TVSquad

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.

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."

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.