Sci-Fi geeks UNITE!!

[Bowser]

All Battlestar Galactica, all the time. If you don't know, you should know.


***WARNING - The discussions going on in this thread could contain spoilers at any point in time, so if you are not current with the show and don't want to get info on future shows, read on at your own risk.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Silock

I don't think it's obvious at all.

If Anders is a Cylon, then that would be the first Cylon-Cylon hookup we've seen on the show thus far. And the Cylons don't seem to be trying to do that because it doesn't work for them.

It would explain why she was so determined to go back to Caprica to rescue him, though.

[keg in kc]

What if Starbuck is really dead/missing and the Starbuck that Lee saw is something that was generated in his mind, a la the head 6s? Or created by the "ship of light' people?

[keg in kc]

Well, this answers a few questions:

Executive producer Ron Moore discusses thrilling 'Galactica' cliffhanger

Fans of Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica" are no doubt filled with questions this morning following last night's third season, cliffhanger finale. (If you didn't watch last night's episode: SPOILERS AHEAD)

Four of the last five unidentified Cylons were revealed to be patriotic Colonials, characters viewers thought were human -- Col. Tigh (Michael Hogan), Chief Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), Anders (Michael Trucco) and presidential aid Tori (Rekha Sharma). And in the final moments, Starbuck (Kara Thrace), recently presumed dead when her Viper shattered into a million pieces, appeared to Apollo (Jamie Bamber), and she seemed to be very much alive. Starbuck said she'd been to Earth -- Galactica's much-sought destination -- and will show them the way.

With so many questions raised, it was time to seek answers from the main man in the know: "Battlestar" executive producer Ron Moore. In our chat last week, he also discussed plans for a direct-to-DVD movie and the state of the proposed prequel series, "Caprica."

Rob: Why did music cause these newly-revealed Cylons to discover they were indeed Cylons. Sharon didn't hear music when she figured it out in season one.

Ron Moore: It's more that they arrived at a certain point in space and they were made aware of who they are. The music manifests a dawning awareness. These are four of the final five, which puts them in a separate category from everybody else. There are reasons for that I can't really get into. We'll be playing out those plot lines for quite a while.

R: Now there are two half-human, half-Cylon babies -- Hera and the Chief and Cally's child. Will you be dealing with that?

RM: Oh, yeah.

R: Are there other half-human, half-Cylon children?

RM: You never know.

R: We've never seen a child in Cylon society. Am I right that there are no pure Cylon children?

RM: That's true.

R: So Tigh and the others were put into the Colonial fleet as adults?

RM: I don't know if it's that simple. I think it's something that goes back pretty far. A lot of the specifics of the back story of how this came about will reveal itself over the course of the next season. Those four are trying to figure out their own story. They don't really understand what this all means. Tigh's been in two wars and wondering, how could this be? A part of next season's storylines will uncover how they came to be who they are and the specifics of that.

R: Why did Roslin have a mental connection to Sharon and Six and not the other Cylons on board?

RM: They are fundamentally different Cylons.

R: A friend of mine wonders about why even most of the Cylons don't know the identities of the final five. She thinks it may have something to do with the humans who created the Cylons or perhaps even the God the Cylons worship.

RM: Those are pretty good possibilities.

R: When did you decide to make these four characters Cylons and how much did you have to go back and check to make sure that fit with things we already knew about these four characters?

RM: It was something I came up with this season as I worked toward the finale. The conceptual framework in which these guys are Cylons, it all sort of works once we laid down their individual back stories.

R: Are these four all full Cylons?

RM: Yes, but they are different fundamentally.

R: Will we meet the final fifth Cylon next season?

RM: I think so.

R: When the Cylon D'Anna (Lucy Lawless) glimpsed the face of one of the final five, she said, "I'm sorry." Since D'Anna tortured Tigh, can we presume she saw his face?

RM: We're developing a storyline dealing with D'Anna and what she saw and who she was talking to. We haven't talked to [Lucy Lawless] about it and she was just cast in a pilot, which makes it tricky. But it's something we would like to look at.

R: So did Apollo really see Starbuck or was he hallucinating?

RM: This, too, is a fine question. It's exactly the kind of thing I want people to chew over the next few months.

R:Is Katee Sackhoff, who plays Starbuck, signed for next season?

RM: Yes.

R: Where do the plans stand for a direct-to-DVD movie that flashes back to tell more of the story of the Pegasus and Admiral Cain (Michelle Forbes)?

