[obsolete toaster]

Caprica helmer Jonas Pate is onboard to direct the pilot for BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: BLOOD & CHROME (like ST: ENT did in year three, it looks like they are using the BSG "brand name" to try to lure back viewers).
Michael Pate-B&C/Collider.com

This is good news or not-so-good news; depending on your POV.


IMO? They need to seek some fresh blood. The next Michael Rymer (BSG's talented/prolific director) is out there... go get 'im.
Nothing against Jonas Pate; but I really think that after Caprica's resounding thud, they should look to bring in someone new (at least for the pilot) to give this project a fresh pair of eyes (or one good, LED eye! ).

[dsgtdave]

Kind of a tight knit circle isn't it? I don't really have an opinion on it yet. Only time will tell.

[obsolete toaster]

dsgtdave, on 07 December 2010 - 09:04 AM, said:

Kind of a tight knit circle isn't it? I don't really have an opinion on it yet. Only time will tell.

I may be jumping the gun to be concerned by that, but I worry that "Rick Berman's disease" may encroach; RB's disease is my name for the entropy effect caused by having the same, homogenous production crew work on the same show for too long. RB ran Star Trek for almost two decades (four series and four movies; that's a lot of product). In the early days, RB Trek was kind of coltish; then after a few seasons of experience, his vision of Star Trek came into it's own. It did really well for awhile, but towards the end of the 18 yr run a bland, generic 'sameness' began to creep in. Recycled plots, boring, generic music, even the look of the shows (dull, bright lighting, clean, super-stable camerawork, etc) all seemed to blur together a bit.


Given that "Caprica" was not exactly a resounding success, I am concerned that a production team consisting of mostly the same people (and directors) will yield a similar result. Not that "Caprica" was bad, really; I just kind of see it as a 'failed experiment' to do a soap opera within the BSG universe. I think some new people; people from outside the BSG zone might do really well for the show, just as JJ Abrams did in 2009 for Star Trek (and also the combined team of Harve Bennett and Nick Meyer back in 1982, when they made ST2: The Wrath of Khan; a 180 departure from the plodding, less lively ST-TMP).

[Cylon-Knight]

I don't think it will matter "who" is going to direct it today... it will chage 4 time before the camera is ever turned on.

[obsolete toaster]

Cylon-Knight, on 07 December 2010 - 11:43 PM, said:

I don't think it will matter "who" is going to direct it today... it will chage 4 time before the camera is ever turned on.

If it even gets to the filming stage... with the failure of Caprica, I'm really not feeling heat off of "B&C" anymore.

This is starting to look like Bryan Singer's 'new BSG movie' which (by all counts) should've been out right about NOW.
(I knew that rumor was just bulls**t; Bryan Singer has the attention span of a gnat in heat).
Don't want to be the one to say 'told you so' on that one, but uh... well, you get the picture (no wait! We didn't... )

[dsgtdave]

They probably have Caprica's budget (whatever that means) to get it done. It is coming. Believe it!

[obsolete toaster]

dsgtdave, on 08 December 2010 - 10:59 PM, said:

They probably have Caprica's budget (whatever that means) to get it done. It is coming. Believe it!

Well, it's chances of coming to fruition are certainly a hell of a lot better than Bryan's Singer's on-again/off-again BSG movie myth.
At least the 'machinery' (production crew, etc) are more or less still in place from the ashes of Caprica.

[dsgtdave]

I am interested in how they are going to promote this. I wonder if they are going to take varying avenues of approach like broadcast commerical spots, magazine spots, etc to get it back into the public consciousness. I'll make a prediction that the pilot will pull in around 2.0 to 2.3 million viewers.

[obsolete toaster]

dsgtdave, on 09 December 2010 - 08:11 AM, said:

I am interested in how they are going to promote this. I wonder if they are going to take varying avenues of approach like broadcast commerical spots, magazine spots, etc to get it back into the public consciousness. I'll make a prediction that the pilot will pull in around 2.0 to 2.3 million viewers.

