TVSquad

Here's something I didn't know: it's cheaper to film in England and Africa than it is to film in Hollywood.

NBC has announced that their new midseason drama The Philanthropist (a real pain to spell, by the way) won't be filmed in the U.S. at all. Instead, the production will save money by setting the show and filming the show in London, with some filming also being done in Africa and the Czech Republic. Executive producer and writer David Eick, however, will stay in Los Angeles. The first episode will be directed by Peter Horton.

After a log day of being in Hall H and Ballroom 20, things started to come to an end for the busiest day of the 'Con with the Battlestar Galactica panel. Basically, if didn't already have your arse planted in a seat in Ballroom 20 for that panel, you weren't getting to see BSG. I'm either completely dedicated to the coverage for TV Squad or a complete fanboy for the show. I submit that I'm likely both.

I'm not going to post the full, detailed report yet, as Sci Fi has told me we'll have embeddable video to show you soon (here it is on SciFI.com). Seriously, there's no way I can put to justice the funny job that Kevin Smith did as moderator -- you have to see and hear it for yourself. I will, however, submit to you the highlights for now.

As I said earlier, most of Sunday was taken up by panels for NBCU's cable channels. I heard, for instance, that the Oxygen panel for Coolio's Rules was a bit of a trainwreck, with Coolio actually getting up and singing. I wouldn't know, since I skipped most of the afternoon panels to check in at home and do some writing for you fine folks.

But I came down in time for the SciFi Channel's press conferences, which had the cast and producers of the series Sanctuary and the Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica.

Let's start with Caprica. Right now, it's a two-hour backdoor pilot; the SciFi Channel will decide to pick it up as a series once they see the pilot. I can see why they might be a bit reluctant. From the scenes I saw, it felt more like The Godfather with some science thrown in, rather than the BSG everyone knows.

Since it looks like Bionic Woman is not coming back to NBC, although nothing's been confirmed, the executive producer is moving on. David Eick is writing a pilot based on the Alfonso Cuarón film Children of Men for SciFi.

The film, brilliantly directed by the Mexican filmmaker, was a grim tale about the future -- England in 2027 -- where women have become completely infertile and the human race faces a major crises with less than a century to survive.

We've been discussing this a lot lately, the fate of NBC's Bionic Woman. There were rumors flying around during the writers strike that it had been canceled, then I heard from someone on the show that it had indeed been canceled, and then Joel reported that it was probably canceled. but there was never any "official" word from the network about whether it was coming back or not.

There still isn't.

However, I think we can take the word of the show's executive producer David Eick, who says that the show is gone. He tells Wired.com that even though he though Michelle Ryan was wonderful (*cough cough*), he thought "the process was frustrating" and they "just didn't bring it all together like we did with Battlestar." He even makes a point of saying that "some" of the writing was good, which means he knows that some of the writing was bad too.

Laura Roslin with a gun! Starbuck freaking out! Everyone's accused of being a Cylon!

The final season of Battlestar Galactica is getting close and there's a new promo to whet your appetite. It looks freakin' awesome and makes me confident that Ron Moore and David Eick won't disappoint us.

Video is after the jump.

Ron Moore, he of the super-stupendous remake of Battlestar Galactica, will be sticking around the television universe for a few more years. According to press reports Moore has signed a two-year, seven-figure deal with Universal Media Studios, which is part of NBC Universal.

This deal means that he will continue to work with partner David Eick on BSG, which ends its run after this season (the fourth). He'll also work on other projects for the studio. This means that you could see something from Ron on NBC, USA, or SciFi Channel in the near future. There's even talk that Moore could have a new series on the air as early as fall 2008.

And, who knows? If Bionic Woman, which Eick is heading up, needs a bit of help perhaps Moore will stop in to give him a hand.

The Battlestar Galactica panel was really a celebration of Battlestar's women. The panel opened with a montage video featuring all the female characters swearing or, at least, saying "frak" alot following the weighty words, "Well-behaved women rarely make history."

Katee Sackhoff, who plays Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica, just inked a last-minute deal for a recurring role on NBC's Bionic Woman. She has a guest spot in the pilot as a "bad" bionic woman and you've probably noticed that she has been played up pretty heavily in NBC's promo spots for the new series. But, she only was scheduled to appear in the first few episodes... until last night. Sackhoff and NBC Universal came to a contract deal where her "bad" character will now be a recurring role.