RM: It's really just a couple of extra episodes for the fourth season that will air earlier than the rest of the season, sometime in the fall. They'll come out on DVD the next day.

R: Which cast members are in these two, one-hour extra episodes?

RM: The whole cast.

R: Why flashbacks?

RM: There is a tie from these episodes into the events in season four. ... It's an opportunity to set up something for the fourth season that had not been told to the audience and that the characters themselves hadn't realized, and then go into the fourth season.

R: Where does "Caprica" stand? Sci Fi Channel was supposed to make a decision about it this month.

RM: It's now back in development. They're not picking it up as a pilot at the moment. They might want to pick it up as a movie or as a DVD release. No one is saying it's over, but we're also not going forward at this moment. Right now it's on the back burner.

R: Why give Roslin (Mary McDonnell) cancer again?

RM: Even at the time when the cancer went away, I think I made statements to the press that it can always return. I've always seen it as a key part of her character and who she is. Mary and I had extensive conversations about it. Roslin was defined by that. The first moment we meet her, she gets the cancer diagnosis. But in the course of the first two seasons it became clear we couldn't maintain her illness in the same way. Part of her character is the dying leader. It has a Moses quality, the dying leader who's fated not to make it all the way to the Promised Land.

We've moved very strongly into the show's third act of the series and the end is in front of us in some fashion, regardless of how long it takes us to get there. We're moving into the final chapters, and Laura's cancer should return as a signpost on the road that says, you're getting closer because the prophesy is coming true. The prophecy says, "a dying leader."

R: Will we ever see Galactica reach Earth? I'm nervous because of what happened on the original series when they reached Earth and the show became "Galactica 1980."

RM: We're dusting off the flying motorcycles, man. We have some great ideas for those babies.

I think the series has a built-in ending. The series is about the search for Earth and when the time comes, I fully expect we will resolve that one way or another. You get to Earth and what might you find? Is it really their home? You've been promising the audience that end point from the beginning, so you're duty-bound to go there when you end it.

R: So have you started to formulate an endgame? Last week, Sci Fi Channel announced season four will be 22 hours. Will that be it?

RM: We have to know at some point. We're scripting the beginning of season four. I know how many chapters are left in the series and it will come up in this fourth season kind of quickly where we'll have to decide whether this is the last season. The network has made it clear they will take their cues from us if we say we're ready to end the show. [Executive producer] David [Eick] and I have conversations about that and we're pretty close to a decision.

R: And you'll have to decide long before the show returns for the fourth season next year, right?

RM: The decision has nothing to do with next year's ratings. It's first and foremost a creative decision. ... I have two chapters left in my head and I can see those being of different lengths. ... The question of how many episodes is the best route to get there and deciding how much do we want to go out now and end strong and how much do we want to try to extend it because we all love it and go for another year. It's an emotional/creative conversation that David and I have almost daily as we muddle through it all.

R: So this won't be "Farscape" where the series ends on a cliffhanger?

RM: It's very important to me not to do that. It's something we've talked about all along. We want to go out on our own terms and decide when our story ends. We wouldn't want to be in a situation where the story is not completed in the way we want to. ...

R: So you're going to have to decide whether or not to end it in season four or ask for another batch of episodes in which to wrap the story up.

RM: I think we would probably not go to them [and ask for more episodes] unless we were pretty sure they would give them to us.

R: Will the decision to end the show have anything to do with you and David embarking on other projects? I know he has the "Bionic Woman" remake for NBC and you're writing a pilot for FX.

RM: Not really. It's a separate track. It's not like those things are pulling our focus so much that we have to kill 'Battlestar' to pursue them. We have so much invested on a personal level, on a creative level, and it's such a special show, I can't imagine any of the things we're working on we'd rather do. 'Galactica' comes first and everything else plays catch up, which makes for an interesting home life.

R: Not to give away plot points, but what themes can fans expect in season four next year?

RM: It's about new alliances and broken alliances among the panoply of our characters within the rag tag fleet and without. Different allegiances in terms of loyalties, relationships broken and some new ones formed. All the pieces line up in different ways than they have heretofore.

[keg in kc]

More stuff from Moore:

Q&A with "Battlestar" Showrunner Ron Moore On the Return of Starbuck, Falling Ratings and 'Caprica' Prequel
By James Hibberd
Last week Sci Fi Channel announced the pickup of nine more episodes of its Peabody Award-winning series "Battlestar Galactica."

Story continues below...

