A capella of Battlestar Galactica’s "All Along the Watchtower"

Now before you run screaming into the night, let me explain. First, for those of you that may not have followed SyFy's more dramatic retelling of Glen Larson's Battlestar Galactica, the closing music of the last episode of season 3 (I think it was three...anyone?) was a heavy bass backbeat with middle eastern overtone reworked version of All Along the Watchtower. It was hypnotic in the way the music rolled in and out (I really wish I had a copy to play, I even asked the artist if I could have a copy to play on the program, yeah, it was that good). So meandering through IO9 I came upon an even stranger version - An a capella version done by the Sacramento State Jazz Singers of the Bear McCreary's Battlestar version (confused yet? lol) and these people do a great job. And if you have never heard the BSG version, this group nails it. Take a listen in this video.

Battlestar Galactia webisodes available on Hulu

For those of you that are following the Battlestar Galactia reboot on Sci-Fi - you should know by now that there are webisodes now being released to keep our interest peeked for the return of the final season of BSG which if I recall is due to return in January of 09.

The webisodes are hosted on Sci-Fi and on Hulu (for some reason I could not get the Sci-fi's vids to play but had no trouble with hulu) I have listed the first two episodes below which are listed on site as The Face of the Enemy.

Webisode 1

Webisode 2

Olmos to direct Battlestar prequel movie

Yes kiddies, you read that right! Brett Love over at TV Squad writes that Edward James Olmos is on board to direct a Battlestar movie that takes place soon after the Cylons destroy the humans homeworlds. It will follow the Cylons as they deal with human survivors, aboard ships as well as on planets. The new Battlestar project will air after the series completes its run next year. So far, Michael Trucco, Aaron Douglas, and Dean Stockwell are confirmed as part of the cast, nothing solid yet as to the rest of the crew.


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Caprica Pilot Under Way

Mark's SF/Fantasy blog has some BSG/Caprica news:

A two-hour back-door pilot for Caprica, a series set in the Battlestar Galactica universe at least fifty years before the events shown in the current series, was greenlit last week by the Sci Fi Channel and is already in preproduction after two years in development. Sci Fi has made only a partial commitment to the series (and will most likely) pick up the series only if the ratings on the pilot are solid. The reluctance stems in part from creator Ronald D. Moore's intention to make Caprica heavily dependent on long story arcs, which networks tend to fear repel new viewers.

Secrets Of Battlestar Season Four Betrayed In New Photo

According to SciFi Scanner and IO9: A supposedly spoiler-filled promo picture for the upcoming season of Battlestar Galactica has been released by Entertainment Weekly... despite the fact that no one's even sure that the half a season they've filmed of BSG will be aired in 2008. The promo shot apes Da Vinci's Last Supper, but the poses the characters are in allegedly reveal the plot twists of the upcoming season.

IO9 breakdown

Complete SciFi Scanner article

Real Life Cylon Raiders closer than we think!

Over at the SciFi scanner blog I found a story concerning advancements in cybernetic that are enough to raise goosebumps. Any fan of the new BSG knows of the Cylon Raiders. Espcially when we saw Starbuck slide inside one and began pulling and pushing on the bio gunk inside. We are made very aware that inside the shinny exterior is a living thing. All in all a pretty disturbing image.

From the SciFi Scanner article: It's far-fetched sci-fi at its finest. But is it really so far-fetched? Scientists at the University of Florida have grown a brain in a petri dish and taught it to pilot an F-22 jet simulator; a task that the non-sentient dollop of cerebral goo accomplished quite ably, even keeping the F-22 on its flight path in a virtual hurricane.

I can see that the pundits of science fiction are right, but only so far. Up to this point it was easy to tell the players. Robotic, robots, androids, cyborgs, human. The truth is that the future may well be a blending of all of the above.

Strike may kill BSG

It's no mystery that the writers strike is having a crippling effect on television in general and many programs that are teetering on the brink.

Case in point is Battle Star Galactia. Already on hiatus on the SF Channel - NBC has pushed back new production of any new episodes of BSG to the point that there is now rumor that NBC may be going to cancel the whole project.

