Battlestar Galactica again

[eldaec]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/battlestar-galactica-reboot-sam-esmail-works-at-nbcus-streamer-1239018

'Inspired by the last one' and 'different story in the mythos'.

Being launched to fill out NBC's bullshit streaming service.

The press keeps saying it is being done by a guy who did so something called Mr Robot, which I think I am supposed to have heard of.

[Sir T]

I'm sure this will be a story about how the heroic Cylon Rebel Federation Alliance strikes back against the evil Human Empire.

[eldaec]

Can see practical issues if it sits in the same universe as the 2000s version.

They had very specific rules about who could play cylons.

And if you set it on a different colony, would you have cylons or things just a bit like cylons or something else?

I doubt anyone has figured any of this out obv.

'We have a streaming platform to sell. Quick! Start commissioning things that require me to attend very few meetings, and which the PR team can launch with one press release.'

[HaemishM]

I like Mr. Robot and Sam Esmail, but after the way the last BSG ended, fuck a bunch of paying for another streaming service just for this.

[Teleku]

I liked BSG, even with the weak ending, but not seeing how they are going to do this.  Or what exactly they are going to do.  Is it a sort of remake?  Different story set in same universe?

[Mandella]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/battlestar-galactica-reboot-sam-esmail-works-at-nbcus-streamer-1239018

'Inspired by the last one' and 'different story in the mythos'.

Being launched to fill out NBC's bullshit streaming service.

The press keeps saying it is being done by a guy who did so something called Mr Robot, which I think I am supposed to have heard of.

Mr Robot is, indeed, something you are supposed to have heard of.

[Riggswolfe]

1) I'm not getting another streaming service.
2) I'm not getting a streaming service called Peacock.

[Khaldun]

TONIGHT on the 'Cock

NOW STREAMING on the 'Cock

BINGE on the 'Cock

[Draegan]

I'm ok with a complete re-do. It's a fun story.

[Tale]

The press keeps saying it is being done by a guy who did so something called Mr Robot, which I think I am supposed to have heard of.

You should go and experience Season 1 of Mr Robot. Being a poster on f13.net means you'll probably like it.

The Sam Esmail style is also seen in Homecoming on Amazon Prime.

It would make for a pretty weird BSG.

[Hoax]

Mr. Robot is amazing.

BSG was trash. I don't think I even made 3 seasons, at some point another battlestar showed up that was run by "hey fuck these robots" humans. And the show was like let's make them into cartoon characters of pure evil. It was dumb. Show was dumb. I hear the religious bullshit also got more boring screentime so dodged one there. NBC's streaming service is a dumb idea. Making another Terminator or another BSG is never that dumb of an idea as the fundamental dread of machines/ai/robots sure isn't going away these days.

Sure seems like its only going to get harder for them to do it well, but I guess nobody wants to spend money on original stuff. Creation is hard. What streaming service is going to make a Matrix show? That might get me excited.

[Rendakor]

They're making a Matrix 4 movie; no idea about a TV show, but if the movie does well, who knows what could happen.

[Khaldun]

So look. The basic idea of BSG was great even with the totally shit 70s version. Humans create cybernetic/robot life, the robots hate us and rebel, they kill almost all organic life, they chase the survivors relentlessly.

The original was just stupid for a zillion reasons--the Mormonism, the cheapness, the cockeyed emulation of Star Wars, you name it. But basically they didn't take the premise seriously.

The reboot was great when it took the premise seriously but the main problem it had was that it decided to take the puzzle/mystery element of the show seriously and to really work with prophecy and portent and "they have a plan", without even remotely having a plan. This has consistently proven to be a seriously bad way to make your audience furious when it turns out you have NO FUCKING IDEA what all that means. "They have pregnancy/rape farms on human planets because? they want to convert Starbuck because? etc.

I kind of think someone who says: I'm on it with the "we made cybernetic organisms who kill almost all of us because they're scared of us/want to displace us/have a different vision of the universe that's not just Skynet murdervision" is a premise where there's still money on the table to do more with it. I'm on it when you put that in space and have people fleeing on the last tattered remnants etc.  I just need them to decide: if they're fleeing towards a lost tribe, make that real--and think it through.