The pickup completes a partial fourth-season order that left the show's fans in suspense over the fate of the show. A third-season storyline drawing parallels to the war in Iraq won critical raves, yet ratings have slipped, leaving some comparing the show to another serialized cult program struggling in its third season, ABC's "Lost."
Developer and executive producer Ron Moore spoke to TelevisionWeek about the show's future, its ratings, the long-planned "Caprica" prequel and the return of fan favorite Starbuck.

TelevisionWeek: You've said the show is going into its third act. How many seasons do you want that act to be, and, if this is a different answer, how many do you anticipate that it will be?
Ron Moore: It's a hard question and something I'm grappling with right now. It's going into the third act and there's a couple chapters left, and they could be 10 episode chapters, 20-episode or 30. We're moving toward the climax of the series and resolution of storylines. We're just in the process of sitting down and mapping out the fourth season. We're excited about having those decisions in-house. So far, the network has very much been saying, "We'll take our cues from you."

TVWeek: Your show was renewed for 13 episodes, then this week you got the extra nine. The renewals of some NBC shows have hinged on budget cuts -- was that the case here?
Mr. Moore: Not so much with us. It got into complicated things. Budget was a factor, but it wasn't like, "Your budget is too high, cut it by this much and we'll talk again." We're not going to be on in 2007, so then it's a question of how many episodes will we broadcast in 2008? There were a lot of moving parts in terms of finances. It was a long, tedious accounting conversation. But the episode budget is pretty much stable. It wasn't like, "You have to kill X amount of characters," or, "We're gonna cut your special effects budget in half."

TVWeek: Despite increased publicity about the show, there's been a softening in ratings this season. There are a lot of theories as to why. What's your take?
Mr. Moore: I really don't know. Launching in the fall, we ran into a buzzsaw with baseball and a lot of things. On Friday nights we were losing a third of our audience due to time-shifting -- that's a huge hit. Things have stabilized and bounced back now that we're on Sunday night. There's also the serialized nature of the show ... people feel like they can't just pick it back up. But that's offset by people buying a whole season's worth of DVDs. I don't have a grand unified theory of it. I got my fourth-season pickups, so I don't really give a shit [laughs].

TVWeek: "Battlestar" was one of several NBC Universal shows that produced webisodes last year, until the Writers Guild of America ordered members to cease writing short-form content due to a lack of separate compensation for the work. Were you happy with the first round of webisodes?
Mr. Moore: I thought we did a good job with them. It was a big learning curve. We had to piggyback on the existing production. There was no money to build a new set or even go to a different set -- we had to shoot it right on the same sets we were using that same day. That said, the story we came up with ... it was an interesting story.

TVWeek: Why are you participating in the work stoppage?
Mr. Moore: That got caught up in a guild issue. It became apparent the WGA and NBC Universal were not seeing eye-to-eye on webisodes. When it became clear the writers weren't going to get credit, I said I didn't want to do this anymore. Then the guilds said we weren't allowed to do them anymore anyway, and I'm a WGA member. At that point it became way above my pay grade, as they say. The two-minute webisode is a very strange beast. Two minutes to a cliffhanger. I don't know if webisodes are going to be a long-term [product].

TVWeek: After "killing" one of the most popular characters on the show, Starbuck, she reappears in the last scene in the March 25 finale. Does that mean she'll be back for season four?
Mr. Moore: Yes, definitely.

TVWeek: Katie Sackhoff [who plays Starbuck] made it sound in media interviews as if she's off the show and getting new jobs. Was that part of the ruse?
Mr. Moore: We were trying to walk a very fine line. She was very careful how she phrased it. We wanted people to feel the loss. We didn't want to put Katie in the position of lying to people. She did look for other work and is getting other work -- just other work that won't interfere with her "Battlestar" commitments.

TVWeek: Sci Fi also announced a two-hour "Galactica" movie to air this fall. Will that pick up where season three leaves off, or will it be something different?
Mr. Moore: It will be completely different. It didn't feel right to try and resolve the cliffhanger with a single airing and DVD release. It didn't make any sense. We told a story that takes place in the past in the "Galactica" universe but relates to events in the fourth season.

TVWeek: What is the likelihood of the "Caprica" prequel series at this point?
Mr. Moore: Still in development. They're not picking it up as a pilot right now. They've talked about doing a two-hour version of it, or a DVD. The longer it goes on, the less likely it seems that anything will happen.

