All This Week:

Sci-Fi is having a week-long BSG Marathon starting this Monday @ 8 AM. They will air almost all of the episodes from each season in order, every day from 8 AM to 5 PM until the S4 Premiere this Friday @ 10 PM. From what I can tell, the only things they are not airing are:

• Miniseries
  
• 1x01. "33"
  
• 1x02. "Water"
  
• 3x12. "Taking a Break from All Your Worries"
  
• Razor

Not sure why they're not airing 33 and Water. Those are two of my favorites.

Season 3 DVDs move up

TV Shows on DVD has made the announcement that Amazon.com has changed the release date for the long awaited season 3 of Battlestar Galactica on DVD. New release date: March 18th. This is very welcome news indeed!

News and Screencaps

Battlestar Galactica: Season 3 Official Soundtrack

I just got a copy of the soundtrack for the third season of Battlestar Galactica. This is a bit different than what I usually write about, but these soundtracks are certainly worth pointing out. There's one for each season of the show, as well as the miniseries that was released in 2003. Battlestar Galactica, for those of you who aren't science fiction fans, is a show currently on the SciFi channel, and is a remake of a 1978 show by the same title. Rather than a continuation of the original, this is a re-imagining, starting the show over with a fresh look and feel, as well as more modern. Where some science fiction is enough to make your eyes roll, this one's down to earth, realistic and dark. It's easily one of the best shows on television today.

When the show's creators went forwards with this, they changed a lot of the conventional aspects of sci-fi TV - They rooted it in more realism, from set design, uniforms, situations and dialog, making it a very accurate show, at least militarily. One of the big things that was also a big change was the music.
A number of science fiction television shows and films have a very bombastic type of score - lots of brass, loud, dramatic and exciting. Just listen to the opening credits of Star Wars or the original Battlestar theme (which they actually brought back in Season 2 for one episode).
These soundtracks, like the rest of the show, is a bit of a reinvention. Like the show, the score here is darker and moodier. Furthermore, they branch out with their sound, utilizing a number of world influences from India to Ireland, giving this show a very unique sound.
The third season soundtrack is possibly the best of the three soundtracks. It compounds on a number of themes that have been introduced already in the series, and adds in some new ones. The album opens with a bang, with the first couple of songs. The music here is more dramatic, darker and richer in sound. It also includes the fantastic cover of Bob Dylan's song, All Along the Watchtower, vocals by the band BT4. It's a fantastic blend of the soundtrack's usual sound and rock and is a purely Battlestar Galactica feeling song.

Also reviewed at http://carryyouaway.blogspot.com - select tracks up for download.

Track Listing for Season 3 Soundtrack

This is probably somewhat old news by now - Very sorry for the delay, but as things get busy, I don't have as much time to research as I did before.

Bear McCreary has posted up the track listing for the season 3 soundtrack:

1. A Distant Sadness (from 'Occupation') [2:50]Featuring Raya Yarbrough, vocals
2. Precipice (from 'Precipice') [4:52]
3. Admiral and Commander (from 'Exodus, Parts 1 and 2') [3:16]
4. Storming New Caprica (from 'Exodus, Parts 2') [7:48]
5. Refugees Return (from 'Exodus, Part 2') [3:43]
6. Wayward Soldier (from 'Hero') [4:17]
7. Violence and Variations (from 'Unfinished Business') [7:42]
8. The Dance (from 'Unfinished Business') [2:33]
9. Adama Falls (from 'Unfinished Business') [1:46]
10. Under the Wing (from 'Maelstrom') [1:11]
11. Battlestar Sonatica (from 'Torn') [4:44]Performed by Bear McCreary, piano
12. Fight Night (from 'Unfinished Business') [2:27]
13. Kat's Sacrifice (from 'The Passage') [2:46]
14. Someone to Trust (from 'Taking A Break From All Your Worries') [3:09]
15. The Temple of Five (from 'The Eye of Jupiter') [2:44]
16. Dirty Hands (from 'Dirty Hands') [3:32]
17. Gentle Execution (from 'Exodus, Part 2') [3:28]
18. Mandala in the Clouds (from 'Maelstrom') [5:53]
19. Deathbed and Maelstrom (from 'Maelstrom') [5:53]
20. Heeding the Call (from 'Crossroads, Part 2') [2:11]
21. All Along the Watchtower (from 'Crossroads, Part 2') [3:33]
Featuring Bt4, VocalsWords and Music by Bob DylanAdapted, Arranged, and Produced by Bear McCreary

Looks like a good one!

