Looks like it’s Battlestar Galactica’s turn to go through the reboot machine—again. According to Deadline, this time, it will be helmed by none other than Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail. NBC Universal, which gave us the critically acclaimed first Battlestar Galactica reboot in the 2000’s, made the announcement on Tuesday.
Deadline reports that this will be just one of several reboots (including Saved By the Bell and Punky Brewster) that will be launched on NBCUniversal’s new streaming service, Peacock, which will also have some original content in store when it launches in April 2020.
That’s literally all we (or presumably anyone not under an NDA) knows about the new Battlestar Galactica, including, uh, why. Deadline reports that they “hear” Esmail is a “huge fan of BG,” but he has yet to publicly comment on this decision.
Over at Tor.com HQ, this news prompted immediate plans to collectively re-binge all four seasons of the 2004 Battlestar Galactica over copious amounts of Chinese food, and we’d suggest you all do the same until we hear some more about the reboot.
UPDATE: Sam Esmail tweeted that this Battle Star Galactica reboot will not be a remake of Moore’ BSG, but will instead explore a new story:
BSG fans, this will NOT be a remake of the amazing series @RonDMoore launched because… why mess with perfection? Instead, we’ll explore a new story within the mythology while staying true to the spirit of Battlestar. So say we all!
— Sam Esmail (@samesmail) September 17, 2019
Mr. Robot is really good and I think Sam Esmail is a big part of that. But yet another reboot on yet another streaming service isn’t very exciting.
Sweet Jesus, is this what the future of television holds? Endless remakes of the same old series, over and over again, because nobody can think of anything new? A vast wasteland, indeed.
Why do we need another reboot of BSG? The first reboot was amazing (until the writer’s strike, and even then it was still better that a lot of what was on TV).
As with all reboots, what is it they hope to do better/differently?
1000% unnecessary.
Maybe this time when they say “They Have A Plan” they can mean it?
Another Battlestar reboot is not needed.
Another pay streaming service is not wanted.
Ugh, why? Other than a few minor things, the recent Galactica/Caprica were really good. What is he hoping to accomplish? Because I doubt he’ll get better acting or music. How about rebooting something else instead, like a series based on the movie Waterworld?
I think we can all agree that 2000’s remake was a much needed reboot of a passable but underwhelming show. The fact that I often forget about the original is a testament to that. It was a huge improvement! The show was compelling from the first episode to the last and still holds up today. While I totally hope the new show will be terrific, it’s going to have to compete with a truly worthy predecessor this time.
“All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again.”
They really meant it, I guess.
Hmm…
Ooh!
Oh, screw that.
Sam Esmail has gone on Twitter to clarify that the new show will not be a reboot of the old premise (presumably the search for Earth). Instead, it will explore another part of the mythology. Given that he called Ronald D. Moore to get his blessing for the project, it sounds like it might even take place in the RDM canon of the show.
Likely possibilities for that story include the flight from Kobol to the Thirteenth Colony, when the “caravan of the heavens” made its way at sublight speeds from Kobol to Old Earth, or the exodus in the opposite direction to found the Twelve Colonies. That would be quite interesting. I can’t see Esmail tackling something more obvious like the First Cylon War, as we’ve had a couple of tilts at now which didn’t pan out.
Incidentally, the BSG video game that came out a couple of years back, Deadlock, is fantastic and well worth a look.
Oh God, why? Come up with something original why can’t you??
No please. Just no.
If you must reboot something, there are so many other properties that could be improved by an update. BSG is not one of them.
When The Prisoner got rebooted, I learned an important lesson, to wit: “Don’t get your knickers in a bunch (which I had) over a remake of a beloved classic because the reboot does not make the original go away.” The reboot came, it was mostly dreadful, and it went away again. The original remains, undiminished.
I question Esmail’s staying power. Season 1 of Mr. Robot was great, but then it went downhill – a victim of being a project that had a great concept, but no idea of how to extend that into further seasons.