TVSquad

Just yesterday I posted about the casting announcement for Amanda Graystone in the Battlestar Galactica prequel, Caprica. Now comes word that one of the most anticipated characters of the series has been cast.

Esai Morales, who you may know best as Lt. Rodriquez on NYPD Blue, or as Major Beck from ill-fated Jericho, has landed the role of Joseph Adama, father to William, grandfather to Lee. Joseph is described as "a man who has done a few crooked things in his life" and is one to be feared. Remember, he knows a thing or two about the law as well.

In looking back at photos of young Bill Adama from the Razor vignettes, Nico Cortez -- who plays Bill -- could easily pass as Morales's son. I wonder if we'll be treated at all to some scenes from the future of the Cylon war, where Cortez can reprise his role.

Early last month I posted a casting call sheet for the upcoming Battlestar Galactica prequel show, Caprica. In that list was a call for Amanda Graystone, a "surgeon with a volatile streak to her" who is "something of a double agent." Well, you can scratch that one off the list of openings, as Paula Malcomson (Trixie of Deadwood and Jerri of John From Cincinnati) has been cast in the role.

My interest in Caprica hinges on how Battlestar Galactica concludes; will I really want to know more about how it all began? I could see them putting us in a place that has us craving for more, though it's likely Caprica is meant to stand on its own and without having to follow too many rules set by the BSG events. Hopefully I'm wrong.

Holy frik! We've only just started to embrace the return of our shows after a shortened strike season. Now, they are almost over. In the next few weeks all of our network favorites will say good-bye for the summer to be replaced with reality shows, reality game shows, reality soap operas, and Regis on primetime (again).

Needless to say, I'm a bit depressed. As I am sure you are as well. But, we will do our duty and press on. Thusly, we here at the sprawling lakefront offices of TV Squad (you choose the lakefront) have compiled list of when your favorite, and not so favorite, shows will be saying good-bye for their summer vacation. As usual, taking the fickleness of the networks, these times and days can change at a moment's notices. We will try to update you of those changes as quickly as our little fingers can type it out.

So, with a leaden heart, here are your season and series finales.

(S04E05) It looks like Sci Fi took to heart some of the complaints over last week's online preview. This week they weren't so vague, making it crystal clear how much of a preview we were going to get. If nothing else, I could skip over the first ten minutes of the episode when it aired on TV.

As we heard tonight, the mission of the Demitrius is nearing the end of its 60-day mission, and there's noticeable tension on-board. Two months doesn't really seem all that long, but then I got to thinking -- what is a "day" to the humans as related to Earth time? Are we to assume Caprica has the same cycles as Earth? I know, I'm digressing here, but I do wonder how they differentiate a day amongst all of the different colonies, then simply say "a day" on Galactica. Most likely they have a military-set definition for it.

(S04E04) I went on earlier today about how a lot of us were cut short in the early viewing of tonight's episode, which made me think perhaps something "big" happens later that they didn't want revealed early. With the exception of one "maybe big" moment, I can scratch that theory.

I wouldn't exactly call this a throw-away episode, though with what we saw in the past three episodes it did drag is places.

For the past few weeks, SciFi.com has been giving viewers an early look at that week's episode, online. The first and second episodes were shown only at noon Eastern, while the third (last week) was shown every hour throughout the morning and afternoon. In all cases, you couldn't rewind or pause the feed, and there are short commercials throughout. This was fantastic for fans eager to see the episode early -- until today, that is.

Sci Fi's website promised a noon "preview" of tonight's episode, which to most meant would be the same, full-episode preview we've been seeing this season. Instead, viewers got the shaft after about 20 minutes of the episode airing, including ending the viewing with a commercial.

Tricia Helfer will be in good hands once her run with Battlestar Galactica is over which, as we all know, is coming up very soon. As part of her recently announced talent deal with Fox, Helfer will be appearing on USA's Burn Notice when it returns to the air this July (Fox produces the show). She will be playing Michael's handler for an uknown number of episodes. Hey, the more episodes the better if you ask me.

I just love it when two shows I love come together and involve the same people that make each show great. No, I don't mean a cross-over; with the exception of spin-offs, I usually hate cross-overs. When I see a director or actor I love head over to another show I love (or, in the case of a new show, one that sounds up my alley), it's magic. It's like when you switch jobs and and old co-worker friend comes with you. Except the whole part about hating the first job you left. OK that was a horrible analogy.

Okay, I'm finally back from the New York Comic-Con and I still smell like the Javits Convention Center. Fandom seeps into the deepest layers of one's skin and take at least a few weeks to wash out. It's a scientific fact.

