Let me guess who played "Muffit".
Posted on 10/17/2004 2:26:25 PM PDT by GOP Jedi
Gene Roddenberry had always used the original "Star Trek" to help produce commentary on social issues of the time like the Vietnam War, the Cold War and the like. It's something that has been done for many years with other science fiction writers both before and after Roddenberry as well ... but it's something that has been mostly absent from most science-fiction of today.
That could change, however, with the new "Battlestar Galactica" series set to debut this week on United Kingdom's Sky One, and in January in the United States.
"For those of us who take our sci-fi with a pinch of salt ... there are far more interesting things going on here," executive producer Ronald D. Moore recently told the Sunday Times. "There is great safety in genre and, at a time when the American media stands accused of soft-peddliung news and hard-selling patriotism, 'Battlestar Galactica' is taking some risks. Conceptually, the best science-fiction has always been socially and politically relevant," Moore said. "The original 'Star Trek' was famed for that, as was 'The Twilight Zone.'"
And those risks mean tackling the issues that people are talking about today ... on this planet. But Moore said he was surprised that not only would he be able to take that route with "Battlestar Galactica," he was being encouraged by Sci-Fi Channel to do it.
"At script stage on the pilot, I got a note back from the top ofr the network supporting the references to Sept. 11, the 'war on terror' and Al Qaeda, and encouraging me to take it further," Moore said. "And I thought, 'The network's telling me to do this? I'd be more than happy not to have to hide my evil plan."
So, what social issues will be seen in the new series? How about a direct reference to the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq, where Iraqis were tortured and humiliated by U.S. troops. Moore said there will be an episode of "Galactica" where a Cylon is tortured and humiliated.
"Discussions on that one were about as charged as you're going to get," he said. "But there was never any suggestion that we shouldn't go near the issue."
Joining the cast since the miniseries last year is veteran actor Edward James Olmos, who plays the starring role of Cmdr. Lee Adama. Olmos not only is acting in the series, but he's directing as well. He said he's happy to be a part of the series, as long as it doesn't go into juvenile science-fiction.
"If the writing falls short, then Adama has to be killed immediately," Olmos said from the set. "The first three-eyed creature I see, I'm outta here."
While some purist fans are still against the reimagination of "Battlestar Galactica," Moore said he hopes many will find how a fresh set of eyes on the series could do a lot of good.
"Even as a kid watching the original, I knew there were things that didn't work," Moore said. "Glen Larson starts with this incredibly dark idea -- the genocide of an entire race by robots. Our heroes flee into the night, scrabbling for survival, hunting for this mythical place called Earth. That's a great premise, but it's ABC in 1978, and you ain't doing that every week. So one week, we're at the casino planet, the next, it's a ripoff of 'Shane,' then the 'Towering Inferno.' It becomes popcorn escapism."
So, how does Moore deal with some fans who remain angry with him about his work on "Galactica"? He said he isn't fazed at all.
"I got death threats when I killed Capt. Kirk in the Star Trek movie ('Star Trek: Generations'), and I survived, so none of this sweats me," Moore said. "The 'Battlestar Galactica' fans have a way to go before they impress me with how frightening they are."
Star Trek tackled big issues that transcended party; it didn't target the LBJ Administration (both the DNC and GOP were advocates of the Cold War, for example). Don't know why these cowpokes want to alienate 50% of their viewing audience right out of the gate. Meh!
Yeah, six inhabited planets (or whatever) with populations in the billions got wiped out but put a pair of panties on a Cylon's head...
Totally lost on these folks is that, according to the internal logic of the show, the Cylons' self does not exist in whatever body is before you, so "torturing" one in any way is meaningless. (I'm off to taunt my appliances, now.)
The new Galactica sucked. Ronald Moore is a tool. I hope it gets cancelled fast!
That sure is a curious strategy to insult fans of the original. Good thing the gentleman didn't choose a career in rocket science.
I remember several episodes on the planet "Terra". Eastern Alliance vs. Western Alliance. Pro Cold-War stuff.
There was a lot of relgious imagery on the original BG. Much of it Jewish, but certainly an awareness of a higher authority.
Lastly, the respect that the military and cilivian populations had for each other was evident in the original BG. If anything, the respect was more military-to-civilian than civilian-to-military.
Probably for the babes. It was a good one for girl watching.
This is why I am just about ready to totally boycott hollywood. If Kerry gets elected I will never go to see another movie again. Im not going to watch the new Galactica either. Im going to be very choosy in what I watch from now on too.
Gracious! I thought this was an article from the onion. Weren't Cylon's machines?!!! I always thought Battlestar Galactica was cheesy and silly. Lorne Green was trying to out do William Shatner's over-acting to the nth degree. Of course, Shatner can get away with that because his whole actor personna was based on emoting. Not so with the Ponderosa guy. ;)
The fact that some network is bringing back the Galactica series (that supposedly once touted a conservative Mormon influence) and will try to make it a lefty-spouting vehicle is cheesy and silly to the nth degree.
Mormon, actually. Any Judaism was mostly likely by derivation only.
Let me guess who played "Muffit".
I can't get over the fact that their gonna have "A very special episode" pondering the hummiliation of an evil machine. WHAT is wrong with these people? I'm familliar with Ronald moore and all his past crappy work but I didn't know he was the jerk who killed of Kirk!!
Lemme guess. Next episode will feature a an alien who has the power to magically cause the regular characters to change genders. Or there's a planet that's ruled by an evil corporation, blah, blah, blah... There are people who like science fiction because the fantastic is a great change of pace. There are others who seem to like it because realistic storytelling is just something they're not capable of understanding or liking. And then there are those few who both like science fiction and are interested enough in science to understand it. Some of them actually wrote some halfway decent science fiction.
About the only thing that you could say about the original B.G. was that it was seventies schlock (Love Boat in outer space), and the only person in it who wasn't a mis-cast was Dirk Benedict.
How do you torture a robot? Withhold its WD-40?
At least we'd have Starbuck and Boomer back. (Meh...)
I guess this is one reason why I liked Babylon 5 so much. I some how doubt Captain Sheridan would have hesitated to "torture" a machine. He sure didn't hesitate to eliminate (as in "destroy") the 2nd Ambassador Kosh when his presence presented a security risk!
Bookmarking.
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