October set for Season 3 Soundtrack Release

This in from Bear McCreary's blog: (I'd post a link, but there's no direct link to his blog.)





August 3, 2007
Wow! I knew it would take me a while to get back to this blog, but I never thought it would be 5 months! After finishing the intense Bob-Dylan-inspired Galactica season finale, I think I needed a little time off. So here's what's new... I will begin scoring the two-hour straight-to-DVD movie, Battlestar Galactica: Razor, next week. I'm looking forward to diving back into the Galactica universe for one last season. And no, I didn't score the trailers Sci Fi Channel has been running. I'm never involved with any of the promos, even though sometimes they'll use my score in the ads. There are some really exciting releases coming up in the next few months. I spent my entire spring and summer working on the new Battlestar Galactica Season Three Soundtrack Album for you guys and it's finally finished!

With each passing album I lavish more and more attention to getting every mix (every single note) perfect and this was no exception. I know I'm biased, but I have to say that this record truly kicks ass. I think it will be the best of the new Galactica albums. All the outstanding cues from the third season made the cut, including the bombastic battle pieces from Exodus II, the haunting solo piano from the basestar and, of course, my version of All Along the Watchtower. I'll be releasing the official track list here very soon.

The record will be out in October from La La Land Records, and we will definitely be doing a BATTLESTAR GALACTICA LIVE CONCERT in Los Angeles to celebrate the release! We did this last year and it was a big success, so if you missed it, here's your chance to check it out. The score is exciting in the context of the show, but there's nothing like being able to experience the music live and in the flesh, performed by the incredible musicians who work on the series every week. Also, the Boingo boys, Bt4 and I will be doing another series of Oingo-Boingo-inspired concerts for Halloween, in Orange County and Los Angeles. More details for both shows will be posted soon.

Looks very good, and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

BSG Season 3 Soundtrack - October

According to Bear McCreary's website, the Season 3 soundtrack will be released in October, 2007. It should have the All Along The Watchtower cover on it, as well as new music from the season. If I remember correctly, they're going to try and get the soundtrack and Season 3 release around the same time, so that might be when season 3 will be released on DVD.

Season 3, 3 Day Battlestar Marathon coming in May

This in from Zap2It: SciFi will be broadcasting the entire third season of Battlestar Galactica in May:

Sci Fi Plans 'Battlestar' Marathon
Three days of space-y goodness
Fans mourning the end of the latest season of "Battlestar Galactica" can relive the action all over again.

Sci Fi Channel will present a special encore presentation of the show's entire third season, that's 20 episodes, during a three-day marathon in May.

The marathon kicks off Wednesday, May 16, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. and then follows the next two days from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday.

This season began with the Cylon occupation of New Caprica and ended with Baltar's trial and the unveiling of new Cylons.

The fourth season of the Peabody-winning show begin in May and is aiming for an early 2008 premiere. In between, a special two-hour extended event will air during the late fall or early winter 2007 and will be released on DVD later.

IGN Interviews Mark Sheppard

IGN posted up this fun interview with Mark Sheppard, who played Romo, Baltar's lawyer in the last three episodes of this season:

Battlestar Galactica: Defending Baltar
We talk to Firefly and 24 veteran Mark Sheppard about his new role on Galactica as Baltar's lawyer.