That would be a major disappointment in my book. After we were told that this would be the last season, I reconciled myself to the fact that I would at least see the series to a proper end. Now even that may be in jeopardy. Well, nothing solid yet, but if something permanent comes along, I will let you know.

Jami, my how you've grown!

Well, no big surprise here, I am terrible with schedules on tv. So I just got around to watching NBC's Bionic Woman remake. NBC may accually have a winner here. Gone are the stupid slow-mo bad hair, bouncing body parts and bad music. Replace that with an MTV cut Blade Runner and you get an impression of what the first episode of the Bionic Woman brought to the table. Why do I mention an icon like R.Scott's Blade? Well, we have a present that is way out of control, rain, android ummm bionic heavy weights beating the crap out of one another, creepy music, dark lighting....No, I am not describing Blade Runner. No, the new Bionic Woman is unrelentingly depressing to the point of putting your teeth on edge. But you find yourself leaning toward the screen waiting for the next scene.....I think we can safely say that Wednesday's on NBC has a slot worth watching.... Oh and if you can believe it....Sakhoff was wasted on BSG. They let her run on this show and she is BAAAAAAAAAAAAAD.

'Heroes' Grabs Eight Emmy Nominations

PLUS: 'Lost' earns six nods, 'Battlestar Galactica' four - Thanks to SyFy Portal

Masi Oka was the only member of the "Heroes" cast to get nominated for his role as Hiro Nakamura. Some of the other nominations were for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Supporting Actor. Other "Heroes" nominations were for Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series, Oustanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series, and Oustanding Stunt Coordination, all for "Genesis," while the episode "Five Years Later ..." earned an Outstanding Visual Effects for a Series nod.

Battlestar movie hinges on original creator

Whilst perusing the TVSquad Blog I came across some interesting BSG news:

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. 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. BSG producer David Eick mentions that he has "extended an olive branch" to Larson.

Edward James Olmos: "Blade Runner Failed Because of Harrison Ford"

Wow, I was reading through SFSignal's blog when I came across a link to this bomb shell.

Kevin Kelly writes in Cinematical:

"I had the lucky fortune to attend a Battlestar Galactica event in Los Angeles tonight, but the one explosive shell to come out of it was Edward James Olmos really putting the screws to Harrison Ford over Blade Runner. According to Olmos 'Blade Runner was supposed to have sequels.' Olmos tossed down the gauntlet and then did the fandango on top of it by telling us all, 'Blade Runner failed because of Harrison Ford.' He went on to explain that since Harrison's fans had seen him in the Star Wars movies, and as Indiana Jones, they'd come to expect a certain type of performance from him. When they saw him in Blade Runner in a role that 'required him to think a lot, his fans threw up all over it.' "

click here to go to the Cinematical link

Battlestar Galactica's fourth season to be its last!

thanks to SFSignals for the heads up!

According to the LATimes: Battlestar Galactica" will end its run next year after its fourth and final season. According to a high level source at Sci Fi Channel parent company NBC Universal, the show will end after its next 22-episode season, slated to kick off in early 2008. Rumors began circulating this month when two "Battlestar Galactica" stars, Edward James Olmos and Katee Sackhoff, referred to the next season as the show's swan song.

SCI-Fi channel is also now confirming the story.

Sackhoff Signs Onto 'Bionic Woman' Pilot

From the Syfyportal blog

Well if you were wondering what Katee Sackhoff, late of "Battlestar Galactica" as the hotshot pilot Starbuck, was up to post Galactica, it seems she has signed on to NBC's "Bionic Woman" remake, which is being led by BSG's Eick. The pilot will star Michelle Ryan as bionic woman Jaime Sommers, and it seems Sackhoff will not appear until the second series of episodes. It's not clear what Sackhoff's role would be outside of the fact that she will be an evil bionic woman. She apparently is being billed as a guest star which could mean only a one-time appearance.

Battlestar Galactica Movie Not Forgotten

from the Syfyportal: Seems in all the talk of Battlestar getting a fourth season, was information about a possible telemovie that NBC Universal has commissioned, when and if a fourth season was announced..

Apparently, such a project is still under way despite it not being mentioned in SciFi Channel's news release Tuesday.

