BSG Preview: “Ties That Bind” + Moore Signs New Sci-Fi Movie Deal

By your command – things are heating up with the centurions of the Cylon fleet in tonight’s episode of Battlestar Galactica, “Ties That Bind”..and you don’t have to wait until tonight to see it. Plus BSG creator (and Trek vet) Ron Moore has inked yet another deal, this time to write some sci-fi movies.


Airing tonight, April 18th at 10 PM (9 Central)

“Ties that Bind” [Season 4 Ep. 3]
Synopsis: Kara Thrace seeks her own path in the search for Earth as the commander of a lone freighter. The Cylons face the threat of the newly sentient Centurions unleashed by Natalie, a copy of Number Six. On the Galactica, a member of the crew learns a dark secret about a loved one.

Preview

Episode Streaming all day [Season 4 Ep. 3]
SciFi.com are streaming the entire epside online 8 times. Streams of “Ties That Bind” start at the top of the hour, every hour from 9 a.m. (Eastern Time) to 4 p.m. While the episode is streaming live, you will not be able to pause it, rewind it, or fast-forward through it. CLICK TO WATCH

Battlestar News of the week:

New videoblog on ‘the end’
Cast and crew reflect on the final season.

Moore writing 3 sci-fi movies
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tom Cruise’s United Artists has signed a deal with Ron Moore to write ‘an original sci-fi trilogy for the big screen.’ No details are provided, but apparently UA is looking to develop their own ‘homegrown franchise’ and picked Moore to make it happen. It isn’t clear where these movies fit in with his two new TV projects (Caprica at Sci-Fi and Virtuality at FOX). Moore’s previous feature writing credits include Star Trek Generations, Star Trek First Contact the story for Mission Impossible II (all of which with fellow Trek vet Brannon Braga).

Galactica Concert
BSG composer Bear McCreary held a ‘Music of Battlestar Galactica’ concert in LA last weekend, which was hosted by James Callis (Baltar). A full report with pics and video is available at Galactica Sitrep.

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BSG is getting better and better… I wonder if somebody will ask Jamie Bamber in Bonn tonight if he is the fifth cylon…

First?

I love BSG!

I used to be just a Trek Fan….I even ignored BSG until the 3rd season because I thought nothing could compare to Trek….

Now I am a New BSG fan first and Trek fan second…

Crap…. as usual we cant get it in the UK even though we are only days behind the USA!

Moore wrote M:I 2?

Gods, I hated that film.

I’ll blame Braga.

I have a love/hate relationship with BSG. I loved the first three seasons up until the season finale of season 3. IMO it was awful, destroyed 4 characters, making everything they’d done until then trivial and meaningless. Still, I can’t help but watch season 4. (mostly because there’s nothing else good on TV anymore)

Moore didn’t write MI:2. He and Brannon Braga did work on it but it was re-written later. They retain a story credit.

Ron Moores next BSG project called “Caprica” sounds kewl,,

It would be interesting to see the Cylons being,,”invented”,,,and the start of the Cylon revolt against man

Ive always been a fan of BSG,, theres soo much more to the story than the last battlestar making a run for it

Hulu sucks ***. Greedy NBC-Uni sobs. I am living in China and gladly payed the $1.99 iTunes fee until the greedheads demanded more and offered their lousy ad supported service as an “alternative,” which we can’t get in China. BSG is one of my favorites and I’d gladly pony up a few bucks to support the creative efforts of Moore and crew, but since this debacle I’ll find “other means” to get my BSG fix.

No intention to offend but being in China these days must really suck…………because of the BSG issue of course!

When I first saw BSG (TNS) I was really pissed because I really loved the original series but since the new Starbuck’s kinda hot…. Well I think it’s now the best series on TV for a Star Trek fan.

Damn it JJ, work faster!

Well, it is strange, but I will say it is more complicated than both the American and Chinese media project. I will leave it at that.

I find it hilarious that someone like Moore who is fundamentally lacking understanding for true science fiction and is rather apt at writing space (soap) operas is being offered “science fiction” deals. It shows what is wrong with the genre these days.

