Despite the tremendous success of superhero movies in the past few years, there’s nothing buzzing the geek world more than that of Sci-Fi.
–Defiance, the long-awaited “next big thing” from the SyFy network, arrives on television April 15. The video game, which will intersperse with the program, arrives April 2nd.
–Star Wars VII, starring Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher – yes, you read that correctly – arrives sometime in 2015, and will be directed by some strangely random nerd wannabe J.J. Abrams. My only speculation for the flick is that it will take place 20 to 3o-years after the Battle of Yavin — to match the ages of its classic Stars.. stars. While the story may focus on Leia and Han’s kid, Anakin (*cough*), the elder Luke may even sport some darker threads much a-kin to his pops during Revenge of the Sith.
If you don’t believe me, read Dark Empire.
–Star Trek: Into Darkness, Abram’s follow-up to the rousingly successful re-imagined Star Trek, hits theaters May 17.
Get it?
Got it?
Good.
Then it only made sense that the majority of WonderCon Anaheim’s finest panels on Friday spotlighted the nerdiest genre of all. We began just after noontime with the 35th year anniversary of the most prestigious Sci-Fi TV series since the original “Star Trek”, in Battlestar Galactica.
“[Battlestar] was good people doing bad things under the right circumstances,” summed Richard Hatch, star of both the original and modern take on the show. “I’m a fan of great art, [so] I was blown away by [BSG]. I live for great story and great characters. Battlestar imagined an intergalactic holocaust, which reconciled both good and bad guys. I love this world.”
That outlook on the cult series shadowed WonderCon’s jam-packed room, with fans of both the old and newer versions. The panel’s hour wouldn’t go without its share of controversy. It’s actually a nearly expected annual occurrence for Battlestar, with Hatch explaining last year’s troubles with debuting Blood and Chrome’s trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT79x4qM4FE
Even the prequel’s star, Lili Bordan, showed 30-minutes late when typical LA traffic plagued her arrival.
The discussion’s controversy started, however, with an expected first question: “What the hell happened in that last show? What were those angels?”
“Those were the beings of light from the original Battlestar,” explained the series’ scientific adviser Kevin Grazier.
Hatch wouldn’t shy away from his wanting redemption for the political flip-flopping-turned-genocidal-maniac, Tom Zarek, either. “I always wanted a final moment, in the satirical sense like [Richard] Nixon. I am not a mass murderer!”
“No one gets out of this panel alive.”
“Unless they’re an angel,” cried Battlestar producer and co-writer Michael Taylor – of course ragging on the panel’s first question.
So, how did a show with such heavy political and social commentary get on TV in the first place?
Screenwriter Ron Moore sent the network a manifesto stating that Battlestar wouldn’t become a program featuring extraterrestrial beings with rubber make-up. “Just hot chicks with red dresses,” panned Taylor. “[BSG] was based on a recognizable military reality; the aircraft carrier in space; the navy operations. The characters would be real and flawed. Some of these folks are really fucked up – let’s face it.”
Even more fucked up were Taylor’s closing comments about the long-awaited SyFy series/video game, Defiance: “Defiance is [basically] aliens and humans living together – I thought that was ‘Deadwood’. Play the game! Watch the show!”
“Actually, just watch the show.”
Ahh.. the cynical world of Sci-Fi.
Stay Tuned for Sci-Fri-day Part 2 spotlighting a very entertaining and informative discussion on J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek: Into Darkness.