Battlestar Galactica

According to the Internet Movie Database, Edward James Olmos may be playing the patriarch in Four Fags in a Fabulous Car in 2009.  The movie is a GLBT-friendly feature from Ted Williams, the film is a road trip movie with the classic themes of self-discovery and friendship:

“When a gay man learns his father died, he has four days to make it to the funeral, but since he’s afraid to fly, his diverse gay friends volunteer to drive him from West Hollywood to Seattle in a fabulous new car, where they learn something new about their friendship while reclaiming their own gay pride.”

The son in question is Latin heartthrob Gabriel Romero, best known for playing the first openly gay character on Spanish language television. 

Ted Williams has posted excerpts from an early draft of the script on his MySpace page, and also posted the early trailer for the movie that is linked above on YouTube.

Edward James Olmos will presumably play the deceased father, although the source of this news is not easily identifiable.  It could be the Roadrunner blog, which has been very wrong before.  On the other hand, he tends to gravitate towards controversial roles that advocate the viewpoints of people he feels are often overlooked in society so it is doubtful he would shy away from a film about gay issues … even one with such a controversial title.

In other EJO news, the title of his upcoming Disney comedy has been changed to Beverly Hills Chihuahua.  Other actors lending their voices to the film include Jamie Lee Curtis, Drew Barrymore, George Lopez, Andy Garcia, Salma Hayak, and Cheech Marin.  The movie will hit theaters in September of this year.

If you don’t have time to rewatch the entire Battlestar Galactica series to refresh yourself before Friday’s premiere, you can watch Battlestar Galactica Revealed and get up to speed fairly quickly.

Revealed is essentially a series of clips from the show interspersed with commentary on the characters and circumstances of the series by Executive Producers Ron Moore and David Eick.  While not nearly as entertaining as its sister program, Battlestar Galactica: Phenomenon, it is arguably more useful for fans who want to get back in the BSG groove before season four.

The best moment of Revealed is when David Eick describes Giaus Baltar as being “equal parts Stephen Hawking, Jim Morrison, and the back room side of Bill Clinton.”  Although most people would argue that the final figure in that trinity was much more interested in politics and public policy than President Baltar, who seemed mostly interested in drugs and hookers while he was in office, it is an interesting comparison. 

Moore also implies that the Six in Baltar’s head is the result of a nervous breakdown and nothing more, but he does not fully commit to the idea and David Eick implies that Six’s presence will continue until Baltar finally “learns his lesson.”

Friday night’s season four premiere will start just where season three ended, right after Kara “Starbuck” Thrace’s seeming return from the dead and right after the four final Cylons have learned who - and what - they are.  The reaction to those event reverberate through both sides of the war, and through the season to come.

Entertainment Weekly has an four-page feature on blonde action heroine and former bionic babe Katee Sackhoff in this week’s issue, where the star talks about her roles on Battlestar Galactica and Bionic Woman as well as her plans for the future.

‘If I could trade everything and be a character actor for the rest of my life, that’s what I’d do,” says Sackhoff. ”It’s just more fun. And when your skin sags and your boobs drop down to your waist, you’ll still have a job.”

The magazine interview featured some gorgeous pictures of Katee looking fiercely lovely with flowing blonde extensions.  There are also videos of Katee from the shoot on the magazine’s web site which are posted in three parts, with the third coming tomorrow (Monday).

The article also contained high praise for Katee from Bionic and Battlestar executive producer David Eick:  “You’ll see I tend to cast Katee in everything I possibly can … She’s a very special find.  Those actors who can combine the qualities of strength and vulnerability - they usually call those people movie stars.”

The article also talks about Katee’s early days of acting, and how a role as an extra on Mr. Holland’s Opus left her so bored she left after half a day on set.  It was a bold move and one that did not prevent her from landing a role as Holland star Richard Dreyfuss’ daughter on the 2001 CBS pilot The Education of Max Bickford.  The article explains how that was a year of firsts for Katee, seen at a party that fall in the photo to the right, and one that taught her quite a bit about life, love, fashion, and show business.

But in the present Katee is simply looking for something new to challenge her after Battlestar ends and Kara “Starbuck” Thrace has committed her last self-destructive act.  Perhaps a film … “something with a corset.”

If you have not watched Battlestar Galactica: Phenomenon yet, then you are missing out on a hell of a good time.  The SciFi Channel special is essentially twenty-two minutes of celebrities talking about how much they love the show and why it is so wonderful, and even though it is one long promotional vehicle it still manages to be very entertaining.

