Battlestar Galactica

By Charlie Jane Anders When the Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica hired Desperate Housewives veteran Kevin Murphy as a producer last month, we hoped for the best. But now Murphy is reportedly replacing BSG's Jane Espenson as Caprica's showrunner. How bad a sign is this?

Related articles from The Watcher, Slice of SciFi.

By Charlie Jane Anders Remember a while back, when we showed you six draft posters for the Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica? Syfy has chosen the final poster... and it's very naked. Would you Adam and Eve it? Full version at the link. [Chicago Tribune]

By Charlie Jane Anders We're lucky enough to feature Quantum Mechanix's authentic replica of the Cylon targets used on Battlestar Galactica before any other site — even Quantum Mechanix's own site. They're model-makers who brought you the amazing animated-style BSG figures, the Cylon raider filming minat...

By Andrew Liptak The Cold War affected science fiction during some of its most important and formative years. SF books published during the Cold War reflected that period's politics as well as its rapidly-advancing technologies. Here is a short history of the relationship between the Cold War and scienc...

By Charlie Jane Anders The Box: Here's a new TV ad showcasing this whimsical psychic-soldier film: Caprica: Chuck: MTV] And a casting call for episode 13 makes it sound like we're going to Somalia: Heroes: And here's the description for that episode, "Thanksgiving":

By Graeme McMillan While Johnson isn't involved in the new television series, he still holds the movie rights to V, and he's convinced that whether the new show is a success or a flop, it can only mean good things for him: The television reboot of V premieres on ABC on November 3rd.

By Annalee Newitz According to special effects designer Darth Mojo, who worked on the Battlestar DVD movie The Plan, there is an undocumented (until now) easter egg in the film. Want to find out more? Here's what he says: I'm keeping my lips sealed on exactly what the clip is all about, but suffice it to say tha...

By Annalee Newitz That's right, if this were Battlestar Galactica that revelation would have been followed by a Quiznos commercial where a voice would intone, "IT HAS BEEN REVEALED - CLAIRE IS A VIRGIN." And then somebody would take a giant bite of a really drippy sandwich with lots of curly sprouts on it.

By Charlie Jane Anders What's the secret connection between Quentin Tarantino and Felix Gaeta? What relationship between Bear McCreary (in person) and Starbuck did we almost see? We've got the exclusive answers, from Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion Season Four.

By Charlie Jane Anders If you buy enough copies of Battlestar Galactica: "The Plan," coming out tomorrow, Edward James Olmos is determined to make more BSG direct-to-DVD epics. We asked Olmos what those films would be about, and he explained what happened to Starbuck. So what's the deal with Starbuck?

By Annalee Newitz Battlestar Galactica DVD movie "The Plan," coming out Tuesday, tells the Cylons' side of the story. It's about why they attacked the colonies, and what they wanted from humanity. But watching it will leave you with more questions than answers.

By Lauren Davis Caprica Ryan Robbins, who played Charlie Connor in Battlestar Galactica is about to start shooting on an episode of Caprica. He'll play a character named Diego who is very important to Clarice's storyline. [Battlestar Blog] The title of the twelfth episode is "Upon This Rock." [Spoiler TV...

By Meredith Woerner Six is on crutches, Cavil is plotting, and Simon is married. In the cylon-centric Battlestar Galactica DVD The Plan, we get new spin on our favorite skinjobs. Watch never-before-seen clips and commentary from writer Jane Espenson and the cast.

By Annalee Newitz It's not often that you get to hear great science fiction TV scores given the full orchestral treatment, but this Saturday in San Pedro, California, you'll get your chance. Plus you can meet a legend in the scifi music business, Stu Philips, who has worked on everything from Buck Rogers to B...

By Charlie Jane Anders I became interested in all that is scifi long ago. My father schooled both my sister in myself in the finer things in life. 50's horror flicks, Star Trek, Dr. Who, Star Wars, Hitchhiker's Guide, OG Twilight Zone, Battlestar Galactica, (Even the Greatest American Hero) and The Outer Limits co...

By Lauren Davis Battlestar Galactica: The Plan And there are some cool apocalyptic images of the Cylon attack on the Colonies. [The TV Obsessed] 2012 X-Files 3 Eclipse Heroes Lois throws some punches in this preview from Friday's episode "Roulette." [via Spoiler TV]

By Charlie Jane Anders Battlestar Galactica: The Plan: Lost: Episode 6x05 will be called "Lighthouse." [Spoilers-Lost] V: Fringe: In the Nov. 5 episode, "Earthling," someone (or something) is turning people to ash. And here are some pics from the episode. [Fox] Slice Of SciFi]

By Annalee Newitz What has happened is that science fiction on television has for the most part become indistinguishable from most other television shows which are written for women filled with moronic relationship drama. Sure the moronic relationship drama is in space, but . . . its not science fiction anym...

