Watch Virtuality on Fox.com

Even though I had been long anticipating Virtuality, turns out my work schedule conflicted with actually watching it. Now, the day after it's air date, Virtuality is up to view online at Fox on Demand. I've had problems in the past viewing stuff on Fox.com, but they keep updating the player so maybe it's better now, and depending which browser you use.

Even if you were lucky enough to watch it last night, and if you liked it, give it a watch at the Fox site. They can count the hits there, and maybe it will help supplement the fan drive to have Virtuality picked up as a series (follow link to join the drive to get Virtuality picked up as a series). Join them on Facebook too! - Official Virtuality Facebook page, unofficial Virtuality Facebook fan page. Every little bit helps!

Virtuality webisodes/trailers/reality show/clips/?

Apparently the 12 minutes of footage from Virtuality (see previous post) spread around the web more quickly than in the form it was intended as. Sci Fi Wire points out that the Edge of Never: Life on Phaeton fictional reality series (is that confusing?) has been posted as webisode-style clips on this Edge of Never Facebook page. I haven't cross-referenced all of the clips on the Facebook page with the 12 minute clip, but it looks like it's mostly the same stuff, except strung together in the 12 minute clip. I find it unfortunate for FOX to have tried to create a sort of viral sensation tied to Virtuality, but now it just looks a little silly - The 12 minutes have been circling around the web since about the same date as the earliest post on the Facebook page, which only has 108 fans. It's still fun to get a glimpse at what the show will look like.

Virtuality coming to Fox July 4th

Saturdays at 8:00pm ET&PT / 7:000pm Central, starting on July 4th, is Fox's air date for Ron Moore's new series Virtuality. Sci Fi Wire and Futon Critic

"Co-created by Michael Taylor and Ronald D. Moore ("Battlestar Galactica"), the sci-fi drama revolves around the crew of the Phaeton, Earth's first starship. To endure the 10-year journey, the astronauts use virtual reality modules which allow them to assume avatars and explore self-created scenarios. But just as the mission is about to enter its critical go/no-go phase, a virus begins to infect the system and puts all of their lives on the line."

Colonial Dispatch 4.23.09

A little bit of catching up to do here...

Don't forget to sign the Battlestar Memorial Wall over at scifi.com!

"CSI: A Space Oddity", which features Ron Moore, Grace Park, and Kate Vernon in a faux sci-fi genre themed episode, is now available to view at CBS.com. Click here or watch below:



The network of Aaron Douglas fans (The Chief's Deck rules!) bring us this sweet clip of the upcoming show "The Bridge" which premieres July 9 at 10pm on CBS in the USA (I thought this was only in Canada! w00t!) and on CTV in Canada:



If you followed The Chief's Deck link above, you may have noticed the post about recent updates on Nicki Clyne's blog featuring pics of her and Aaron from the sets of BSG.

Another big video chunk below, which I failed to post here when it came out at the end of March (you can bet they'll have this on the 4.5 DVD) - The final read through with the cast and crew of BSG:



And if you're not tired of watching video clips yet (if you are, take a break!), and you haven't had the chance to see the UN Battlestar Retrospective, it's all up on SciFi.com in 6 parts. Here's the link to Part 1, and you can navigate the remainder from the menu at the right of the page.

James Callis will appear in the season finale of NBC's Numb3rs. Geeky math and science worlds unite! James seems to be a bit typecast as he's playing a sort of "charismatic sociopath" - SF Universe


Eddie Olmos has signed on to co-star in the movie "Hollywood Players" which begins filming this July - Moviehole

Here's a nice overview of the BSG panel/honors at Paley Fest which included a screener of the Caprica pilot, at TV Week.

If anyone was wondering what happened with the Caprica video blogs on Sci Fi Wire, they seem to have stopped posting them. Those who bought the Caprica DVD (in the USA at least) will find the same 2 video blogs Sci Fi Wire has posted so far, plus a third video blog in the extra features, and that's about it aside from the commentary, deleted scenes (which actually seemed pretty relevant), and a Ghost Hunters episode.

Edit - Did anyone catch 30 Rock tonight and see the cool "What the Frak?!" t-shirt Salma Hayek's character wore?