There’s television pioneer and geek god Joss Whedon, saying Battlestar Galactica is “the best show I’ve ever seen.”

There’s snarky television host Joel McHale of Talk Soup, comparing the evolution of the modern BSG to the creation of the Air Jordan.

There’s Jesse L. Martin of Law & Order, boiling down the complexities of the series into one beautifully simple statement:  “If you lived in a world that was suddenly taken away from you, and you just happened to live, how would you continue you continue to live?”

There are many more celebrities, and they all talk about the quality of the special effects, the amazing acting, the deeper themes of humanity and religion, and how much they use the word frak now that they are fans of the show.  Country star Brad Paisley reveals his band has cut a Friday night show short to go watch BSG, and Joss Whedon compares his devotion to the Battlestar to that of Dwight from The Office.

The funny clips are interspersed with intense moments from the show, leaving a heightened sense of anticipation about Season Four.  Hopefully Phenomenon will do its job and convince more people to tune in.  Phenomenon is available in many spots around the internet, including scifi.com and Hulu.

Nicki Clyne was lucky enough to attend the taping of the Battlestar Galactica-themed Top Ten List for The Late Show With David Letterman. 

Nicki was then kind enough to blog about the experience, describing what it was like to watch the list from her seat in the live audience:

“while the top ten cast members spewed out tailor made one liners, I had the privilege of looking on from the audience like an over-enthusiastic honor roll parent.  it was really cool actually, and not just because David keeps that place chilled like the set of Happy Feet.  i don’t know why, maybe because it’s so nerve wracking being an audience member.  it’s possible that the icy atmosphere reduces stress levels as you attempt to laugh, clap, cheer and sigh at precisely the appropriate times and decibels.”

“i’m telling you, it’s a well oiled machine they’ve got running there, no room for human error or extravagance.  some girl actually got kicked out who was sitting behind me for an off kilter yelp, and no sooner did i turn around again that there was a grinning frat boy sitting in her place.  not to mention, i almost wasn’t even allowed to watch from the audience for fear that my “recognizability” would cause a ruckus.  right, because you know when i go to buy underwear at target, i get absolutely mobbed by paparazzi.”

You can read more about the taping on Nicki’s blog, where she revealed that after the show the cast got to hang out with some of the Letterman writers, many of whom are apparently fans of BSG. 

Blogger Charles Jurries was also lucky enough to be in the audience, and reports on this moment which was edited out of the broadcast:

“Another broadcast edit - and this is a major one - was during the Top 10 list with the cast of Battlestar Galactica. When Letterman was introducing Lieutenant Sharon Valeri, he messed up on the pronunciation of “Valeri” and kept trying to say it in different ways. It was fun, it was cute, and the actress seemed to take it in good spirits. And after the Top 10, Dave made another joke about him trying to pronounce the name. But, for whatever reasons, that was cut from broadcast as well.”

Michelle Forbes’ Admiral Helena Cain may be dead, but a bit of Helena’s vicious spirit can still be seen in Michelle’s portrayal of an adulterous wife on HBO’s In Treatment. 

Michelle plays Kate, the wife of the show’s main character.  Her husband is played by Gabriel Byrne, whose character is a shrink who struggles this revelation even as he becomes increasingly impatient with the patients he treats in his practice.

“Paul’s wife, Kate, resents competing with his patients for attention, and though she pitches in to help with daily snags in his practice, she feels purposefully shut out of his professional life. The secrecy necessary to protect patient confidentiality feels excessive to her, but she also keeps some secrets of her own.”

Paul has his own therapist, Gina, played by Dianne Wiest.  Gina is helping Paul delve into his sadness over the affair, and perhaps with the consequences of his professional life and the toll it has taken on his family.

The best parts of In Treatment are the interplay between the characters, and the interaction between Paul and Gina is top notch.  The veteran actors embrace the complexities of their characters, and circle one another in a conversation that is at times a duel and at times a series of sympathetic revelations between old friends.  Gina is acutely aware of the self-delusions of Paul, who sees the self-delusions of his patients equally clearly but his blind to the deceptions of his own mind.

In the fifth week of their sessions Michelle’s character Kate joins in for couples therapy with her husband, and things get very interesting.  Kate’s insightful observations about Paul and his aforementioned self-delusions about his own life are some of the most interesting moments in the show.

