Battlestar Galactica

Not a Cylon-style dream vision, but a new role that involves viewing things from behind the camera … instead of in front of it, where the two actors usually find themselves when it comes to Battlestar Galactica.

In the next year there will also be ten new BSG mini-webisodes, and they will be directed by Jamie Bamber (Lee “Apollo” Adama) and James Callis (Gaius Baltar).  Each actor will direct five episodes each, and it is not yet clear if they will share the same plot line of if the webisodes will be dealing with separate times and characters.

Jamie talked about the project a wee bit when he was a guest on the ShaunOMac show Friday night, but for the most part details on this are TBD. 

By the way, I was a guest on Shaun’s show last night and we had some interesting discussions with callers about the way the season is developing … and that infamous Last Supper photo.  You can listen to recordings of both shows on BlogTalkRadio.com.

Bear McCreary’s compositions add amazing layers to Battlestar Galactica, and it seems his talents are only growing in season four.

Bear recently blogged about the various pieces he composed for last week’s dramatic season four premiere, and included the translation for the haunting chant/prayer that is part of his new theme for Gaius Baltar.

The combination is designed to highlight Gaius’ new mental, emotional, and spiritual journey and the lyrics combine Cylon and Fleet sayings with images of suffering and redemption:

We gadriaþ in nihtscuan (We gather in shadow,)
Neoðan þin gledstede, (Beneath your altar,)
þin liċfæst in blode ond lieġe. (Your image in blood and flame.)
Nu þin ġebann, æþreddaþ us (By your command, deliver us)
To þæm anliċum æltæwan gastcyninge (Unto the One True God)
Gaius Baltar, ure dryhtweorþ nergend (Gaius Baltar, our divine savior)
Nu ond æfre to alder. (Now and for eternity.)
Swa we ġehwilc ġehalsiaþ. (So say we all. )

Bear also blogs about how he uses his compositions to highlight the complicated nature of the Battlestar Galactica characters, playing music that may not seem appropriate for the dialogue to increase the drama of a scene. I love Bear’s music, so it’s a damn effective technique if you ask me!

Fans who have watched the first episode of Season Four, “He That Believeth In Me,” might be curious about the bevy of beautiful women who are suddenly keeping company with Dr. Gaius Baltar.

Tracey Anne is the young woman who shows Dr. Baltar the benefits of his new life situation, using the language that Baltar understands the best.  She is played by Leela Savasta, a Canadian actress who grew up in Vancouver and has appeared on Smallville and Stargate: Atlantis.  The photo to the left was taken from Leela’s official web site, which reports we have not seen the last of her character.  Leela will also be a regular on Atlantis during its upcoming fifth season.

Click the link to read more about Baltar’s new friends, but beware of spoilers if you have not seen the episode yet.

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Even people who don’t watch How I Met Your Mother are talking about TedMosbyIsAJerk.com, the fake web site that made headlines this week after it was mentioned in Monday’s episode.  But very few people have picked up on the site’s Battlestar Galactica reference.

A twenty minute musical manifesto featuring watery vomit sounds, death threats, pleas for phone calls, and everything in between, TedMosbyIsAJerk.com also features these lyrics at approximately minute thirteen:

“I hate everything about you, and I will make sure that you die … I know the truth about you Ted Mosby, you look, and talk, and act like a real human being, but I know what you really are … You are a Cylon!  And your only goal is total annihilation of the entire human race … I talked to my best friend Dr. Baltar and he told me, so don’t tell me that you love me, don’t tell me that you have feelings, you can’t have feelings, you’re a frakking TOASTER!”

Nice! 

A bit of background:  HIMYM is about five friends living in New York City.  Barney is the womanizer, a completely immoral uber-yuppie whose outlandish ploys to bed woman literally know no boundaries.  He is disgusting, charming, unexpectedly wise, and quite a bit like Gaius Baltar.  But instead of being played by James Callis as a brilliant scientist, Barney is a mysterious businessman played just as brilliantly by Neil Patrick Harris of Doogie Howser, M.D.

Ted Mosby is his best friend, the “I” in How I Met Your Mother, and an architect who has all of Barney’s lust but none of his confidence (Ted also has a conscience, assuming he is not too drunk). 

One of the best episodes of HIMYM is a season two show where Barney attempts to prove to Ted that women think architects are hot.  Barney wants to show Ted that wooing women is often all about the attitude, so he goes around telling people he is “Ted Mosby, Architect” all night and of course causes a bunch of trouble in the process.  He also sleeps with a woman and sneaks out while she is in the shower, leaving her a letter saying not to contact him as he is a ghost who can only materialize every decade.  Trust me, it was funny.