TVWeek: There's a real difference watching "BSG" on Sci Fi and when it airs on UHD months later in HD and 5.1 Surround Sound. Has this lag time been frustrating that viewers aren't watching the original airings the way it was shot?
Mr. Moore: I don't see it that way. We don't cut it in HD. When I sit in the Avid room, it's not in HD. As a practical day-to-day matter, there's no reason for me to be watching it in HD. ... When it comes out on UHD months later, I'm usually sort of surprised. "It's gorgeous! Look at that, you can see the reflection on the glass and everything." My head isn't geared toward HD at all.

[Discuss Thrower]

BSG should get an award other than a Nebula/Saturn for the whole ending VFX shot, if not for the perfomances of either EJO or Mary McDonnel.

[Nightwish]

Originally Posted by Silock

If Anders is a Cylon, then that would be the first Cylon-Cylon hookup we've seen on the show thus far. And the Cylons don't seem to be trying to do that because it doesn't work for them.

That would only be a factor if one or both of them was aware of their Cylon nature. If both Anders and Starbuck are Cylons, that would (we assume) preclude her from getting pregnant, but wouldn't necessarily prevent them from hooking up. We can deduce that there have been Cylon-Cylon hookups before. After all, they know that a Cylon-Cylon mating would be infertile, and I don't think we can conclude that they knew this because Cylons themselves are infertile or impotent, because Sharon has already proven a female can be fertile, and if Tyrol is a Cylon, then he's proven that a male can be potent. So the only way they could have known that a Cylon-Cylon hookup wouldn't produce anything is if they've tried it before. Obviously, they do possess a sex drive, and you can't tell me that the male models, stuck on a ship full of Sixes and Sharons wouldn't be tempted to occasionally get their groove on.

[Nightwish]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

What if Starbuck is really dead/missing and the Starbuck that Lee saw is something that was generated in his mind, a la the head 6s? Or created by the "ship of light' people?

What? Lee hallucinating? With Hendrix playing in the background? Couldn't be!

[keg in kc]

Dylan, not Hendrix.

I think I've watched that scene from the point where Bear McCreary's version of "All Along the Watchtower" begins to play (when the power comes back on) about 5 or 6 times now. It may not make much sense (yet) but damn it's some entertaining TV.

I like this ep much more after second viewing than I did initially.

[Silock]

Originally Posted by Nightwish

That would only be a factor if one or both of them was aware of their Cylon nature. If both Anders and Starbuck are Cylons, that would (we assume) preclude her from getting pregnant, but wouldn't necessarily prevent them from hooking up. We can deduce that there have been Cylon-Cylon hookups before. After all, they know that a Cylon-Cylon mating would be infertile, and I don't think we can conclude that they knew this because Cylons themselves are infertile or impotent, because Sharon has already proven a female can be fertile, and if Tyrol is a Cylon, then he's proven that a male can be potent. So the only way they could have known that a Cylon-Cylon hookup wouldn't produce anything is if they've tried it before. Obviously, they do possess a sex drive, and you can't tell me that the male models, stuck on a ship full of Sixes and Sharons wouldn't be tempted to occasionally get their groove on.

That's why I said "that we've seen."

[siberian khatru]

I agree with most of this take:

http://corner.nationalreview.com/pos...NjNDIyYmY4Y2Q=

Battlestar Galactica (With Spoilers) [Jonah Goldberg]

Okay, one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand. Now, I've given you plenty of time to flee the scene and not read this for fear of spoilers in this post. However, I will write this as if you already know everything so that way, the casual reader won't see detailed explanations of what happened in the season finale, lessening the odds of spoiler contact somewhat.

So, you-know-who is back. Readers will recall that I predicted she's a Cylon. I'm no longer so sure, even as the evidence is on my side. Indeed, as some of you know there's a BSG gag reel where Katee Sackhoff even admits that she's a Cylon (I learned of this after I'd already ventured the Starbuck-is-a-Cylon theory, but it still ticked me off greatly when I saw her say it). I'm not so sure for a few reasons. First, it would require too many revisions of what we've been told about Cylons. Suddenly they'd be able to age, since we know that humans have seen younger versions of Starbuck as well as — presumably — the other members of the final five as revealed in the season ender. It makes the first two seasons into Pandora's boxes of continuity problems.

Indeed: Why make Tighe and the others Cylons unless the writers have gotten so lazy and self-indulgent that they think yanking the viewers' chains is the same thing as clever writing? We've seen so much violence — much of it implausible — to the clear lines of Cylons as evil and humans as flawed-but-good that I'm not sure the show could sustain any more erosion. Do we have to start taking the Cylon's as we find them, on a case by case basis? Is Helo going to start ranting even more about anti-cylon bigotry?

