TV option not picked up.

thomas7g · December 10th, 2003, 09:37 PM

Sandy released this info on the Cylon.org forums. Its rumor, but the rumors come from good sources.

The Scifi execs were overjoyed at the increased ratings. But its a matter of costs. it cost a fortune and there isn't the amount of money available to go into a full tv series production.

Though this isn't a dead end. The series just isn't picked up for this next year, maybe the next. Maybe it will be sold like Buffy was to the WB or JAG to CBS. Who knows. BG revival has always been a ship with termite problems.

This isn't 100% reliable, but I trust Sandy. And I thought you would prefer to hear about this than wonder.

thomas7g · December 10th, 2003, 09:40 PM

Btw- I ask people on both sides to show some consideration for the other side.

Lets work together and be one community. Not two.

December 10th, 2003, 09:46 PM

Shoot...Even if they TOTALLY re-wrote it to be way more like the old show...I'd be happy.

What I mainly love about the new show is the FX and "look."

dec5 · December 10th, 2003, 10:34 PM

I would rather have a mini series conclusion.....anyway...

Oscar · December 11th, 2003, 04:35 AM

The mini's strong ratings result means the chances of an alternative revival, be it a continuation or whatever, are now much greater.
It's all good. I just hope the extremely talanted Tom DeSanto takes command of any continuation, and not Mr Larsen with his crappy-sounding Pegasus concept.

Titon · December 11th, 2003, 05:35 AM

Oscar, this is exactly what we were actually looking for. It proves now beyond a shadow of a doubt that Battlestar Galactica is a viable property.

Again though, it makes no sense for scifi. If they had no intention on taking this to series then why in god's green earth did they take the time to make it? Don't get me wrong, i'm still a pro contination advocate but it goes to show you how inept the scifi channel truely is.

Belloby · December 11th, 2003, 07:10 AM

I think made the mini for two reasons:
1. To see if the franchise is viable because Star Trek is on death's door and they want to tap into the fandom market.

2. They purchased some kinda deal for the BSG rights and they've got to use it. It's also my guess about Ron Moore. They must've had him on contract and needed to use him...because he was going to get paid for nothing.

This is what I love about BSG fans. You guys are so wonderfully optimistic about your series. It is so refreshing to see people who truly love their series. But you will learn, in the most painful ways possible, that TPTB ESPECIALLY ONES THAT COME FROM THE STAR TREK STABLE don't give a damn what the fans think. And when you do, it will really, really hurt.

I'm being very harsh here, and I will continue to be, but it's because you guys are such a nice group...and I hate to see nice people getting used.

Dean Martin · December 11th, 2003, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Again though, it makes no sense for scifi. If they had no intention on taking this to series then why in god's green earth did they take the time to make it?

Yeah, I really don't get that.

malachi42 · December 11th, 2003, 08:49 AM

I'm am hearing the opposite. No final decisions have been made, but the series is currently being discussed as to how it would be done.

malachi42 · December 11th, 2003, 08:52 AM

And I believe Ron Moore has been under contract to HBO for the last two years, not Universal. Studios are usually quite happy to pay out a producers contract for a million dollars than spend 15 million in production as a way of getting their moneys worth. Wouldn't be very logical business practice.

thomas7g · December 11th, 2003, 03:35 PM

I think I can answer the why scifi did this question.

They seem to have a policy of producing one or two high budget projects a year, then basically feeding us really bad crap the rest of the year. Shows that cost nothing to produce but shows a profit if anyone tunes in, cause it cost nothing to make. Like Scare TActics, Crossing Over, etc.

The hope for Battlestar Galactica was that it would produce a high enough ratings to go to full series. But the amount of negative word of mouth probably spooked the scifi execs. So they reasoned they needed to really flood the market with expensive advertising to overcome us fans badmouthing it. They figured they had a big hill of viewer dislike they had to get over, but once they passed the peak it would be a smooth wonderful ride. In that they were partly successful.

But the ratings were really low considering all the advertising they put in it. Yes it hit a 3.5 then a 3.8 rating, highest of cable on that night. But compared to a bad network show, its a flop. Most of the cable competition wasn't putting out competitve shows. Alot of it was reruns. A good network series hits around a 8. A 3.3 was Scifi's MINIUMUM expectation that they guaranteed sponsers.

They execs were relieved their show wasn't a bomb, but its not enough of a hit to warrant series. Not yet. Especially not if they have to spend this much money to make it work. Remember, Scifi as of this date is still a small (relatively) company that is a small division of Vivendi which was a financial disaster. There ain't alot of money to take daring risks.

thomas7g · December 11th, 2003, 03:38 PM

mal- Tom Desanto at the Galacticon mentioned Moore was part of this project as a writer under the DeSanto team back when 9-11 hit.

DeSanto had to leave to do Xmen, and Scifi took over and put Moore in the driver's seat.

Micheleh · December 11th, 2003, 03:46 PM

What?!? Why didn't anyone mention this before? (I didn't get to see the panels, remember?)

So Moore was on as an asssitant to DeSanto, and only got jumped up becuase Tom had to honor prior commitments? That expalins a LOT, from Moore's inexplicable presence to his over-sell, defensive arrogance, and inability to listen to *anyone*. He was probably seething the whole time, thinking, "I can do better than DeSanto". Then viola, he has the chance. He sets his mind, and goes at it h*ll or high water, his ideas or death.

*sigh*

AlternityOrange · December 11th, 2003, 04:30 PM

Moore never worked for Desanto on BSG. What Desanto said at his panel was,

"Believe it or not, one of the top names on my list to work on the [potential] series was Ron Moore. But he was busy with Pern at the time and unavailable."