Full episodes of In Treatment can be viewed on the HBO web site and on YouTube.  The show also airs on Fridays at 9:30 on HBO.

In the Battlestar Galactica “off season” Cylon alter ego Matthew Bennett has been equally ruthless as the CEO of a fictional Canadian hockey team called the Mustangs.  Matthew plays sports executive Malcolm LeBlanc on the CBC series MVP: The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives, and his character is just as cunning and single minded as his Cylon model Number Five on BSG. 

In the pilot episode Matthew’s character uses insurance funds from the death of one of his players to fund the salary of the dead guy’s replacement, leaving the widow penniless as a result.  His dirty dealings continue throughout the season, as Matthew’s character appears in every episode of the show.  The final episode of the first season will air Tuesday night on CBC, or fans of number five can watch all of the completed episodes on the CBC’s website.

While advertisements for the show play up the sex and drugs angle, reviews of MVP indicate that it is more about the sport of hockey and the realities of celebrity than some of the shows that inspired its creation.  MVP’s American cousin Football Wives was a highly anticipated ABC pilot starring Lucy Lawless that was rumored to be too controversial for the NFL, and the BBC version Footballers’ Wives was filled with sex, drugs, murder, and betrayal.  The lives of wives of professional sports stars have been getting more attention in recent years, although most of the time the reality of far less glamorous - and scandalous - than these shows would have viewers imagine.

Stephanie Chaves Jacobsen is shedding her Kendra Shaw persona from Battlestar Galactica: Razor and taking on another soldier role: she will play an elite soldier named Yoshi in an upcoming horror film starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Taryn Manning. 

The movie is directed by Sean Connery’s son Jason Connery, and is reportedly in post-production and scheduled for a 2009 release.  What the film does not have yet is a title, which is why it is typically referred to as “Untitled Gehenna Project” on most sites … although Jason Connery’s official site implies the film’s name may be Pandemic.

Based on the description, the film is a military horror film with some scifi elements:  “An elite group of soldiers on a covert mission to retrieve a scientist from an underground lab encounter an ancient evil in the facility.” 

If the tentative title and subject matter are any indication, expect the film to be at least slightly concerned with unethical experiments and their unintended consequences.  So in a way, the subject matter of her new project is a bit like the creepy Cylon lab that young William “Husker” Adama discovers in the flashbacks of Battlestar Galactica: Razor.

As previously reported on WatchingBSG, Stephanie also has an upcoming role in David E. Kelly’s remake of the critically acclaimed British drama Life on Mars.  Although ABC has yet to approve the BBC remake for the fall 2008 schedule, the show is highly anticipated and is still expected to be greenlit before the hot months hit.

Just in case you have not seen it yet, here is a clip of the Top Ten List from last week’s Late Show With David Letterman entitled “Top Ten Reasons to Watch The New Season of Battlestar Galactica.”

Each number on the list was recited by a member of the BSG cast, appearing in their character’s costume, which added to the fun.  The actors and actresses on the list were, in order of appearance, Aaron Douglas, Lucy Lawless, James Callis, Grace Park, Tricia Helfer, Michael Hogan, Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackhoff, Mary McDonnell, and Edward James Olmos.

If you don’t have the time or the technology to watch the clip, a text version of the List is below … it was a lot of fun, even if the audience did not seem to truly “get it.”

Number Ten, Chief Tyrol:  “In the dramatic season opening episode, we save fifteen percent by switching our insurance to Geico.”

Number Nine, D’Anna Biers:  “You’ll find out who’s in the hatch, and who gets off the island - crap, wrong show.”  In my opinion Lucy did a pretty good job with this one, which was awkward to read … and she did not even blink when Dave mispronounced her name “Diana.”

Number Eight, Dr. Baltar:  “My character creates his own line of Honey Roasted Space Nuts.”

Number Seven, Lt. Sharon Valleri:  “What else are you going to do, read a book?”

Number Six, Number Six:  “There’s a good chance you get to see me naked.”

Number Five, Col. Saul Tigh:  “There’s a good chance you’ll see me naked.”  Be sure to watch Tricia crack up behind him during the deadpan delivery.

Number Four, Captain Lee Adama:  “New FTL drives will allow the colonial fleet to better adjust to gravitational variations and achieve maximum superluminal travel to outrun the pursuing Cylon basestar - I don’t know what the hell I am talking about.”

