salon.com— Ronald D. Moore, creator of TV's smartest sci-fi show, talks about the creative freedom of serialized drama and how to comment on the Iraq war in a story set in outer space.
Mar 24, 2007View in Crawl 4
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See, I don't understand the fandom's sleight against "filler" episodes. I consider them just a sigh of character development between the heart attack pace of the episodes more central to the story arc. But both are important. I couldn't give a damn about where the story arc is going to go unless I give a damn about the characters involved. How do you do that? Backstory. Character development. "Filler." Ronald Moore said it best when the series started -- "Every episode won't be about Humanity being on the run from the Cylons." Not every episode should be required to make a fanboy cream their jeans with some glitzy special effects and explosions. BSG is smarter than that, and I thank Ronald Moore for ushering in what will hopefully become an era of serious, poignant sci-fi. I'll take an episode of BSG "filler" over the best of Stargate SG-1 anyday. Sorry MacGuyver.
This whole season has been a "filler' episode. The acting is still great, effects great (when we get to see some) but they have just made the show so dark and depressing. They have scewed up all the characters so bad, making them so morally void and irritating that you no longer care if they live or die. Starbuck died (well not really since we know she will be coming back in a bathtub) but i just didnt care. I think Ron Moore has forgotten who watches the show. Fans of Sci-fi. If I want to watch a courtroom drama i'll watch law and order. The crew fight each other more than they do the cylons! I know its suppose to add drama to the show but its gone beyond that and now its just ridiculus and people are just not watching anymore.I actually found myself not caring if the show was cancelled this year and thats saying a lot because about a year ago it was one of my favorite shows.end rant
The filler episodes are great imho because the show isn't about the cylons, it's about the human condition. The filler episodes are there to remind you that even though there is a war going on against the cylons, the human race still has to cope with internal politics, drug wars, assasinations, prostitution and so on. Even when the human race is whittled down to less than 50,000 humans we simply cannot help ourselves but continue to act human.As for being stuck in a *vent*, it was an airlock. And those episodes serve to remind the viewer that these ships are getting the s**t pounded out of them by the cylons. The viewer is meant to realize that things just don't ALWAYS work forever once they are constructed (/me points to Star Trek).If you're only watching the show for the space fighting scenes, or are waiting for a cylon boob to pop out of a dress then you're likely too young to vote or you're living in a world which exists in your own head. Humans are incredibly flawed, and stuff DOES break, and yet look at where we are today in the real world. We still manage to claw our way to success even with all our faults. I for one applaud the show for including the human condition as the *internal enemy* they must battle while at the same time be dealing with the cylons.
Firefly is Cowboy Bebop+Blake's 7 mixed with a Han Solo character*. Know your scifi roots before praising recycled material+"Joss talk" as the end-all of the genre.*Feel free to add the romantic notions/glorification of the downtrodden Confederate veterans (who were disenfranchised from voting for about 15 years after the war) after the U.S. Civil War because it is obvious that Mal's forces are the "Confederates" and the evil Alliance are the victorious "Union forces".
Magnum, knight Rider and Fall Guy were very popular in their day and for many years later in syndication. Buck Rodgers and Six Million Dollar Man were great scifi at the time as was the original (and imo, only) Battlestar.Ronald D. Moore is not the "creator" of Battlestar. He took a scifi show that was almost 30 years ago, borrowed the premise and character names then merged them with ideas that were present in Terminator and The Matrix. He just took pieces of other stories in the genre. I'm not knocking the results, obviously a LOT of people think it's a great show, but he hasn't done anything terribly special. At least Glen Larson was ORIGINAL!
wow, all he said is Firefly would be better if it was continued. Don't get in such a tizzy. He's entitled to that opinion. I am by no means a Joss Whedon fanboy, I never watched Angel and only saw a few episodes of Buffy. I was a huge fan of Firefly because it just worked for me. I loved the witty banter, the action and the characters. Why is the "cowboy" thing so hard to swallow. like every world would be so advanced as to live with robots and everything run by computers just because they can fly from planet to planet.And to accuse another show of being "recycled material" while being a fanboy of the new battlestar is really hypocritical. they're both good shows for various reasons and some people prefer one over the other.
Lost and B5 have pretty good fillers. BSG has boring fillers. Why? Because the show is so fast paced that when they spend a whole show on 2 workers stuck in an airlock that have to contemplate jumping into space to survive instead of addressing the real storyline it just pisses me off. Lost has good fillers because the show is usually on such a slow simmer, pretty much every show is 80% filler anyway. B5's first season was 80% filler. so we are used to fillers there. But for BSG you can't have your character run ass-ragged with 100% story arc and then expect us to sit through a workers strike episode and a fracken black market episode. It'd be as bad as some football fan sitting down for monday night football and having to watch 2 hours of "the history of football helmets and amazing advances in locker room sanitation" instead. You'd have a f**kin riot.
