Should Battlestar Galactica be boycotted?

Maybe... :shrug:

Battlestar Galactica Producer Talks Strike

Ron Moore on why he's striking and how Battlestar's final season is affected.
by Eric Goldman

US, November 7, 2007 - In the midst of the Writers Guild strike, Battlestar Galactica showrunner Ron Moore walked the picket line outside the Walt Disney Studios today, alongside a large assemblage of showrunners from other series. I spoke to him for several minutes for a candid conversation about the issues surrounding the strike and how the situation is affecting Galactica, which is currently filming its fourth and final season.

For Moore, "Fundamentally this is about the internet, and this is about whether writers get paid for material that is made for the internet or if they're paid for material that is broadcast on the internet that was developed for TV or movies." Moore shared a story to illustrate the scenario, saying "I had a situation last year on Battlestar Galactica where we were asked by Universal to do webisodes , which at that point were very new and 'Oooh, webisodes! What does that mean?' It was all very new stuff. And it was very eye opening, because the studio's position was 'Oh, we're not going to pay anybody to do this. You have to do this, because you work on the show. And we're not going to pay you to write it. We're not going to pay the director, and we're not going to pay the actors.' At which point we said 'No thanks, we won't do it.'"

"We got in this long, protracted thing and eventually they agreed to pay everybody involved. But then, as we got deeper into it, they said 'But we're not going to put any credits on it. You're not going to be credited for this work. And we can use it later, in any fashion that we want.' At which point I said 'Well, then we're done and I'm not going to deliver the webisodes to you.' And they came and they took them out of the editing room anyway -- which they have every right to do. They own the material -- But it was that experience that really showed me that that's what this is all about. If there's not an agreement with the studios about the internet, that specifically says 'This is covered material, you have to pay us a formula - whatever that formula turns out to be - for use of the material and how it's all done,' the studios will simply rape and pillage."

http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/833/833633p1.html

On no more a principle than I don't watch TV "dramas".

Cliched, formulaic TV that condenses real life into neat 1 hour blocks where everything works out just fine is pretty much propaganda.

That's I heartily endorse this boycott.

Ever seen West Wing, Heroes, Lost, Rescue Me, Nip/Tuck, The Sopranos, The Wire, etc? None of these are 1 hour blocks where everything works out just fine. Your description of the television drama to me sounds more like episodes of Leave it to Beaver way back when. And how the hell is it propaganda?

I say "you" and "your" as generalisation, not at you personally.

Cops and hospitals on TV working just perfectly, when they are being actively dismantled by government? Propaganda. I notice you didn't mention 24 either.

Space dramas? You notice how they are all white (plus token) humans fighting some beastly alien race who mindlessly wants us all dead to eat your freedom? Sound familiar?

Sure, I have no doubt there are some dramas that push the boundary and make entertaining TV for some. I just don't find the idea of watching fake people holding completely unrealistic fake conversations about fake things happening in a fake world as anything but propaganda. It's a distraction. It places 30 or 40 new, exciting, attractive people in front of you, that you don't even have to try to get to know. They're your friends. You feel happy for them, you feel sad for them. You worry that they might get caught doing whatever it is that they are doing. You actually begin to care about these fake people, more than the real people you see everyday. How many Americans interact with their TVs more than their neighbours? How many Americans *care* more about their TVs and who lives in them than the people who live next door?

I stand by it: Propaganda.

I simply would call shows like Law and Order/CSI bad shows. And I dont believe you have ever seen ER, or else you would know that nothing comes easy on that show.

24 goes both ways. They have a clearly replubican president portrayed as the bad guy for taking away people's civil liberties, while they also glorify Jack Bauer torturing. And at the same time, in season 2, Jack Bauer was trying to stop the country from going into a war based on faulty intelligence. Sound familiar?

You know, some like myself would argue that television allows one to get away from life. To immerse ourself in a story, much like reading a book. I guess you think Books are stupid too, right? I mean who should read a book consisting of fake and unrealistic conversations when they can just talk to the person next door.

Oh and again, have you ever watched Battlestar Galactica? That show is probably the most anti-Iraq show on television today. I guess that is propaganda, but isnt that the kind that people like us like?

Books allow you to creat the scene. You get the stage directions and the dialogue, but you can picture the scene anyway you want. Talking fiction, there's no one way to read a scene, pardon the pun.

I admit I have a remarkably low knowledge of all the show we speak about, for the reason I boycott them on principle. My issue is with the medium of television itself. I believe TV replaces personal interaction.