March 16, 2007 - When I first began to talk to Mark Sheppard about his new role on Battlestar Galactica, the actor put it to me as simply as he could, saying, "I think I have the best character on the best show on television." Sheppard is a very familiar face to TV fans, including notable roles as Badger on Firefly, as Ivan Earwich (AKA "Yellow Tie Man") on 24, and as the evil Dr. Charles Walker on Medium. He made his debut on Galactica this past week, as the memorably named Romo Lampkin, a defense attorney who takes the case of none other than the infamous Dr. Gaius Baltar (James Callis). Sheppard will be appearing in the final three Galactica episodes of the season, and the day after his first appearance aired, I spoke to him about his experience working on the acclaimed series.

When I asked how he got the part, Sheppard replied, "I'm a huge fan of the show. Absolutely huge fan," and noted that he is friends with Galactica executive producer Ron Moore and his wife Terry. "I know Ron through [CSI Executive Producer] Naren Shankar and [Medium Executive Producer] Rene Echevarria. They all started at Star Trek together. Ron and I got to be friends and talked and talked and I said, 'When I grow up, I want to be a Cylon.' And he tried to make that happen. It was gonna maybe happen last year, and I wasn't available and it just didn't work out. I was in the middle of doing Medium. I was totally crestfallen, because it's my favorite show, without question. Battlestar is, I think, the best written show on television."

Sheppard then recalled being at a party with Moore and Galactica's other Executive Producer David Eick, "And David said, 'You still want to be a Cylon, right?' I said, 'David, I'll play anything!' He said, 'We may have a trial coming up at the end of the season,' and I said, 'Keep me in mind.' Then I was at Ron's house, and he said, 'I have something for you.' And I said, 'What's that?' 'Three episodes of Battlestar.' I nearly fell over! I read the first script and Michael Angeli's characterization of Romo, which I think is fantastic. There's a lot more stuff then was in the episode. The intro scene [for Romo] was a three page monologue about fear, which was taken out. There wasn't room for it. But it explains the puzzled look on Laura Roslin's face and, 'I'm glad to hear you're not afraid about defending the most hated man in the universe!' Because I'd just given her a massive speech about fear, very weirdly."

Read the Full article Here

More Reactions

Lots of press concerning the final episode, so here's some of the highlights:

Q&A with "Battlestar" Showrunner Ron Moore
On the Return of Starbuck, Falling Ratings and 'Caprica' Prequel
By James Hibberd
Last week Sci Fi Channel announced the pickup of nine more episodes of its Peabody Award-winning series "Battlestar Galactica."

The pickup completes a partial fourth-season order that left the show's fans in suspense over the fate of the show. A third-season storyline drawing parallels to the war in Iraq won critical raves, yet ratings have slipped, leaving some comparing the show to another serialized cult program struggling in its third season, ABC's "Lost."

Developer and executive producer Ron Moore spoke to TelevisionWeek about the show's future, its ratings, the long-planned "Caprica" prequel and the return of fan favorite Starbuck.

TelevisionWeek: You've said the show is going into its third act. How many seasons do you want that act to be, and, if this is a different answer, how many do you anticipate that it will be?
Ron Moore: It's a hard question and something I'm grappling with right now. It's going into the third act and there's a couple chapters left, and they could be 10 episode chapters, 20-episode or 30. We're moving toward the climax of the series and resolution of storylines. We're just in the process of sitting down and mapping out the fourth season. We're excited about having those decisions in-house. So far, the network has very much been saying, "We'll take our cues from you."

TVWeek: "Battlestar" was one of several NBC Universal shows that produced webisodes last year, until the Writers Guild of America ordered members to cease writing short-form content due to a lack of separate compensation for the work. Were you happy with the first round of webisodes?
Mr. Moore: I thought we did a good job with them. It was a big learning curve. We had to piggyback on the existing production. There was no money to build a new set or even go to a different set -- we had to shoot it right on the same sets we were using that same day. That said, the story we came up with ... it was an interesting story.