Colonial Dispatch 3.24.09

The Colonies are now gone, but a distant signal still echoes through the stars... Hoo boy. It's been a long weekend and there's a lot to keep up with in Battlestar world.

How about starting with something that is looking future forward? io9 has posted a collection of 7 clips from Caprica giving us some insight on the series and the pilot DVD coming in a few weeks! - That's April 21 to be exact.

According to Sci Fi/NBCU (still refusing to use the new name), the Battlestar finale topped the charts when it aired, although I had heard otherwise - I guess that's why I'm not a statistician. See the numbers at Futon Critic

If you don't like imagination killers, the don't read yet another commentary/interview (from Monday's press screening) with Ron Moore about what he was thinking with the finale at Sci Fi Wire. Okay, how can you really not read that? Ron also talks about what kind of "extended cut" material we'll get on the DVD, so perhaps those who feel unfulfilled by the finale will find satisfaction when 4.5 comes out on DVD.

As much as I dislike having things explained so much, the following is what I've been waiting to hear from Ron Moore - Ronald D. Moore on the Meaning of God in Battlestar Galactica's Finale on AMC's Sci Fi Scanner blog. Ron also talks a bit about the future of the franchise.

Mary McDonnell has a job lined up with The Closer which stars Kyra Sedgwick. Mary will be playing a police captain who "butts heads with Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson" (played by Sedgwick), and is likely to debut in the upcoming 5th season of the show. via TheStar.com

Speaking of Mary McDonnell, here's some words from her about the finale during the press screening at The New York Post blog Pop Wrap.

We'll try and filter all the finale reviews and commentaries into one big post here soon.

One more link for Mary McDonnell, a little late but still relevant... The LA Times caught up with her before her appearance at the UN event last week, and talked a bit about the themes of her character.

Check out this HUGE interview with Bear McCreary from German fan site Caprica City (Yes, it's in English - phew!).

CNet Asia has a nice little walk down memory lane with The Technology of Battlestar Galactica, comparing it to real life tech we have today. I like to think of it as a "greatest hits" of sorts.

If you're fascinated with the subject of robotics and technology, and the way it worked out in Battlestar Galactica, Terminator, and other sci-fi, you might find the book Wired for War by P.W. Singer well worth the read:

"Wired for War takes the reader on a journey to meet all the various players in this strange new world of war: odd-ball roboticists working in latter-day “skunk works” in the midst of suburbia; military pilots flying combat mission from their office cubicles outside Las Vegas; the Iraqi insurgents who are their targets; journalists trying to figure out just how to cover robots at war; and human rights activists wrestling with what is right and wrong in a world where our wars are increasingly being handed over to machines."

The 4 part comic book series Battlestar Galactica: Cylon War continues with part 3 tomorrow, March 25. Check out a preview at comicbookresources.com. That review I promised might as well wait until after the 4th book comes out next month, since I've procrastinated this long.

Eddie just rules - Edward James Olmos, CardPartner Promote Latino Literacy at PR Inside.com

Kotaku offers some not so great BSG fixes in the gaming world. I'd personally like a Fallout 3 meets Mass Effect style series of console games that takes place on all the planets from the Battlestar universe; The 12 colonies, Kobol, algae planet, Tillium mine moon (from "Scar"), Earth 1, and prehistoric Earth 2. I'll get right on developing that.

Movie Moron looks at the movies that influenced Battlestar Galactica. Of course, you knew all of these, but it's fun discussing the details, isn't it?

PC World has learned 10 lessons about business from Battlestar Galactica, and maybe we can too!

This simply must be read - Battlestar Galactica: Watched the Finale? Exclusive Interview With Kevin Grazier, Science Advisor at Discover magazine online.

Hit refresh! More updates on the way...

Moore questions and Moore answers

Do you still have questions after the finale as to what Kara is supposed to be as intended by Ron Moore? TV Guide put up a Q&A late Friday night with Moore, assumably excerpted from the conference held last Monday after the press screenings, and they pretty much posed the same questions I would have asked, which included clarification on what he meant with certain aspects with the show that weren't blazingly obvious (which as many may agree, is a large majority of the show by the end).