Sounds about right; probably not enough to guarantee a series though, to be honest.

[dsgtdave]

You know the other question I have is how they approach Caprica's place in the universe? Will it be used as canon or a passing reference. I'm curious about this show.

[obsolete toaster]

dsgtdave, on 09 December 2010 - 08:29 PM, said:

You know the other question I have is how they approach Caprica's place in the universe? Will it be used as canon or a passing reference. I'm curious about this show.

I'm curious as to whether it will become a show; at this stage, it's only a pilot (and if your prediction for it's ratings bear out, then I doubt they'll order episodes).
But I'm sure they'll respect canon from Caprica, even if it doesn't look like they'll be taking much continuity from "Hero" or "Razor" which kind of contradict each other; unless you accept (as I do) that a couple of years passed between Adama's first mission and the end of CW1.

[ensign edwards]

Quote

I am interested in how they are going to promote this. I wonder if they are going to take varying avenues of approach like broadcast commerical spots, magazine spots, etc to get it back into the public consciousness. I'll make a prediction that the pilot will pull in around 2.0 to 2.3 million viewers.

Er, wouldn't that make it more successful than BSG? As I recall, much of the fourth season got barely over a million. I think we can all agree a prequel exceeding the success of its predecessor, especially in this case, are unlikely in the extreme.

Myself, I'll be impressed if the pilot does significantly over a million.

[dsgtdave]

ensign edwards, on 10 December 2010 - 01:27 PM, said:

Er, wouldn't that make it more successful than BSG? As I recall, much of the fourth season got barely over a million. I think we can all agree a prequel exceeding the success of its predecessor, especially in this case, are unlikely in the extreme.

Myself, I'll be impressed if the pilot does significantly over a million.

More successful in what sense? For the full 4th season they averaged 2.3 million live viewers. More successful than Caprica? Sure we all know it was a failure and without BSG universe fatigue people wanting sci-fi space action will probably tune in. That is my guess anyways. There is no solid space show on syfy right now unless you count the fledgling SGU. What exact numbers is anybody's guess but I'll stick with 2-2.3.

The real question is what is the measuring stick set at? Will they just greenlight a season before the pilot is aired like they did Caprica? I hope not!

No way will it comes close the the 2004 pilot numbers.

BSG Season 4 Ratings

[p0is0n0us]

I hope they don't sling shot too far the other way and have all action and no plot in B&C.

[Cylon-Knight]

"Blah blah Caprica director blah Jonas Pate to blah blah Blood and Chrome" is really all I hear as it is the big bad SyFy behind the curtain that will call the shots... I think p is right they will do a 180 on Caprica and it will be another Razor basically.

[ensign edwards]

Quote

More successful in what sense? For the full 4th season they averaged 2.3 million live viewers

I seem to remember them being closer to 1 million, but perhaps my memory has failed me.

[obsolete toaster]

ensign edwards, on 13 December 2010 - 03:45 PM, said:

I seem to remember them being closer to 1 million, but perhaps my memory has failed me.

No, I think you're right. I think (and I could be wrong) the pilot drew in 2 point something million, and by series' end they were under a million.
That'd make their average about a million plus viewers (not enough to sustain that kind of a show for a US network; even for cable).

[dsgtdave]

obsolete toaster, on 13 December 2010 - 06:32 PM, said:

No, I think you're right. I think (and I could be wrong) the pilot drew in 2 point something million, and by series' end they were under a million.
That'd make their average about a million plus viewers (not enough to sustain that kind of a show for a US network; even for cable).

I put a link to the season 4 nielsen stuff a few posts back. I think the numbers they report reflect DVR numbers looking more closely at it so ya probably 1 million+ live with addition of DVR.


Anyways, my season 3 re-watch has turned into a season 4 re-watch. I guess you can't really fault Razor for the discrepancies between it and the series. It did come out before season 4 and some of the other reveals like Adama talking about his first mission being a solo raptor recon mission in Sine Qa Nan. Also the Razor flashbacks seem like the real timeline culprit as opposed to Razor itself.