...but whither Caprica?

SyFy is not done with Battlestar Galactica. The show that has influenced so many other shows (sci-fi or not) is simply not ready to die, even if the ragtag fleet finally found earth at the close of its final season. A further prequel series on the heels of Caprica will chronicle the adventures of young Adama, and will be titled Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome. The show will take place in the tenth year of the first Cylon war and span the twelve colonial worlds (this is already sounding more expensive than Caprica, no?).

What is called the 'official description' of the new show includes this:

"Ensign William Adama, barely in his 20’s and a recent Academy graduate, finds himself assigned to the newest battlestar in the Colonial fleet… the Galactica. The talented but hot-headed risk-taker soon finds himself leading a dangerous top secret mission that, if successful, will turn the tide of the decade long war in favor of the desperate fleet..."

The success of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek seems to have got in the mix somewhere here, and we can expect to see the experiences that formed the character played by Edward James Olmos in the highly successful and influential reboot.

Original Battlestar producer David Eick is returning for Blood & Chrome, this time without his visionary colleague Ron Moore. He says of the new project: "While maintaining the themes of politics, social propaganda, and the timeless question:  what does it mean to be human? – Blood & Chrome will also return us to the authentic, relentless depiction of combat and the agony and ecstasy of human-Cylon war, which was the hallmark of Battlestar Galactica's early seasons".

Syfy programming head Mark Stern says: "The Galactica universe as re-imagined by Ron Moore and David Eick is rich with possibilities and backstory. We jumped at the chance to revisit the William Adama character and explore this exciting chapter in the BSG narrative which falls between the events of the original series and the prequel Caprica currently airing on Syfy.

This bodes rather ill for the prospects of a second season for the more cerebral Caprica. Though it's been noted that SyFy are willing to truly exploit a popular franchise, as in the Stargate spin-offs, Blood & Chrome sounds like it will either be expensive or inadequately adorned with sci-fi trappings and non-repeat VFX.

HR

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