#12

“I find it hilarious that someone like Moore who is fundamentally lacking understanding for true science fiction…”

I’m very curious, Vulcan Soul, to know what your standard of comparison is here. What’s your idea of a television and/or film writer and/or producer who isn’t “fundamentally lacking understanding for true science fiction”? And while I’m asking, how do you define “true science fiction”?

I’m sincerely asking. I want to understand your position.

Maybe we should lay the groundrules first, SB… how do we define “true science fiction” in 2008? Ron Moore may be no Arthur C. Clarke, William Gibson or Isaac Asimov, but he is doing a great job given the restrictions of the medium he is working in…

14:

Fakesteve…

If you go back and read my post, you’ll see that is exactly what i was asking.

If Vulcan Soul is going to claim Ron lacks the fundamentals of “true science fiction,” I’d like to know what the definition of that is supposed to be.

You know, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Ron & Co. were inspired by the original BSG concerning Kira’s (Starbuck) strange return: after she was supposedly killed in the explosion, and then comes back this season in a ship without a scratch…….. Who recalls (who saw the original BSG series) that when Apollo, Starbuck and Athena (?) returned on time to the Galactica, they also had not a scratch on their ships, their ships were almost ‘a different color’ — and so were their uniforms? …..They had Devine Help from a very special, extremely lovely (–and SPOOKY–) vessel.

What happened to Kira? Did she REALLY see Earth in person? That sounds a lot like Ron & Co. are about to reveal an “Angel Ship…..” And perhaps we’ll see the introduction, like the original, of a new character: Lucifer: VERY SIMILAR to the original, but with a reimagined twist that I’ll wager no one will see coming until its too late. Anyone care to guestimate that’s where they’re going with the new season? (That still leaves open the question on IF they’ll find Earth, though. Maybe it will take a ‘Motion Picture’ after the series ends to get there.) Hmmm…..

Man, I’ve never seen BSG… I’ve always wanted to watch it, but for some reason I always thought it was on HBO (which I don’t have). I thought SciFi just did the re-runs. Just shows how much I know… Maybe I should buy the DVD’s…

They’ve already stated that they WILL find Earth, we just don’t know what shape it’ll be in. We have to figure it’d be no more than about 10,000 years in the past as North America was recognizable (so they’re not in dinosaur times). Or they could be in the future, or the present.

Rhett Coates (#16),

I’ve been thinking the same thing. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if a new version of “The Ship of Lights” from the original show made an appearance during the 4th season of BSG.

And by the way, it was Apollo, Starbuck, and Sheba (not Athena) who encountered that spectral ship on the original show. The beings aboard that ship also resurrected Apollo, who had been killed by the nefarious Count Iblis. They also gave the Galactica fleet cryptic clues to the location of Earth, so there are some possible parallels with the events we’ve seen on the new show.

Only time will tell how this all plays out. Frankly, the suspense is driving me crazy.

Ron Moore isn’t the creator of Galactica…that’s Glen Larson!

Please give credit where credit is due.

Moore is the Galactica’s “re-imagineer” only!

Forgot to say, saying Ron Moore is the “creator” of BSG is like saying James Cawley is the creator of Star Trek.

#12 “Space opera” as you call it, IS a category of Science Fiction. And Ron Moore does it very well. It’d be very difficult to adapt “Slaughterhouse Five” for television every week! And Galactica IS sci-fi in the best sense; showing our world up to a dark mirror. Allegory is one of the things the genre does best. And as for #20; Glen Larson has as much to do with the current BSG as Thomas Edison does with your i-pod. An evolutionary step. Yes, Larson did create the skeletal story for BSG, but Ron Moore took the idea and truly made it something quite unique and exciting. As it is now, current BSG bears little resemblance to its parent show (thank the Gods; no Boxey, no daggits!). Can’t wait for tonight’s episode. And if one does not like new BSG, the ON/OFF button is clearly labeled on most remote controls.