Number Three, Starbuck:  “We engaged in a life and death battle against evil robots … you know, same $&#@ as last year.”

Number Two, President Laura Roslin:  “I take on the most challenging task of my political career - doing a lame top ten list on a third rate talk show.”

Number One, Admiral William Adama:  “Watch me lead us into war against the Cylons, without an exit strategy.”

BSG Executive Producer David Eick broke ranks with NBC Universal last week, telling the press that Bionic Woman really is over even as the network has stood by its claim that no official decision has been made about the future of the series.

“I just felt that the process was so frustrating, and the conditions under which we were making that show never really came to fruition in such a way that I felt like we could make the show well. The actress [Michelle Ryan] we found was wonderful. Some of the writing was good.

“We just didn’t ever bring it all together like we did with Battlestar,” he continued. “At a certain point, when it becomes that frustrating, I think you’re better off to say, ‘Let’s try again another time,’ and let it go.”

SciFi Wire got the scoop at last week’s SciFi Channel upfronts, where Eick was promoting Battlestar Galactica and the upcoming prequel series Caprica. 

The Toronto Star had some additional commentary from show star Katee Sackhoff, who plays Starbuck on BSG and also kicked butt as Jaime Sommers’ frenemy Sarah Corvus on Bionic Woman:

“It’s no one’s fault,” Sackhoff told the paper. “The hype was so big before the show came out, and they were so scared that it would fail, that everyone had an opinion. There were too many cooks in the kitchen, and they didn’t know what they were cooking.

“I mean, I know what went wrong. Had they given me the show, I could have figured it out. I could have told them exactly what to do. But then everyone would have put their hands in, and the same thing would have happened. You can’t blame anyone. That’s just how it goes.”

It’s sad news for Eick but especially sad news for Katee, who was poised to break out into the big time last summer when it looked like Bionic Woman was going to take off.  While the actress benefited from the attention and is still very much in demand, it would have been better for everyone involved with Bionic Woman if this show had lived up to its potential.

As promised, here are some more photos of various Battlestar Galactica stars at the SciFi Channel Upfront party that was held last week in New York.

Edward James Olmos, Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackhoff, Tricia Helfer, James Callis, Grace Park, David Eick, Aaron Douglas, Michael Hogan and many others were on site for the festivities, which were held at the MorganLibrary on March 18, 2008.

Jamie Bamber wore yet another dashing suit, and Mary McDonnell once again proved she looks gorgeous in gold.  Aaron Douglas channeled his inner hipster with a striped on striped ensemble, and Grace Park looked great in a sapphire dress.

While both Tricia Helfer and Katee Sackhoff wore the traditional little black dress, both actresses stood out with their choices of accessories.  Katee has a known preference for solid colors, but she broke out of the mold a bit by wearing gold shoes below her black skirt. Tricia was typically statuesque, wearing accessories that emphasized her body rather than her clothes.

Other SciFi Channel stars in attendance included Stargate’s Amanda Tapping, Eureka’s Salli Richardson, Jordan Hinson, and Erica Cerra (who is also known for her multi-episode role as Maya on BSG), and many others.  Network president Bonnie Hamer was also at the event.

The big news from last week’s upfront was the announcement that Ms. Hamer had finally agreed to Caprica, the prequel series that is described as “Dallas in Space.”  Watch this blog for more information on that new show in the weeks and months to come.

The luck of the Irish spilled over a couple of days, as we are lucky enough to get to see these fun photos outside the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York where the cast of Battlestar Galactica taped a Top Ten list for the Late Show With David Letterman. 

Today we bring you a few more pictures of the cast in New York, both before and after their appearances on the show.  The picture at the left shows BSG stars Grace Park, Katee Sackhoff, and Tricia Helfer after their appearance on the show. 

Tricia had initially arrived in full Six gear, wearing the white wig and red dress, and Grace entered the building in her fleet uniform.  Katee appears to have arrived in civilian clothing, much like Jamie Bamber who wore a dashing suit.

While you can’t see it in the photo to the left, Katee has a giant animal print bag on her arm that is even larger than Tricia’s chic black bag in this photo.  If anyone knows who makes the bag please let me know, as I have already had a couple people ask.

Also if anyone was at the taping, I would love to know the story behind the photo of Nicki Clyne, who plays Cally Tyrol.  It looks like she is doing a curtsy, but perhaps this is some sort of sobriety test parody?  Either way, the photo begs for some context!