[Teleku]

Yeah, I thought the first two seasons (and half way through third season) was some of the best TV ever, but it just fell apart under the weight of them making up everything as they went.  It worked out surprisingly well at first all things considered, but it crashed out hard.  Too many plot paths some writer started in one episode that they then abandoned later with no resolution.  Feeling like they had to go back and justify shit they just sort of made up with no plan in the first season and having no idea how to do it, ect.  Having said that, third and fourth seasons had many moments I loved, so I still got entertainment out of it through through the end.  Just really wish we would go away from the Lost style "making up a multi season on running mystery story as we go with no fucking plan" writing.

I always thought if they were to ever reboot the series again, it gives them a chance to end it the best of the three ways.  Original series had them come to earth at current/modern times.  Reboot had them come in the past.  Next one should have them get to earth in our far future, where we are significantly more advanced than the Humans or Cylons.  Earth defense force effortlessly fries the Cylon fleet as its about to take out Galactica, and Earthlings are wondering where the fuck this dingy old piece of shit ship filled with fascist came from.  

[Sir T]

The problem was they had to do that because Lost was making moneyhats at that point. If they did it in the last few years it would be Zombies in space, because The Walking Dead. What it wiill probably be at this point is some versiion of Game of Thrones, big political shit and everyone knifing one another, with the Cylons bieng a vauge threat that do something threatening now and again but not actually getting in the way of the stabbing.

[Riggswolfe]

The problem was they had to do that because Lost was making moneyhats at that point. If they did it in the last few years it would be Zombies in space, because The walking Dead. What it weill probably be at this point is some versiion of Game of thrones, big political shit and everyone knifing one another with the Cylons bieng a vauge threat that do something threatening now and again but not actually getting in the way of the stabbing.

A couple of years ago I'd have agreed. But Game of Thrones is poison right now. If they're going to ape the current "big thing" I'm not even sure what that'd be honestly. None of the stuff that used to dominate TV is really making waves right now. It either crashed and burned (GoT) or is suffering a slow, painful death (Walking Dead) or ended already and isn't as relevant.

Hell, the closest thing I can think of to a TV pattern right now is nostalgia but that doesn't work with BSG. Certainly can't do a 1980s BSG, we had that once. It was terrible.

[Samwise]

Do it as a sitcom a la The Office and/or Parks and Rec.

[Sir T]

Great, Battlestar Big Bang Theory.

I could actually see them trying that *headdesk*

[Riggswolfe]

Do it as a sitcom a la The Office and/or Parks and Rec.

God, I could see them doing it in that pseudo documentary style with the annoying, awkward camera work and characters addressing the camera and stuff...

[Bokonon]

The problem was they had to do that because Lost was making moneyhats at that point. If they did it in the last few years it would be Zombies in space, because The walking Dead. What it weill probably be at this point is some versiion of Game of thrones, big political shit and everyone knifing one another with the Cylons bieng a vauge threat that do something threatening now and again but not actually getting in the way of the stabbing.

A couple of years ago I'd have agreed. But Game of Thrones is poison right now. If they're going to ape the current "big thing" I'm not even sure what that'd be honestly. None of the stuff that used to dominate TV is really making waves right now. It either crashed and burned (GoT) or is suffering a slow, painful death (Walking Dead) or ended already and isn't as relevant.

Hell, the closest thing I can think of to a TV pattern right now is nostalgia but that doesn't work with BSG. Certainly can't do a 1980s BSG, we had that once. It was terrible.

I mean, The Expanse follows this formula (something history-defining happens, and humans react to it in all our petty, tribalistic (though occasionally selfless and clever) ways, without really understanding the true scope of the history-defining thing. And it has the advantage of a book series that actually truly is almost completed, with the book authors also in the shows writing room, so they know how this is going to end. Also has backstabbing, though I feel they weave the greater threat in better.

It isn't a cultural touchpoint like GoT was (and it probably won't reach that height), especially as the first season suffers a common problem with a lot of scifi TV translations, which is that it has a lot of world building to work through. That does pay dividends in seasons 2/3, as noted by the ever increasing metacritic/rotten tomatoes user/critic ratings for each successive season.

[eldaec]

If I were doing this I'd just go right ahead and do the same story again.

I don't see how you do Battlestar Galactica without a Battlestar Galactica and Cylons. Else it is just future-spaceship-show. At that point why bother mucking about.