TVWeek: After "killing" one of the most popular characters on the show, Starbuck, she reappears in the last scene in the March 25 finale. Does that mean she'll be back for season four?
Mr. Moore: Yes, definitely.

TVWeek: Katie Sackhoff [who plays Starbuck] made it sound in media interviews as if she's off the show and getting new jobs. Was that part of the ruse?
Mr. Moore: We were trying to walk a very fine line. She was very careful how she phrased it. We wanted people to feel the loss. We didn't want to put Katie in the position of lying to people. She did look for other work and is getting other work -- just other work that won't interfere with her "Battlestar" commitments.

TVWeek: Sci Fi also announced a two-hour "Galactica" movie to air this fall. Will that pick up where season three leaves off, or will it be something different?
Mr. Moore: It will be completely different. It didn't feel right to try and resolve the cliffhanger with a single airing and DVD release. It didn't make any sense. We told a story that takes place in the past in the "Galactica" universe but relates to events in the fourth season.

Full Article

There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief: "Battlestar Galactica's" (Frakked Up) Season Finale

Ronald D. Moore and David Eick know how to handle pain. "Battlestar's" executive producers are skilled at inflicting it on their characters, and aren't above sharing a little with viewers. Adama, Sam, Starbuck, Apollo, Tigh, Tyrol, Cally and Baltar all went through the emotional wringer this season, transforming from revolutionaries and war heroes to criminals, traitors and psychological wrecks. Personal rifts and betrayals severed ties and created unusual alliances, a few between humans and Cylons.

But I believe a friend of mine spoke for many a "BSG" viewer when she wrote in an e-mail:

"WTF?!?!"

You know what those letters stand for. You probably even said the words out loud, only in your living room, that "F" probably didn't stand for "Frak."

Don't let anyone tell you you're not entitled to a little swearing. Many mourned ace Viper pilot Kara Thrace's shocking demise only to find out that she isn't really dead. Three episodes after her apparent death, Starbuck rose again, appearing to a confused Lee Adama to be very much alive and ready to lead Galactica and its battered fleet to Earth. (Happy Easter, folks! The coincidental messianic symbolism should not be lost on you.) She told Lee she's been there and made it back – in the very same ship he saw storm winds crush to smithereens.

WTF, indeed.

Full Article

BSGwatch: The Road to the Final Five
Posted by James Poniewozik

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't watched Battlestar Galactica yet, stop. I will not talk falsely now; the hour is getting late.

So that was kind of a big one, yes? The makers of BSG had promised that the end of this season would be shocking and would entirely change the direction of the show, which on the one hand is true and on the other hand not at all so. Certainly turning four characters into Cylons and bringing Earth into our sights is a big deal. On the other hand--a change in direction? Most of the season has focused on getting ever closer to Earth and to the revelation of the Final Five, so maybe the bigger shock would have been if none of it had happened. And didn't you start suspecting the Cylon reveal once Tigh, Anders, Tyrol and Foster started picking up those signals from what, apparently, was Bob Dylan's XM show? (Also, seriously: who thought Kara was dead, like totally, never-appearing-on-the-show-again dead? Did you think Grey's Anatomy was going to kill off Meredith, too?)

I have to give the producers credit for going for the bold ending, in a way that courted risibility, and often got it. I mean, I'm sorry, when you have a character look at herself in the mirror and seriously intone "I can't get no relief," that's going to be hilarious even if the destruction of the human race is at stake. But I'll still be eagerly looking forward to season 4, and I'm sure plenty of BSG fans will spend the rest of the year anxiously parsing "All Along the Watchtower"'s lyrics.

Full Article

Telemovie to focus on the Pegasus?

Very good article from the fine folks at SyFyPortal, with some info about the telemovie, season four and season 3:

Battlestar Telemovie To Focus On Pegasus
PLUS: Ronald D. Moore hints that Season 4 is the last


By MICHAEL HINMAN
Source: Salon.com
Mar-24-2007

The following story contains scattered MINOR SPOILERS for various episodes of "Battlestar Galactica," including the first part of the third season finale and the telemovie.

