It seems the rumors that NBC is thinking of picking up and running “Battlestar Galactica” have been around since the show’s second season. So, it’s not surprising to hear this rumor come up again.
What is surprising is how much closer to reality it is than it has been in the past.
The difference?
The looming writers strike.
With the strike looking more and more like a reality with each passing day, the networks could soon face a dilemma–no new shows or content to fill the airwaves. They could offer us all multiple repeats of shows, but it looks like NBC/Universal is looking to take a different route.
NBC is looking to draw upon the original series produced by NBC/Universal for its various cable holdings and networks.
This means that NBC could pick up and run such cable hits as “Battlestar Galactica” or “The 4400” should the writers strike become a reality. SyFy Portal reports that NBC is considering picking up and running “Batttlestar” should the writers strike happen. No word yet on if NBC will start at the beginning and run the entire series or may pick and choose episodes to show its audience. In my opinion picking and choosing episodes would be the worst move that they could make for BSG.
Of course, the dark side to this news is that should the writers strike happen, it will cause delays in the production of the fourth season of “Battlestar Galactica” and lead to the inevitable wait until 2009 or even as late as 2010 for the final ten episodes.
So, it’s good news and bad news for “Galactica” fans.
I don’t buy it. This rumor has been circulated more times than an Internet chain-mail hoax. NBC tried airing some hacked-up, edited-down episodes of BSG twice in its early days, and both times the ratings were dismal. This is just hopeful fan speculation…again. (And SyFy Portal frequenetly can’t tell the difference.)
However, I do agree that the writers’ strike is the likely cause of SciFi’s potential decision to delay the second half of the 4th season until 2009. In fact, I’m personally certain it will happen.
That’s right, Dana. We are so out of touch with how this business works after 10 years of covering it that we can’t tell if there is a real chance that networks may poach scripted programming to fill empty voids they have ALREADY SOLD, or just put reruns of shows that most people have already seen. =P
I agree Michael. We here at Slice of SciFi have always found SyFy Portal to be a pretty reliable source of information and that is one of the reasons why I allow our reporters to not be afraid to use something they have read or heard on SyFy Portal in one of their news articles or editorials.
You guys have never let us down yet and we appreciate your efforts to be as accurate as possible.
Hmm. “Mrs Ron”, RDM, and Mary McDonnell don’t seem to share your confidence.
Check out NBC in this YOUTUBE video
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1s-mEfhVELM
I’ve had it with these mothafrakkin’ Writer’s Strikes on my mothafrakkin’ shows!
Well, considering that RDM is speaking only through his wife who only seems to present part of the story, there is nothing that can be said about that there, Dana.
In terms of the Mary McDonnell story, it’s a bit strange what is going on there. We had more than one person, as separate as we could see, share with us information that more or less corroborated each other. We also have pictures from the said event, and confirmation she was where we were told she was.
However, we spoke with a representative of Mary McDonnell today, and she is denying that she said anything of the kind. Maybe that’s true, and I’m contacting the original sources to see what gives.
As I’m sure Sam would definitely share, we can’t always be right, and we never said we were always right. Is cable poaching by network partners a real consideration or just a fan wank? Who knows. I wouldn’t call the television editor at Boston Now simply a “fan,” as they are a daily publication in Mass.
And in terms of Ron Moore’s wife, she also shared a nice little story earlier this week (which got conveniently deleted, by the way) that SyFy Portal was one of the sites left off the “Razor” screener distribution list because we post spoilers, and that’s why we weren’t among those that received the screener. Another thing she said she got directly from Ron.
Well, looks like Ron and Mrs. Ron were wrong there. The real story is a bit complex, but had absolutely NOTHING to do with people being blacklisted because of spoilers. And in fact, as she made that statement, the “Razor” screener was being placed in my hands, exactly as we were told, and exactly opposite of what Mrs. Ron says.
So, two wrong things … do they cancel themselves out?
And by the way Sam, I know I never stop by here, but we’re big fans of Slice of Sci-Fi. I know we don’t get along with that one fan campaign you guys work with, but we don’t judge quality by the friends you keep, hehehe! You guys do a great job, and we love reading what you have to say. 🙂
Oh, darn it … when I say “never stop by here,” I mean to say, never post comments. Obviously we stop by here, or we wouldn’t be big fans, hahaha. 🙂
I just heard we will be getting season 4
IN FRACKING APRIL OF 2008!!!!
THAT IS 11 AND A HALF MONTHS WITH ONLY RAZOR TO TIE US OVER! I CAINT BELIVE I COMPLAINED ABOUT THE WAIT FOR SEASON 3!!!
FRRRRRAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!
At least there is Galactica Beyond The Red Line to play, Heroes and Chuck to watch. Come on Sci-Fi, I’ll be flying F-35’s before you finish up this seriese!
Dana is 100% correct. Clearly, this web site and SyFy Portal have absolutely no understanding of how badly BSG’s ratings compare against the ratings of the average NBC rerun or reality program. I hate to say it but it’s true. On Sci-Fi, BSG is a medium-sized fish (previously a big fish) in a tiny pond. NBC is an ocean. Also, serialized programs like BSG perform extremely badly in reruns, making it even more unlikely we’ll ever see any more BSG reruns on NBC, not even on Saturdays, not even in the ninth month of a writers’ strike, were it to last that long. Burn Notice, Psych, and Monk might just barely have high enough ratings to survive on NBC, and maybe even the 4400 (though probably not)… but BSG? Not a chance. STOP re-circulating this ABSURD rumor!
Yes, after nearly a decade of covering ratings, I have no clue about ratings at all. You are so right, Ike.
You obviously have no understanding of how television works. NBC showed reruns of BSG with virtually no promotion in the middle of fresh programming from its competitors. But you are right, I mean, with no fresh scripted programming and a strong demand for something that viewers might NOT have seen before, you have all the answers.
Snarkiness aside, you ARE correct about the fact that serialized dramas do poorly in reruns. But of course, what would I know about that? I made such statements a couple years ago when people claimed that the show as only on so that it could be sold for syndication rights.
But what do I know?