Battlestar Galactawill

Let's explore our Battlestar Galactica idea a bit further.

This is a planet as advanced as the Colonies somewhere in deep space. The planet has a collective memory of being chased there by the Cylons, say, several hundred years before. The memory is commemorated, kept alive in an annual ceremony kept pure thorugh the centuries. The founders of the planet are quasi religious figures. One day they will liberate Kobol, heh - next year on Kobol.

As such these people are ready for a fight. In fact, they're itching for a fight. The planet is highly militarized. Every last one of these galactic Israelis is on the hook for 20 years of military service. They've got asteroids in orbit over their neo-Spartan planet, each decked out with laser and missile batteries. These space-Prussians have a massive Battle Fleet ready for action.

When the first Cylon fleet arrives, why, they never know what hit them...

Reboot This

A Battlestar Galactica reboot is in the works:

Details about the new take on the beloved drama are being kept under wraps, though sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that it will be an updated, more modern look at the world as told through the lens of the sci-fi favorite. The updated Battlestar Galactica, sources say, will be inspired by Syfy's 2004 series, developed by Ron Moore, and not based on the 1978 original from creator Glen A. Larson.

The miniseries was Ok, but we bailed on the 2005 reboot after the first season. The writing sucked.

What the fuck is Mr. Robot?

The original series had several human settled planets that were not earth. We've always liked the idea of the Cylons finding a planet that was as advanced as the Colonies and ready for a fight. Oh, you're here to wipeout humanity are you? Well suck my Neutron S-Missile.

Battlestar Galactica: What's right

So we have binge watched our way through most of Battlestar Galactica and we must say we are highly impressed.

That is, the impression we took away from our last viewings in the late 1990's was incorrect.

First, we remembered a crisis of the week television show. Instead each episode was linked to the last, with references to past events like finding Kobol and Commander Kane.

Second  we recalled the fleet travelling through unknown space so it could encounter said crisis of the week. Actually at least through half the season the fleet is still in known space or at least just over the other side of their known universe.

Third, the writers really got down some things about humanity. The scenes where the crew of the Galactica watches the TV reports of the destruction of the Colonies is spot on. Let's just say it looked real familiar. There's also a scene were Lt. Omega is showing Colonel Tye a damage report on what looks like a Tablet or kindle. Their robotics are about where our robotics are now. And of course the bridge relies upon computers, though we laugh at those green graphics.

Coming soon...thoughts on improvement.

The BSG -ID4 Matrix

We're huge fans of Independence day, having noted it not only here but in the intro in To Defend the Earth.

That fine pop-corn movie is highly derivative, which is fine. As Lemmy (PBUH) once said, 'fuck that's its all derivative.' Binge watching classic Battle Star Galactica we finally noticed something. Here, for the first time we see the BSG-ID4 relationships:

First, the BSG scanner:

Now an ID4 radar screen:

A classic BSG Viper shot:

And a nice shot from ID4:

Well played Mssrs Emerich and Devlin. Well played indeed.

Here's the To Defend the Earth intro:

Like a lot of people I've been interested in the idea of an alien invasion of Earth for a long time. I guess the first movie I ever saw about an alien invasion was War of the Worlds, I am referring to the 1950s version starring Gene Barry. I must have seen it sometime in 1980 or 1981 at the latest. I was horrified by the apparent helplessness of America's mighty armed forces, the way armored piercing shells bounced of the Martian's force fields, how even atomic weapons couldn't harm them. I was captivated by the Martian's steady, relentless advance and their eventual destruction of Los Angeles. The movie captured my imagination and has been a favorite of mine ever since.

Independence Day is probably the successor to War of the Worlds, at least for me, and the culmination of forty years of alien invasion movies. I was transfixed by the short 30 second ad aired during the Dallas-Pittsburg Super Bowl. Sneak previews were aired during the spring, these only whetted my appetite. I saw Independence Day the first weekend it was out and several times thereafter. Fifteen years later I think it holds up pretty well. Of course it's highly derivative of War of the Worlds. The moment the president gave the order to 'nuke the bastards' I knew they would fail, just like in War of the Worlds. I loved how Independence Day portrayed events at the highest level and the little details Dean Devlin and Roland Emerich put in the movie like the use of Stealth Bombers and F-15 fighter escorts for Air Force One.

A lot of novels have been written about an alien invasion. For my money the absolute best is Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. I first read it in 1993. Anyone who is familiar with this excellent novel will see its influence all over To Defend the Earth.
I've wanted to write my own tale of alien invasion for decades. What follows are several short stories I've written over the last six years. Some of these stories are about how people act under duress, about how they look into themselves and change. Some are about their relations with other people and how events affect them. Some are just good old fashioned battle yarns; if you like battles on land, sea, air and in space these are for you.

Battlestar Babes...

You knew this post was coming.

Now, when we rediscovered Battlestar Galactica in late 90's we were stunned to discover that the show was filled with total babes.

We felt it was our responsibility to discuss this crucial matter.

When they cast the show, they really cast the show.

Let's get things off on the right foot. First off, Jane Seymour:

We come next to Maren Jensen:

And off course Laurette Spang:

And finally Anne Lockhardt:

Whose prettiest? Take your pick, man. This question rivals the great Mary-Anne/Ginger conundrum. The answer to that one is Mary-Anne or your worse than Baltar.

Older readers are by now wondering about a few infamous scenes from Battlestar Galactica. Don't worry, guys, I got you covered. I searched far and wide because I just care so damn much.

Bam!:

You knew this was next:

Gratuitous? Absolutely.

How they got any work done aboard Galactica I'll never know.

Rediscovering Galactica

As mentioned before once Battlestar Galactica went off air it pretty much disappeared from public view. The last time we saw it was in 1984, aired on reruns on WOR, Channel 9.

We would not see BSG again until 97-98 when the Sci-Fi Channel reran it.

Watching the show as an adult was a revelation (we'll get into that in another post) and kindled within us an urge to write for the first time in years.

I went looking for info, but frankly there wasn't a lot out there.

I did find this site, Kobol.com. The owner, Chris Pappas, lovingly gathered all the info and facts he could find about BSG, including the old writer's guide, scripts, etc. This site has been around for 20 years and what the reader will see if he clicks over is pretty much Kobol.com looked like in early 1998.

Glen Larson and company did a good job describing how the Galactica worked, He gave us specs and some tech info. That said if one wanted to know if Galactica had anti-ship lasers, missiles, etc, the info just wan't there. He didn't even really know how many battlestars there were.

So I wrote some fan-fic. Basically Commander Kane leads a squadron of four battlestars on a raid deep into Cylon territory where they destroy several baseships, space stations and planet-side facilities. Alert readers may notice the similarity between this bit of BSG fan-fic and the Battle of Luna in To Defend the Earth.

Heh.

Galactica's Best Episode

Sometimes the Battlestar Galactica writers turned in some real clunkers, but last night we watch Episode 12: Fire in Space.

Man did they ever nail this one.

Basically the Cylons launch a Kamikaze attack on the Galactica, with one raider hitting a launch bay and another taking out the bridge.

Here's the preview:

Young writers can really learn something by watching Fire in Space. It's a classic situation where a lion chases the protagonist up a tree, follows him up a tree, follows him onto a branch and the branch begins to break.

Let's review:

-Commander Adama is fighting for his life.  Lt Commander Tigh has to take over. Surgeons take a huge risk by operating on Adama under the threat of losing power. They have no choice.
-The Galactica has two major fires going. The fires are moving toward the ship's Energizer (read boiler) and firefighters can't contain it. These scenes are very well done and filled with tension.
-The fire is threatening to engulf the rec center where several of our main characters are trapped. They have to get out of the rec center but can't because the power is cut and they have to find breather masks because of all the smoke. Desperately they send a pet dagget into the air ducts to find help. To attract the dagget the bridge crew places some sweets at the entrance to one of air ducts and hope he finds them. Even after the dagget comes back with a bag of air masks tied to his tail the people in the rec center still have to worry about the fire. The dagget then goes back into the air ducts to save a downed fireman but the people in the rec center don't know that.
-Since the firefighters are losing the battle, in desperation Apollo and Starbuck go on a space walk to place explosives on the hull to open Galactica to space and starve the fire of oxygen. The explosives are placed but Apollo slips and floats into space. Starbuck goes after him.

Well done BSG writers. Well done indeed.

Battlestar Galactica: Watchable?

So we're about halfway through Battlestar Galactica and here are our initial thoughts.

First, the intro a credits are second to none in the world of TV scifi. Do we really need a reminder of this? I guess we do:

This opener combines Star Wars and Star Trek and the effect is awesome. What a score.

Glen Larson and ABC really outdid themselves on the production values. The sets are first rate. Galactica's bridge looks very military and realistic. The costumes are fantastic. The tan uniform with a brown waistcoat sounds like 70's hell, but the look really works. The higher echelon officers wear a sharp, deep blue uniform. For special occasions they don a fancy cloak, which is a nice touch.
If one is curious here is an interesting website, Kobol.com that has costumes and props.

The actual space combat sequences are quite good, and stand up to Star Wars. That said these became stock footage and whenever necessary they'd just que these up and remix the same 25 shots or so as needed. We also like the Galactica's AA guns the look feel and the sound of them firing. Listen closely and one will here a great bang as every laser fires. We have always enjoyed the act of activating the lasers turrets, with a bridge tech flipping one switch after another.

There are some good performances in this show. We're surprised to see that Richard Hatch (Apollo) can act. So can Dirk Benedict (Starbuck) at least within the parameters of his part. We also enjoy Terry Carter (as ship's XO Col Tigh) and Herbert Jefferson (as strait-man to Starbuck). There are some excellent cameos.

Now as to the actual show. The individual writing and dialogue is pretty good, but some of the episode ideas are lame. In one episode Apollo crashes on a Wild West planet. That said we love the episode, The Young Lords, where Starbuck crashes on a planet stuck in the Middle Ages. This show has some cringe-worthy tropes; look a cute kid and his electronic dog...

Overall Battlestar Galactica is basically World War II in space. Younger reader(s) note, in 1978 it was impossible for BSG to not be World War II in space.

As far as a science fiction show goes, how did producer Glen A. Larson do? Well, he took the time to create a canon, here it is.  The background and concept are solid and based on Larson's own Mormon faith. Science, what science? Oh well.

Overall, how do we rate this show? Look folks, it ain't Game of Thrones. It is an often predictable and formulaic science fiction drama from 1978, and it feels like 1978. But in the context of 1978 it was a good show and good drama. If one keeps these things in mind Battlestar Galactica watchable.

So I'm Binge Watching Battlestar Galactica....

No, not the Sci Fi Channel reboot, the kitschy 1978 Battlestar Galactica.

We were born in 1973, which means by 1978 we acquired some concrete memories. 1979 is the first year we can really recall.

Dedicated science fiction fans know in 1978 ABC launched Battlestar Galactica, airing the show at 8PM on Sunday nights followed by ChiPs. That might be the most 1970's sentence ever written.

BSG went off the air in 1979. There were a few specials as well ass the universally loathed Galactica 1980, but after that the show was officially dead.

This was our most favorite, favorite show. It was so much more good then our stupid older sister's favorite shows, Three's Company and Eight is Enough and Charlie's Angels. We once threw an epic temper tantrum because we were out to dinner at the Benny Hanna in Ossining and we were going to miss our show. We rolled around on the floor crying, 'I want to watch Battlestar Galactica!'

Here's the BSG puzzle we coveted for what seemed like hours at the Shopwell:

Back then mothers would just let their little hellions run wild through the aisles while they shopped and did things like go to the help desk and cash a check so they had money for the weekend.

Here's a pic of some of our many BSG toys:

Man that takes us back nearly 40 years.

Funny thing, once BSG went off air the show just disappeared. It popped up in reruns in the NYC area in 84-85, but that's it.  The original two hour telemovie was available though and we rented it a few times in the early 80's.

BSG became stock footage. You'd see it on TV in the background of another show or in a Crazy Eddy commercial or a music video. There, Tom Petty, You got Lucky:

We didn't see it again till the mid 90's when the Sci Fi Channel aired it. We had not really seen BSG since.

We've been inspired to check out BSG again for a few reasons. First its an influence on our own writing, which we will go into later in the week. Second we've never really fully examined the show, and there are several episodes we have not seen since it went off air in 1979. We'd like to view it again, probably for the last time in our life.