Humans need interaction. Our brains and faces have developed to allow an enormous amount of communication to take place. Humans can meet those base needs via television, rather than being forced to interact with others.

I can appreciate a good story told by good actors, but all things in moderation I guess.

If you don't watch any of these programs, how do you know they fit your extremely limited idea of what they are? Not exactly open-minded about it, are you?

I'm not a big fan of Battlestar Galactica myself, but if you had ever watched it you would know, for instance, that one of the main characters is played by Edward James Olmos, and it is by no means a token role. One of the other main characters is an Asian woman...again, not a token. There's been a lot of good sci-fi on tv for some years now, and all the good ones have expressly had some very multiethnic casts with people of color in starring roles. In fact, these shows seem to be one of the few TV genres where people of color can get a break lately.

One alien, one Asian man, one black woman and a whole bunch of white motherfuckers.

But you're right. I'm not open-minded about it. I don't know much about these shows because I don't watch them, because I don't like them. I don't like television. I'm not going to be the kind of person who watches porn just to make a list of things to be outraged about.

To each their own, but I'm not going to give it the time of day to make an "informed" opinion. It's TV. What's to be "informed" about?

Don't tell the people the telescreens are bad!

You'll be roasted at the stake!

Like taking a bottle from a baby.

There is good, deep, thought provoking stuff on TV.

It's rare. But it's there.

Much like classic literature (substitute 450 pages for one hour blocks)?

Those are dramas, and they're anything but propaganda. See if you can rent the Wonderfalls DVDs, too.

Battlestar for the first couple seasons anyway was anything but cliched, formulaic, nor did things tend to work out just fine.

Sounds like they are just trying to get a fair deal from the studios.
What's the problem?

Greedy SOB's.

make the show though. :shrug:

are greedy? Are you for real?

Battlestar Galactica is either 'the best' or 'tops among the best' of TV out there.

Why did you single out BG? It is truly anti-war, it shows the range of the human condition in a non-judgmental way, it strips bare many pre-concieved notions.....

Why did you single out BG?

Why shouldn't Ron Moore or other writers get money and on-screen credit when their shows are on the Internet?

Besides, Galactica season 4 isn't going to be on until next April.

Though I'm not going to miss the Razor movie coming out...

That was easy.

It sure seemed like pure propaganda and social instruction when I started viewing again.

I love Television, and the only real propaganda I see is coming from Fixed Noise.

Turn it off for a while.When you turn it back on after a couple of months it will be obvious how much of tv is pure propoganda and mind-control.

Conform
Compete
Breed
Consume
Be Afraid

Wish I was kidding. No, I'm not a member. I do hate conformity. Everything in society is about conformity and not towing that line is painful-done it all my life.

However, TV is drama, which is the same as theatre. YES, I was a drama geek. Some things on T.V. as well as every other creative medium DO break out of that mold. I'd say the drama stuff on T.V. is a thousand times better than most of the drivel that's on the movie screens.

Unfortunately the diamonds are buried in some serious muck.

Some substance would be nice

I have trouble teaching down to your level.

At least, not back in the 70s. Now, there are newspapers, televisions, even roads, in remote villages of the Amazon. Almost everywhere, the culture of commerce is contaminating traditional lifeways. Which T-V show features a traditional culture and lifeway?

I saw a cartoon once called the Birth of Advertising. It featured guys in suits and ties falling from a horse's ass. Hilarious. Funnier was the one called Bussines on Parade. Same guys crawling in a row, each with their nose in someone else's rear!

Sometimes I think this 'culture' of ours should be locked up in a level 4 biohazard lab.

:hi:

Sid

...I love love love me some Atlantis, but I think BSG has an edge just because the writers/producers have way bigger balls than the Stargate crew. Bigger risks, better payoffs.

I'd be more than happy to elaborate in the SciFi forum if you're interested :)

Man, you'd think I would know that by now :)

See you there :hi:

Sid

It's over with the personal interest groups stuff.

Sweet. Now I can babble about Atlantis (my current obsession. I lurve it, in spite of its flaws) and BSG all day tomorrow instead of doing actual work!

BSG is an awesome show! I cant wait for the final season. I hope the writers get their due cause its quite possibly one of the best shows on TV.

:hi:

out of the ads and refuse to pay the writers and other people who create them (workers, like you).
Good for Ron Moore, and I am definitelyy going to enjoy this show whenever it's on.