Olmos transports from 'Family 'to 'Battlestar Galactica'

Pittsburgh Post Gazette ^ | April 29, 2003 | Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV Editor

[RayBob]

The first season of PBS's "American Family," in which Edward James Olmos plays the conservative patriarch of a Hispanic Los Angeles family, comes out on DVD today.

But it's his role as another patriarch that's bound to get TV viewers in their 30s and 40s talking. Olmos is filming Sci Fi Channel's miniseries remake of the late '70s TV show "Battlestar Galactica." Olmos takes over the role of Commander Adama, originally played by the late Lorne Greene.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"May I have ten thousand marbles, please?"

I know what you mean. The one that pops into my head is "You guys playin' poker?"

[Paul C. Jesup]

(sarcasm) You could have fooled me.

[discostu]

Now you're not even making sense. You claimed I insulted you first, show it. First insult I see in our conversation is you calling me an idiot, to which I said I'd rather not play it that way but if you want to I can. Show me where I insulted you before you called me an idiot, I certainly didn't do it on purpose and if I did it on accident I'll apologize.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Alright, alright. Maybe I am stretching it a bit.

But at the very least, you've got to admit that two characters in two different epic good versus evil dramas dying by falling into a bottomless pit, one named Kazak'dum and the other named Z'ha'dum is a little more than a coincidence.

[JustAnAmerican]

"Speaking of crummy scifi, have you watched Enterprise? Man, they had the opportunity of a lifetime, and blew it.

As much as I despised Gene Roddenberry's politics, he still made the best ST episodes. Since he died, the series is just not the same.Now if William Shatner decides to write a few that would be another story:) Still enjoy STNG the most though.

[Paul C. Jesup]

You insulted my taste in shows, that is how insulted me first.

[discostu]

Oh lord. I'm not apologizing for that. The show SUCKED, get over it. The fact that you'd be this overly sensitive then have the audacity to be shocked when someone you called an idiot gets angry tells us a lot about you. If you can't take having a show you like labeled crap I recommend you stop hanging out where opinions are exchanged. And if you insist on staying out here in the rough and tumble world don't call somebody an idiot and expect them to have it roll off their back. That's just too funny for words. I said SAAB blew chunks and you took it personally, then you accused me of taking it personally when you called me an idiot. Truly sad.

[Paul C. Jesup]

Nope, it's the old Hulk series that suck, why don't you get over that.

[discostu]

that should read "it's the old Hulk series that suckED", the show has been off the air for a long time. A now is when I get to show I'm a better person than you:
You're damn right the Hulk sucked. Not only did it suck it was a rip off of Kung Fu (a completely unwarranted change to the plot of the comics) which really wasn't a very good show either, and of course later they were both ripped off by the A-Team another really stupid show (that feature Starbuck from Galatica, see this is even on topic). But they were fun and I like them (note the present tense, I STILL like them even though they're not being made anymore). And I don't care if you don't like them and I can certainly understand why someone would like them (they're pretty stupid after all) and I don't feel at all hurt that you or anybody else doesn't like them.

See, you said a show I like sucked and I didn't take it personally. Now you try: SAAB sucked...

[discostu]

Oops, that should read, "why someone wouldN'T like them". There's a lot of typoes in there but that one seriously alters the meaning of the post.

[strela]

The one that pops into my head is "You guys playin' poker?"

BZZZZZT ...

"You guys playin' cards?"

[CathyRyan]

I never knew the world of science fiction was so cut throat. You guys are vicious. LOL

[discostu]

Cut throat?! Go to the Hobbit Hole and say Tolkien was a hack and given his penchant for poetry probably queer (not that I'm saying that, I'm just giving you some good bait). Then you'll see cut throat.

Really people in fandom get far too addicted to their shows (note I'm on the inside looking out, I'm hitting my own group here). One of the things I learned about a long time ago was what Frank Zappa called mongoloid entertainment, that's basically stupid stuff that you like anyway (guilty pleasures, or maybe pleasures that should be guilty but you don't want to feel guilty so you just enjoy it anyway). Because of this I understand that not everything I like is actually good and I don't need to defend it. Right now my thing is Tremors, I always loved the movies, I know they're B movies at best, and I like the TV show even though it's pretty dumb. Someday, and probably soon, it's going to be canceled and I'll be sad because that will probably mark the checkered flag for Tremors all around. But I'm not going to call it a travesty and say that SciFi Channel is making a mistake or put up a petition trying to make them bring it back. It's mongoloid entertainment and I'm just hoping they make enough episodes to warrant putting them out on DVD so I can own them.