#12 – “I find it hilarious that someone like Moore who is fundamentally lacking understanding for true science fiction and is rather apt at writing space (soap) operas is being offered “science fiction” deals. It shows what is wrong with the genre these days.”

Amen, Vulcan-Soul. I really hate the new BSG (for many, many reasons I won’t reiterate here), and Ron Moore is TOTALLY over-rated. So what, he made some lame, cheesy soap opera, set it in space, and added gratuitous sex and graphic violence. Ooooh, that’s SO intellegent and cutting-edge!

Oh yeah, and they can’t use energy weapons because that’s somehow “unrealistic,” and god forbid they ever have something “unrealistic” in a sci-fi show. But travelling faster than the speed of light is okay, especially if you give it a “realistic” military acronym (“FTL”). Wow, Ron Moore. You are truly a genius.

Whoa…is it just me, or is Ronald Moore really, really hot right now in Hollywood? Of all the post-Trekers (excluding cast members), he seems to really have done the best for himself… bravo!

I don’t know. I feel like this series is going to end with every character getting into one big “Caligula” like orgy in space.

And #23 for Ron being a genius? Not in my book.

Am I the only one who’s not impressed with Moore (that photo of him run on this site all the time makes him look like some egotistical rock star in one of those godawful 70s southern rock bands like Molly Hatchet… blecch…I have no doubt it reflects something unsavory about his personality) nor with his wheezy and confusing Battlestar Galactica? I have tried mightily to watch the show… and my teenage daughter has tried… and we’ve both agreed after several attempts that it’s nothing more than a (sometimes very confusing) soap opera. I’ve seen episodes that were almost utterly devoid of *any* action, with such tedious pacing that it required a tremendous effort of will to continue watching to the end. This has happened again and again, every time I’ve tried to tune in.

It’s no surprise that Moore was involved with the almost-equally tedious Deep Space Nine, which was also insufferably soap-opera-ish at times… and very full of itself.

Why is this show (Battlestar) popular? I’m not *entirely* sure, but I suspect that all along one aspect of it has been that some fans who remembered the original series were overly ecstatic about it being revived and revamped—disliking the *very* cheesy nature of the original show (sometimes it was good-cheesy, but most of the time it was just *bad*) they just wanted to see it done with contemporary quality, and have been too willing to overlook the downside of this. This seems to be a common mistake with sci-fi fans… they have this deep yearning to feel “hip” (since they always seem to be the ones who are kicked around by the mainstream as a bunch of geeks and nerds) and will swallow anything that comes along that seems to be so—even when it really doesn’t work, and doesn’t really deliver anything at all. It’s like trading one brand of superficial for another.

I give up trying to get any kind of intelligent conversation started, let alone maintained, on this board.

They killed Cally! How could they?! Did Nicki Clyne quite or did she get fired?

SB i think fakesteve was furthering a point, that’s all. don’t get all huffy! stick around and join the discussion. it just takes time for people to show up, that’s all.

#26:

I nearly completely disagree with your post. I loved DS9, as it was the first “Trek” that I felt was both more adult and lived up to the promise of a serialized universe. Additionally, I’ve enjoyed the gritty nature of Moore’s BSG immensely.

THAT BEING SAID, I contend that nearly half of S4 could have been chucked for exactly the reasons you stated above. The “love triangle” nonsense was both boring, and didn’t offer anything to the show as a whole. (Heck the final resolution for that garbage was essentially a one-line throw-away at the end of the last episode.)

All my opinion of course. YMMV.

Avindair #30:

You say you nearly completely disagree with my post, but then go on to spend more than half of *your* post agreeing that *an entire season* of Battlestar was boring nonsense, and was essentially as I said—nothing but soap opera.

You simply don’t go far enough. I have made a concerted effort to watch this plodding monstrosity from the first season to the most recent. It’s unwatchable. I’d challenge you to *honestly* look back and admit to yourself how many times you actually found the show engaging, let alone riveting.

