Abrams

Ron Moore Up For Trek XI + Updates On BSG Season 3 and ‘Caprica’

By Anthony Pascale ⋅ August 28, 2006 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

After leaving the world of Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica co-creator Ron Moore has never been shy about his views of modern Trek. He often cites the many flaws within recent Trek shows as exactly what he is trying not to do on his award series. Trek Movie Report had a brief chat with Moore after Sunday’s BSG panel and asked Ron what he thought of Trek XI. He said he didn’t know much, joking “I only know what I read, you can probably tell me more”. When asked about his views in general he seemed quite optimistic about Trek’s new future, saying

“I think it’s a great idea, and I am glad JJ (Abrams) is doing it”

It would appear that a changing of the guard at Paramount has turned Moore around on the franchise.

On the future of Trek or other scifi on network TV
The Trek Movie Report also had a chance to ask Moore his thoughts on if a space-based SciFi show like Star Trek could work on network TV. He said that space-based SciFi really has never worked starting with Star Trek itself, noting that it stuggled and was cancelled twice. Moore worked on the only truly ‘hit’ Trek TV show since then (Star Trek: The Next Generatio), but that show was syndicated and not on a network. He also pointed out that even in the time after Star Wars was a monster hit in the 70s, the original Battlestar Galactica failed to capture a general audience. Moore questioned why Star Wars itself has found a way to make it work on TV. [NOTE: there actually is a live action Star Wars show in development, but no word on if it will be on a network]. “Scifi is always going to be seen as a niche audience by the networks,” said Moore “it is getting harder to sell these things, but thank god for cable”

Trek and BSG?
During the panel discussion itself Moore took a question from the audience about if there will ever be a Star Trek/Battlestar Galactica crossover. After the audience booed and laughed Moore joked “well since it has such a great response…”. Writer Michael Taylor (another ex Trek writer) jumped in, quipping “here is a hint…Kirk isn’t Dead…Season 4″. To which Moore replied “you just can’t keep him down”. Taylor responded “you are the man that killed him” (referring Moore being the co-writer of Star Trek: Generations, in which the character of Kirk was killed). Just in case you didn’t notice, they were joking, so no Adama v Kirk fanboy fantasies.

Galactica Season 3 Spoilers
Moore told the audience that the season premiere will be done as a 2 hour movie and is set 4 months after the shocking season 2 finale (which itself had jumped 1 year into the future right before the end of the episode). The show will split between New Caprica where there is a growing insurgency spearheaded by Colonel Tigh and the ragtag fleet itself where the Adamas plan their return. He calls the premiere ‘challenging and provocative’, saying that people will be ‘choosing sides’ between the collaborating with the Cylon occupiers or joining the insurgency. Before the show airs in October, SciFi.com will be offering up 10 short webisodes that ‘lead right in’ to the season premiere. For the rest of the season, Moore says that they just got the network to sign-off on the season finale so they are done with writing. Season 3 will include many new things including having some ‘victories’ and seeing the inside of a Cylon Base ship. Moore talked about using this as an opportunity to get a lot more insights into Cylon culture. He also warns fans that “We are gonna lose some poeple”, going to to say “some of our friends are not going to make it.” There is no word on if Galactica has been picked up for a 4th season, but Moore stated that they have been writing the cliffhanger finales assuming they are coming back. He also said that all the 3rd season’s scripts are all finished including the finale, lets hope that SciFi don’t cancel BSG (they did cancel the long running Stargate SG-1 last week).

Caprica not certain
When asked about the status of the new spin-off ‘Caprica’ Moore replied that they had just finished the 2nd draft of the pilot and will be bringing it in to SciFi this week. He described the show as totally different than Galactica, being planet-based and focusing on family and corporate drama. Although he said the network liked the first draft, it is not certain the show will be picked up. “They kind of have to pull the trigger one way or the other,” he said “I’ve had enough pilots that didn’t go forward for one reason or another to know that you never say never”

Battlestar Galactica Season 2.5 available September 19th