When the "Battlestar Galactica" telemovie premieres on the SciFi Channel this fall, it will have very little of the Galactica itself, but a lot more about a battlestar that many fans have been wanting to learn more about: The Battlestar Pegasus.

"That story will not pick up our cliffhanger at the end of Season 3," executive producer Ronald D. Moore recently told Salon.com. "That didn't seem right. The story will be set on the [Battlestar] Pegasus, and will take place in the past, relative to where we are in Season 3. But the events set up in that story will then pay off in Season 4."

While it had been rumored for some time that the telemovie would focus on the Battlestar Pegasus, thus assuring a return of Michelle Forbes as Adm. Cain, this is the first official confirmation that has been received that the telemovie would in fact focus on the Cylon attack of the BSG pilot, but from the perspective of the Pegasus.

"There was no way we could pick up the cliffhanger in that format, and then ask people to wait to really start the season later," Moore said. "One of the storylines everyone had really liked was the Pegasus story and the character of Adm. Cain, so we decided to go with that."

According to the mini-Pegasus story arc, the Pegasus survived the attacks much like the Galactica, but had a much different approach, putting civilians secondary and military first. That included the execution of the XO when he hesitated on an order, and the stripping of civilian ships.

Full Article

News Roundup

There's been quite a bit of news coming out about Galactica as we near the finale, and I've been... stuck with work for the past week. Apoligies on the lax updates. Here we go:

'Galactica' picks up steam
Even if the conclusion seemed rushed and unusually pat for this series, Sunday's "Battlestar Galactica" was a pretty good episode compared to the two previous ones. Those were the typical midseason, "Oh-my-gosh-we-have-to-fill-a-20-episode-order!" filler installments that annually fail to rise to the heights of most "Galactica" episodes.

But the writers get serious about their story in the last four episodes, which kick off Sunday (10 p.m., Sci Fi Channel) and conclude with the March 25 third-season finale. The fourth season is due to premiere early next year.

Sunday's episode is a Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) spectacular as she confronts her recent dances with destiny while dreaming of her former Cylon captor, Leoben (Callum Keith Rennie). Starbuck and Apollo (Jamie Bamber) also mend their rift and exchange what, for them, counts as sweet nothings.

Full Article

From the SyFyPortal:

James Callis Reveals Baltar's Fate
Trial will be one for the history books
When asked about what will happen to the once famous scientist, the one-time vice president, and the former president Gaius Baltar, actor James Callis sees all roads heading into one direction...
Full Article

McDonnell Thankful For Being Cut Loose
‘BSG’ actress thinks finale is best yet
President Roslin, played by Mary McDonnell, has traditionally had a calming effect on the series through her fair-handedness with civil unrest, respectable dealings with the military and even through the crisis on new Caprica. However, in “Taking A Break From All Your Worries,” her character received a much welcome break as she finally loses it with former President Gaius Baltar (James Callis) during his interrogation.

"I found it really quite wonderful to play because it was easy to play," McDonnell said in an interview with Zap2it. "There was an emotional ball of fire inside her regarding this man and his ... duplicity. I was grateful to the writers and to Eddie [co-star Edward James Olmos, who also directed the episode] that they allowed her to cut loose like that. To me it just made her more human. And you know what? I don't think it's over."


Full ArticleMcDonnell Thankful For Being Cut Loose
‘BSG’ actress thinks finale is best yet
President Roslin, played by Mary McDonnell, has traditionally had a calming effect on the series through her fair-handedness with civil unrest, respectable dealings with the military and even through the crisis on new Caprica. However, in “Taking A Break From All Your Worries,” her character received a much welcome break as she finally loses it with former President Gaius Baltar (James Callis) during his interrogation.

"I found it really quite wonderful to play because it was easy to play," McDonnell said in an interview with Zap2it. "There was an emotional ball of fire inside her regarding this man and his ... duplicity. I was grateful to the writers and to Eddie [co-star Edward James Olmos, who also directed the episode] that they allowed her to cut loose like that. To me it just made her more human. And you know what? I don't think it's over."