David Eick, executive producer for both BSG and Bionic Woman, is said to have been the driving force behind that deal. Sackhoff didn't show up for this week's TCA panel on Bionic Woman because she was still negotiating a contract. A bold move, really. But not as bold as what Starbuck would've done, which is to show up drunk and start fighting with people who asked her questions about whether she's a Cylon.

According to the film site, IESB, the cast and crew of Battlestar Galactica would really like to do a movie. Only, it's not up to them. It's not even up to NBC/Universal. The permission for doing a movie must first come from the original series creator, Glen Larson. He's the guy who created the series in the 1970s.

IESB says Larson hasn't been thrilled with the current adaptation of Battlestar Galactica, so getting his permission to make a movie might be really, really difficult. Apparently he has already made things slightly difficult for the current run of BSG. Since he holds the movie rights to the series, SciFi's plan to create a stand-alone movie about the Pegasus had to be altered a bit. Instead of going straight to DVD, the two-episode feature will have to air on television first.

In interviews with the website, BSG producer David Eick mentions that he has "extended an olive branch" to Larson and actor Jamie Bamber flat-out begs Larson to let them do a big screen flick.

Would you like a BSG movie? I surely would. I know I'll miss these characters terribly once the series is over.

[Via Dark Horizons]

This afternoon I listened in on a conference call with Battlestar Galactica Executive Producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, announcing news regarding the series' fourth season. Just as mentioned earlier in the month -- and as many had already figured out -- the forthcoming season of the show will be the series' last.

Highlights from the call after the jump.

When someone remakes a TV show or a movie, they often go more serious or darker. Is it because producers and directors feel they have to go "serious" to justify a remake? Do we live in more cynical times? Do the producers feel that they can't make a quality show that also happens to be light?

Kenneth Johnson, the creator of the original Bionic Woman series in the '70s (a spinoff of The Six Million Dollar Man), tells the L.A. Times that he's worried about the remake. I guess I would, too, if an NBC exec called my show "kind of cheesy." Although Johnson has been impressed with the work of producer David Eick on Battlestar Galactica, he's not so sure they're doing the right thing with the remake of his show.

This might go down as one of the coolest television-related sites ever (besides TV Squad, of course). Sci Fi has launched a Battlestar Galactica Videomaker Toolkit where you can make your own videos. And they cut no corners doing it. You can access a handful of scenes, sound effects and music clips from BSG-- and create your own storyline by editing those scenes with scenes you've shot yourself (you've always wanted to fly a Raptor, haven't you?). The finished videos can be up to four minutes long and, according to the website, executive producer David David Eick will choose the best one and play it during an episode of BSG.

All the video scenes are either on land or in space and they don't show any of the characters. Too bad, really. I'd like to edit myself into the boxing episode and kick Lee Adama's ass!

[Via Pop Candy]

It's official! Just as the rumor mill predicted, the best show on television (Battlestar Galactica) has been renewed for a fourth season. Production on another 13 episodes resumes this summer with a premiere date in January 2008.

SciFi apparently was waiting to renew to see how BSG would do in its new 10 pm Sunday night timeslot, and apparently the network is happy with the numbers. As it should be. Ratings actually went up 8% when it moved from Fridays.

Although the SciFi announcement doesn't mention it, this should mean that there will also be a Battlestar Galactica movie sometime between the end of this season and the beginning of next season. Back in January, producers David Eick and Ron Moore said they'll be making a straight-to-DVD, stand-alone flick if they get a fourth season.

[Thanks, Fullman!]

In this spoiler-filled article (read at your own risk - seriously!) in the Chicago Tribune, the producers of Battlestar Galactica confirm they are making a 2-hour movie between seasons 3 and 4. The news ends a few weeks of speculation. David Eick and Ron Moore say the movie will go straight to DVD and also air on SciFi. It will be a stand-alone flick that doesn't wrap up what is sure to be a freaking huge-ass cliffhanger at the end of the current season. The producers say the movie will probably be some sort of back story. The Chicago Tribune story is a little dated, though. In it, the producers say they'll only do a movie if they get a fourth season, but that has already happened.

By the way, BSG returns with new episodes on Sunday, January 21st at 10 pm. There's a season 3 marathon on SciFi on January 15th.