So, I am hoping that some brainwashing or some such is behind the new (hopefully faux) sleeper-Cylons. Perhaps a clue can be found in the fan-poll they advertised during the commercial break. One of the questions was whether the Dylan music was coming from a "third party." My pet theory is that there are other humans — not from the 12 colonies — out there making mischief and they've called out to Starbuck, Tighe and the others. The final four merely think they're Cylons because there's no other explanation that makes sense to them. Or maybe something else.

But it's important to say that so much commentary on BSG these days is driven by the burning desire of its fans to discount the possibility that the show hasn't jumped the shark. The logic goes something like this: X can't be happening because if X happened it would mean the show sucks, therefore the explanation must be Y.

In that vein, we need to be clear. The trial of Baltar was absurd from start to finish. It shouldn't have transpired. But the writer's clearly wrote themselves into a wall. They made Baltar into a great, complicated, and compelling villain. So they couldn't kill him off even though that would have been the only plausible result of his capture. Instead we get this absurd trial.

I liked Apollo's testimony a lot, but it was crazily implausible that A) it would be allowed B) that it would have convinced the judges one way or the other C) Apollo would even give that kind of stemwinder. I will say I loved his description of humanity as a gang on the run. Lots of wonderful philosophical discussions could use that as a launching pad.

I also adored Tighe's speech about how he is Saul Tighe, now and forever. And even if the drunk crank should discover he's a member of the race he's fought all of his life he will die a soldier. Good stuff.

[keg in kc]

Spoilerish, but doesn't really reveal anything....








Proceed at your own risk.







Those who hated D'Anna being boxed will be happy to know that Lucy Lawless is contracted for at least 2 episodes during the final season. She walked out, unannounced, during the BSG panel at Comic-Con this weekend and let everyone know.

[keg in kc]

And on a completely different note, a bit on the upcoming (sort-of) return of Farscape:

O'Bannon Penning Farscape Webisodes

Brian Henson, executive producer of the upcoming Farscape "mini-isodes" that will debut on SCI FI.COM's SCI FI Pulse broadband network, revealed that series co-creator Rockne S. O'Bannon will collaborate with him on the scripts for the revival.

“Rockne and I are back together to work on the beginning of the next generation of Farscape,” Henson told the panel audience attending Comic-Con International in San Diego on July 27.

SCI FI has ordered 10 webisodes of Farscape, to be produced by Brian Henson and Robert Halmi Jr. and produced by The Jim Henson Co., in association with RHI Entertainment.

The series will expand the Farscape universe. Henson was tight-lipped with details. “As for the project, we're not allowed to actually tell you anything about it," Henson said. "What we are doing with Farscape is having a lot of fun and in the experimental media of webisodes; it takes Farscape to its next chapter. There's very little we can say creatively, other than I'm sure there will be characters there that you all know, and I'm sure there will be characters that will be new."

Henson said that each webisode will run between three and six minutes in length. "We are very excited about it, and, as is tradition, we are very secretive about it," he said. "But it's also very early. We only just decided to do this very recently, so it's still in its creation state." The Farscape series aired on the SCI FI from 1989 to 2003. No premiere date has been set for the upcoming webisodes. —Tara DiLullo

[Third Eye]

Sweet! While I figured we would see the return D'Anna, the Farscape news comes out of left field. I doubt we will see Ben Browder or Claudia Black though, since they are currently working on the Stargate SG1 straight to DVD movies.

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

And on a completely different note, a bit on the upcoming (sort-of) return of Farscape:

characters there that you all know, and I'm sure there will be characters that will be new."

Henson said that each webisode will run between three and six minutes in length. "We are very excited about it, and, as is tradition, we are very secretive about it," he said. "But it's also very early. We only just decided to do this very recently, so it's still in its creation state." The Farscape series aired on the SCI FI from 1989 to 2003. No premiere date has been set for the upcoming webisodes. —Tara DiLullo

I am going to go out on a limb here and guess there is a typo...

[keg in kc]

Some Galactica notes from the press panel at Comic-Con.

Read at your own risk....


'Battlestar' Secrets Revealed (to Press)

-- Alex Romanelli, TV Week
Monday, July 30, 2007

Despite record attendance and large flashy panels at Comic-Con, with multiple cast members, creators, showrunners and producers, surprisingly little hard news actually emerged from those sessions.