By Meredith Woerner The Edward James Olmos directed film, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, is gearing up for a release and we've got all the details. The 112-minute feature has all new Cylon-on-human action, plus never-before-seen BSG behind the scenes features.

Related articles from Slice of SciFi, Starpulse.com.

By Annalee Newitz If you've been yearning to see what old-school Battlestar Galatica would look like recreated with new-school CGI, then you're about to have a fangasm. FX artist Darth Mojo, who worked on the new BSG series, whipped up this little movie. Ah, memories . . . via Darth Mojo

By Charlie Jane Anders Starships, battlecruisers and starfighters are part of the iconic imagery of our favorite space epics. So when classic space sagas like Star Wars or BSG get rebooted, concept artists must reimagine legendary vessels. Here's our favorite reimagined space concept art.

By Charlie Jane Anders Ursula K. Le Guin makes the case against escapism very potently in her essay "Escape Routes," gathered in the collection The Language Of The Night: Essays On Fantasy And Science Fiction: He goes on to say that certain trashy SF authors are as bad as Star Trek or Magnum P.I. (even though the latt...

By Charlie Jane Anders He plays Gaheris Rhade, who betrays Dylan Hunt and is killed in the show's pilot episode — although Gaheris reappears several times in flashbacks and one alternate history episode later. And then in later seasons, Bacic takes on a new character Telemachus Rhade, who's the descendant of G...

By Charlie Jane Anders Science fiction TV shows used to be about scientists playing God — now our intrepid heroes meet God, instead. The overt religious discussions on Battlestar Galactica stood out as unusual, but now every SF show brandishes a bible. What happened? The Genesis of religion in SF TV

By Lauren Davis Battlestar Galactica: Caprica Six, Sharon Agathon, and Laura Roslin share a dream-like premonition. Although it's not a literal vision of the future, at least Sharon fears it signifies a future in which Baltar and Caprica kidnap Hera, although in the end, they merely rescue the child fr...

By Annalee Newitz Why did Neal Stephenson spend over a hundred pages describing the amazing artifact in Anathem when his characters finally find it? Because worldbuilding is its own kind of artistry. Even when it occurs via the printed word on the page, with no special effects to help it along, it is the corn...

By Charlie Jane Anders 8th Man aka 8-Man: Caprica We couldn't leave this Battlestar Galactica prequel out — that plucky Zoe Graystone gets killed in a terrorist bombing, but luckily she's figured out a way to back up her brain electronically first, because the human mind only takes up about 300 MB of disk space.

By Charlie Jane Anders There's actually a deathmatch between Firefly and Battlestar Galactica as to which show will get more of its castmembers on Dollhouse, Whedon joked. (BSG's Tahmoh Penikett is a regular on the show, and Jamie Bamber is putting in an appearance in the season opener, while Firefly's Alan Tu...

By Charlie Jane Anders The Battlestar Galactica TV movie, "The Plan," won't appear this fall as originally planned. Instead, it'll air sometime in 2010. But it'll still come out on DVD Oct. 27, with a much longer cut than the televised version. [Chicago Tribune]

Related articles from Chicago Tribune and more.

By Graeme McMillan Smashing may help the political state of the Romulan empire, which is somewhat shaky in IDW's Star Trek Romulans: Schism, while Dynamite add their voice to the licensed choir with what may turn out to be the surprise of the week: The first issue of Galactica 1980, resurrecting (and promis...

By Lauren Davis Battlestar Galactica: Glowing spines would have been a handy way to tell the Cylons from the humans, but barring that, there are a few other ways to tell if the person you're sexing up is a Cylon. Baltar and Tyrol both date Cylon women with a penchant for sabotage, but Helo gets the most defini...

By Lauren Davis The Cylons (Battlestar Galactica): The creators of Battlestar Galactica have said that cylon Number Six is a tribute to The Prisoner, and it follows that each humanoid cylon model would have its own number, with the notable exception of the Final Five. Most cylon models are known collect...

By Graeme McMillan You can pitch us an all-new idea, a spin-off of an existing series or concept, or whatever you want... as long as it's something more interesting than "All of Grace Park's scenes from Battlestar Galactica in long, lingering, slow-motion with a soundtrack by popular 1990s European dance act...

By Jesse Alexander Before Apollo and Starbuck began frakking and fighting in Battlestar Galactica, the Wildcards of Space: Above and Beyond were dogfighting in their Hammerheads, bar-brawling with in-vitro hating racists, and elbow-deep in martian mud as alien artillery screamed from the sky.