Full Article

Getting 22 Episodes Could Mean Cancellation For 'Battlestar Galactica'
Source tells SyFy Portal that if there is a pickup, it could spell doom for the series
Usually getting additional episodes in a season is a good thing for a television series. But if SciFi Channel opts to increase its fourth season order of "Battlestar Galactica" from 13 episodes to 22, it could very well mean the end of the line for that channel's signature series.

A source close to the network tells SyFy Portal that if an additional nine episodes are ordered, it will be SciFi Channel's way of telling executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick to use those additional episodes to wrap it up.

Full Article

Virgin customers wake up to no Sky channels
The week-long war of words between Virgin Media and bitter rival BSkyB last night culminated in the satellite broadcaster's channels, including Sky One, being pulled from 3.35 million households.

The failure of the two sides to reach a deal meant fans of shows such as Lost, 24 and Battlestar Galactica were cut off halfway through the current season.

Full Article


Bear McCreary scores a pivotal "Battlestar Galactica" episode at Warner Brothers
Release Date:(02/28/2007)

Last week, composer Bear McCreary held the last orchestral scoring session for the third season of the hit Sci-Fi Channel television show, "Battlestar Galactica", at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Brothers. The pivotal episode, "Maelstrom" continues the musical trend this season has shown, where McCreary has been leaning more towards Asian instruments and influences in the score. In addition to the gamelan, commonly heard in the music in the series, McCreary has started using an erhu, the "Chinese violin".

Full Article

Right, that's it for now.

Ratings for Galactica Are Up

According to this report:

For the week ending Jan. 28, NBC Universal's USA and Sci Fi both had reason to celebrate. Sci Fi's Battlestar Galactica and The Dresden Files saw ratings bumps in their second weeks on Sunday night (Jan. 28). Dresden averaged 1.89 million viewers (up from 1.73 million for its series premiere) and Battlestar averaged 2.05 million (up from 1.8 million last week). The shows' Jan. 21 premiere numbers may have been diluted by competition from the AFC Championship game on CBS, which drew nearly 50 million that night.

This in from Broadcasting and Cable. Read the full article here. This is fantastic news! Just enough to offset the fact that we'll be waiting for two weeks for our next Galactica fix. Blah.

Comic Book Resources Talks to Mark Verheiden

Comic Book Resources recently sat down with Producer Mark Verheiden about his work with Galactica and what's coming up. Highlights include:

• They've hashed out the story for the direct to DVD movie.
  
• March 25th is the date for the last episode of Season 3
• No Season 4- yet, they're still waiting for a renewal, and it would appear that they're leaving the season on a cliffhanger again.
• Talk about his movie I Am Bruce, starring Bruce Cambell

For the full interview, go here.

Upcoming BSG Episodes To Create Outrage

An interesting article from the SyFy Portal went online on Friday:

Upcoming BSG Episodes To Create Outrage, Producer Says
SPOILERS: David Weddle teases rest of Season 3

By MICHAEL HINMAN
Source: SyFy Portal
Jan-19-2007

The following story contains MODERATE SPOILERS for Season 3 of "Battlestar Galactica."

When fans find out which popular character from "Battlestar Galactica" is going to vanish from the ragtag fleet, they'll not only be shocked, they'll be angry.

"In the second half of this season, you can expect many stunning surprises and revelations," show producer David Weddle told SyFy Portal's Michael Hinman. "We will experience the devastating loss of a much loved character who is central to 'Galactica,' and it will shake the crew to the core."
Speculation has centered around the departure of Katee Sackhoff from the show, at least temporarily, taking her character of Kara "Starbuck" Thrace with her. Weddle, however, wouldn't deny or confirm which character would be taken out except that the ripple effects through the rest of the crew will be startling.