I haven't been a huge fan of commentaries and interviews that have to explain everything. I think the story should do it on it's own, and what it doesn't, the imagination can take over. Alas, my imagination kicked into overtime with the finale, and I really wanted to know what RDM and co. intended with some of the big pending, not-so-clearly answered issues. If you do too check out TV Guide.com's Battlestar Galactica's Ron Moore Answers Our Burning Questions.

Moore and cast members Mary McDonnell and Edward James Olmos were present for Monday's press screening, and Alan Sepinwall seems to have the majority if not all of the conference transcribed here. Again, read at your own imagination killing risk ;)

Ron Moore talks about the finale

I've been saving up a whole lotta interviews, commentaries and other stuff to wait to watch and read until after the end of Battlestar. Thankfully I only have a week to go before I can start catching up. It will give me something to do while waiting for The Plan and the Caprica DVD to come out.

THR.com has posted a Q&A with Ron Moore discussing the series finale on their Live Feed blog. I don't dare read this until after next Friday, since Ron is really the worst at giving major hints during interviews and commentaries. That being said, I can't speak for any spoilers in the interview, but here's a quote from the beginning of the post to summarize - "Moore talks about the last episode, networks shying away from serials, J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" remake and the one genre he'd like to tackle next."

Read Q&A: Ron Moore on 'Battlestar' series finale from James Hibberd's Live Feed at THR.com.

The Final Stretch

Here we are exactly two weeks before the night of the premiere of Battlestar Galactica season 4.5, and as some of you may be noticing (if you browse around the web for it) there have been press screenings of the January 16th episode, along with the almost inevitable spoilers that go along with that. We here at FRAK hope to continue maintaining a spoiler-free environment (with spoiler warnings where necessary), especially as we tread the final stretch.

Over at The Watcher, Maureen Ryan has been privy to one of those screenings. While she has no spoilers in her recent post (except the title of the January 16th episode and a very un-telling photo from it), she does recommend that Battlestar fans remain as spoiler free as possible to enjoy the unfolding of the series finale, and to steer clear of any internet or print mention of the final episode(s) until after they've aired. Thanks Maureen, and again - FRAK is here to serve and protect!

Alan Sepinwall also posted at his blog yesterday about viewing the screening and vows to remain spoiler-free as well, and the entailing discussion from that post prompted him to post a July interview with Ron Moore today which discusses in a mostly non-spoiler way the themes of the coming series Caprica and the formulation of the Battlestar Galactica finale. The extent of the spoilers in the interview are general thematic and character discussions of Caprica, and some direct yes or no answers about whether certain issues in Battlestar will be adressed in the final episodes (Alan was prepared with a list gods bless him!). There is also some discussion about how Caprica does and does not tie into Battlestar, as well as other TV series that Moore has been influenced by. That being said, you can read this incredibly insightful interview here at nj.com or at his blog What's Alan Watching. Originallty spotted at Galctica Sitrep

More BSG cast in "The Plan", and other shiny stuffs

The Battlestar sequel movie begins filming this Monday, and according to The Watcher, more of the cast from BSG proper will make an appearance, including (but hopefully not limited to) our Cylon friends Tricia Helfer, Rick Worthy, Matthew Bennett, and Callum Keith Rennie. Michael Hogan and Rekha Sharma will also be making minor appearances unfortunately. But you never know until you see the final cut!

Ooh ooh! Maureen also notes that BSG writer Mark Verheiden will be writing for the second story arc in season 3 of Heroes! Additionally, no new word on whether or not Caprica will get picked up as a full series yet.

io9 posted some more info in their Morning Spoilers on Tuesday on some minor characters from the series who will get big parts in the prequel movie, as well as the general fate of the humans. Read more on this info gathered from Dragon Con at DoorQ.com (mild spoilers - not purist friendly! I know of some of you out there who won't be reading this!).

Also check out this entry at io9 for some very minor spoilers about what Olmos said about "the feel" of his character as the series draws to an end, as well as what SciFi EVP Mark Stern said about the final Cylon (from Huffington Post).

Other updates:


If you're an old school BSG fan and enjoy cruises, Galcticruise pushes off next week! I'm wondering what the future may bring us for RDM BSG fans. Space Shuttle tours perhaps?