[Shannow]

TONIGHT on the 'Cock

NOW STREAMING on the 'Cock

BINGE on the 'Cock

Showed my GF this post, she paused and asked 'what if a show really sucks...'

[Teleku]

 

But yeah, random cable networks thinking they can get away with a streaming service when streaming superpowers are lobbing nukes at each other right now for a minor monthly fee........

This shit will be on Netflix long before the first season ends (if it actually gets made at all).

[Threash]

This shit will be on Netflix long before the first season ends (if it actually gets made at all).

You mean Pirate Bay.

[Teleku]

People still use piratebay?

[Mandella]

The problem was they had to do that because Lost was making moneyhats at that point. If they did it in the last few years it would be Zombies in space, because The walking Dead. What it weill probably be at this point is some versiion of Game of thrones, big political shit and everyone knifing one another with the Cylons bieng a vauge threat that do something threatening now and again but not actually getting in the way of the stabbing.

A couple of years ago I'd have agreed. But Game of Thrones is poison right now. If they're going to ape the current "big thing" I'm not even sure what that'd be honestly. None of the stuff that used to dominate TV is really making waves right now. It either crashed and burned (GoT) or is suffering a slow, painful death (Walking Dead) or ended already and isn't as relevant.

Hell, the closest thing I can think of to a TV pattern right now is nostalgia but that doesn't work with BSG. Certainly can't do a 1980s BSG, we had that once. It was terrible.

I can tell GoT is a trigger thing for you, but the fact that super fans didn't like the ending season doesn't make it poison, and in fact there seem to be multiple "fantasy soap opera from an epic book series" projects in the works now. (Whether or not that is a good thing is debatable, I will agree).

But to me Edward James Olmos' portrayal of Admiral Adama made the remake for me, as well as some of the other great casting choices. Seeing them act their way through some of the truly bizarre and often idiotic (but also sometimes brilliant) plot decisions made the whole series worth it for me.

But also no, another streaming service isn't in the cards for my budget, although there is always "found floating around the internet" if I hear good things about the reboot stories done in the BSG universe.

[Chimpy]

Dirk Benedict will always be Starbuck to me. Who cares if the show was campy? Being campy is better than trying too hard and being bad at it.

[Phildo]

GoT would still be the style of the moment, the last 2-3 seasons were just very instructional for anyone looking to emulate it.

[Threash]

People still use piratebay?

Shrug, I don't know what the new torrent site is.

[Sir T]

Someone once said to me the original series had good episodes, but the amounted to about one out of every 3 or 4. I actually have a collection of the episodes everyone agreed were decent and they are actually pretty enjoyable.

And yes, the cast on NuBSG were absolutly first class, and made that show. Without them you would see it as goofy as the OS. And seriously, Srarbuck was a Lovable Rouge not a Jock, pretending they had the same character was insulting. Dirk Bennedict rules.

[Tale]

Do it as a sitcom a la The Office and/or Parks and Rec.

God, I could see them doing it in that pseudo documentary style with the annoying, awkward camera work and characters addressing the camera and stuff...

Oh shit what if it's a musical.

[Father mike]

Do it as a sitcom a la The Office and/or Parks and Rec.

God, I could see them doing it in that pseudo documentary style with the annoying, awkward camera work and characters addressing the camera and stuff...

Bears ... Beets ... The Office

[Phildo]

Do it as a sitcom a la The Office and/or Parks and Rec.

God, I could see them doing it in that pseudo documentary style with the annoying, awkward camera work and characters addressing the camera and stuff...

Oh shit what if it's a musical.

At least one episode has to be.

[jgsugden]

It it truly is in the Moore universe, they could tell:

a.) The story of the first days of the Battlestar Galactica,
b.) The story of what happened to the planet they left behind,
c.) The story of the descendent generation taking the Galactica from orbit to return from whence they came,
d.) Essentially, tell the rest of Caprica,
e.) Etc...

Any of those could be great or horrible.

I trust Esmail.  I feel Mr. Robot fell a bit off track in the last season, but it is still one of my top 10 favorite shows. If he is behind it, I'm intrigued.

[Khaldun]

All of those are terrible.

There is no point to doing this as "oh here's some stories we forgot to tell in an underdeveloped mythos that was hugely disappointing in the end.".

No smart creator wants to stick to doing footnotes to someone else's creation. You leave that shit for the sons and grandsons of famous people who want to squeeze a bit more from the IP teat.