Fast forward to season three, and the web site.  Barney as the Fifth and Final Cylon?  Nah.  It’s just a hysterical promotional item, a great inside joke, and a nice shout out to another show for smart people.  Although it is BSG, and if Tigh is a Cylon then anything could happen.

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.”

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?

Tricia Helfer recently had another movie come out, the psychological thriller Spiral.  Zachary Levi from Chuck plays the tormented lead, and talked in an interview with IFMagazine about how much he enjoyed working with Tricia.  He also mentioned that she would be great as a character on his show (perhaps as Sarah’s spy sister), a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with:

“Tricia was a doll. She was ridiculously talented and ridiculously hot,” Zachary said.  “She was so nice. She was only there one day and it was a great day. We sat around and talked about life and Battlestar Galactica and her husband and how great life was and it was a really fun time to be making the movie. That day with Tricia was a lot of fun. I hope that our paths cross again in the future and we get to work together again, because she really is a class act.”

This photographer has a cute pic up of Aaron Douglas from last weekend’s SF Ball in Great Britain.

I watched a lot of television while I was sick, including the episode from the first season of Supernatural that featured Callum Keith Rennie (Leoban) as an obnoxiously cocky hunter who gets eaten by a Wendigo.  If you are a Leoban fan add it to your Netflix queue if you have not seen it already.

Check out this interesting animation of Giaus Baltar created by Braden Poirer of Ontario.  I like the way he captures James Callis’ questioning attitude and the way his back alternately slumps and arches when he talks.

Check out this great picture from Entertainment Weekly, showing some of the bad boys and girls of television. Right there in the center, ogling Vanessa Williams’ goodies, is Battlestar Galactica’s James Callis channeling his Baltar persona. What a great photo, and many thanks to Christopher at Grid Effect for posting it and to Just Jarad as well.

The photo originally appeared in January 2007, almost a year ago this week, which is very interesting when you think about the fact that at that time in the BSG chronology Baltar was president of the colonies and not the prisoner he would be by the end of the season.

We will start season four with a pardoned Baltar, who will apparently be exploring a new and even more metaphysical path. Although since we are talking about Gaius Baltar, ever the sensualist, the consequences are rumored to be more physical than cerebral. That’s our Baltar!

Battlestar Galactica stars Nicki Clyne, who plays Cally Tyrol, and Mark Sheppard, who played Baltar’s eclectic attorney Romo Lampkin, have autographed Avon Breast Cancer Awareness teddy bears which are currently up for auction on E-bay. Any bids you place on these collectible bears will help support breast cancer research and the “Save the Boobs!” campaign.

The bear sale is coordinated by Lisa Spodak of LisaWalks.com, who has over fifty autographed items up for auction on Ebay right now. When I checked this morning the bear signed by Joe Flanigan from Stargate: Atlantis was (by far) the most popular, inspiring over thirty bids and going for more than $200.

The bear from T.R. Knight, who plays George on Grey’s Anatomy, was in second place in terms of asking price, followed closely by bears signed by Oliver Phelps, who plays one of the Weasley Twins in the Harry Potter movies, knighted actor Sir Ian McKellen, Heroes‘ hottie cheerleader Hayden Panttierre, and Anthony Stewart Head who played Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Other items for sale are autographed by Morena Baccarin and Alan Tudyk from Firefly and Serenity, Michael C. Hall from Dexter and Six Feet Under, and Sean Astin from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Previous bear auctions by Lisa have included items autographed by Battlestar Galactica stars Nicki Clyne (Cally Tyrol), James Callis (Dr. Giaus Baltar), Jamie Bamber (Lee “Apollo” Adama), Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin), Grace Park (Boomer/Sharon/Athena), Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama), Tricia Helfer (Number Six/Gina), Michael Hogan (Col. Tigh), Kandyse McClure (Anastasia “Dee” Dualla), Aaron Douglas (Chief Tyrol), and Tahmoh Penikett (Karl “Helo” Agathon).

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so for more information about efforts to help combat breast cancer check out DiscussingBreastCancer.com or there will be plenty of posts about pink-themed products all month at LimitedEditionFoods.com.

