Entertainment Weekly’s Oral History of Battlestar Galactica
Did you know Katee Sackhoff (aka Starbuck) received a death threat before shooting the Battlestar Galactica miniseries? That the premiere of the original Battlestar Galactica drew an unbelievable 65 million viewers and that it was budget issues, not popularity, that led to its cancellation? That in 2000 Bryan Singer (X-Men) was working on a new Battlestar Galactica series, or that if a massive protest movement by hardcore fans had have been successful then Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagined series would never have seen the light of day?
Even if you’re a hardcore Battlestar Galactica fan, you may be surprised at some of the information you’ll find in Entertainment Weekly’s ‘Oral History of Battlestar Galactica’. It’s in the latest issue of EW available on newsstands right now (look for the cover shown above). Between now and when you grab a copy, you might also want to take a look at EW’s online 33 page special titled’ ‘The Beginning of the End: A Battlestar Galactica Oral History’. It’s an excellent special that pieces together a very interesting time line of Battlestar Galactica related facts, delivered by those in the know and with images.
Here’s a selection of interesting quotes from the special:
RONALD D. MOORE (executive producer, co-writer of miniseries): There was a lot of hoopla at the time about this sci-fi television series. There hadn’t really been one since the original Star Trek about 10 years before, so it was a big deal, and I had watched from day one as a kid. I remember thinking I liked it, but I didn’t buy a lot of it. These people, [the Colonials], had been at war [with the Cylons] for 1,000 years, the Cylons said, ”Oh, let’s have peace,” and the Colonials gathered their entire fleet all in one place and didn’t send any patrols out. They were like morons.
JAMIE BAMBER (Capt. Lee ”Apollo” Adama): I was maybe six years old. I had gone to see Star Wars, one of the first movies I’d ever seen, and [the original Battlestar] was part of that childhood escape. I remember the capes, the Egyptian helmets, the three buttons on the viper joystick. I remember them shooting out of the launch tubes. I didn’t really have an idea of what the show was about. I just remember these guys in space having an adventure every week and just loving it.
RICHARD HATCH (Captain Apollo on the original Battlestar Galactica): Around 1992-93, I was invited to a Star Trek convention in Pasadena, Calif. When Battlestar was announced, there was this huge cheer at the Pasadena Convention Center. I was blown away by the amount of people who were passionate about a show that was only on the air for a year.
RONALD D. MOORE (executive producer, co-writer of miniseries): In our initial discussions, we asked, ”Okay, how is it different from Trek and Star Wars?” I had already done 10 years on Star Trek, and I [felt] this form is ossified. It needs to be redone. It would be cool if you did it documentary style, made it naturalistic, reinvented how you did science fiction.
DAVID EICK (executive producer): I’m going to quote Ron in a way that’s derogatory to the makers of the original show: ”You know, it’s cheesy, it’s dated, it’s kind of silly, and yet there’s an original plot that has, in a weird way, a more timely application today than it did then.” Remember, this was right after 9/11.
RONALD D. MOORE (executive producer, co-writer of miniseries): We pitched it to Bonnie [Hammer] via videoconference. She was in the great big TV at the end of the table. It was like some science fiction experience for me. I knew I sold the project when, at the very beginning of the pitch, I said, ”We’re going to make changes to the original. One of them is making Starbuck a woman.” Bonnie went, ”Yes!” I thought, ”That’s it! We got it.”
DAVID EICK (executive producer): We were using, as I recall, Brian Cox and Edward James Olmos as [Commander] Adama, and Susan Sarandon and Mary McDonnell [as president Laura Roslin]. Then we saw Donnie Darko.
KATEE SACKHOFF (Lieut. Kara ”Starbuck” Thrace): I just didn’t take no for an answer. I just kind of felt that it was my character and my role. I don’t know what made me think that way. I could just tell. I didn’t know that the original Starbuck was a man.
JAMIE BAMBER (Capt. Lee ”Apollo” Adama): There were at least six Starbucks and at least five Apollos all milling around [at the final audition], and me, terrified that anybody would find out I was British. I wasn’t talking to them in a British accent.
GRACE PARK (Lieut. Sharon ”Boomer” Valerii): I can’t even imagine me playing Starbuck now. Are you kidding? [Giggles] It would not be as good. I never read for Boomer. They gave her to me because I didn’t get Starbuck. I thought it was kind of like a consolation prize, and I was like, ”I don’t want her!”
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