Hypotheticals: Battlestar Galactica Season 2

[peter noble]

Okay, in an alternate dimension, Battlestar Galactica has been renewed for the 1979-80 season, what changes, if any do you make?

Here's mine:

It's costing too much money, so I'd pare the cast down, get rid of Tony Swartz from the main cast, John Colicos too, Maren's already gone but in the first episode which is a two-parter, Athena gets killed in a massive Cylon attack along with recurring characters Doctors Wilker and Salik.

I'd make Cassiopea a doctor and Boomer could come to to get grips with technical matters. Boxey would still be there, after all he's Apollo's adopted son, maybe make Muffey remote control or a puppet instead of paying for a chimp and trainer.

I'd do more two-parters, because they were the ones that worked the best in the first season and you can spread the cost of new sets across two episodes better than you can one. Maybe we can use sets from Buck Rogers too.

I'd make more of the original intention to mix and match standing SFX shots to make new ones but I'd slowly build up a new library of shots to take the place of the original ones.

Hire a technical adviser.

Use the Cylons sparingly, after all, space is really big, finding the RTF should be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

[Titon]

Don't know about dumping Colicos. He was a pretty awesome character.

But Athena yes, maybe even Cassie. She could be annoying. Loose the muffit, keep Boxey for an occasional appearence.

Go to what Larson originally put forth. A 2 part movie every month. Let the show gain steam like it should have been allowed to do. That way you also have the ability to expand on the FX with added time to include it. Not rehash old stuff over and over again.

Use the Cylons sparingly but expand on what they truely are. Give more of a back story of the conflict.

Also expand a little on the combat vessals. Although they were supposedly wiped completely out there has to be a support vessel or 2 floating out there. They couldn't have gotten them all.

[Damocles]

More Intra fleet episodes.

Sort of like Wagon Train.

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/wt/wagon-train.htm

Move some of the action off the Alligator and pass the stories around the RT fleet.

It is a wagon train through the stars after all. Make use of that!

As always;

[peter noble]

Don't know about dumping Colicos. He was a pretty awesome character.

I think I'd use Colicos as a special guest star, turning up when the Cylons appear.

[Eric Paddon]

I like to think the current "Virtual Second Season" project best reflects what I think should have happened in 1979-80. :)

Just to sum up a few of these points that are part of it in the context of this current conversation, Colicos as Baltar indeed gets demoted to "Special Guest Star" when he appears. I also would recast Athena with someone like Pamela Hensley, and introduce as a recurrent intra-Fleet villain a polished youthful Council adversary (in this case someone on the order of Timothy Dalton, who was better at villains than at playing James Bond) who isn't a dimwit like the usual Council adversaries but more formidable and intelligent, and someone who only picks fights with Adama on a selective basis.

[WarMachine]

Gotta side with Eric on VS2, but I'm not so sure about your outline for Athena...

DEFINATELY hire a technical advisor! Firm up and try to rationalize the tech.

After mid-season, start intorducing breakdowns in the 'Gator. THAT will increase tension, and build to the end-of-season cliffhanger.

In moving the action into the RTF, cut costs by using stock footage of the RTF for the closing battle. (A seemingly-simple thing, but one many people forget.)

Expand on IFB, introduce an "also-ran" reporter from a non-Caprican Colony trying desperately to "make their mark".

Where John Colicos should be dropped back to "Special Guest Star", reduce Adama's role somewhat, and expand Tigh's: Adama is worrying about the overall course of the RTF, not the day-to-day operations. Only use Adama sparingly outside of Council-focused arcs.

Do two to three 2-parters, but no more, if possible - it sucks coming into the middle. Let the arc-format do its work.

In the last two or three ep's, build up to a "big-badda-BOOM" cliffhanger by introducing a new pair of alien races - at war with one another (see VS2) - with a smashing battle at the end....leaving a build up for season 3.