Old school fans mourn the loss of Jeff MacKay who played Corporal Komma on the original BSG. MacKay died on August 22nd in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

NBCU reports that SCIFI has seen it's best summer ratings ever, and the scifi.com website hasn't been too shabby either with the Battlestar site hitting number 1:

"SCI FI ’s Website www.scifi.com had record traffic for the summer with double-digit increases among all key metrics year-to-year. SCI FI Rewind averaged 2.6 Million streams (+565% vs. last summer) and Battlestar Galactica was the #1 ranked section on the site with an average of 4 million page views (+141% vs. last summer). Battlestar Galactica also ranked first in video with an average of 1.2 Million streams (+343% year-to-year). "

Speaking of NBCU, Prez Bonie Hammer's hottest moment was giving Battlestar Galactica the greenlight at SciFi. (Conde Nast Portfolio)

AskMen.com is holding their own 2008 elections for the top 49 in several categories. You can vote for Ron Moore in the Cultural Icons section by clicking here.

Tricia Helfer adds to her resume of video game voice acting with the upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive Spider-man: Web of Shadows, in which she voices Black Cat (she also voiced the same character in one episode of Stan Lee's TV toon The Spectacular Spider-man). Tricia also voiced in Command & Conquer 3 (Kane's Wrath and Tiberium Wars).

If you don't mind being spammed by the Think Geek newsletter (doesn't sound too awful), when you sign up for the newsletter you can enter to win a sweeet limited edition Cylon Raider model (the base is signed by Katee!). Click here, and while you're at it check out some of their other frakking awesome BSG merchandise like this "What the Frak" tee (hoodie also available), or the ever popular "How to Spot a Cylon" poster. The drawing ends September 30th,

Check out BSGCast's Part 2 of their video coverage (with always excellent commentary) of Eddy and Aaron at Toronto's Fan Expo '08. They have promises of part 3 (the final part) for next week!

There are all sorts of videos up of the Battlestar panel at Dragon Con 08. I haven't watched any yet, or read reviews from the event, so I can't testify for the spoiler content, but one would assume that they are keeping a very tight seal on what they do and do not say about the series finale. I've at least read around enough to be pretty sure there aren't any major spoilers leaked from the con, but there are certainly mild spoilers as to the general feel and content of the series end. I was about to dig in to nnaylime's youtube page for expansive video coverage of all things BSG (and related) from D*C.

Edit - Also found some D*C 08 BSG footage from this post by Livejournalist wisteria.

The after party hosted by The Colonial Fleet seems to have been a smash hit, with an appearance and speech by EJO. James Callis, Michael Hogan, Tahmoh Penikett, ad Aaron Douglas also showed up! Here's some video from said frak-down. Look for Part 2 in related video, and be prepared to have a strange desire to chug ambrose!

Whew! Enough for one post already!

SciFi Wire's Behind the Scenes on Virtuality Set

SciFi Wire snuck onto the set for Ron Moore's upcoming Fox show Virtuality, and caught some glimpses of the pilot in progress. Read if you want semi-spoilers!

For the sake of blogging...

This is where I throw everything together in one entry, for lack of a better way to do it. Included is an obligatory fangirl photo of Michael Trucco just for the heck of it. No, I don't have any new news on Michael (except that supposedly his sleeper-agentness will be dealt with in the upcoming prequel movie)...

Still finding some SDCC interviews out there that I hadnt caught before. Here's one with Jamie Bamber and Comic Mix.

If you weren't sure that it was officially official that we would be getting extended episodes in season 4.5, well here's the proof from TV Guide as confirmed by Sci Fi. It's still unknown as to how exactly it will be extended, and by how much.

I guess what's also official is that we will be getting two seperate DVD sets for season 4. One for season 4.0, and another sometime after the series ends for season 4.5. As much as I don't love buying more DVD sets, I don't mind if it means we get extended cuts and more bonus features. It will also make the DVD sets for season 2.0 and 2.5 not look so strange on the shelf between the chubbier complete seasons 1 and 3 DVD sets. Season 4.0 is set to be released on DVD this December. Thanks again TV Guide.