The Television That Ate Our Brains - And Shaped Our Lives From Flash Gordon and the Twilight Zone, to Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Firefly, science fiction television has crept into our brains. ...

By Charlie Jane Anders Here's Head Six talking to Baltar in a couple of different season two episodes: Consider this a plea for more Prosperos, more shadow stage-managers, in science fiction — especially troubled ones, who repent and break their staffs at the end.

By Lauren Davis Cylons (Battlestar Galactica): Artificial beings have been oppressed by humans since Karel Čapek's R.U.R. premiered, and they've been turning on their masters just as long. The Cylons get bonus points, not because the nature of their oppression is unique, but because they're simultaneo...

By Graeme McMillan Universal have reportedly fast-tracked their big-screen reboot of Battlestar Galactica, bringing Bryan Singer on board to direct and co-produce. But is there any way in which this will end up being anything other than a well-intentioned failure?

By Charlie Jane Anders Nothing says "geek pride" than a laptop covered with cool, colorful stickers. And nothing's better than stickers which display your love for Star Trek, Firefly or superheroes. Here are 100+ science-fiction stickers that will make your laptop hum with awesomeness.

By Graeme McMillan We're not even done! Dynamite Entertainment collects the first year of its Battlestar Galactica comics in the Battlestar Galactica Omnibus Vol. 1 (Worth reading for the Greg Pak story that takes up the bulk of the book, which deals with concepts that were raised, but never properly dealt...

BSG TV Movie Will Explain Boomer's Steamy Fling With Cavil This is going back and saying, "Okay, if Cavil is such a big villain, what was he doing during seasons one and two of Battlestar Galactica?". ...

By Charlie Jane Anders And we talked to director Edward James Olmos, who said William Adama isn't really in the TV movie that much. And he says it was "fantastic" to go back and relive the moments from the early years of the show, because he could paint with a fantastic pallette. "It took me eight months to edit it." And...

By Charlie Jane Anders When mainstream science fiction comments more directly on politics and our social anxieties, it often feels jarring and/or preachy. There are exceptions — Battlestar Galactica talked overtly about the War On Terror, with its storylines about torture and suicide bombers, and its enem...

By Annalee Newitz Those who run franchises today are savvy enough to know that they're dealing with religion from the start. Shows like Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, Buffy, and Star Trek have all dealt head-on with religion. And their congregations have only grown. Meanwhile, the Jedi Religion is o...

By Annalee Newitz Moody, weird, and genuinely scary, the premiere episode of new ABC series "V" has us convinced that there's life after Battlestar Galactica. We saw the whole thing at Comic-Con and have a spoiler-free report. V" drops midseason this winter on ABC with a 13-episode run, which means it will l...

By Lauren Davis BSG and Caprica creators Ron Moore and David Eick, showrunner Jane Espenson, and actor Esai Morales, who plays Bill Adama's Tauron father Joseph, spoke at yesterday's Caprica/Battlestar Galactica panel about what we can expect from the show's first season.

By Lauren Davis CSI "A Space Oddity" and "Fur and Loathing": Some fans will take drastic measures to keep their favorite shows from getting remade. In "A Space Oddity," a filmmaker looking to remake the cult TV show Astro Quest turns up murdered. As if that weren't a sufficiently obvious reference to Battl...

By Charlie Jane Anders So yes, we're going to try and recap Torchwood, "Children Of Earth," as it appears on BBC America this week. Many of you may already have seen the episodes when they aired on the suffix-less BBC a couple weeks ago, but I'm going on the theory that most non-die-hard fans waited. Plus, for those o...

By Lauren Davis Battlestar Galactica: The bathroom holds particular dramatic significance for BSG's doctor/Cylon collaborator/nymph squad prophet Gaius Baltar. It's where Laura Roslin asks him to be her vice president – and where she later threatens to hang his presidential portrait. It's also whe...

By Graeme McMillan Don't be that dude. Yes, the San Diego Convention Center looks a bit like the Battlestar Galactica has crashlanded beside the water and been painted white. You will find cylons within, as well as people who think they're part of the colonial fleet. Do not be afraid.

By Graeme McMillan The lawsuit from a television producer that claims that ABC's Lost was created by him 32 years ago may sound ridiculous, but even if his claims are true, he's still ignored what makes the show the success it is. I mean, yes, Lost did all of those things, and the flashbacks in particular were a d...

