TV Revivals

Ruminations on Battlestar Galactica

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Whether or not you agree with the creative choices they make on BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, you have to admit they aren’t afraid to take some real chances. The episode two weeks ago that took place on Caprica, from the POV of the Cylons, was terrific and the last twenty minutes of the season finale tonight completely turned the series inside-out, potentially transforming it into an entirely different TV series than it was before. In a sense, executive producer Ron Moore has reimagined BATTLESTAR GALACTICA anew for a second time. I don’t know whether the choices he’s made will be the death knell of the series or another new beginning, but I admire him for taking the risk. I wonder if I would be as brave (or foolhardy?) if I was in his position.

Blowjobs in Space

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On last week’s episode of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, we learned
that one of the heroes has been seeing a hooker and paying for sex. In and of
itself, it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. We’ve seen characters to do
this on TV before…but can you imagine one of the noble heroes of the last four STAR TREK series or the two
STARGATE shows paying for blowjobs, much less admitting they need, want, and
have sex? I just love the way BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is taking a sledgehammer to
the boring cliches, stale formulas and
cardboard heroes that have hobbled TV scifi series for decades. 

To be fair, FARSCAPE started the cliché-breaking trend in TV
scifi, but then fell into a blackhole of hopelessly maudlin melodrama and
needlessly confusing story-arcs  that
sucked the fun out of the show and actively discouraged new viewers (for a
while, there were two versions of the lead character on two different ships…as
well as two versions of the main villain, one of whom only existed in the mind
of one version of the hero). FARSCAPE became so self-involved and groaningly
angst-ridden that even regular viewers like myself needed healthy doses of
No-Doze and Advil to make it through an episode.

BATTLESTAR manages to sustain involving story arcs, and be
gritty and dark, without losing the exhiliration and the pure fun. And, unlike
FARSCAPE, the show can deal with weighty issues and human drama without taking
itself so damn seriously.   

I think BATTLESTAR may be my favorite show on the air right
now (at least until DEADWOOD and THE SOPRANOS return).

By the way…how anyone could watch the new BATTLESTAR and still pine for the crappy, corny, campy show from the late 70s is beyond me. This is one case where the remake is far, far, far better than the original in every conceivable way.

Chips and Dip

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The movie version of CHiPS is speeding along. Variety reports that Wilmer Valderrama  has been cast as Ponch, the role immortalized by Erik Estrada, the Brando of the 80s.  So far, no one has been cast as Baker, the role played by Larry Wilcox. Paul Kaplan and Mark Torgove are writing the script, which the studio says will be closer to the STARSKY AND HUTCH spoof than TRAFFIC. 

Equalizer Returns

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As I first reported back in April,  a movie version of THE EQUALIZER is in the works. The latest newsiin Variety  is that producer Mace Neufeld has talked The Weinstein Company into picking up the rights and footing the bill for developing the feature.

"The Equalizer was one of my favorite TV series of hte 1980s, because the writing was always smart and very unpredictable," said Harvey Weinstein.

No director, screenwriter or cast have been attached yet — but wouldn’t it be great if Tarantino took a crack at it?

Battle of the Network Stars

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Variety reports that Paramount is launching a big-screen version of the cheesy 70s reality show "Battle of the Network Stars."
 

Etan
Cohen is writing the script, and Jimmy
Miller will produce through Mosaic. Barry Frank, who created
the show in 1978, will be exec producer.

Pic will revolve around a disgraced network exec who must claw his way back
to respectability by winning the contest. Concept was hatched by Cohen.

Original show bowed in the late ’70s, with teams of series stars from ABC,
NBC and CBS squaring off against one another in athletic events. Howard Cosell
presided over the proceedings as soberly as if he were hosting the Olympics.

They’ll Put Any Shows on DVD…Except Mine!

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According to DVD Exclusive Magazine, upcoming TV shows being released on DVD this month include:

ADAM-12: The Complete First Season (we know how much America has been clamoring for that!)
McCLOUD: Seasons One and Two (The McCloud convention-goers will be thrilled)
PROFIT:The Complete Series
UNDECLARED: The Complete Series
BLISS: The Complete First Season Uncut
HOUSE MD: The Complete First Season
THE MIND OF THE MARRIED MAN: The Complete First Season (I couldn’t finish the complete first episode)
ROSEANNE: The Complete First Season
LOST: The Complete First Season

Indulging my inner Geek

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I love the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. Even with a cheesy story-line like tonight’s "body farm" plot, it is redeemed by its total dedication to subverting your expectations…and your sympathies. The Cylons aren’t just robots. They might just be more human than, well, the humans. ..and the most terrifying thing about the Cylons is that the humans are realizing that, too. Great stuff.  On a side note of true geekiness, I love that fact that the characters
on this show sweat, get dirty and bleed, and that their wounds are
carried over from episode-to-episode (and on a side-side note…it sure was gutsy to shoot the "star" of your show and keep him unconscious in a hospital bed for six episodes. Makes me wonder if Edward James Olmos was doing a movie or something at the same time…or if showrunner Ron Moore just likes taking big risks).

Who knew there was such a great series to be found in the bones of Glen Larson’s original idea? Makes you wonder what someone could do with Irwin Allen’s LOST IN SPACE or some other cornball scifi shows from the past.

But hey, this series pales in comparison to the original BATTLESTAR GALACTICA…yeah, the one with the robot dog…just ask the Colonial Fan Force who are still, inexplicably, pining for a continuation with the geriatric cast.

UPDATE:  I’m not the only geeky Goldberg who is addicted to the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

Why Bother Going to the Movies?

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My wife always wants to see something "light" on our date night. So she dragged me to both THE HONEYMOONERS and BEWITCHED. After enduring these two inane, laughless "reimaginings" of TV classics, I think both films should be formally classified as crimes against humanity and the film-makers brought in chains to The Hague. I also think Congress should pass a law making it a crime, from this point forward, to remake a TV series as a feature film ( a law which should have been enacted after the feature versions of THE AVENGERS or SGT. BILKO). It’s too late, I’m afraid, to save us from DUKES OF HAZZARD.

Lately, there’s been a lot of head-scratching in the trades about why boxoffice revenues are taking a steep dive. There’s a simple answer. Because movies these days suck. I don’t just mean these TV revivals, but movies in general. I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw a good Hollywood  movie and, sicko that I am, I see just about everything (Yeah, I saw STAR WARS…and found myself rooting for the bad guys and wondering when George Lucas lost his writing talent. And yeah, I saw BATMAN BEGINS, and I couldn’t wait for BATMAN ENDS. It was boring  and cliche-ridden). 

Overall, there’s much better stuff on TV these days than there are in the theatres… so why would anybody want to pay a babysitter, endure the traffic, pay exorbinant ticket prices, get gouged for popcorn and soda (it’s cheaper to eat at Ruth’s Chris than my local Regal Cinema)  put up with a noisy crowd and sit on sticky seats?

And the studios wonder why people are staying home?

(PS – I just thought of the last good movie I saw: it was either MILLION DOLLAR BABY or THE INCREDIBLES. How long ago was that??)