Battlestar Galactica

Edward James Olmos will be featured in a documentary on Discovery en Espanol on Sunday night, where he will discuss the real issues behind gang violence in a documentary called Voces de Cambio. This is a cause close to Olmos’ heart and one he has spoken about in the past, and he makes another passionate plea for action in the broadcast:

“We are all responsible for our future. This is a simple truth an honest truth. The role that ex-gang members have on society is intrinsic. An ex-gang member can turn around the lives of thousands upon thousands of people as they turn negative energy into positive - it’s enough to make one cry.”

BSG writer Mark Verheiden recently blogged about the bittersweet joy of ending his Battlestar Galactica experience, and about the cast and crew’s belief that “no spoilers” makes the show a more enjoyable experience. 

Speaking of spoilers, a clip from the extended version of “Unfinished Business” (also known as “the New Caprica shipper episode”) has been leaked on the Internet.  Or you can wait and watch the clip in context when the Season Three DVD comes out later this month.

On a related note, I recently confessed on the ShaunOMac show that I have been taking great pains to avoid watching any of the Season Four promos for the show or the cast and crew interviews, which is why you have not seen any on the blog.  The always-reliable folks at Galactica SitRep have them all, however, so if are looking for a good collection head over there.  If you really think we need to have them over here at WatchingBSG.com too then feel free to drop me a note and let me know.  Now back to the news!

Even if you are spoiler-phobic like me, you can still enjoy the new clip up on SciFi.com where the channel condenses the first three seasons of BSG into one eight-minute clip.

Some lucky fans snagged a radio interview with Mark Sheppard, who plays Baltar’s mysterious lawyer Romo, at last weekend’s MegaCon:

“When I asked Mark Sheppard to do the on-air interview he asked me, ‘What do they want to talk about?,’ and I said, ‘You!’ He replied, ‘Great! I know all about that subject.’”

Lucy Lawless’ new movie, the animated Justice League: A New Frontier, has been getting strong reviews.  Lucy’s controversial Wonder Woman joins a cast that includes Bionic Woman’s Miguel Ferrer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s David Boreanaz, and many others.

Grace Park’s film West 32nd will be featured at the San Francisco Asian American International Film Festival later this month, but the early word is that Grace herself will not be able to join her costar John Cho at the screening.

The always-entertaining Leah Cairns recently did an audio interview with the folks over at Battlestar Blog, which you can listen to here.

Thanks to Whedonesque for helping us find this great clip of Mark Sheppard, aka Romo Lampkin, talking about Battlestar Galactica at DragonCon a couple weeks ago. Mark also played Badger on Joss Whedon’s Firefly, and he compares the two series before lapsing into a passionate explanation of how Joss Whedon and Ron Moore, among others, are the “geeks who inherited the Earth.”

Mark Sheppard, Romo Lampkin, Joss Whedon, Ron Moore, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, DragonCon

Baltar’s eccentric lawyer, Romo Lampkin, may be back for Battlestar Galactica’s fourth season. Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune caught up with Romo’s alter ego, Mark Sheppard, at Comicon this weekend and reports the return is definitely possible. Sheppard is already committed to regular appearances in a complex role on David Eick’s Bionic Woman, as well as an episode of Medium when his dead doctor returns to haunt Patricia Arquette’s Allison DuBois. Busy guy!

Mark Sheppard, Battlestar Galactica, Chicago Tribune, Patricia Arquette, Allison DuBois, Comicon, Romo Lampkin, lawyer

Baltar’s trial provided a riveting end to Battlestar Galactica’s third season, and Mark Sheppard was a big reason why the story line was such a success.

BuddyTV.com has an extended interview with Sheppard, including audio, in which he professes his love for the character of Gaius Baltar, what it was like to film the trial, and how he sees his character as anything but “smarmy.”

Sheppard has played a variety of intriguing characters over the years including petty thief Badger on Firefly and an evil serial killer on Medium. In the interview, he also reveals he will be back on Medium next season, which is great news for fans of his very creepy Dr. Charles Walker.

Mark Sheppard, Baltar, Battlestar Galactica, lawyer, Medium, Firefly, lawyer

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