Shatter
May 18th, 2003, 07:13 PM
Hello all. I’m new to these forums, but I’m thankful to find a dedicated group of fans of TOS here on the net. I hope I’m not out of line posting on a subject that I’m sure has been discussed numerous times prior to my arrival, but I know I’ll find some sympathetic ears here.
I was initially pleased to learn about the revival of Battlestar Galactica. I’ve been a fan of the show for decades, having first watched during its original run when I was all of eight years old. My excitement was pretty short lived. Once I learned of Sci-Fi’s plans for the mini-series, I was pretty distraught. My favorite character recast as a woman? Apollo despises his father? A seeming absence of military order and respect? Cylons that…well, that aren’t cylons? As I read more about the history behind the remake and the creative powers behind it, my initial upset gave way to anger.
In his Q&A section of the Sci-Fi web site, David Eick, executive producer of the upcoming mini-series, seems to indicate that a continuation of the original series was never a serious consideration. His reasoning seems to be that most continuations are doomed to failure. He seems completely (or willfully) ignorant of the clear support that such a continuation has amongst TOS fan base. Even if he and other creative powers had a sound rationale for remaking the series, it would seem logical that they would proceed with great respect of the original source material. Revelations about the mini-series and comments from those involved have clearly shown that this is not the case. The recent remarks from Edward James Olmos clearly show that fans of TOS are going to be alienated by the new material.
Please understand, although I have great appreciation for the Star Trek franchise, I’ve never been a dedicated fan. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but think of the development of The Next Generation and the other, subsequent Trek series that followed. Clearly, those that developed those series did so with the clear intention of building on the success of the original series. They set up a continuation that allowed them to explore new themes and take some of the concepts of the original show in new directions without harming the legacy begun by the original show. As a result, old fans were able to enjoy the new series and new fans were attracted as well. Seems that approach worked pretty well. Last I checked, TNG had spawned its own series of movies. But continuations are a bad idea?
I don’t know of any previous situation where faithful fans have been so patently disregarded. Moore seems intent on creating some dark, post-modern story that bears no resemblance to its source. What is amazing to me is that the producers of the new show had the opportunity to take advantage of a tremendous fan based momentum that was in place before the new mini-series was ever proposed. If they had chosen to move forward with a continuation (or a prequel) the excitement generated would have insured impressive ratings in December. Instead, fans are angry over being ignored, and the Sci-Fi channel has lowered itself to censoring opinions opposing the remake on its message boards.
I really feel that one of the jobs that we, as fans, have is to actively preserve information about TOS, and to educate science fiction fans unfamiliar with Galactica about the great merits of TOS. That way, the good of this beloved series will be preserved.
Sincere apologies for the long post. I just needed to let off steam to a group of people that I knew would sympathize.
I was initially pleased to learn about the revival of Battlestar Galactica. I’ve been a fan of the show for decades, having first watched during its original run when I was all of eight years old. My excitement was pretty short lived. Once I learned of Sci-Fi’s plans for the mini-series, I was pretty distraught. My favorite character recast as a woman? Apollo despises his father? A seeming absence of military order and respect? Cylons that…well, that aren’t cylons? As I read more about the history behind the remake and the creative powers behind it, my initial upset gave way to anger.
In his Q&A section of the Sci-Fi web site, David Eick, executive producer of the upcoming mini-series, seems to indicate that a continuation of the original series was never a serious consideration. His reasoning seems to be that most continuations are doomed to failure. He seems completely (or willfully) ignorant of the clear support that such a continuation has amongst TOS fan base. Even if he and other creative powers had a sound rationale for remaking the series, it would seem logical that they would proceed with great respect of the original source material. Revelations about the mini-series and comments from those involved have clearly shown that this is not the case. The recent remarks from Edward James Olmos clearly show that fans of TOS are going to be alienated by the new material.
Please understand, although I have great appreciation for the Star Trek franchise, I’ve never been a dedicated fan. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but think of the development of The Next Generation and the other, subsequent Trek series that followed. Clearly, those that developed those series did so with the clear intention of building on the success of the original series. They set up a continuation that allowed them to explore new themes and take some of the concepts of the original show in new directions without harming the legacy begun by the original show. As a result, old fans were able to enjoy the new series and new fans were attracted as well. Seems that approach worked pretty well. Last I checked, TNG had spawned its own series of movies. But continuations are a bad idea?
I don’t know of any previous situation where faithful fans have been so patently disregarded. Moore seems intent on creating some dark, post-modern story that bears no resemblance to its source. What is amazing to me is that the producers of the new show had the opportunity to take advantage of a tremendous fan based momentum that was in place before the new mini-series was ever proposed. If they had chosen to move forward with a continuation (or a prequel) the excitement generated would have insured impressive ratings in December. Instead, fans are angry over being ignored, and the Sci-Fi channel has lowered itself to censoring opinions opposing the remake on its message boards.
I really feel that one of the jobs that we, as fans, have is to actively preserve information about TOS, and to educate science fiction fans unfamiliar with Galactica about the great merits of TOS. That way, the good of this beloved series will be preserved.
Sincere apologies for the long post. I just needed to let off steam to a group of people that I knew would sympathize.