"I imagine many fans will be outraged and screaming for our heads," he said. "But others may take comfort in the fact that every time we upset the chessboard and scatter the pieces, it opens the door to many new provocative and exciting stories in the season to come."

Full Article Here

Variety Review of BSG

From Variety:

Battlestar Galactica
(Series -- Sun. Jan. 21, 10 p.m.)
By BRIAN LOWRY
Filmed in Vancouver by NBC Universal Television Studio.

Continuing to take creative risks, "Battlestar Galactica" made its debut in the show's new Sunday timeslot with a bang, featuring an episode that crammed a tremendous amount of story into a single hour. Only the faithful, in fact, will likely be able to dutifully follow the interlocking web of storylines, which might help explain the ratings erosion suffered during the first half of this season.

The latest hour found the Galactica crew locked in a race with the Cylons for clues that will lead toward the "lost colony" -- a little place called Earth -- while seeking to rescue Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (Katee Sackhoff), who was shot down over Cylon-occupied territory. Of course, the question of retrieving her was somewhat complicated by the fact that she's screwing around with Lee "Apollo" Adama (Jamie Bamber), who spearheaded the operation.

The Cylons themselves, meanwhile, are proving to have more plots and schisms amongst them than the residents of "The OC," with one of their human-looking cohorts (guest Lucy Lawless) having been overcome by an almost messianic zeal that diminished trust among her brethren. A similar rift has occurred over the future of a Cylon-human hybrid baby, prompting its alien mother (Grace Park) to take a major gamble hoping to retrieve the child.

Part soap opera, part space fantasy, part parable on the war in Iraq, "Galactica" has improbably managed to maintain its narrative momentum despite some ups and downs in the storyline, including a bit of a letdown after this season's introductory episodes resolving a breathtaking cliffhanger that left a sizable population of land-bound humans under Cylon control. In that respect, Sunday's installment represented a firm rebound, especially with the plot development regarding Baltar (James Callus), the scientist who essentially betrayed his race by throwing in with the Cylons.

Already lauded with an unusual amount of critical acclaim and industry recognition for a series in the sci-fi genre saddled with such a clunky title, it's nice to see that the "Galactica" crew isn't content to rest on those laurels. And at the risk of mixing space metaphors, whether the jump to Sunday helps the show beam down more viewers, for its loyal core, the series is still one hell of a ride.
Executive producers, Ronald D. Moore, David Eick. Running time: 60 MIN.

New Promo

TV Squad on Season 3.5

TV Squad just posted up a bit of a teaser look at the upcoming remaining half of the season in the following article. The article does contain some spoils, so be warned.

Battlestar Galactica 3.5: An early look

Posted Jan 16th 2007 11:41AM by Keith McDuffee

As some of you may have seen, TV Squad's Joel Keller and Kevin Kelly are out in L.A. helping us cover the TCA press tour this month. Last week Kevin was lucky enough to score me an early copy of the next episode of Battlestar Galactica on DVD, so of course I said "the Golden whats?" and watched it as soon as I could tear the package open.

Last time we saw the show, you might remember that Adama was about to launch nukes to the planet surface. I'm not going to go out of my way to ruin surprised for you here, but I will say, once again, you won't be disappointed. This is an episode worthy of a season premiere, even though it technically isn't one.

Full Article

Marathon - This Monday, Jan 15th

This Monday, the SciFi channel will be airing all of the Season 3 episodes released thus far in an all day marathon. Good time to catch up if you've missed an episode:

08:00 AM THE OCCUPATION
09:00 AM PRECIPICE
10:00 AM EXODUS - PT 1
11:00 AM EXODUS - PT 2
12:00 PM COLLABORATORS
01:00 PM TORN - PT 1
02:00 PM A MEASURE OF SALVATION - PT 2
03:00 PM HERO
04:00 PM UNFINISHED BUSINESS
05:00 PM THE PASSAGE
06:00 PM THE EYE OF JUPITER

Chicago Tribune Interview

This in from the Chicago Tribune:

Spoilers

What happens when 'Battlestar Galactica' returns? Does a major character die? Ron Moore and David Eick address the rumors

Speculation about a major character death has been rampant in the “Battlestar Galactica” world of late. (By the way, don't read further if you don't want to know more about upcoming "Battlestar" plots.")

