Galactica producer not hopeful for Emmy nod

As most of us know, Battlestar Galactica is one of the best hours on television. While garnering critical and fan raves and drawing Emmy nods for its superlative special effects, the series has yet to breakthrough and garner a much-deserved Emmy nod in the best drama categories (including series and acting).

Anyone who saw the mid-season finale can’t deny the superb work done by Edward James Olmos nor can anyone deny that Mary McDonell’s work as Laura Roslin isn’t up there with the best work being done on television. But despite calls by the critics for the show to get the nods it so clearly deserves, it appears that once again, this year Emmy nominations won’t be coming to Galactica.

Producer David Wheddle said that while the show got nods for writing and directing last year, he doubts the series will up for any of the big time drama awards this year.

“Well, we’re in the sci-fi ghetto still,” Weddle said. “We’re still a science-fiction series, and the vast majority of voters don’t understand the show or haven’t even seen the show. But I would love to be surprised.”

However, this lack of Emmy recognition isn’t bringing Weddle or the rest of the staff down. They say their goal is to give their core audience the quality they’ve come to expect.

“I think this will be remembered and watched and lived for many decades to come when a lot of Emmy winners of the present day will be forgotten,” Weddle said. “That’s as it should be.”

While an Emmy nomination would certainly raise the profile of “Battlestar Galactica,” it’s been its work being one of television’s best shows that no one really watched that’s allowed the show to hit topics that it probably couldn’t otherwise.

“Because our profile is so low, we’ve been able to tell the kinds of stories we’ve been able to tell,” Weddle said. “We’re off the radar because we’re just a sci-fi show, and we’ve told some pretty amazing stories because we’re just a sci-fi show. We’re not on the radar of the networks, or the censors. To me, that’s a positive way to look at it.”

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Spidey 4 in 2010?

Variety reports that Sony Pictures has set a summer 2010 release date for the next installment in the Spider-Man franchise. Though a final script hasn’t yet been delivered and there’s no word yet on whether director Sam Raimi and star Toby McGuire will return for the fourth installment, Sony is eager to set a date in what could be a huge summer for Marvel comic-book adaptation films.

Sony also announced that it will release a 23rd James Bond film in 2010.

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Transformers 2 tidbits

As filming continues for Transformers:Rise of the Fallen, several bits of news about next summer’s sequel have come to light. One is that Paramount is dropping the number two from the title of the film.

Also revealed is that scenes shot around Philadelphia City Hall will stand in for Ecole Militarie in Paris, France. In Paris there’s a scene where Sam’s parents (Julie White and Kevin Dunn) are being chased by a silver Saturn Astra and later deal with a Transformer.

Shia LeBeoff’s screen time and character arc are in the process of being expanded and “beefed up” for the second installment. Co-star Megan Fox confirmed that her character and LeBeoff’s romance will heat up in the film. “Shia and I make out a little bit; I don’t know if anyone wants to see that,” she said, adding “that this film is “10 times as big”.

Also, Frenzy (the spindly steel robot onboard Air Force One in the first film) has been spotted chasing after a Saturn Astra, with Sam and co. inside. The action constituted much of the Princetoon shoot’s first two days.