jjrakman
July 11th, 2003, 08:20 AM
Posted on Thu, Jul. 10, 2003
'Battlestar Galactica' may be in for a fight on home planet
By Charlie McCollum
Mercury News
SCI FI CHANNEL
Edward James Olmos stars in the Sci Fi channel's mini-series "Battlestar Galactica," which is expected to become a series.
HOLLYWOOD - Edward James Olmos, the star of the new ``Battlestar Galactica,'' has some advice for devoted fans of the 1970s sci-fi series: Don't watch the remake.
As executives of the Sci Fi channel cringed, Olmos told reporters during the Television Critics Association summer tour that he ``would not advise them to watch this program. It will hurt them . . .
``The intent and the way we've built the reality is very different from the reality of the original.''
Olmos, who plays the lead role of Battlestar commander Adama, was trying to make more directly a point that channel executives and the creators of the new ``Battlestar Galactica'' were making obliquely. The new ``Battlestar'' -- which will make its debut in December as a four-hour mini-series but is expected to become a series -- is not going to be a faithful re-creation of the original.
The first ``Battlestar'' lasted just one season in the late 1970s, getting on the air largely in response to the success of the first ``Star Wars.'' (The series' big drawing card initially was that the special effects were done by John Dykstra, who had worked on the George Lucas film.)
But after nearly three decades, it has retained a devoted cult following that is passionate about keeping the original tone and story lines. Yet it was clear from Olmos' comments, the milder words of others involved in the show and clips shown here that the remake retains only certain aspects of the series it is based on.
In the world of science fiction, that is heresy.
Sure, the basic idea has been kept. A batch of Earthlings onboard Galactica watches as its world gets destroyed by the bad guys. The Earthlings decide to fight on. End of resemblance.
From there, things get difpferent. Starbuck, the hotshot fighter pilot played by Dirk Benedict in the original, is now a woman played by Katee Sackhoff of ``The Education of Max Bickford.'' Some characters, such as Sheba, the pilot played by Ann Lockhart, are missing. The show appears to be darker, sexier and a lot less escapist than the original.
David Eick, one of the series' executive producers, said the Sci Fi channel had given the creators the go-ahead to ``absolutely reinvent'' and not ``be beholden to anything you don't want to be beholden to.''
In other words: If you have to offend longtime fans, so be it.
But it was left to Olmos to really put things in perspective.
``I know the Sci Fi wants to say that everyone's going to like it,'' Olmos said. But in the case of longtime fans, ``They're not.''
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/entertainment/television/6266711.htm
Contact Charlie McCollum at cmccollum@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5245.
'Battlestar Galactica' may be in for a fight on home planet
By Charlie McCollum
Mercury News
SCI FI CHANNEL
Edward James Olmos stars in the Sci Fi channel's mini-series "Battlestar Galactica," which is expected to become a series.
HOLLYWOOD - Edward James Olmos, the star of the new ``Battlestar Galactica,'' has some advice for devoted fans of the 1970s sci-fi series: Don't watch the remake.
As executives of the Sci Fi channel cringed, Olmos told reporters during the Television Critics Association summer tour that he ``would not advise them to watch this program. It will hurt them . . .
``The intent and the way we've built the reality is very different from the reality of the original.''
Olmos, who plays the lead role of Battlestar commander Adama, was trying to make more directly a point that channel executives and the creators of the new ``Battlestar Galactica'' were making obliquely. The new ``Battlestar'' -- which will make its debut in December as a four-hour mini-series but is expected to become a series -- is not going to be a faithful re-creation of the original.
The first ``Battlestar'' lasted just one season in the late 1970s, getting on the air largely in response to the success of the first ``Star Wars.'' (The series' big drawing card initially was that the special effects were done by John Dykstra, who had worked on the George Lucas film.)
But after nearly three decades, it has retained a devoted cult following that is passionate about keeping the original tone and story lines. Yet it was clear from Olmos' comments, the milder words of others involved in the show and clips shown here that the remake retains only certain aspects of the series it is based on.
In the world of science fiction, that is heresy.
Sure, the basic idea has been kept. A batch of Earthlings onboard Galactica watches as its world gets destroyed by the bad guys. The Earthlings decide to fight on. End of resemblance.
From there, things get difpferent. Starbuck, the hotshot fighter pilot played by Dirk Benedict in the original, is now a woman played by Katee Sackhoff of ``The Education of Max Bickford.'' Some characters, such as Sheba, the pilot played by Ann Lockhart, are missing. The show appears to be darker, sexier and a lot less escapist than the original.
David Eick, one of the series' executive producers, said the Sci Fi channel had given the creators the go-ahead to ``absolutely reinvent'' and not ``be beholden to anything you don't want to be beholden to.''
In other words: If you have to offend longtime fans, so be it.
But it was left to Olmos to really put things in perspective.
``I know the Sci Fi wants to say that everyone's going to like it,'' Olmos said. But in the case of longtime fans, ``They're not.''
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/entertainment/television/6266711.htm
Contact Charlie McCollum at cmccollum@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5245.