Ron Moore, along with several other industry professionals, will be having a panel discussion at The University of Southern California on September 10th. The discussion, titled In the Name of God: Terror, Torture, and Television is part of Live From L.A.: Good/God and Evil, "a series exploring the religious and ethical ramifications of 9/11 in broadcast television". See the USC announcement here. Admission is free. A plane ticket from the east coast and a hotel room unfortunately are not. Thanks for the heads-up Sitrep.

Last but not least, and certainly the most oddly interesting is that Tricia Helfer will be speaking at NVISION 08 on August 25th in San Jose. Tricia will discuss "how visual computing has affected the TV and film industries" (Neoseeker). How cool is it to hear that Tricia is doing this? Very, especially for this female blogger. We ain't no booth babes!

The Watcher chats with Ron Moore

In all her usual awesomeness, Maureen Ryan from The Chicago Tribune nabbed Ron Moore during the TCA panel and got him to talk about BSG, Virtuality, the next BSG movie, Caprica, and she even threw in a heads-up that the season 4 webisodes will be posted to scifi.com for the 10 weeks before season 4 continues (SciFi Wire) in January. If my dirty, arty math is correct, that means we can expect webbie number one by mid-October. *cries*

Read Maureen's post!

RDM project 'Virtuality' coming to Fox

Let's just hope Fox can step up and not pull another Firefly. Looks as though Ron Moore's credentials may have helped bring the proposed series Virtuality to fruition.

Variety reports:

Universal Media Studios is behind the sci-fi drama, which follows 12 astronauts who are sent on a 10-year journey to find a distant solar system. The explorers pass the time by hooking up to advanced virtual reality modules to explore self-created worlds. But they discover someone has downloaded a computer bug into the system -- and one of them may be the saboteur...

"Virtuality" also comes with a hefty online component: As part of the plot, the space voyage is funded by a reality show that features the trip being streamed back to Earth. That "reality show" will be produced as webisodes, featuring the same cast members.

Battlestar News!

I've been off for awhile, and now that I'm back there's all sorts of juicy new BSG devlopments, so I'll cram 'em all in this entry...

Ron Moore recently did a very interesting interactive interview with EW, which gives away some tidbits, or very mild spoilers, about season 4 with a very nifty photo of the crew staged as The Last Supper. Click here for the fun, and take note of item 10 - the empty seat. A lot of people have been taking this empty seat and Moore's comment about it to mean that everyone who is present in the picture is not the final unknown Cylon. I don't know though. I think you could take Ron's comment as a non-answer either way. There are a few important characters not present.If it's true that the final Cylon is not present, I'm banking on Gaeta. I'd like to see him be the mastermind behind it all. Perhaps the Cylon clone of the head honcho scientist who created the Cylons in the first place. I guess we'll just have to see now, won't we? *The picture below is not interactive. See above link for the clicky awesomeness*

I haven't been able to find a direct source link for this, but apparently TV Guide let out that NBCU has SciFi looking at Caprica as an option pretty seriously (again). For this we can thank the WGA strike for causing a shortage of material. They have been sniffing at Caprica since before the strike officially started, along with discussions as to whether they will split season 4 or not. Click here for a recap

Today The Futon Critic reports that Sci Fi is planning to present two half hour Battlestar Galactica specials, which look to be similar to "The Story So Far" offering they dished out way back during the season 2 hiatus (or was it between 2 and 3?). Or, I wonder if it will simply be a collection of some of the bonus materials from the Razor DVD and other interviews and clips (as seen in next section). Unfortunately, these specials are slated for March, which is merely the month before season 4 is set to premiere. Ah well, I guess it's almost February and we're in the final stretch.

Here are some clips and spoilers from season 4, thanks to io9.com and the Canadian show Hypaspace. I have the feeling some of these clips might be integrated in the above mentioned specials, and I'm not quite sure if they were part of the Razor DVD bonus material (I got mine from Best Buy, which supposedly had exclusive bonus material). I lent it out, so I'll have to wait to check on that.

Over at sfcrowsnest.com, there's some insider rumors/spoilers about the Earth issue in BSG's season 4. Don't click if you don't want to be potentially spoiled!

Season 4 is set to premiere Friday, April 4 at 10pm BTW!

Battlestar Galactica this week...