The most significant announcement from the "Lost" and "Battlestar Galactica" panels concerned the return of a cast member -- with the "Lost" news being leaked in advance. The majority of other news took the form of clues or plot points that would be meaningful only to die-hard fans of the show -- which I guess is what Comic-Con is all about.

"Battlestar's" big reveal was the midseason return for two or three episodes of the Cylon D'Anna, played by Lucy Lawless. Executive producer Ron Moore said D'Anna's unboxing would represent a pivotal moment in the series, turning the direction of the season's second half.

"What I like about D'Anna is she was the grit in everybody's eye," Lawless said. She also joked that Dean Stockwell's Cylon character had been keeping all the D'Anna models in his quarters for his own private purposes.

The public "Battlestar" presentation was lively and thoroughly entertaining -- focusing on the women of "Battlestar" -- but it was the press conferences after that yielded the most information and clues for devoted fans. This is perhaps a benefit of having a professional asking the questions as opposed to suffering, say, the "Heroes" audience asking several variations on "What's your favorite part about starring on the show?"

So for all you "Battlestar Galactica" die-hards, here's a rundown of what to look for in the show's fourth and final season.

Showrunner Ron Moore confirmed that the identity of the fifth and final Cylon will be revealed late in the series, perhaps as late as the final episode.

This season will see lots of Adama-Starbuck conflict, especially the first episode. No one will be left saying "Gee, I wish there was more Adama/Kara scenes."

Baltar's arc will be shocking and thrilling to fans of the character. Said Tricia Helfer (Number Six): "Baltar's getting a lot of action this season, and I haven't been involved."

Moore is hoping to bring back lawyer Romo Lampkin from the season-three finale.

Katee Sackhoff eloquently discussed how differently she'll play the character of Starbuck, now that she's seen Earth. Initially the plan was to play Starbuck very serenely, but during shooting it became clear that wouldn't work. So while Starbuck now does have moments of calm and peace, instead Sackhoff is playing Starbuck with heightened emotions. The most significant change to Starbuck's character is that she has now found a purpose and role in life, whereas before she was always frustrated by her failure to find any.

"The decision was to end the show at the top of our game," said Moore. "That choice precludes certain other choices. [Like wrapping up every possible loose end of plot]. We'll always be able to say we could have done more."

With the Chief now revealed to be a Cylon, it means there are two Cylon-human baby hybrids, Hera and Nicholas. Moore said Hera is crucial to the ongoing story and her arc will be concluded, but the ramifications of Nikki's heritage may end up being ignored.

One plot point that may or may not be resolved on camera is, at the end of the miniseries, who left the note for Adama telling him there are 12 Cylons? Don't despair, though, as Moore said he's always considered it to be Baltar who left the note. Moore described it in the context of the adjacent scene in which Six and Baltar are walking down a corridor and Baltar is contemplating his guilt about playing a part in the human genocide. He expresses a desire to do something good, hence the note.

Moore found it difficult to talk too much about the plot of "Razor" -- November's special extended episode intended to bridge the gap between seasons three and four -- because it jumps around in the show's chronology so much. He confirmed that in the scenes featuring the first Cylon attack 40 years ago, we would see the original Cylon centurions and raiders from the 1970s TV series.

Moore also clarified the plans for different versions of "Razor." His original cut had to be shortened for broadcast, so various scenes were removed that helped set up the current chronology for the special. Sci Fi Channel will begin airing these six to eight weeks before the episode's on-air debut as a way to stoke interest. Moore seemed unsure if they would be aired on Sci Fi as minisodes or online as webisodes. For "Razor's" DVD release, these will be seamlessly edited back into the episode.

There are no plans to do a series of direct-to-DVD movies after "Battlestar" ends its run. While it can't be ruled out as ever happening, Moore pointed out, "At some point we're going to strike the sets, and it'd be very difficult to rebuild the Galactica on a TV movie budget."

Moore and cast seemed pretty serious when asked about a potential SAG Award nomination for ensemble performance.
"I think our cast absolutely deserves a nod," Moore said. "It's one of the strongest on TV. From guest stars to the regular cast, they're amazing."

"We've been relishing in the ensemble," said actor Mary McDonnell.


Katee Sackhoff is able to star in roles on "Battlestar" and NBC's "Bionic Woman" without conflict thanks to "Battlestar's" atypical production schedule.

"From a production standpoint it works seamlessly," Eick said. "From Katee's standpoint, she just has to do a lot of amphetamines."


David Eick is working on a Fox pilot called "Them." It's in consideration for midseason and Helfer has a role. Pilot has been shot, but reshoots are imminent.