That's somewhat paraphrased but I do have this weird recording memory thing.

Anyway, had Moore not been working on Pern he would have jumped at the chance for employment with Desanto. The question is, assuming it still fell through would Moore have felt any loyalty to the original project when he was contacted by Eick? Personally, I doubt it.

malachi42 · December 11th, 2003, 04:37 PM

But cable networks never compare their ratings to the networks. They only compare them to other cable networks. If they compared themselves to networks. they'd have to pack up te Sopranos and all the other cable shows and go home.
I wouldn't be too hasty in sounding the death knell on a series. The word is around town that the network is very, very happy with the ratings and is currently discussing the details of what exactly tyhe series would be, story outlines etc.

malachi42 · December 11th, 2003, 04:39 PM

Wow, does everyone here know Ron Moore really well? Does he post here?

thomas7g · December 11th, 2003, 05:36 PM

A couple of people here have met him. Sandy aka TwoBrainCylon knows him best.

I don't think he has ever post here. He registered, but never posted. I don't remember though what the login was. That was last year before I was an admin here.

malachi42 · December 11th, 2003, 05:56 PM

It sounds like a lot of people are very close to him, close enough to know his inner motivations.

michaelfaries · December 11th, 2003, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AlternityOrange
Moore never worked for Desanto on BSG. What Desanto said at his panel was,

"Believe it or not, one of the top names on my list to work on the [potential] series was Ron Moore. But he was busy with Pern at the time and unavailable."

That's somewhat paraphrased but I do have this weird recording memory thing.

I'll second that. Furthermore, Ronald D. Moore was one of three writers whom Tom had in mind, ironically.

Michael
:colwar:

michaelfaries · December 11th, 2003, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by conundrum7g
A couple of people here have met him. Sandy aka TwoBrainCylon knows him best. I don't think he has ever post here.

Oh, he visits alright. (Hi Ron.) I've gotten private e-mails from him on postings I've made. Posting online, I don't think so.

Michael
:colwar:

thomas7g · December 11th, 2003, 06:59 PM

Well if he ever decides to decloak, We'll do everything to keep him from being flamed. Critiques good, flames bad.

Now that the mini is over, its like a safety valve has released pressure. And we can actually do what we've wanted for the last month. To just promote the love of galactica, and to have fun.

jeditemple · December 12th, 2003, 10:39 AM

Maybe we should play the game "Seven Degrees of Ron Moore."

Just kidding...

Dean Martin · December 12th, 2003, 10:42 AM

Seven degrees of all the shows he fouled up?
I know he had a big hand in DS9 and to be honest that is the only trek I really did not like. It wasn't like STar Trek, like the new BSG isn't really like TOS.
Why doesn't someone hire Ron Moore to come up with an original idea. If he truly wants to do something different, stop crapping on other people's work.

jeditemple · December 12th, 2003, 10:58 AM

Amen brother. I think a lot of people will be scared to use Ron Moore now, because he's poison to any series. He'll always be known as the man who screwed up Galactica and will hopefully fade into obscurity. Lord help him if he shows up at any more cons...he may get tarred and feathered.

jewels · December 12th, 2003, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Micheleh
What?!? Why didn't anyone mention this before? (I didn't get to see the panels, remember?)

Oh, Micheleh, ask Richard sometime. I think he has a Ron Moore story that will blow your mind. Just keep in mind where Ron is held into a structure (TNG) he does OK.

On 7 degrees of Ron Moore:
I'm 2 degrees I think: I didn't meet him at Galacticon (that was a good thing for him: would have told him his mini director sucked and probably told him just how much we women like the charming ladykiller playboys like Starbuck, Bond, about any role Sean Connery plays, etc.) but I know people that know him.

At least Tom DeSanto I can say I met.

Like that man.

Karman · December 12th, 2003, 01:11 PM

Quote:

The Scifi execs were overjoyed at the increased ratings. But its a matter of costs. it cost a fortune and there isn't the amount of money available to go into a full tv series production.

Isn't it ironic? "Great ratings, but too expensive to produce" was the same reason they cancelled TOS!

Dean Martin · December 12th, 2003, 01:19 PM

If I met Ron Moore I would politely tell him that his Mini was an interesting 'take' but he missed on what made Galactica great.

Tyrol · December 12th, 2003, 10:39 PM

I don't have the definitave answer but i do know that the studio has until the 31st to pick it up or not and some of the cast have contract options for 5 years and one member in particular is negotiating thier deal as we speak. The sets are in storage in Vancouver ready to be puzzle pieced back together. Eddie was in Vancovuer a couple of weeks ago looking for a home and he told me, "See you in february." at the premiere. I would be very surprised if, at this point it didn't go.

Dean Martin · December 12th, 2003, 10:47 PM

Are you really Aaron Douglas? If so, great job. You were one of my favorite characters in the show.
I for one am looking forward to it coming back. I would like to see what they can do with a few more episodes under their belt. I liked the gritty, documentary sort of look. At times it seemed like there were ominous things going on, without really showing exactly what was happening.
If it does return I hope to see you in the role of Tyrol.

thomas7g · December 12th, 2003, 10:52 PM

Who knows how good scuttlebutt rumors are.

The one thing that made me tend to believe this one is they were talking in terms of financial planning and funding. Stargate has a go for a big expensive movie project. And if what my friend told me is right, that doesn't leave BG with a large budget to ensure success. Especially with advertising costs. He mentioned there was talk of selling the package to be developed by someone else.

But again. Its all hearsay. All rumors. Who knows what is real.