Rather, I’ll bet that you–like a lot of people–have simply watched it by rote, tuning in and zoning out to it—which is not an insult to your or anyone else—that’s how soap operas work… they lull you into a sort of routine lower-consciousness of “oh, I guess I’ll watch to see what’s happening this week”… and you don’t even know that’s the process that’s going on in your mind.

As for DS9 having been more “adult”—please. There’s never been anything adult about lame-ass characters like the Ferengi, nor about this warmed-over, stale religious nonsense that permeated that show, nor is there anything “adult” about soap operas, which is all that DS9 was at times.

Trek can never be really “adult,” anyway—it’s too full of optimism and naive hope, and if it didn’t have that, it wouldn’t be Trek. Where your mistake is, is that DS9 *did* stray farthest from that. But that didn’t make it more “adult,” it simply made it crappy Star Trek, and tedious—because it didn’t substitute (except at times) the optimism with anything interesting or engaging. It’s final, desperate ploy to do this was to introduce a war. Which can work—and it did—but it’s a shallow and superficial way to manage an alternative to the Trek “vision.”

I’ve frankly always thought that DS9 was a piss-poor idea from the get-go… but I gave it a chance, and it proved to only be a disappointment… and at the worst of times a thumping boor.

And that’s all that the revamped Battlestar is.

#22 — While we can agree on the issue of Boxey and Daggits, it doesn’t change the fact that Moore simply reinvented Larson’s original show.

It’s arguable how successful he was with that.

I, for one, would have made SOME of the changes Moore did — but in my opinion — he changed it a bit TOO much.

that picture of Mr. Roboto at tha’ top reminds me of “The Scream”…

oh, sorry…

If I had me own show, we could cutely abbreviate it to “BND”

arrrrr….

#26. BSG fans (old and new) did not trade one “superficial for another.” You may not like the new show, and that’s your business. But don’t assume that the sci-fi fans who DO like it are trying to look “hip” or “cool.” Why I like the new show has NOTHING to do with the old show. Most of my friends who watch now NEVER watched the old show. So, please don’t condescend or try ‘amateur psychiatry’ here. You’ll embarrass yourself. BSG is loved by some fans because it is enjoyable; with good characters. And the reasons behind the lack of ‘energy weapons’ and other high tech Trek stuff is explained clearly enough in the pilot episode. And I doubt that Time magazine (which loves BSG) and the Peabody committee are trying to “look hip or cool.” And #32. Redjac, thank you for a civil reply. Much appreciated.

Good Episode for tonight. BSG is a “reimagining” of the original. Did I watch it when i was younger? Yes. Do I remember it now? No. Watched a rerun recently and it was totally campy/soft. I appreciate what Mr. Moore and company have done with the story and the direction it’s headed.

#31

I can think of several times right off the bat when I thought the show was riveting.

1. The pilot and the (IMO) extremely realistic portrayal of a civilation being wiped out and the its last remnants desperately trying to escape.

2. The first hour-long episode: “33” which started off the series with a white knuckle crisis. 33 minutes between Cylon attacks, Pilots and Crew operating on no sleep for 5 days, civilians huddling in terror inside their ships…

3. “Pegasus:” a ruthless admiral squaring off against Adama. Two ship commanders launching squadrons of fighters at each other. Each crossing the line in the name of doing what they thought was right.

4. “Resurrection Ship” The aforementioned admiral plotting to kill Adama to get him out of the way. In turn Adama, our good guy, plots the assassination of Cain, on the advice of the PRESIDENT, who knows if Cain is unleashed on the fleet unchecked, Most of humanity could be destroyed.

5. The season 2 ender, “Lay Down Your Burdens:” Baltar, the man who unwittingly helped destroy humanity is about to become President. A desperate President Roslin, knowing she’s on the losing end, tries to steal the election. The wrong course of action for the right reason. Flash forward a year, and New Caprica is occupied by Cylons.

During each of these times, and many more, I remember sitting in front of the television saying to myself, “This show is amazingly good. I can’t believe they’ve made a show this good.”

These examples are just from the first 2 seasons. Need I go on?

