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.

[Kieri]

I am still furious about SCIFI's cowardly cancellation of Farscape. The show had serious class and didn't pull its punches, unlike other Brandon Braga travesties that will remain unnamed.

Cylons? Looking like HUMANS? Good grief, Charlie Brown. It sounds like a blatant attempt to cut down on production costs in anticipation of the series tanking.

Another show I'll give a pass, and I'm not a Galactica purist.

[vollmond]

Bring back Quark! I still chuckle over the Ficus mating scene. Bee, bee, bee, bee, bee, bee, bee.

[discostu]

The one thing SciFi has shown with these remake things is that they really can't get the look and feel down on anything. Just look at Dune, great script, well acted, not one single thing or person looked ANYTHING like what the books described. I'm surpised graboids look right in Tremors, probably because by the guys making the movies have done a good job of keeping and preserving the physical effects and could sell them to SciFi with the name.

[William McKinley]

Bring back The Greatest American Hero!

What?

[humblegunner]

The boys in chrome:

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I don't know about that - it seems to me that it opens up a lot of plot opportunities and makes more sense. After all, you couldn't create an army of AI robots that really cared about conquering planets with the resources to sustain life.

[Willie Green]

Olmos takes over the role of Commander Adama, originally played by the late Lorne Greene.

We'll know that Olmos' career has hit rock bottom when he starts doing the Alpo commercials as well.

(Horse-meat sales stir Texas controversy )

[Wolfie]

What we really need is a big-screen version of "V".

[Kieri]

I'm one of Farscape's original defenders, so allow me to make my argument, please.

Farscape premiered in March 1999. I was reluctant to watch it at first ("Muppets? How DARE they attempt to put muppets in a serious SF series!") I watched it because I wanted to see how bad it was.

Boy was I surprised.

The "muppets" were actually incredible, especially Pilot. Ok, ok, I'll admit, I've got a HUGE soft spot for Pilot, going to the point of making a few tee shirts because Creation never made any (one of which Lani Tupu still wears!). I wasn't crazy about Ben Browder's portrayal as Crichton, but the series grew on me. They never pulled punches and, most importantly, didn't try to wrap up the plot in the last five minutes. Characters came and went, tragedies happened and we saw comedy in space. They never tried to shove altruistic humanist theories down my throat (God bless you Rockne and David and Froony), and constantly kept production quality high. Granted, its difficult for a new watcher to come in mid-season, but I would HIGHLY encourage you to rent...no...BUY the first season on DVD. They've come down in price and are well worth the investment. If you don't like it, donate it to a library, or see www.savefarscape.com to donate it to our troops!

My husband and I had a saying. "A bad day on Farscape is better than a good day on Trek." Sure, they had a less-than spectacular ep from time to time, but each show is WELL WORTH the couch time.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I happened to like V. The chick who ate the parrot rocked.

[HamiltonJay]

Farscape most certainly did not suck... however you had to catch every episode to follow it, and if you started mid way in you had to watch for a while to really understand what was going on.

If you just tuned in for one episode, and never watched it before or since... you definately would have no clue what was going on.

[yarddog]

There was a Sci-Fi series way back around the 60's which I really liked. It starred Roy Thinnes and was called "The Invaders" The neatest thing was when he would kill one of the aliens, their bodies would burn up which was explained as having something to do with their souls going back to their home planet.

I never understood why it was not more popular.

[discostu]

OK I will admit the muppets were actually pretty cool. I've heard the show wasn't actually supposed to go past first season, that they had an arc and did it but the ratings were good enough they decided to keep it going and that's when the trouble started. I didn't try it out until 2001 or so and just couldn't find a reason to figure out what these people were saying. I might rent the first season, for buying I have to pickup 1 and 2 of B5 then there's season 4 of the Sopranos.... this selling whole seasons of a show is evil and I curse the guy that thought of it everytime I hook over $100 for another season of something.

[buccaneer81]

My favorite space saga...

[discostu]

I caught about 10 episodes, a friend of mine was really into the grey chick. Too skinny for my taste.

[Kieri]

The second season almost didn't happen because of George Lucas. He took over their soundstages at Fox to film a little thing called "Episode 1." The producers had to scramble to find other accommodations.

BTW, their accents are Australian. The show is (I hate saying 'was') filmed in Oz, near Homebush Bay.

Blockbuster has a set of "The Best of Farscape," that you can rent. They were hand-picked by Rockne O'Bannon. If you see ONE episode, see "The Way We Weren't" from the second season. My all time favorite, with "Crackers Don't Matter."

[buccaneer81]

We'll know that Olmos' career has hit rock bottom when he starts doing the Alpo commercials as well.

Or the "less than a dollar a day" supplemental heath insurance for seasoned citizens (Lorne did those, too).

[Wolfie]

What's not to like? Alien lizard-types in hot-chick suits are always a turn on. ;^)

[BenLurkin]

"Big time," Olmos said. "There's no two ways around it. If I were a purist, I wouldn't watch it. Don't waste your time. Get the old version on DVD. Don't hurt yourself. Don't go through the pain."

OKAY, I won't.

Nuts, I loved Galactica . . . why not honor it with a decent remake.

[corkoman]

Fireball XL5!test