Not too much for news, save for a semi-juicy recent interview with RDM:

First Look: Battlestar Galactica Razor

'we also do things like flash back to the original Cylon wars 40 years ago. We see a young [William] Adama [who will be played by a younger actor, not Edward James Olmos] fighting in a Viper. We move around quite a bit in the chronology of the series.'' Although that chronology won't include any sort of resolution to the season 3 cliffhanger, Moore does guarantee that ''there are some things that happen in Razor that set up things in the fourth season.''
...

Oh, and Moore says that, yes, he does know who the final unknown Cylon is; yes, whoever is playing that character knows he or she has been anointed; but no, they haven't shot the reveal yet (it will most likely be in the second half of the season).



(heh heh - I posted this in the sw.com Cantina BSG thread, and the yodacon transferred ;)

~Also... a recent post on BuddyTV talks about the economic influences regarding the possible season 4 split and makes it sound like the Caprica series is indeed a real possibility:

"The network is hoping to reach a final decision by January. One of the key factors is figuring out which new shows will be well-suited to accompany Battlestar Galactica, and how much those shows will cost.

One of the shows being considered is the Caprica spin-off series. Network executives believe the spin-off may help retain and expand the loyal Battlestar Galactica fan base, and are even considering a two-hour pilot similar to that of Razor. Should the pilot perform poorly, it will subsequently be sold as a DVD to make up for the losses. On the other hand, should the pilot do well, the network will have a new series to serve up."

~Trekkies and RDM fans will appreciate the appearances by Major/Colonel Kira Nerys aka Nana Visitor in an episode of season 4 of BSG. TrekWeb.com

~ Battlestar Galactica got some mention in this New York Times article:

"Science fiction is one thing: “Battlestar Galactica” has intellectual cachet.

“The humans are pagan polytheists and the robots are monotheists, whose divine jihad is against the humans (even though the former know that the latter created them),” Anthony Gottlieb, the author of “The Dream of Reason: A History of Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance,” explained off the top of his Blackberry from an airport baggage claim..."


~ Still no new peeps about season 3 on DVD. Looks like everything is on hold until they figure out all the politics over at Sciffy *sighs* (but tell me that picture of Katee Sackhoff doesn't totally rock!)

Recent BSG News

Just thought I'd post some recent news bits about Battlestar Galactica and it's journey toward the fourth and final season:

The following article contains MAJOR SPOILERS concerning season 3. I know some of you may have not gotten to that point yet, so DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT READING THIS ARTICLE. It's the equivalent to a "Luke, I am your father" kind of spoiler/surprise. In my opinion at least....

CraveOnline: Battlestar Galactica: Ronald Moore talks about *the E word* (<-edited!)

Next one is spoiler-free. Just a few words from Eick talking about how they plan and write the show (and consolations to actors for the upcoming final season)...

CanMag: David Eick on Closing Out Battlestar Galactica

The next few are accounts of the All Access Battlestar Galactica event in LA last week, where fans and press joined together to screen the season 3 finale on a big screen, view a recap of the whole of BSG seasons 1-3, attend a Q&A with cast members moderated by Lucy Lawless, and top the night off with a special preview of the upcoming fall release of the double episode/movie Razor*. There may be some spoilers in these, since they talk about how season 3 might lead into season 4, and events in season 3 in general (see my above opinion about the level of spoiler this is ;)...

UnderGroundOnline: Battlestar Galactica: Q&A in L.A.

Film.com: They Have a Plan: The Battlestar Galactica All Access Event

IGN: Battlestar Galactica Cast and Creators Discuss Season 4

Photos from the event

* Apparently there has been some recent talk about the possibility that the BSG movie "Razor" would not be allowed to go into production by Gary Larson, the producer of the original Battlestar Galactica series and owner of all rights to any Battlestar movie since that time. Larson is said to not have fully accepted the reimagined series, and some reports mention that he wouldn't give the go ahead unless the "movie" were tied into his original series. The most recent news on the Razor movie have included statements by Ron Moore about the possible content, which include a tie in to events from the original series (Supposedly Admiral Caine has flash-backs to her childhood and escape from the Cylon attack from the 1970's movie). Veeery interestink! The most recent reports also make it seem like the movie is still underway, business as usual. I have some doubts as to the sources for the above mentioned flash-backs, so take this as only rumor. For a more reliable preview and statement about the movie, click here.