By Alexis Brown But even a deadly serious show like Battlestar Galactica serves up a voice of audience mockery in the form of Gaius Baltar, who regularly comments on how goofy everything is. The Baltar syndrome can enable the audience to swallow a lot of bizarre and nonsensical plot twists, because at lea...

By Alasdair Wilkins I think there's an argument to be made that lawyers are underrepresented in science fiction, at least relative to their prevalence in other genres. Compared to, say, doctors, who show up all the time in pretty much every science fiction show (as an earlier post on this very site once examin...

By Charlie Jane Anders A big part of "Children Of Earth"'s amazing success simply comes from sharp writing — with a few very notable exceptions, almost every scene in the five episodes was written with a shrewdness and intensity that very few science fiction programs have ever achieved for one episode, let alo...

By Graeme McMillan We already know that Battlestar Galactica: The Plan will retell the story of the cylon attacks on humanity from a distinctly nonhuman viewpoint, but according to director Edward James Olmos, it's monumental despite being what you'd expect.

By Annalee Newitz Looked at from this perspective, it's obvious why so many critics talked about how BSG had an appeal that stretched beyond the confines of science fiction fandom. It was a drama about the building blocks of human society: Government, defense, family, home, science, and religion. Yes, sci...

By Graeme McMillan Battlestar Galactica Okay, this is slightly unfair; I thought BSG was a wonderful show, despite all of the above, one that engaged my heart and my mind and poked and prodded in all the right ways, questioning and exciting and entertaining (if you can use that word for such a constantly depr...

By Charlie Jane Anders With Battlestar Galactica rocking to an end Friday, the show's producers promise a bravura conclusion that will knock our socks off. But it's got some stiff competition - here are science fiction television's greatest endings. Spoilers!

By Annalee Newitz The other major development, which I feel was rather glossed over, was Baltar's power as a leader of the burgeoning girl police force of the Fleet. As the episode is coming to a close, we see him walking through the Galactica with the woman who ran the cult in his absence. He's tasked her with ge...

By Annalee Newitz Friday night's episode of Battlestar Galatica, "Someone to Watch Over Me," was so disturbing and yet (weirdly) schmaltzy that it divided the fans over the question of brilliant or not. Spoilers ahead! So basically Cavil totally played everybody. He let the Fleet think that Boomer fled hi...

By Annalee Newitz What "Deadlock" did best, however, was show us how petty failings like greed and jealousy always return to muck up grand plans for the two races. Ellen votes to segregate human from cylon simply to twist the knife in Tigh's back, not because she really thinks it's what's best for the Fleet. An...

By Graeme McMillan Friday's news that plans are apparently afoot for a movie based upon Glen Larson's original Battlestar Galactica series produced some opinions as unexpected as the news itself. There are really people who prefer the original? Daniel-Midnight: "Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict FTW."

By Annalee Newitz My hope as we enter the homestretch is that show creators Ron Moore and David Eick conclude by exploring how Battlestar is ultimately about two groups' search for social justice - not about a sadistic little boy who blew up the world(s) because he's angry that his body isn't made of steel.

By Annalee Newitz As we learned over the past two episodes, Gaeta and Zarek's idea of justice is to separate the human fleet from the rebel cylons. And then to execute Adama for the crime of "aiding and giving comfort to the enemy." While their actions are heinous, we can understand their motivations: The cylo...

By Annalee Newitz At that point, it seems that all of the pain Gaeta has endured in his efforts to help the human Fleet comes crashing back into his brain. He's lost everything, now. All the sacrifices he made on New Caprica, and all the horrors he endured when he returned, seem for naught. Perhaps he really was th...

By Annalee Newitz With only a few episodes left in the series, BSG is about to disappear from the airwaves. The question is whether it will stand the test of time as the world changes. We've got three reasons why Battlestar might remain relevant in years ahead, and three reasons why it might be headed for the ash...

By Annalee Newitz Even Leoben is creeped out by Starbuck now. She is just so badass. What are you Starbuck? What are you? YOU ARE FRAKKIN BADASS. Damn, Adama is a mean drunk. So Lee's news about Dee stopped Starbuck from spilling her guts about Dead Starbuck? I guess so. Starbuck didn't!"

By Annalee Newitz When reviewers (including yours truly at io9) received their screener DVDs of tonight's episode, they also got a note from SciFi Channel explaining "with all due respect" that a "sensitive reveal" had been excised from our review copies. We were asked to review the episode without seein...

By Graeme McMillan It's not just Moff who's offering up crazy ideas about the end of Battlestar Galactica. With the show returning for its final episodes on Friday, let's look at some of our favorite (probably wrong) theories. Who Is The Final Cylon? Well, if you ask BuddyTV, Boomer Is The Final Cylon: