[Cancelled] Caprica (Season 1)


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Syfy announced the premiere date for its ?Battlestar Galactica? prequel ?Caprica.?

The new series, whose pilot has already had its home video debut, will hit the air Friday, Jan. 22 at 9 p.m., with its two-hour opener.

'Battlestar' Producer Dispels Graystone/Starbuck Rumor

Are Starbuck and Daniel Graystone related?

There might be some character crossover between the now-completed "Battlestar Galactica" series from SciFi Channel and the upcoming Syfy spinoff "Caprica," but it's more to do with the Adamas than the Graystones.

Producer Michael Taylor told fans at San Diego Comic-Con Thursday that rumors Katee Sackhoff's Starbuck character was actually talking to Daniel Graystone, played in "Caprica" by Eric Stoltz, is simply not true.

Taylor said he had no idea where such a rumor started, but that he wanted to end the speculation right there. At the same time, while many speculate that Starbuck was an angel in the final season, it was never included anywhere in the story notes. Of course, that doesn't mean the people on the panel, which included science advisor Kevin Grazier, actress Luciana Carro (Kat) and original series star Richard Hatch, don't believe that's true.

Hatch, however, said that despite original trepidation to support the re-imagined series by Ronald D. Moore, he enjoyed playing terrorist-turned-politician Tom Zarek. However, he had no idea what the fate of his character was until he read the script, and had no say in how (or if) Zarek would die before the series ended.

Taylor, however, was quick to quip that the writers "couldn't wait to kill you, dude."

For those wanting to see more of Zarek in the series, Hatch said there was a lot of backstory that was intended to be revealed, but much of that had to be cut. That included discussions of racism as well as gender equality issues on Caprica.

Also attending the panel was "Battlestar Galactica" composer Bear McCreary, who is hosting a series of concerts with the Battlestar Galactica Orchestra at the House of Blues in San Diego during the convention weekend. He is releasing his latest soundtrack, a two-disc set "Battlestar Galactica: Season 4" through La-La-Land Records on July 28, but said while he looks forward to doing the House of Blues shows, there is one place he would love to play: The opera house featured in the Gaius Baltar dreams sequences located in Vancouver, B.C.

Could something like that happen? McCreary says to www.bearmccreary.com in the near future to find out.

---

'Caprica' Premieres Jan. 22, Edward James Olmos Will Direct Episode

There is now a premiere date for "Caprica."

The "Battlestar Galactica" spinoff will premiere on Syfy Jan. 22, coming close to taking on the old schedule of its predecessor, fans were told at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday.

National Public Radio's Faith Salie, who was moderating a panel featuring "Caprica" and the upcoming "Battlestar Galactica" telemovie "The Plan," told the thousands of fans in attendance about the premiere, but didn't elaborate if that would start with the pilot that was already released on DVD last spring, or if it would instead start with the second episode.

Either way, about a dozen episodes are already in, and the series is going to get a big boost right away. Edward James Olmos, who played Adm. William Adama in "Battlestar," told Airlock Alpha and a group of other reporters during a small press session after the panel that he would indeed be directing an episode of "Caprica," most likely in the first season.

"Yes I am [directing], toward the end" of the season, Olmos said. "They gave me a little hard time about an hour ago on it, and we decided that I would be doing something toward the end of the season."

Executive Producer David Eick, who worked with "Battlestar" showrunner Ronald D. Moore on the previous series, said he does plan to step in to write at least an episode this season after he finishes another project for HBO. At the same time, however, he said that it would be against the show's interest to hit some of the more extreme science-fiction that seems to be a part of these types of series, including some of the metaphysical aspects of "Battlestar" that made up the show's final episodes.

"I think really, it is a human story, at least in the early going," Eick told Airlock Alpha and other media outlets during a press conference following the panel. "Other than the fact that you're talking about the end of humanity beginning with an angry young girl, that is a metaphysical concept. We're asking the audience to take this one leap. Let's make everything around it very grounded, very naturalistic."

While the show definitely will have ties to "Battlestar" beyond the story and some of the familiar faces involved, "Caprica" will have to stand out as its own show.

"I think it would be a mistake for us to assume that everyone showing up for 'Caprica' is a 'Battlestar' fan and that everyone is bringing all that baggage with them," Eick said. "I don't think that's wise. We need to assume that there is going to be a lot of new audience for the show, and it should be. It's going to be a different kind of show."

Battlestar Galactica's prequel series, Caprica, may be about the origins of the Cylon killer robots, but a lot of its storylines will deal with battles between the twelve colonies... which may actually heat up into full-on interstellar combat. Spoilers below.

BSG and Caprica creators Ron Moore and David Eick, showrunner Jane Espenson, and actor Esai Morales, who plays Bill Adama's Tauron father Joseph, spoke at yesterday's Caprica/Battlestar Galactica panel about what we can expect from the show's first season.

If you were hoping the show would retain the topless nightclub shots from the DVD pilot, you're in for a bit of disappointment; the network demanded all nipple-y bits be digitally erased for the television premiere (officially announced today as January 22, 2010). But fans of Battlestar Galactica should still keep their eyes open for other visual goodies, says Eick:

The relationship between the two shows is very tangential, but there will be easter eggs for fans along the way. I think as fans of Battlestar watch Caprica there are occasional nods to Battlestar, to some knowledge that I think the fans will have.

For example, many fans noticed that the nightclub in the Caprica pilot suspiciously resembles the opera house shown throughout BSG:

Yes, as a matter of fact, we're going to some of the same sets. In fact, where Esai [Morales] and Trow have a conversation about what he has to do is the same place where we shot a lot of Helo and Sharon running for their lives in the first season.

At the same time, you won't see any of the twelve Cylon models we know and love, and we probably won't meet any other younger versions of our heroes, or their families, apart from young Willie Adama.

Although the look and feel of Caprica is a world away from the gritty Battlestar Galactica, the design team is the same, and Moore and Eick assure us that they'll maintain the same attention to detail, but to a different effect:

We wanted it to feel like it's a bit of a period piece, because it is a period piece for the Galactica. It's 58 years prior to Battlestar Galactica, so we wanted to have this feel like it's a different time within this particular universe. And yet we wanted to communicate different cultural identities, so we saw that the Taurons feel more like they're in the 1940s, with these hats, ties, and smoking clove cigarettes, the cars more vintage, and they sort of have that flavor throughout...it's a different style, an aesthetic different from seeing the contemporary Caprica during Battlestar.

And in the press roundtables after the panel, Moore told us that there was a deliberate decision to make Caprica look and feel as different from BSG as possible. That includes a lot more outdoor and street filming, as opposed to BSG's mainly interior shots. It's expensive and difficult to recreate Caprica in Vancouver on a regular basis, shooting one episode in seven days, but it's totally worth it, says Moore.

At the beginning of the panel, Moore listed Caprica's major theme as being mankind's relationship with advancing technology and the ethics of dealing with artificial intelligence. But as the panel went on, he, Eick, Espenson focused most of their discussion on the political and cultural conflicts between the humans. We'll apparently get to see more of the world-building around Colonial life that we glimpsed in the pilot. Says Moore:

At this point in time, the planets, the Colonies, are at war with each other periodically. It's not a time of war...the colonies themselves are a loose commonwealth, confederation. There is no president, no equivalent to Laura Roslin at this point in time. There's a prime minister of Caprica and there are heads of state on various other colonies.

There are tensions, reservations, biases. There's a certain racist thread that runs through some of the relationships in terms of Taurons and Capricans.

So does this mean we'll get to see what armed skirmishes look like between the individual Colonies? All signs point to yes. During the press roundtables after the panel, Moore told us that "the twelve colonies actually war with each other" during this time period. And instead of the Cylons being the main "other" that our heroes are threatened by, the humans treat each other as the exotic threat, because the Cylons don't really exist yet. Moore says science fiction can address thorny issues like racism, because people who would get offended by the discussion of such topics don't take the genre seriously enough to care.

Jane Espenson noted that this different situation for the colonies allows the writers and designers to differentiate between the different colonies through their dress, traditions, and ? she said rather pointedly into the microphone ? their tattoos, like the one on Sam Adama's neck.

The panel's moderator asked Esai Morales whether his character, Joseph Adama, has a tattoo as wel I may not have done what my brother did, but I may have a tattoo here or there somewhere. But we can't give it all away here. We have to save some of it.

In the press roundtables, Espenson added that she's trying to go against real-world ethnic stereotypes in portraying the twelve colonies. The writers have a bible describing all twelve of these worlds, saying things like "This one is like India, except," followed by a big list of differences. Each of these twelve worlds could be its own TV series, and they're trying to make sure each planet has a varied climate and its own mix of cultures and classes, rather than having planets that are purely homogenous. One example of avoiding stereotypes is Sam Adama, Bill Adama's brother ? he's a gangster, but he's self-educated and always speaks with perfect grammar. So he's a total thug, but without any of the usual cues that would make it easy for us to identify him as such.

[io9]

Syfy announced the premiere date for its ?Battlestar Galactica? prequel ?Caprica.?

The new series, whose pilot has already had its home video debut, will hit the air Friday, Jan. 22 at 9 p.m., with its two-hour opener.

thats nearly half a year from now. why did they release pilot so early?

I wonder if we'll see Galactica being commissioned etc?

Don't know probably not but we have more movies to come EJO said that which is awesome more backstory I hope and alternate views :D

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-As for Caprica, it is a "character drama in a sci-fi universe"

-Jane Espenson vows there will be lots of dark humor in the show (woohoo)

-There will be some Easter eggs for BSG fans in Caprica, but they are totally different shows

-They wanted a period piece look and won't be as "visually chaotic" as BSG

-They will explore other colonies, like Scorpia

Premiere date: January 22, 2010

The SyFy Channel got a "failing" grade for its depiction of gay characters, and promised to do better ? for one thing, there's Ming-Na's lesbian character on Stargate Universe, and her wife, played by Reiko Aylesworth. But also, it turns out one of the major characters on Caprica is gay and has a husband ? and it's a "goodfella" type gangster, who's a stereotypically macho leg-breaker. (And AfterElton thinks this character is Sam Adama, Joseph's brother and Bill's uncle. Which would make sense, since Sam's spouse is named Larry.) Separately, another major Caprica character is actually in a group marriage, with both men and women. And in all these cases, the character's sexuality isn't made into a big deal, says SyFy's Mark Stern. [TV Guide and AfterElton]

  • 2 weeks later...

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Eddie and Luciana did a Battlestar Q&A at Wizard World Chicago Comic-Con this Friday.

Tweets cjbus: "Luciana Carro is going to be on Caprica. Only BSG cast member to be on there."

[battlestar blog]

I wonder if we'll see Galactica being commissioned etc?

Highly unlikely, unless Caprica goes on for multiple series. Galactica didnt get commissioned until the war, as it was a non-wireless ship specifically built to fight cylons. In all likelyhood, Galactica being commissioned will be in the final episode of the final series (Unless they decide to expand and show the cylon war, although it seems like they're only doing or concentrating on pre-cylon war).

Luciana Carro, who played Kat on BSG, will be in at least five episodes of Caprica ? but it's still not clear if she's playing a character connected to Kat, or someone totally new.Battlestar Blogb>]

The BSG prequel was filming in downtown Vancouver, at the Central Library. Polly Walker, playing Sister Clarice, was there, and so was Esai Morales, lurking amongst the crew. The set-up for a tense courtroom scene? Is Joseph Adama going to push Sister Clarice to reveal the truth about her involvement in the bombings? More pics at the link. [The 13th Colony viBattlestar Blogb>]

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Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille, this week's Big Fan) is joining the cast of Syfy's upcoming drama series "Caprica" as a recurring.

The Hollywood Reporter says Oswalt will play Baxter Sarno, a popular Caprican comedian talk show host on whose show Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) and Amanda Graystone (Paula Malcomson), ultimately appear.

"Caprica" is currently in production in Vancouver.

Source: Comingsoon.net

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Caprica Snags James Marsters!

Caprica exec producer Jane Espenson is using her powers as a charter member of the Whedonverse for good. Sources confirm to me exclusively that Buffy all-star James Marsters is joining the Battlestar Galactica prequel for a sizeable arc.

Marsters will play a dangerous terrorist leader by the name of Barnabus Greeley in a minimum of three episodes. Driven by desires both moralistic and carnal, Barnabus is as lethal as he is unpredictable.

And no ones does lethal and unpredictable better than Marsters.

Caprica is set to make its Syfy debut on Jan. 22.

jamesmarstersl.jpg

Caprica Snags James Marsters!

Caprica exec producer Jane Espenson is using her powers as a charter member of the Whedonverse for good. Sources confirm to me exclusively that Buffy all-star James Marsters is joining the Battlestar Galactica prequel for a sizeable arc.

Marsters will play a dangerous terrorist leader by the name of Barnabus Greeley in a minimum of three episodes. Driven by desires both moralistic and carnal, Barnabus is as lethal as he is unpredictable.

And no ones does lethal and unpredictable better than Marsters.

Caprica is set to make its Syfy debut on Jan. 22.

Goes to listen to some Gost of the Robot music :D

  • 2 weeks later...

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Welsh actor Peter Wingfield (who played the immortal Methos in the Highlander TV series and the last two movies) announced on his website that he's joining this show as Gara Singh, director of the Global Defense Department ? which makes him the boss of Jordan Duram, the GDD agent played by Brian Markinson.Peter Wingfieldb> viBattlestar_Blogb>]

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Welsh actor Peter Wingfield (who played the immortal Methos in the Highlander TV series and the last two movies) announced on his website that he's joining this show as Gara Singh, director of the Global Defense Department ? which makes him the boss of Jordan Duram, the GDD agent played by Brian Markinson.Peter Wingfieldb> viBattlestar_Blogb>]

I always remember him more as the Gu'old from SG1

  • 3 weeks later...

Is Caprica in Trouble?

Is the Battlestar Galactica spin-off Caprica in trouble? One site reported over the weekend that the show is shutting down production due to concerns about the scripts ? similar to what happened to the V reboot.

CinemaSpy asked whether Caprica was on the brink of cancellation, citing a "100 percent accurate" source: A trusted industry insider informed CinemaSpy on Saturday that production faces suspension on Caprica due to serious script problems/shortfalls, and that the future of the series may well be in jeopardy. From what we've been told, the producers haven't been altogether happy with the caliber of the stories.b>

This would make Caprica the second new show this year to face a shutdown allegedly over script concerns. Last week, Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello said the production shutdown at V was over script issues, and specifically over concerns about producer Jeff Bell (who'd been showrunner on Angel's final season.)

But this isn't the case with Caprica, insists showrunner Jane Espenson. She tells AirlockAlpha that any shutdown on the show's production is entirely due to athletes arriving for the 2010 Olympics and causing disruptions, not script problems: I'm one of the producers and I'm absolutely thrilled with the work my writers have done... The Olympics might require a couple scheduling adjustments," Espenson said. "Those are probably being misunderstood.b>

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