[Eric Paddon]

Thanks WarMachine! On Athena, I'm only taking the "realistic" thought that Maren Jense wasn't going to come back no matter what, and thus recasting would have been called for, but I would have done it in a quiet way and just proceeded. Pamela Hensely to me fits the best profile, but I guess maybe (think of actresses who would have been available for Universal) the only other choice that could come to mind would be Pamela Sue Martin as a peace offering by Universal/ABC for cancelling "Nancy Drew." :)

Doing the VS project has been fun in terms of envisioning guest stars who *could* have done Galactica in 1979-80, based on several factors. (1) Did they do other shows for Universal in that period (2) Were they known principally as TV actors rather than film actors. Thus, in adapting the unfilmed "Two For Twilly" script as a VS story, I could still cast in the mind's eye, Jamie Lee Curtis, who actually read for a part in that episode when they got to the casting phase since she had yet to be in the film only mode at that point.

Getting Fred Astaire back for any other appearances as Chameleon would have been the toughest task I think. It might have been more prudent in fact to have plotted out a story arc for the season so that all of his potential scenes in numerous episodes could be filmed in one period of time, so as to keep his schedule free.

[dah66]

With the cast so large, and expenses getting out of hand, I would cut most of the lead characters and set the action several years in the future. Boxey is now a teenager, and he and his friends travel throughout the fleet in a brightly painted shuttle solving various mysterious. Yes, each week some villain would be heard to say: "I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for you meddling kids and your daggit."

Seriously, I think season one introduced several key points:
1. The Colonials now have the coordinates to Earth, courtesy of John and his people
2. The time period on Earth is sometime after the Apollo moon landings
3. The fleet is encountering human civilizations that could aide in the fight against the Cylons

I would address all of these issues in season two. I would start with the coordinates to Earth, since that is the fleets primary concern. Throughout the season, the Galactica would be following these coordinates and finding clues left behind by the Thirteenth Tribe. These clues would reveal that the Thirteenth Tribe was in turmoil due to opposing factions within the caravan of ships heading for Earth.

There would be no more "planet of the week" stories. When the Galactica would encounter a habitable planet, the action would focus on that planet and its civilization over several episodes.

The Cylons would also be searching for Earth. Lucifer would be in command of his own base ship and he two would have a map to Earth. In an episode entitled "The Rise of Lucifer" I would flash back to Kobol. Baltar is pinned beneath the slab when Lucifer enters the chamber and asks Baltar what the significance of the room is. Baltar explains that the wall contained the coordinates to Earth and pleads for Lucifer to free him. Lucifer instructs a centurion to assist Baltar and then orders a science team to the room to gather the pieces of the crumbled map. We then move back to the present, Lucifer is aboard his ship getting an update on how the reconstruction/translation is progressing. He learns that Cylon science can only translate a portion of the ancient Kobolian language. What they have learned is that the Thirteenth Tribe did reach Earth, but that an ancient weapon of tremendous power was used by one faction of the tribe against an other. Lucifer is intrigued by the thought of finding this weapon and realizes that he needs Baltar to complete the translation. This leads to Lucifer finding the fleet and sending in a special unit of Cylon commandos to raid the prison barge and free Baltar!

Baltar is freed and taken back to Lucifer. Baltar is no longer in a command position within the Cylon empire and must constantly find ways to win favor with Lucifer so that he is not put to death.

I'm pretty sure I would end season two with the Galactica finding Earth. Season three would cover Lucifer also finding Earth and the Galactica's desperate need to establish allies to aide in the defense of Earth from the approaching Cylon armies.

[WarMachine]

...I'm pretty sure I would end season two with the Galactica finding Earth. Season three would cover Lucifer also finding Earth and the Galactica's desperate need to establish allies to aide in the defense of Earth from the approaching Cylon armies.

The only way that could work is if the Earth found were something like that of Buck Rodgers' (i.e., Gil Gerard/Erin Grey) - finding anything lower-tech would simply be a rehash of "G80", with similar results.

The RTF finding Earth should be the series-finale - giving credit where credit is due, that's one of the few things Berma-Trek got right: when Voyager finally got to Earth, the series was over.

EDIT: dah66 - I like your flashback idea, btw..... :thumbsup:

[WarMachine]

Thanks WarMachine! On Athena, I'm only taking the "realistic" thought that Maren Jense wasn't going to come back no matter what, and thus recasting would have been called for, but I would have done it in a quiet way and just proceeded...

No prob! My concern wasn't so much recasting Maren Jensen as killing the character - I think I confused two posts into one, there.

As for reacsting, I think there was sufficient drama without having to "injure/disfigure-then-rebuild" Athena: too close to "The Bionic Woman". Just write a part for Athena in the season opener with a similar-looking noob and not comment on it in the scripts.