I have been a die hard Trek fan for 30 years. I love Trek, and guess what? There were maybe 3 times in all of the Trek series where I was literally blown away. With BSG I am blown away on a consistent basis. The stories and characters are complex, it goes outside the box, and it is not afraid to take chances.

I honestly don’t understand the venom directed at this show and at Ron Moore on this board. Yes, Glen Larson created the original BSG. It was, and still is an amazing concept. But by the end of his pilot we took a trip to the Casino planet. Yeah, great stuff there. In my opinion, and it is only an opinion, the rest of the original BSG series was garbage with the exception of “Living Legend.” Ron Moore, David Eick, and their cast & writers have turned the saga into a masterpiece.

So to Randall I say, You are entitled to your opinion sir, but I am also entitled to mine, and my opinion is the new BSG is the best show I have ever seen on television. PERIOD.

There! I feel better.

#36. Perfectly stated, Trek or Treat. And because of your great post, I feel better, too! Well done.

#34:

I NEVER “embarrass” myself, pal. I can’t help it if you’re not willing to demand more from your television viewing than typical, stale soap opera malaise.

As for you saying you didn’t like the old show and/or never watched it… you made my point for me (partly). As I said, people who DID watch the old show, but didn’t like it’s cheesiness, were overly ecstatic about having a “hip” version done in contemporary style. To the point where they don’t notice that what they’re being fed is another version of superficiality.

I was trying to figure out WHY people would like this mess of a show. Fine, call it amateur psychology if you want… but then why don’t you tell ME why you like it? What do you see in it? What can be interesting about a show with no energy, no pacing, and a lot of lame-ass camera-jumping which is just showy with no substance behind it?

I’ll grant the characters are far less cardboard than those of the original series. But that’s not saying much. It wouldn’t be hard to improve things in that regard.

Other than that—as I’ve said—I’ve tried mighty hard to enjoy the new Battlestar—and see nothing in it worth getting excited about. If you do, then enlighten me.

Trek or Treat:

The fact that you would say “Battlestar” is the best series on TV “ever” says it all right there. Your opinion is too skewed and out of whack to be worth anything in a discussion of this nature.

You gave a list of episodes and moments—but why are you and I seeing entirely different shows then? Answer–because you focus on little moments here and there. Me, when I’m watching, I’m watching the entire thrust of the thing… and I have yet to see an episode in this series that was NOT dull, badly paced, needlessly confusing, and filled with showy but annoying camera tricks that are poor substitutes for decent storytelling.

I’ve been “blown away” by more episodes of the original Star Trek—or for that matter the X-Files—then this confused wreck (Battlestar).

If you ask me, people like you are too willing to accept tricks and soap opera banalities, and mistake them for “riveting television.”

But yes, we’re all entitled to our opinions. We’ll see, once this show is off the air, how often it’s still on TV a few years from now, in syndication. My bet it is, after a short burst, it’ll disappear completely…. because the snazzy aspect of it will wear off, and people will see it for the colossal boor that it is.

#39 Randall,

As we both agree, we’re each entitled to our own opinions. But please don’t tell me my opinion is too “skewed and out of whack” to be worth anything in this discussion. No-one’s opinion is worth more than anyone else’s on this board.

It’s obvious we view the show in different ways, and let’s leave it at that. I don’t want to bore everyone else with a back and forth when other people would like to give their opinions as well.

By the way, I loved X-files too.

I’m of two minds on nuBSG. First, I think it is kickass good television, with storytelling and ethical dilemmas that are worth tuning in for. But second, I wish it had some actual SF content, instead of switching between ‘ww2 in space’ and the religious/fantasy aspect. There’s precious little that I personally would consider to be sci-fi (which was my only objection to FIREFLY, a show I absolutely adore) in nuBSG, but considering what the masses think of when they think SF, this is probably as close as we’re likely to get. Somebody like Andrew Niccol (GATTACA, also wrote the first tougher version of TRUMAN SHOW) could probably do a REAL SF show, but it’d probably bomb out fast too.