AGREED AND U CALLED IT IM GUESSENG A CERTAIN MRS THRACE ANHOO WHATS URE OPINION ON THIS SEASON NOW WE ENCROACHING AT THE END IN FACT THE PENULTIMATE EP 2NITE!!!
akajiMar 25, 2007
"Salon cannot set a cookie on your browser.In order to read Salon your browser and any security software you may be using must be set to allow Salon's cookies. Can you check to see if you have cookies disabled, or blocked from salon.com?"Damn right it can't. I hate cookies.
bm8631Mar 25, 2007
See, I don't understand the fandom's sleight against "filler" episodes. I consider them just a sigh of character development between the heart attack pace of the episodes more central to the story arc. But both are important. I couldn't give a damn about where the story arc is going to go unless I give a damn about the characters involved. How do you do that? Backstory. Character development. "Filler." Ronald Moore said it best when the series started -- "Every episode won't be about Humanity being on the run from the Cylons." Not every episode should be required to make a fanboy cream their jeans with some glitzy special effects and explosions. BSG is smarter than that, and I thank Ronald Moore for ushering in what will hopefully become an era of serious, poignant sci-fi. I'll take an episode of BSG "filler" over the best of Stargate SG-1 anyday. Sorry MacGuyver.
farikMar 25, 2007
@ DBiz:Oh of course Tigh will be a Cylon...
slipgateMar 25, 2007
This whole season has been a "filler' episode. The acting is still great, effects great (when we get to see some) but they have just made the show so dark and depressing. They have scewed up all the characters so bad, making them so morally void and irritating that you no longer care if they live or die. Starbuck died (well not really since we know she will be coming back in a bathtub) but i just didnt care. I think Ron Moore has forgotten who watches the show. Fans of Sci-fi. If I want to watch a courtroom drama i'll watch law and order. The crew fight each other more than they do the cylons! I know its suppose to add drama to the show but its gone beyond that and now its just ridiculus and people are just not watching anymore.I actually found myself not caring if the show was cancelled this year and thats saying a lot because about a year ago it was one of my favorite shows.end rant
Closed AccountMar 25, 2007
Unfortunately BG may be following the same path Lost has.
knucklesMar 25, 2007
The filler episodes are great imho because the show isn't about the cylons, it's about the human condition. The filler episodes are there to remind you that even though there is a war going on against the cylons, the human race still has to cope with internal politics, drug wars, assasinations, prostitution and so on. Even when the human race is whittled down to less than 50,000 humans we simply cannot help ourselves but continue to act human.As for being stuck in a *vent*, it was an airlock. And those episodes serve to remind the viewer that these ships are getting the s**t pounded out of them by the cylons. The viewer is meant to realize that things just don't ALWAYS work forever once they are constructed (/me points to Star Trek).If you're only watching the show for the space fighting scenes, or are waiting for a cylon boob to pop out of a dress then you're likely too young to vote or you're living in a world which exists in your own head. Humans are incredibly flawed, and stuff DOES break, and yet look at where we are today in the real world. We still manage to claw our way to success even with all our faults. I for one applaud the show for including the human condition as the *internal enemy* they must battle while at the same time be dealing with the cylons.
lynxproMar 25, 2007
Firefly is Cowboy Bebop+Blake's 7 mixed with a Han Solo character*. Know your scifi roots before praising recycled material+"Joss talk" as the end-all of the genre.*Feel free to add the romantic notions/glorification of the downtrodden Confederate veterans (who were disenfranchised from voting for about 15 years after the war) after the U.S. Civil War because it is obvious that Mal's forces are the "Confederates" and the evil Alliance are the victorious "Union forces".
rodrigo74Mar 25, 2007
Which sci-fi show would get your vote then?
sillywampaMar 26, 2007
Magnum, knight Rider and Fall Guy were very popular in their day and for many years later in syndication. Buck Rodgers and Six Million Dollar Man were great scifi at the time as was the original (and imo, only) Battlestar.Ronald D. Moore is not the "creator" of Battlestar. He took a scifi show that was almost 30 years ago, borrowed the premise and character names then merged them with ideas that were present in Terminator and The Matrix. He just took pieces of other stories in the genre. I'm not knocking the results, obviously a LOT of people think it's a great show, but he hasn't done anything terribly special. At least Glen Larson was ORIGINAL!
sillywampaMar 26, 2007
wow, all he said is Firefly would be better if it was continued. Don't get in such a tizzy. He's entitled to that opinion. I am by no means a Joss Whedon fanboy, I never watched Angel and only saw a few episodes of Buffy. I was a huge fan of Firefly because it just worked for me. I loved the witty banter, the action and the characters. Why is the "cowboy" thing so hard to swallow. like every world would be so advanced as to live with robots and everything run by computers just because they can fly from planet to planet.And to accuse another show of being "recycled material" while being a fanboy of the new battlestar is really hypocritical. they're both good shows for various reasons and some people prefer one over the other.
scottamusMar 26, 2007
Lost and B5 have pretty good fillers. BSG has boring fillers. Why? Because the show is so fast paced that when they spend a whole show on 2 workers stuck in an airlock that have to contemplate jumping into space to survive instead of addressing the real storyline it just pisses me off. Lost has good fillers because the show is usually on such a slow simmer, pretty much every show is 80% filler anyway. B5's first season was 80% filler. so we are used to fillers there. But for BSG you can't have your character run ass-ragged with 100% story arc and then expect us to sit through a workers strike episode and a fracken black market episode. It'd be as bad as some football fan sitting down for monday night football and having to watch 2 hours of "the history of football helmets and amazing advances in locker room sanitation" instead. You'd have a f**kin riot.
ramaseesMar 13, 2009
AGREED AND U CALLED IT IM GUESSENG A CERTAIN MRS THRACE ANHOO WHATS URE OPINION ON THIS SEASON NOW WE ENCROACHING AT THE END IN FACT THE PENULTIMATE EP 2NITE!!!