many folks wanted to head down to the planet and he couldn't stop them, or because he really thought the Cylons weren't coming back? "That will be addressed," he said.
* I also asked about the return of the Cylons. I'd thought that in the finale, Brother Cavil (Dean Stockwell's character) had said or at least implied that the Cylons were going to leave the humans alone. But Thompson pointed out, quite rightly, that Cavil had only said, "We have other plans." Hmmmmm.
* Part of the reason Billy died in Season 2 is because the actor got a pilot and things got complicated as far as getting him for certain days/episodes. "To his credit, [Paul Campbell, who played Billy] did a terrific job," in the episode in which he bit the bullet. (How cool is this? We're going to see Campbell again soon -- now that NBC has picked up Webisodes and prime-time episodes of "Nobody's Watching.")
This is the semi-spoiler-y stuff (everything in quotes is from Thompson):
* The Cylons "will have a bigger presence" in Season 3. And "we'll learn something new about them."
* "People will die. They always do," he said. When I asked about the strong rumors about a high-profile character's death, Thompson just gave me an enigmatic grin. He wouldn't elaborate on who dies and how, but he did say that when the writers sketched out the third season, there were originally going to be a lot more deaths. Regarding character deaths, some actors "don't know how closely they missed it."
* Baltar is more or less New Caprica's Marshal Pertain in the new episodes. Did Baltar know the Cylons were coming? "That's a good question, isn't it?" He asked what I thought. I honestly don't know. I'd guess Baltar didn't know, but boy, wouldn't it be interesting if he did?
* In the third season, we will meet someone from Adama's past.
* Though the third season will begin months after the Cylons begin their occupation of New Caprica, there will be some flashbacks of the "lost time" between the end of the finale and the start of the third season. One of those flashbacks will involve what Adama and Roslin were up to once the Cylons arrived.
* We'll find out why Kara "Starbuck" Thrace and Lee "Apollo" Adama were really, really grumpy with each other in the Season 2 finale.
No comments:
Post a Comment