TVSquad

According to the interview with Ron Moore that Brad wrote about, Virtuality is scheduled to start shooting in July. That's like, soon. So a leading man would be a fantastic thing to have. Here comes Nikolaj Coster-Waldau to the rescue. The former star of New Amsterdam is staying with Fox to take the lead in the two-hour pilot. If any crazed fan groups were whittling away at some old-world furniture to send in to the network to save New Amsterdam, they can stop now.

Virtuality tells the tale of Earth's first starship, making its way on a ten year journey to a distant solar system, where no man has gone before... To pass the time during the trip they go into virtual reality machines, assuming different identities and having whatever adventures they choose. That's what we know so far, but I'm assuming that somewhere along the lines something goes drastically wrong so we have some real world conflicts that can't just be switched off. Moore wrote the script with his Galactica pal Michael Taylor and Peter Berg is slated to direct.

Wired Magazine has posted online an interesting interview with Battlestar Galactica showrunner Ron D. Moore. In it he discusses several topics such as his philosophies behind the Battlestar Galactica relaunch and its prequel series Caprica and his new Fox show Virtuality, his work on the Star Trek franchise as well as his personal history and religious beliefs.

In the interview, Moore confesses that he was both jock and nerd. He went to a California high school in a town that was so small, he was a quarterback for the football team yet watched the original Star Trek. Or maybe he just simply didn't believe in such labels.

He also discusses dealing with online fans, stated best in this quote: "oh really, they don't like it when we do that? Well that's what were doing. We kind of go the other way. Oh, that'll piss them off? Well let's really piss them off. This'll really piss them off, that'll drive them insane. They'll say, oh, there's this guy who really hates the show, and all he talks about is how much he hates Starbuck. Oh, yeah? OK. Let's do a Starbuck episode."

It's a very good interview. Recommended.

Apparently, NBC Universal wants to make more Battlestar Galactica television movies like Razor, possibly as soon as this summer. According to Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune, discussions have just started regarding this.

Ronald Moore has stated that Battlestar Galactica in its current format would not be continued after this season. Given the death rate of the surviving humans, I wonder if any of the characters will be left to film after the season's end. My guess is that the TV movies would serve as filler for what could be a long delay between the first and second halves of season four.

What keeps Battlestar Galactica intriguing is that, much like Lost, you never know who will be alive or dead by the end of the episode. This makes for exciting storytelling.

On the other hand, the TV movies could simply be tie-ins to the upcoming prequel series Caprica. What do you think the TV movies would be about?

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.

Early this afternoon (at least for me here on the east coast), Katee Sackhoff participated in a conference call with reporters, discussing her part as Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica, both in seasons past and the upcoming final season of the series.

A few highlights:

• Katee was asked about the significance of the last supper image promo for season four. She mentions how so many people try to interpret the photo, but she says, at least the way she saw it, the cast would have all had to have been in on it for it to really mean something.

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.

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]

Word has come down from Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama) recently that, indeed, Battlestar Galactica will end after its fourth (next) season. This should be of not much surprise to many fans of the show, since the New York Post made mention of the high probability of this scenario back in March. I also seem to recall creator Ron Moore making mention of this in one of his podcasts.

Again, I applaud Moore and anyone else responsible for such a decision, as the series can be cleanly wrapped up in a way that will make it enjoyable to watch repeatedly for generations, unlike the other crap out there that has no idea when to call it quits. Thankfully Lost has made a similar decision, and hopefully its quality will improve as a result (with the exception of the latest episode, it's been a crappy season for Lost).

(UPDATE: For all you naysayers and doubters, here's the proof that should settle this now. And I took out the question mark from the title because of it.)

We've waited quite some time for Ron Moore to release his commentary podcast for the season finale episode, though thankfully we did have that Frak Party Q&A last week.

Though Moore went over some of the same things he mentioned last week, there were a few noteworthy nuggets in this podcast.

- Moore mentions that he doesn't know why he likes seeing Adama shaving all the time. I found this funny because I remember saying something about it in our live finale chat while the episode aired.

- I'm sorry to have to say this, but Moore's wife Terry (I think it is) is an incredible nag about his smoking, which as far as I can tell is a casual event. Although he gets pretty gross later on when he seems to have some sort of allergic reaction to the smoke and starts sucking snots into the mic. I felt bad for the guy, not being able to enjoy a fine smoke during the final episode of the season without having to be ordered to stop and having to talk over some dramatic coughs.

While we await Ron Moore's commentary podcast for Battlestar's season finale, we were treated yesterday to a Q&A podcast between Moore, his wife and several fans at a viewing party in Berkley, CA. Here are some of the highlights:

- The idea for the final four Cylons came up in the writing room. They had to narrow down the parameters a bit as to who would make the best choice to be a Cylon. Not Bill Adama and not Roslin (he felt that would have robbed something from the show). And what what did Lee give you were he a Cylon? Tyrol seemed a natural (had an affinity for Cylons, was in love with one, drawn to the temple.) Anders was drawn to Kara (how was it that he survived two resistances?) Tory was a wildcard. The "real" one was Tigh, and it was the scariest one for them to decide to go with. Ron wrestled with it the most -- losing the fact that he's the most human of the characters (other than Baltar, with the human suffering, etc.) but you gain such an amazing revelation.

If you have not seen Sunday night's kickass season finale, STOP READING NOW. (But come back after you see it, because you will have questions)

*MAJOR SPOILERS*

Battlestar Galactica executive producer Ron Moore answered a few questions from a reporter at Pittsburgh's Post-Gazette that clear up some of the confusion from last night. For instance? Yes, they are Cylons. Chief, Saul, Sam and Tori heard the music when they reached a certain point in space, signaling their awareness of who they are. Moore says, "These are four of the final five, which puts them in a separate category from everybody else." Who is Cylon #5? Moore doesn't say. But he does promise that, next season, we'll get to discover the backstory for the new Cylons as they try to figure out how this could happen.

I have to admit that I have a strong appreciation for a television show that knows when its story has been told, when it has approached its final chapter and chooses to say "The End." The better the show is, the more I find this to be an important realization for the creators (and the networks!) to come to recognize and accept.

The New York Post is reporting that the creators of Battlestar Galactica have it in mind for the show's fourth season to be its last, a season which just recently got the OK for the full 22-episodes. It's not a set-in-stone plan ... yet. But as much as I love the show, I think this could be the way for it to go out on a high note (and let's not forget the planned 2-hour season-gap-bridging movie). It's refreshing to know that the creators have a plan and they're going to see it through, and not allow it to be milked beyond its capacity.

Since creator Ron Moore has said before that the planned spin-off series, Caprica, hasn't been picked up yet, I could see the plan being to end Battlestar should Caprica get a greenight. If Caprica hits a stop, maybe there will be a way to see Battlestar continue past its prime, but just for a little bit. I only wish other popular shows could follow the same example, but for some it's already too late.

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.