Battlestar Galactica, breast cancer, Nicki Clyne, T.R. Knight, Grey’s Anatomy, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Firefly, Serenity, Stargate, Atlantis, Joe Flanigan, Oliver Phelps, Harry Potter, Ian McKellen, Hayden Panttierre, Heroes, Anthony Stewart Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mark Sheppard, Bionic Woman, Michael C. Hall, Dexter, Six Feet Under, Sean Astin, Lord of the Rings, Nikki Clyne, James Callis, Jamie Bamber, Mary McDonnell, Grace Park, Edward James Olmos, Tricia Helfer, Michael Hogan, Kandyse McClure, Aaron Douglas, Tahmoh Penikett, Tyrol, Baltar, Six, Adama, Roslin, Dualla, Helo, Boomer, Athena, Apollo

With rare (and mostly short lived) exceptions, most of the characters on Battlestar Galactica experience more of the unrequited part of the phrase unrequited love. The show has more glimpses with potential than actual passion, and this lack of romantic relationships adds to aura of forlorn weariness that surrounds the characters. There is always hope for some happiness, however, which is why many of the most fervent speculations about season four have centered around which characters will have the opportunity to unite before the series ends.

Writer Ron Moore divulged some interesting information about this recently, so click below if you want some spoilers.

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Edward James Olmos & Ron Moore have been nominated for the Gene Roddenberry Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the genre. Fans can vote for “Eddie” or at SyFyPortal, the host of the SyFy Genre Awards.

Edward James Olmos has an acting and producing career that has spanned decades, but most scifi fans associate his early years with his role in Blade Runner. In the past few years he has captured the loyalty of even more scifi fans for his intense portrayal of Captain Adama on Battlestar Galactica.

Ron Moore is also a scifi veteran, a trusted Star Trek writer and producer with a long list of scifi credits that include many Star Trek versions and of course Battlestar Galactica. As of July 30, Ron Moore had more votes than his star from the fans.

The other three competitors in the category are Gene Coon, the man who created the Klingons in Star Trek, Russell T. Davies, who resurrected Dr. Who, and James Doohan the Scotsman who played Scotty on the original Star Trek.

Battlestar Galactica garnered the most SyFy genre nominations this year, getting recognition for several of its actors and a nomination for best show and best episode. BSG got 13 nominations total including nominations for Mary McDonnell, Tricia Helfer, James Callis, Michael Hogan, Eddie, Lucy Lawless, and Katee Sackhoff. To vote for BSG, click here. Fans are allowed to vote once per day, per IP address, through August 25.

Edward James Olmos, Battlestar Galactica, Gene Roddenberry, Russell T. Davies, Dr. Who, Scotty, James Doohan, Star Trek, Klingon, scifi, Tricia Helfer, Mary McDonnell, James Callis, Michael Hogan, Lucy Lawless, Katee Sackhoff, award, Gene Coon, Blade Runner

DeekoNews.com is reporting that James Callis is in Estonia this summer filming a movie based on the prolific Dragonlance book series. The site claims a story appeared in the Russian press recently stating that James was filming the flick, that he was doing an amazing job, and destined to be the breakout star of the show:

Breakout role goes to James Callis (aka Dr. Gaius Baltar) as Raistlin (love the white-blonde
hair!), the weaker twin of Church’s character who is a mage.

Other Dragonlance cast members apparently include Ethan Hawke, Thomas Hayden Church, Val Kilmer, Kate Beahan, Kumiko Harada, and Adrian Brody.

This movie is entirely different from Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, an animated movie starring Kiefer Sutherland, Lucy Lawless, and Michelle Trachtenburg scheduled to be released this fall. But there is nothing in IMDB about a second Dragonlance movie, in fact I can’t find much information about it at all. It’s either a hoax, a well-kept secret, a confused report, or something else quite strange. If anybody finds any information please post and let us know!

Battlestar Galactica, Dragonlance, Lucy Lawless, Michelle Trachtenburg, Kiefer Sutherland, Ethan Hawke, James Callis, Thomas Hayden Church, Val Kilmer, Adrian Brody, Kate Beahan, Estonia, dragon, book

This cute picture of Battlestar Galactica’s Nicki Clyne with an Avon breast cancer awareness bear comes courtesy of New Yorker Lisa Spodak. Lisa asks celebrities to pose with the bears and then auctions them off along with other autographed awareness items to raise money for Avon’s Walk for Breast Cancer.

Based on photos on Lisa’s site she is quite the scifi fan and has been lucky enough to get bears from a number of scifi celebrities such as Firefly, Lord of the Rings, and Stargate cast members, Neil Gaiman, Joss Whedon, and most of the cast of Battlestar Galactica. Previous BSG bear auctions have included Jamie Bamber, Grace Park, James Callis, Mary McDonnell, Edward James Olmos, Tricia Helfer, Michael Hogan, Kandyse McClure, Aaron Douglas, and Tahmoh Penikett; many of these folks were also kind enough to sign a pair of pink Everlast boxing gloves which Lisa auctioned off to support the cause. If you are interested in bidding on Nicki’s bear sign up for Lisa’s mailing list as the auction will be going live soon.

