New Reboot of Battlestar Galactica

[viper37]

None of those shows are going to be around by the time a FF revival gets underway.  Baccarin has probably become to big to cast in her old role, and Glau definitely has, but those aren't essential roles.  You need Fillian, Baldwin, Torres, and Tudyk.  It'll never be done, but I think it doable.  They came extremely close to getting JMS to completely reboot B5 this summer.

Tudyk's character is supposed to be dead, as per the movie.

JMS redoing B5?  Man, I'd love to see that.  But I think he'd need much more guarantee than WB would ever give him

[viper37]

Heres a crazy fucking idea.

How about a Sci Fi series that is not based on something that has already been done?

Shocking, I know! But maybe they could get some good writer to come up with a NEW sci-fi story idea!

there's Terra Nova.  Not sure it's gonna be good though...  It's a new sci-fi story idea, but it's filled with old stories...

[Siege]

1i agree with the need for more sci-fi.4

[viper37]

Unfortunately.  Roddenberry had the right idea that the actors' faces shouldn't be obscurd--Star Trek aliens might not be particularly interesting looking, but the actors playing them were actually able to do more than just voice acting.

that went overboard by the time of TNG.  The episodes under Roddenberry, even.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Perhaps a sci-fi faux-documentary series about lizard-like aliens invading during the Vietnam war?

[Neil]

]I'd have to think on it more. It seems to me that making the enemy "interesting" often leads to villain decay. Just look what happened to the Borg.

The enemy should remain horrifying, inscrutable and unstoppable.

Can you think of an enemy that was any good that fit that bill?

[Siege]

Biotechnology?  Played out.

Well the Cylons are a machine race, so the Aliens need to be distinctive to them and the Humans.

You can create distinctive aliens without having weird-ass technology bases.  Look at Star Trek.

I'm thinking they'd be Reptillian as a shoutout to the Cylon's creators in the original series.

OK, so now you have a physical look, but what makes them interesting?

I'd have to think on it more. It seems to me that making the enemy "interesting" often leads to villain decay. Just look what happened to the Borg.

The enemy should remain horrifying, inscrutable and unstoppable.

[Habbaku]

Siege, seriously.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Word.

[Josquius]

I would agree original sci fi is preferable....but....whenever it is tried half of the time it sucks (Terranova?) and 90% of the time it lasts just the one series before the axe comes down.

[grumbler]

I was thinking more in terms of their personalities.  The Klingons, for example.

The Klingons were Vikings.  Not very distinctive.  Star Trek thought that having actors paint half their face white and half of it black made them "alien," when it was clearly Frank Gorshin playing Frank Gorshin.

[grumbler]

Unfortunately.  Roddenberry had the right idea that the actors' faces shouldn't be obscurd--Star Trek aliens might not be particularly interesting looking, but the actors playing them were actually able to do more than just voice acting.

Roddenberry didn't understand that actors didn't use their whole faces while acting; you only need to give them their eyes and eyebrows, and mouth, and they can do Shakespeare if they have the talent to begin with.  I don't think any alien emoted as well as Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar, and he wore a particularly heavy prosthesis.  It was well-enough designed, though, that it could make him look quite alien without getting in the way of his acting.

[grumbler]

Tudyk's character is supposed to be dead, as per the movie.

You would have to ignore the movie to revive the TV series.  Not hard to do. 

JMS redoing B5?  Man, I'd love to see that.  But I think he'd need much more guarantee than WB would ever give him

He had full creative control, a $2 million-an-episode budget, and a full 24-episode order.  This was going to be for a new distribution system WB was launching in collaboration with several cable providers.  It was the distribution part of the new venture that broke down, not the content part.

As an aside, the new B5 would have been based on the old story, but have completely new characters and story arcs.  JMS said he would get some of the old cast back in guest roles (like Bruce Boxleitner as the Earth Alliance president that gets assassinated, maybe) but there would be no reprising old roles, and no old roles to reprise.

[The Brain]

This telegram came for Siege:

PLZ PLZ PLZ STOP

[Faeelin]

I think the universe as presented is too constrained.  Twelve planets in such close proximity that travel between them takes only hours?  Not enough diversity.  No aliens, only very limited interstellar flight, just a bunch of mostly-alike humans and very-alike robots.  I don't think that that's enough.

I don't see why that's true. Eureka's been a fun little show for four seasons in the same little town, and plenty of mainstream shows are set in modern day New York, or suburbia.