According to reports, the story will focus on the original Cylon sneak attack of the Twelve Colonies that received bits and pieces of coverage in the 2003 miniseries. It also could feature how the Battlestar Pegasus escaped.

Not all is rosey in Battlestar land however. Even though season 4 was greenlighted, only 13 episodes have been ordered.

Science Fiction show reminders

Here are the updates for Science Fiction shows that have been on hiatus

Daybreak on ABC - all episodes, even those unaired will be available January 29 on the web.

Battlestar Galactica returns this Sunday, January 21st. SciFi has moved it from its Friday slot

Heroes will be back January 22nd.

Jericho returns on February 21st

Casting Shakeup To Rock 'Battlestar Galactica'

Caution, this may be studio generated gossip and as such, may be used as a test to see what the overall fan attitude might be. Read with the eye of a sceptic. Thanks to the Sci-fi portal and Michael Hinman for the heads up

TV Guide's Michael Ausiello is fueling a very powerful rumor that Katee Sackhoff, who plays the not-so-lovable Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, is ready to throw in the towel and leave the show, something that could happen as early as the end of this season. But the departure doesn't necessarily have to be permanent.

"All signs are pointing to Starbuck's imminent demise," Ausiello said in his weekly "Ask Ausiello" column. But there is still some hope: "If you ask me, this whole thing carries with it the stench of a highly coordinated foiler," Ausiello said. "I mean, Ron Moore would be out of his frakkin' mind to deep-six Starbuck, right?"

Sackhoff apparently told the "Cort and Fatboy" show on radio station KUFO in Portland that she was leaving the show, but wouldn't acknowledge if her character actually died. Sackhoff has expressed frustration about the show in the past, including one comment where she said "Battlestar Galactica" had turned into a "soap opera."

There has been no announcement or confirmation from any of the folks at "Battlestar Galactica" or SciFi Channel, so please continue to treat this story as you would any other rumor.

Battlestar Galactica s4 go, Caprica no, Lost Room -lost

Syfyportal.com has a story that reports that the SciFi Channel is expected to officially give the greenlight to a fourth season of "Battlestar Galactica," which as you also know, sci-fi has moved to Sunday nights from its' usual Friday night slot.

The "Battlestar Galactica" prequel spinoff "Caprica," however, may not be getting the same good news. "Anyone expecting to see 'Caprica' before 2008 is fooling themselves," a SciFi Channel source told SyFy Portal. "There is still quite a bit to be worked out."

Another show that is not expected to get a greenlight for series is "The Lost Room," the recent miniseries filmed as a backdoor pilot that recently aired on SciFi Channel. It finished well behind three of the last four miniseries aired on the network in terms of ratings, and it's unlikely that will be enough to garner it a series order.

Battlestar Galactica invades Dilbert

From the blog TV-SQUAD:
Everyone's favorite swear words get the sci-fi treatment on television so they can sidestep around the censors. On Farscape we had "frell," Battlestar Galactica has "frack," and Firefly gave us a whole slew of Chinese swear words like "tzae gao" and "ta ma de." Bilngual swearing, FTW! You know a sci-fi swearism has reached the mainstream when it's being used by a character in Scott Adams' "Dilbert" strip.

(click used to see the Dilbert strip.....pac..)

Battlestar Galactia Moves To Sundays

SCIFIWIRE reports that: SCI FI Channel's award-winning series Battlestar Galactica will move to a new timeslot starting Jan. 21, 2007: Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT, following the premiere of the new original series The Dresden Files at 9 p.m. .

Battlestar Galactica: Character Profiles

From Julia Houston,
Your Guide to Sci-Fi / Fantasy.

Here are the major plot and background points for the main characters of the best show currently on TV, Battlestar Galactica, airing Friday nights on the Sci-Fi Channel. If you aren't watching, this should help you get started.

• Edward James Olmos - William Adama
• Mary McDonnell - Laura Roslin
• Jamie Bamber - Lee Apollo Adama
• Katee Sackhoff - Kara Starbuck Thrace
• Tricia Helfer - Number Six
• James Callis - Gaius Baltar
• Grace Park - Sharon
• Lucy Lawless - Number Three