Twixter wrote:
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I can hardly wait until January! It's about time the public sees some quality science fiction.
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Well, we
did see some quality science fiction back in 2002... but, FOX cancelled it. The good news is that we will see it again on the big screen in 2005.
It would be difficult to add to the words of Rowan, Warrior, and others... as a I agree with every word they said... but will add this. Inasumuch as the real
Battlestar Galactica represents an entire era of our lives... we, as adults, most certainly did not expect (nor did we want) to see a continuation that was straight out of 1978. As we have matured, we expected our
Battlestar Galactica, along with its heroes and villians, to mature as well. We did not want, nor did we expect, to see the same rushed (sometimes bubblegum) scripts of yesteryear, or episode after epiosde shot on Universal's Western set on the backlot, complete with shiny mylar cowboy hats.
No, as we matured, we wanted to see more mature stories to go along with the more mature Starbuck, Apollo, and Boomer. We wanted to see the
promise of TOS, unemcumbered (or, at least, as unencumbered as possible, even today) by nitwit studio suits who remain without a clue as to what makes for "quality science fiction." We did want stories with more grit, more drama, more depth (and special effects to match) to carry our glorioius childhood memories forward into our adult sensibilities.
Our devotion to TOS stems from the wonderment of our youth, and our knowledge of what that story could be today on the evolved television landscape of the 21st Century. But we wanted the
heart of the show to remain intact. We still wanted our heroes to be larger than life... not perfect, mind you, but people to look up to, admire, and for whom we could root... and count on to do the right thing. We wanted our machine villians to be all the more menacing, but still the unadulterated incarnations of pure evil to whom we were introduced in our childhood... not softcore incarnations of unadulterated sexual desire.
Yes, we wanted... and expected... more complex, compelling stories of humanity... on the brink of extinction... struggling to survive in the face of an unrelenting foe... an enemy of vastly superior numbers, devoid of humanity, compassion, or caring... played out each new week by both faces familiar from our childhood and new characters whom we could embrace as part of that wonderful Universe created so many years ago by Glen A. Larson.
We wanted the promise realized.
In short, we wanted what Tom DeSanto was planning to deliver. What we very nearly had.
Richard Hatch is correct when he says there were a million different ways to bring back
Battlestar Galactica, but in my mind the only correct way is the one that I have outlined above, one that continues and expands upon the original, maintains the mythology, themes, and values of the original in. A production that reintroduces us to original series characters (portrayed by original series actors) leading a new generation of Colonial Warriors in an evolved original series Universe, with an attention to detail and quality storytelling that was never, ever afforded the show in its original incarnation. And, most importantly, a show that allows us to view that Unvierse with the mind of an adult, and the heart of a child.
That's where RDM missed the boat... and that's why I believe that no matter what he does with his series... he'll never be able to catch it.
But it's not too late. The Colonial Fan Force was formed to move the real
Battlestar Galactica to where it belongs... on the big screen. Fans who feel just the way I do, that Warrior does, that Rowan does, have thrown $12,000 into a pot to send that message to the Hollywood establishment. Now we need to follow up that message with more personal correspondence to those who are in a position to make it happen. The plan is posted at
http://www.colonialfanforce.org.
I believe that the future of the RDM show is as bleak as the characters he has created. But that is immaterial, as I believe that the future of
Battlestar Galactica is as bright as the ship of lights.
The great ship Galactica
will fly again. And I can only hope that the fans will continue to stand together, rising to speak with one voice, to make sure that we have done all that we can do to see that it happens sooner rather than later.
Welcome to Colonial Fleets.
By the Lords of Kobol,
Bill