There are more photos of the various Battlestar Galactica stars in before and after garb below, and of course be sure to check out yesterday’s post for more images.

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After taping their appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman yesterday, Battlestar Galactica sirens Katee Sackhoff, Tricia Helfer, and Grace Park got all dressed up to party with the SciFi Network at the official upfronts party in New York.

The big news from today’s upfronts is that the rumors about Caprica being greenlit have turned out to be true!  As always, the folks over at GalacticaSitRep.com have the scoop. 

Apparently the show will launch with a two hour movie this fall, Battlestar Galactica style, with the option to become a longer series.  The plan to delve into life on Caprica fifty years ago and explore the origins of the Cylons is still in place.

Photos from tonight’s party are still being posted on our wire company’s web site, as the party was tonight at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York. 

Be sure to check back soon for more photos of the ladies from the event, and of Edward James Olmos.  Hopefully some of the other cast members who were on Letterman will be featured in the photos as well.

Are you a Battlestar Galactica fan on a limited budget, or perhaps you do not get the SciFi Channel in your area? Then have no fear, for ITunes loss is your gain.

Previously fans could purchase BSG episodes from the ITunes site after they were shown on the SciFi Channel, but earlier this year SciFi’s parent company Universal removed all of its material from ITunes in order to support the launch of a new web venture called Hulu.com.

Hulu went beta last fall, and I was among the lucky folks who got to try out the site during its building period. It’s fast, easy to navigate and offers a surprising number of options that include canceled television shows and the occasional full movie. Universal, which owns the SciFi Channel, has been a strong partner and advocate of Hulu which gives fans hope that Season Four episodes will be posted there after they are broadcast later this Spring.

Currently there are five full episodes of BSG available on Hulu as well as some special features. “Dirty Hands,” “Maelstrom,” “The Son Also Rises,” and both parts of “Crossroads” can be watched instantly once you join Hulu’s membership. There are also over 83 clips of interviews, excerpts, and other material for perusal as well as the entire first season of the the classic version of the show.

There is a treasure trove of non-BSG material on the site as well. Folks who have always wondered why people refer to Joss Whedon’s short lived space western Firefly as a “masterpiece” can get their fill of Chinese curse words and gun fights by watching all fourteen episodes on Hulu. There are also full episodes of Eureka, The Office, as well as older shows like Fantasy Island and Doogie Howser, M.D.

More content gets added to Hulu every week, so it will be interesting to see how the site grows now that the writers’ strike is over and original television episodes are becoming more common on the air. The first two episodes of USA’s new show Canterbury’s Law are on Hulu, as are the first four episodes of Fox’s New Amsterdam. Let’s all hope that the new BSG episodes will be on Hulu by this time in April.

Check out these adorable pictures of the cast of Battlestar Galactica as they enter the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York to tape the Top Ten List for tomorrow night’s Late Show with David Letterman tribute. The list will be BSG-themed, with each cast member reading one of the lists’ famous one-line jokes.

The photo above shows BSG stars Michael Hogan (Col. Saul Tigh), Jamie Bamber (Lee “Apollo” Adama), Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin), James Callis (Dr. Gaius Baltar), and Aaron Douglas (The Chief) outside the famed theater. We also see a grinning Grace Park (Sharon “Athena” Agathorn) entering the theater in her BSG uniform, while Jamie Bamber is wearing a suit - a contrast that is consistent with the fourth season promotional photos (as well as some of the early spoilers).

Some of the pictures showed Aaron Douglas and Michael Hogan in uniform as well, while Edward James Olmos (Admiral Bill Adama) wore a Battlestar Galactica pullover and many of the other stars wore street clothes. Whether those photos were taken before or after the show was filmed, however, is not always clear.

Below is a collection of photos from outside the theater, including a great photo of Edward James Olmos & Michael Hogan, and a shot of Katee Sackhoff (Kara “Starbuck” Thrace) carrying a ginormous zebra striped bag over her shoulder while signing autographs for fans. Tricia Helfer arrived in full Six regalia, including her famous white wig and killer red dress.

There is also a cuddly photo of Aaron Douglas with Nicki Cline, who plays his wife Cally. Nicki was not among the cast members listed by the SciFi Channel as appearing on the Late Show, so it is not clear if she was there to cheer on the cast or if she is making a surprise appearance.

In an interesting coincidence, Rainn Wilson from The Office was also on the scene at the same time as the BSG cast. Could the list contain a “Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica” reference?