Rumors abound that character will die in the second half of the Sci Fi drama’s third season, which kicks off Jan. 21. And much of the “who will it be” speculation centers on hotshot pilot Kara “Starbuck” Thrace.

In an exclusive interview, executive producers David Eick and Ron Moore say that a “profound” event involving Starbuck does occur a pivotal Season 3 episode called “Maelstrom” that is scheduled to air March 4. In fact, Moore says it “will be one of the most surprising things that’s happened in the history of the show so far.”

What happens to Thrace “will jump out and grab you,” Moore says.

The producers confirmed what the actress who plays Starbuck said in a recent interview -- that as of that March 4 episode, she had completed her work on the show’s third season, even though three more episodes air after “Maelstrom.”

So the actress finished her work on the season early and something major and surprising happens in the last episode that Sackhoff filmed. But Eick and Moore don’t want to use the word “death” when describing what happens to Starbuck in “Maelstrom.”

“I think people will have to watch that episode and judge for themselves what happens,” Moore says. “I can say that Galactica will suffer a shocking loss in that episode and Kara is a key member of the crew.”

Just to add fuel to the fire of “Galactica” bloggers, Moore adds that after the March 4 episode airs, the name of a major cast member will disappear from the show’s opening credits. They won’t say whether Sackhoff’s name is the one that goes missing. But they do make clear that what happens to Starbuck points the way to a major shift in the show’s direction.

“It’s a fundamental and permanent change in the makeup of the show’s cast and of the show itself and how the show operates and what the show is about. It’s a very dramatic change of direction,” Moore says.

“What we’re doing with Kara Thrace is profound and is major, and yet it doesn’t necessarily translate as simply as you might think,” Eick says.

That makes sense when you consider that in the world of “Battlestar Galactica,” the Cylon characters, who are locked in an epic battle with the humans, are able to die and be reborn, or “downloaded,” into new bodies.

Of course, Moore and Eick won’t say whether Thrace is a Cylon and whether she gets downloaded. They also won’t say if Gaius Baltar, a canny survivor who’s spent time with both the Galactica crew and with the Cylons, is in fact a Cylon.

But they will say Baltar’s character undergoes a trial for his crimes against his fellow humans, and they add that a photo that surfaced online of Baltar in a Cylon resurrection tank is from a dream or fantasy sequence and not something to be taken literally.

“Some of the speculation [regarding Starbuck and others] sounds so cut and dried, ‘Oh, this is going to happen and that’s that,’" Moore says. “And it’s really not that simple. There are different layers we’re trying to protect and that we want to be able to deliver to the audience at the appropriate time.”

Eick and Moore also confirmed that they are in the midst of developing a 2-hour standalone “Battlestar Galactica” film, which may be released between Seasons 3 and 4. If there is no Season 4, then the film, which would probably be released on DVD and air on Sci Fi, would not go forward.

In any case, the DVD movie would not be a conclusion of the show’s third-season cliffhanger finale, which they say will once again take the show in a shocking new direction.

“If you think about the end of Season 1 and the end of Season 2, both of those cliffhangers -- they weren’t just of the ‘Who shot J.R.’ ilk. They actually turned the storytelling in a new direction.” Eick says. “So what we’re doing at the end of this year, which involves Kara Thrace and others, is [taking the storytelling] in a different and unique direction from what’s come before.”

“Whether the fans of the show like what we do at the end of this year or find themselves aghast at what we do, they can rest assured it’s not what they’re expecting,” Eick says. “Whatever they think is going happen, think again.”

Full interview/article here

Season 3 Gag Reel

This has surfaced on Google Videos - a season 3 gag reel. Really funny, some minor spoilers:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6307683077762423268&hl=en