Now if somebody started badmouthing B5 that's another matter entirely ;)

[section9]

Are you kidding?

There is more factionalism in SF and Fantasy than can be found at a meeting of the Pakistani Parliament.

And don't get started about the factionalism with the Tolkein crowd. They are absolutely religious about their competing Grand Unifying Theories of What Middle Earth is All About.

A lot of this got started with the development of Star Trek Fandom. I know. I used to be one during the Seventies. SF fans, the real ones, the ones who read the first printings of Frank Herbert's Dune series, hated the Trekkies. I mean, real fans understand that Blade Runner was based on a short story by the superb author, Philip K. Dick. They had spent years reading the best Heinlein, Ursula K. LeGuin, Bradbury, all of Asimov's Foundation series. Larry Niven. The good stuff! And they saw Star Trek as some low rent ripoff of good SF that didn't have the kind of inventive writing that made The Twilight Zone so fantastic.

I remember going to a local "Trek" event about three years ago down in Southwest Broward at BCC South. See, my local anime club got tapped to do the anime screening room at the daylong event. We were, ostensibly, members of the staff. We were told before the convention that we could have some of the donuts, as well. We should have known better than to go in and help ourselves to some of the staff's donuts. One middle aged gentleman walks in dressed like Picard and dresses us down for eating some of the freaking donuts!

And it occured to me that this guy, dressed in his Captain's uniform (with pips on the collar, mind you), really thought that he was acting as Picard! And he really was trying to exercise "command authority from the captain's chair".

See, this wasn't about donuts (please, no cop jokes...). If we had been Trek fans, Captain Picard wouldn't have been so upset. But we were from the tolerated out-group of Japanese animation fans who were off on one corner of the Student union showing episodes of Kodomo no Omocha.

We decided not to go to their next con the following year. Meantime, we did have fun with another Trek faction during that same convention. I'm speaking of the only Trek fans that are worth a tinker's damn.

The Klingons....

The people from K.L.A.W. are among the happiest, hardest drinking fans I know in all of SF. They are fun guys. Really. Their only drawback is that they are trying to foist Klingoni on the world as a legitimate language.

Kaplah!

Anyway, from one of the guys who thought Starship Troopers was actually a fun movie to watch, I just wanted to give everyone a look inside the backstabbing world of SF fandom.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[6ppc]

Agreed. B5 is the best SF series ever on TV. BTW...I think I saw an ad about it coming out on DVD next week...gotta check on that.

[Paul C. Jesup]

Considering that almost the only thing you think doesn't suck is Reality TV Shows; most people would put you sense of judgement in judging TV shows seriously in question.

[CathyRyan]

Well that explains alot. I was talking to this lady and we got on the subject of ST and I said I was a fan (watched the show and have almost all the books) well she starts in on that there is this convention in another state (another state mind you).yada yada yada and wants to know if I want to go she has "conections" I tell her I am really not into that part of ST and she looked at me like I was nuts. I just like science fiction and I don't focus on one aspect of it. I like the good stuff (Heinlein, Asimov, Dune, etc) and I like the bad stuff too. Although I did see something... Circus Clowns from Outerspace now that was....Well with this crowd I am afaid to say for stepping on toes. LOL

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

[discostu]

Are you kidding?! Reality TV is the stupidest of the stupid, that's what makes it fun, stupid people voluteering to do stupid things in the hopes that it will make them rich and it almost never works, that's the essence of comedy. Stop being such a whiner Paul, don't define yourself by the shows you like, GROW UP. So you like a show that I think sucks, BFD, why is that an assault on your personhood? Why is that more of an assault on your personhood than being called an idiot is on mine? What's so miserable about your life that the quality of SAAB has even the slightest impact on it? Unless you actually worked on the show there is absolutely no reason for you to have an emotional stake in its quality.

I meet your type at the conventions all the time, then I make fun of them because they're sad pathetic creatures. No person should EVER define themselves by a piece of fiction they didn't help create. You will never be a complete person until you can see someone say SAAB sucks and NOT take it personally. I didn't insult you Paul, none of what I said about SAAB or Matrix should have any bearing on your self image, they're just flickering images of light, if they never happened your life wouldn't be lessoned. It's time for you to move on SAAB got canceled a long time ago, put the past in the past and rent a clue.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Anyway, from one of the guys who thought Starship Troopers was actually a fun movie to watch...

Who thinks Starship Troopers isn't fun to watch? String them up, citizen!