‘Battlestar Galactica’, the UN and ‘The Plan’

Thursday night in Los Angeles at the famous Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd., producers and cast members from Sci-Fi Channel’s groundbreaking series Battlestar Galactica got together with officials for the United Nations to discuss issues ranging from human rights to accountability to peace and justice throughout the world — and The Flickcast was there to bring you all the details.

Although these global issues are very important and worthy of discussion, because this is Hollywood, the panel also managed to talk a bit about Battlestar Galactica, the DVD release of the series and the upcoming movie The Plan.

Previously, this group had gotten together at the actual United Nations in New York, which we told you about, and this time around the topics of discussion for the first part of the evening were similar. First up was Sci-Fi Channel President Dave Howe who announced, among other things, that Battlestar Galactica had been nominated for “Program of the Year” by the Television Critics Association.

Then, after a round of thunderous applause at that statement, to which he responded “Well, we haven’t won yet,” he introduced the moderator for the evening: Geoff Boucher of the Los Angels Times’ Hero Complex Blog. Once Boucher took the stage, he introduced the representatives from the UN and the cast and producers of Batlestar Galactica, and then went right into some clips from the four seasons of BSG, including scenes with all your favorite cast members relevant to the topics at hand. Next, Boucher jumped in with questions for the panel.

As this event was billed as a discussion about “TV’s role in making global issues relevant” the questions for the panel started off with very serious topics. Some of these included human rights, a discussion of justice versus revenge, how accountability is important when punishing people who perpetrate crimes against humanity, that BSG addressed issues that people in the UN address each and every day and how the UN doesn’t use the term “Air Locking” like they do on BSG, but, joked one UN rep, perhaps they should.

Then, to the delight of the fans in attendance, they moved on to discussions about BSG and the upcoming movie The Plan, which Olmos directed and tells the Battlestar Galactica story from the Cylons perspective. According to Olmos, The Plan is exactly what fans expect and will be blown away by how great it is.

“I gotta tell you, not to give anything away, it is exactly what you think it is,” Olmos said. “You see the complete opposite of the first 281 days of what we went through, … seen through the eyes of the Cylons, and it is breathtaking. It’s fantastic. It’s not fun, but I will say that you will sit there [gasping].”

“Basically, you will go back to see the series again,” Olmos said. “I couldn’t have imagined this kind of a situation happening at the end of a show, where you would actually start at the beginning. That’s a masterful piece of understanding, Ron [Moore] is a genius. Because after you see The Plan, you’ll want to go back and view the whole series again.”

In addition to Olmos’ glowing reviews for The Plan and Moore, he also gave credit to writer Jane Espenson, who wrote The Plan, and his lead actor.

“I have to tell you right now, Dean Stockwell is a brilliant artist,” Olmos said. “He does a magnificent job of leading The Plan. The Plan is exactly that. It was how they planned to do what they did and what happened. It was monumental. All I can tell you is it’s an extraordinary look at the Cylons, how they masterminded what they did.”

Their was also mention of Caprica but sadly, no scenes were shown from that show. About Caprica, Moore said fans will just have to wait until January for the series but that it would be worth the wait. In addition, Moore also took a moment to acknowledge, as he said “for the first time”, the contribution of director Michael Rymer to the BSG series.

“David and I always get press for being the “Fathers” of this show, but there were three of us who were there at the beginning and guided the show and there was a third creative force that contributed heavily to our vision. And I just want to acknowledge him publicly for the first time. That man is Michael Rymer,” Moore said.

Caprica dubuts in January. Battlestar Galactica: The Plan airs on Sci-Fi Channel in September. Meanwhile, check out this preview for The Plan.