I’m of two minds on Moore as well. I met him once during a pitch session at TNG and found him to be a very nice guy, in tune to my thinking, too (sadly, the only one in the room that was, or history might have been forever changed.) And a number of his DS9 and TNG shows were good to very good (which is saying a lot for the latter, as I never thought much of TNG, much more original series.) But I’ve also thought that the show that got him an offer to go on staff at TNG, the romulan defector one from season 3, borrowed an INSANE amount of stuff from the pocket novel MY ENEMY MY ALLY, and so there’s the little bit of ‘plagiarism’ thing that goes off on in my head now and then. But by and large, the guy has the goods in spades.

Maybe he’ll involve Echevaria in the future, that writer is good as well.

Oh yeah, the other thing about nubsg … the thing I friggin’ HATE … the look. I think that when folks rewatch this show, they’re going to see scenes like the ‘aboard cylon baseship’ stuff in s3 and think, WTF this looks like the 6million dollar man BIGFOOT episode!

There’s a mushiness to a lot of this show that is really hard on the eyes and mind. Mixed with the really harsh look, and it is very unappetizing visually. And yet still I watch (kind of like the first MATRIX … I absolutely HATE seeing green, and yet the whole damn movie is tinted that way. Guess really good storytelling overcomes everything.

This is quite an interesting move for TV. The iTunes distrubution / pay method was one I used for BSG, then of course I bought the DVDs later. Hulu is what I’m doing now for season . If I get a chance to sit down for one hour I will see this new episode on the live SciFi stream. I think this is worth note in the whole social media, video via the Internet, and last but not least what is this doing for or against regular old cable television? This is a very interesting business model. It certainly is one of many testing grounds for future television and that may or may not include what comes our way with future Star Trek projects.

hey, SB, Post 15: I am sorry, I was in Transit the whole day. I was on your page with this issue. I garbled it up with my german part of the brain I guess ;))

I caught the BSG mini-series back in 2003. When the series started I was hooked, until they moved back to Sunday night. They got me back with season 4 on Friday nights. I guess Sci-Fi geeks have nothing better to do on Friday night than watch BSG. #42 Don’t “friggin’ hate anything. You should “frakken” hate something.

#5. You’ll have to see MI III. IMO I didn’t think it was that good, and unfortunately our friend J.J. Abrams wrote it. :(

@26 Randall ( i read the rest of your post too just in case your wondering )

Just thought i would say your not the only one who shared that opinion of moore , i myself can just about watch galatica but i would not put it anyway near real sci fi shows .

I also agree that shows is trying to aim from some new hip geek viewers ( which i thought was easy to see after with nothing else on t.v. i watch Battlestar Galactica The Phenomenon on sky the other week . where they interview celebrites to talk about the shows impact on pop culture. All i can say was if you think galactica is hard to watch , watch those interviews , highlights include , how the show is the best thing/ most mature thing to happen to sci fi ever, how normal people can relate to it cause its all about characters and drama ! (lol) and how sci fiction is a setting not a story .

I’d be soooo very lost if I started watchin’ again…
did tha’ Cylons sue Knight Rider yet???

#39. Randall; you asked for examples of why we BSG fans like the show; Trek or Treat listed a handful, but you cite their view as too “skewed”….uh, because we like the show our viewpoint is NOT valid? You don’t like it; we get it. We DO like it, accept it and move on. Why do we like it? Why do people like certain colors? Or certain music? Personal taste. If you’d simply said you did not like it, I could respect that. But the fact that you take your stance as a soapbox to impugn those who DO enjoy it shows that you just can’t accept a differing viewpoint. So you find it boring soap opera; bully for you. Many of other fans out there (including myself and Trek or Treat) DO like it. Even when we list moments and reasons why, you’re just not satisfied. You call us, ‘skewed.’ No need to berate those who commit the sin of not sharing your taste.

For what it’s worth, the episode at Hulu.com is actually the *second* episode after the season premiere, but it is numbered differently because of the Razor movie.

Thanks for the BSG coverage! Trek and BSG together is always a good thing.