[dah66]

The only way that could work is if the Earth found were something like that of Buck Rodgers' (i.e., Gil Gerard/Erin Grey) - finding anything lower-tech would simply be a rehash of "G80", with similar results.

The RTF finding Earth should be the series-finale - giving credit where credit is due, that's one of the few things Berma-Trek got right: when Voyager finally got to Earth, the series was over.

EDIT: dah66 - I like your flashback idea, btw..... :thumbsup:

I actually think the basic premise for G80 was pretty decent, it was just poorly executed. OK, horribly executed. But I think that there could be a wealth of stories to explore with the Galactica finding present day Earth. The fleet could begin settling on some remote island. The Colonials could begin recruiting Earth military personal as viper pilots. The Colonials could establish Earth based factories to build new vipers, and so on. I also think that having them search the planet for lost relics of the Thirteenth Tribe could be interesting. I guess it would depend on the level of sophistication used in the approach to the work.

Having the fleet reach Earth in the far future would certainly make things easier. There would be a sufficient level of technology to aide in the fight against the Cylons and it would avoid the need for the Colonials to clandestinely infiltrate human society. It would also negate the need for flying motorcycles!

[Damocles]

I actually think the basic premise for G80 was pretty decent, it was just poorly executed. OK, horribly executed. But I think that there could be a wealth of stories to explore with the Galactica finding present day Earth. The fleet could begin settling on some remote island. The Colonials could begin recruiting Earth military personal as viper pilots. The Colonials could establish Earth based factories to build new vipers, and so on. I also think that having them search the planet for lost relics of the Thirteenth Tribe could be interesting. I guess it would depend on the level of sophistication used in the approach to the work.

Having the fleet reach Earth in the far future would certainly make things easier. There would be a sufficient level of technology to aide in the fight against the Cylons and it would avoid the need for the Colonials to clandestinely infiltrate human society. It would also negate the need for flying motorcycles!

But I loved the flycycles! Triumph rules!

As always;

[spcglider]

Lets see... what to do for the second season....

As sad as it may be, yes, you'd have to pare back the cast. I'd say the first round of cuts would include at least 4 primary characters.

I would suggest an early-on storyline wherein Dr. Wilker AND Muffit are destroyed simultaneously. That way, Muffit can be a well-remembered martyr and Dr. Wilker isn't around to re-create him. Two cast members kaput.

I suggest giving Boxey a girlfriend. Seriously. At least a consistent playmate that can emotionally take the place of Muffit, but also give a good story impetus to keep him out of the way. And if they need to, they can always do a rarified "Boxy and little friend in peril" storyline.

I think Athena should just bite it. She should be lost in a huge cylon battle. Go up in flames like a warrior should... flying in defense of the fleet. I REALLY do not like the cheesy idea of replacing her with another actress and claiming "plastic surgery". That's a HUGE cop-out in my book. Just have Athena take the laser hit and move on with the story. That leaves the successful dynamic of Adama/Apollo, which is what the scripts focused on anyway. Imagine the pathos... Athena was in the middle of alot of character triangles. Starbuck could be broken up because he spent so much time stringing her along that she could have found somebody else and been truly happy. Cassiopia feels guilty that he cheif rival for Starbuck is out of the way (kaboom!). Apollo has lost his only remaining sibling. Adama is down one more family member and will never get to see them safely delivered to Earth. Omega is shattered... because he really had the hots for Athena but felt compelled by duty to keep it professional. Rigel is suicidal because she had a secret lesbian crush on Athena... etc. etc. etc.

We don't need to worry about the death of Lorne Greene being a factor, since he didn't pass on until 1987... so Adama could have continued for quite a while as Commander.

Frankly, I'd have considered kiling off Apollo as a season cliffhanger.

-Gordon

[Eric Paddon]

I do not think one has to do a hypothetical second season based on a massive level of budget cutbacks that requires doing the Space 1999 Year 2 approach where so many cast members were slaughtered without explanation. Heck, the nice thing about a project like VS2 for me is that I can assume that (1) ABC and Universal got a cash infusion from someone who liked the series or (2) Galactica was being done more in the manner of occasional episodes to meet standards of quality and not the fast-paced weekly grind thus making Galactica more of an "event" show.