The first panel I attended wasn't even TV-related. Worrying that the Battlestar Galactica room would fill before I could even step into the line, I sat through the preceding panel for Wall-E and Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian to guarantee a seat. As it turns out, the theater is absolutely huge and two big screens were on either side of the stage, so my worry was kind of pointless. I was reminded of what I already knew: Wall-E looks insanely cute, Chronicles of Narnia has a greasy-haired new guy and the Jesus lion again. However, this is when I began to play a game that lasted throughout the entire weekend: Analyze the differing levels of scary devotion throughout various fanbases!

Leave it to the eagle-eyed commenters to find subtle details in episodes of the shows they love. Subtle, cool, details I should say.

Take last week's episode of Battlestar Galactica. Commenter Michael asks us whether we noticed the Orion constellation during an establishing shot with the Basestars. I had to admit, I didn't notice it, as it was such a short scene and I guess it wasn't anything I was looking for at the time. I went back to my recording for the show and, sure enough, there it was. By the power of Hulu I was able to get a clip of just that one scene and embed it below, after the jump.

(S04E03) At the conclusion of last week's episode, I made mention of how quickly things were moving along, specifically with the Cylon Centurions' evolution. I thought for sure things would settle down this week, but they gave me a surprise. Hell, I think they gave everyone a surprise. Sorta.

Things are looking good for Ronald D. Moore as Battlestar Galactica wraps up its run on SciFi. Brad already posted about the new show for Fox, Virtuality. Now comes word that the former Star Trek scribe has a new deal with United Artists. It seems Tom Cruise has tasked Moore with creating an original sci-fi trilogy. Feel free to insert your own Scientology joke here.

Details of the trilogy are, quite obviously, scarce at this point. That being said, if you want to go out and make a big budget sci-fi epic, having Tom Cruise on board is a great first step. It means this thing has a solid chance of actually coming to fruition. And while I'm not the biggest Tom Cruise fan, I'm on board to give anything Moore pens a shot.

[ Reuters via Yahoo ]

I finally caved. After all the hype and all the buzz, I gave in. I'm sick of avoiding headlines on blogs and it's frustrating to hear everyone chatting away about "Cylons this..." and "Caprica that..." while I stand by mute and clueless. I've finally started to watch Battlestar Galactica.

I should mention that I'm not completely in the dark. I've tried before. On a couple of occasions actually. I've had a burned copy of the three hour mini-series that started it all for some time now. I could never get through it. This time, I went all out though. I even shelled out the $55 for the season one DVD set. Now, I'm through the mini-series and I'm nine episodes into the season. Four to go before the finale and all of a sudden, I've stopped. I started thinking. What if I had watched the show, right from the get-go when it premiered back in 2005 along with everyone else? Let's pretend. Let's say it is 2005 all over again and episode nine just aired last night -- the one where Tigh's estranged wife shows up. Let's pretend that seasons 2, 3 and 4 don't exist yet. Cool premise? OK...

I don't see what the big deal is.

It looks like Ron Moore, the writer behind the 21st century version of Battlestar Galactica, has been given the greenlight to create a new sci-fi program for Fox called Virtuality. The two-hour premiere will serve as a backdoor pilot.

The premise involves a crew of a starship going on a 10-year journey to a distant solar system. To occupy themselves during they trip, they go into virtual reality machines to assume whatever identities and adventures they want. In short, it's the holodeck. If Moore continues his current trend, it will probably be more mature holodeck scenarios then we ever saw in the Star Trek franchise.

(S04E02) Let me start out by saying that Sci Fi airing these episodes online at noon is both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing that we all get to see our favorite show well ahead of time. It's a curse because it's smack in the middle of a workday for some (though at lunchtime) and at the start of a workday for others. There's no pausing or rewinding, so if you get a bad connection or miss something, you still need to tune in that night to keep up. Not that that's such a bad thing, really, but man it's frustrating.

Tricia Helfer is hot. Really, really hot. She's also in demand as an actress now that Battlestar Galactica is coming to an end. Helfer just inked a one-year talent deal with Fox. The network will likely place her in a starring role in a drama within the next year.

While she's known to us as Six (or Caprica), it was her work in a pilot last season that got her noticed at Fox. She had a role in the drama pilot Them. Fox execs say that work, and her appearance in an indie flick called Walk All Over Me, won them over.

This is bittersweet news, really. Tricia Helfer is a spectacular actress and, on BSG, she has proven that her beauty is just secondary to her acting abilities. But BSG is such a smart, well-written show that anything else--especially some sort of procedural--seems beneath Helfer. I really hope Fox finds something to showcase her extraordinary talent. Otherwise, it's kind-of like seeing Nathan Fillion on Desperate Housewives. I'm happy that he's working, but sad that there isn't better stuff out there for him.

[via PopCandy]