If bears are not your thing but you still want to help “Save the Boobs,” then check out Karen Lynch’s Discussing Breast Cancer blog. Karen is a two-time breast cancer survivor who gives a detailed account of her life after her double mastectomy to raise awareness for breast cancer prevention efforts.

Battlestar Galactica, Nicki Clyne, breast cancer, Avon, celebrity, walk, autograph, Firefly, Stargate, Neil Gaimon, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Grace Park, Mary McDonnell, Edward James Olmos, Tricia Helfer, Allessendro Juliani, Michael Hogan, Kandyse McClure, Tahmoh Penikett, Aaron Douglas, mastectomy

You Tube is filled with some crazy stuff, clips on just about every topic you can imagine. The religious themes in Battlestar Galactica have been discussed all over the ‘net, but I have not seen it put quite like this:

James Callis, Battlestar Galactica

Edward James Olmos, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, Mary McDonnell, Lucy Lawless and Mark Sheppard were among the VIPs at the SciFi Channel’s All Access Event at the Arclight in Los Angeles last Wednesday.

After being treated to a replay of the season finale “Crossroads” on the giant screen of the Cinerama Dome, fans got to ask over two hours of questions to the cast in a Q&A session moderated by Lucy Lawless. TV Squad has a great recap of the event, which featured a lot of laughter and talking about sex, which of course led to some great quotes from cast as well as producers David Eick and Ronald D. Moore.

Lucy asked “Is Admiral Adama ever going to get laid?” *laughter* Jamie responded by saying “He’s Latino! He has to do it two times a day!” Then someone interjected (I forget who, everyone was cracking up at this point) that we’d already seen Lucy in a threesome with Six and Baltar, to which Lucy said “Well, that was Cylon sex … woo.” What, like that doesn’t count?

Lucy then went on to ask if anyone had a favorite “nudie” scene, and Katee talked about her body paint scene with Callum Keith Rennie. The director kept saying that her pasties were getting in the shot, so she finally ripped them off, and Rennie covered her breasts up with his paint-coated hands. Problem solved. David Eick joked that he was going to buy his own house in Malibu by selling the naked pictures of Katee on eBay, baby.

Don from AI in Software was also lucky enough to attend, order soda with Edward James Olmos, and witness this exchange:

Lucy Lawless said her favorite Battlestar moment was when her character was interviewing Lee Adama while his bathrobe was falling off. She was like “what was keeping your towel on, Lee?� Jamie Bamber had this look on his face like “well clearly it was my giant british penis� but elected to say nothing.

Don also adds context to the widely-reported comment by Edward James Olmos that Blade Runner failed because of Harrison Ford. Apparently Olmos was commenting on the failure of the movie’s fans to accept him in the role, which canceled the possibility of the planned sequels, and giving Blade Runner as an example of “good” science fiction as opposed to “action movies that are supposedly set in the future.”

The Q&A from the event also contained some spoilers, so stop reading now if you like to avoid such things:

- The joking at the Q&A added fuel to the fire storm of speculations that the producers do not actually know what the Cylon’s plan is, which is worrisome as they will soon be filming the final season.

- Fans at the event also got to see a promo for this fall’s movie Razor, which focuses on the Pegasus and includes flashbacks involving the history of the ship and thus shows us more of the formidable Admiral Cain.

- Don’t expect a happy ending, as the producers feel the heart of the show is more about the “yearning” than the completion.

- The Six in Baltar’s Head will be back in Season Four, with some “new twists,” and the show may finally get a homosexual character as well.

- A fleeting glimpse in the Razor promo has some fans wondering of the classic Cylons from the original BSG will make an appearance. Apparently the movie has flashbacks to the original Cylon war, which creates the opportunity for a lot of fun tributes to the old series.

We leave you with a clip of the carpet chaos and one more blogger quote, from TVSquad, and a photo that shows exactly what he is talking about … a lot of guys were talking about Katee Sackhoff’s sexy lace up boots, but I think it is Mary McDonnell who steals the evening in her blue dress.

Lucy asked how the younger actors were enjoying being on a successful series, to which Mary McDonnell primped and preened and said “Oh, you mean me?” Honestly, the woman looked amazing, and I would totally believe that she was one of the younger generation.

Battlestar Galactica, Arclight, Los Angeles, SciFi Channel, Jamie Bamber, Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Lucy Lawless, Mark Sheppard, Harrison Ford, Blade Runner, Cylon, Pegasus, David Eick, Ronald D. Moore