link love

Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica" prequel "Caprica" might not air as a backdoor pilot after all.

It might go straight to series.

“We’re not sure if it’s going to air as a backdoor pilot,” says Sci Fi Channel's executive vp of programming Mark Stern at the Television Critics Association press tour. “We’re going to take a look at it and maybe just order it as a series from there. We are going to take delivery on it in a couple of weeks and then decide whether to air it as a standalone movie or as the premiere of a new series.”

Sci Fi had a panel for "Caprica" during the network's TCA session, where showrunner Ron Moore and cast members took the stage to answer questions from critics. The project has long been called a two-hour backdoor pilot, and is supposed to air sometime this fall. An upgrade to a series order would likely  push its air date until sometime next year, a Sci Fi spokesperson says. Certainly the very act of paneling a mere pilot at the critics tour suggests network enthusiasm for the project.

Moore says that it won’t matter that people already know how the prequel story ends. In fact, he's counting on that to add suspense.

“The tension comes from the fact that you do know where it’s going,” he says. “All of this -- this world you’re about to visit -- is doomed, in some shape or form.You know how WWII turns out. You know the Nazis are going to lose. But that doesn’t mean you can’t tell compelling stories."

Moore declined to say how long before the Cylon war that “Caprica” takes place, but did note that the 12 colonies are not entirely peacefully co-existing. Also, there will be no flash-forwards to the current series (“intercutting the two would feel very oil and water,” he says).

" 'Caprica' is a different animal," he says. “It’s about a vibrant society that is at the height of its power and the height of its decadence. It’s going to come apart. It’s sort of like a roller coaster.”

The action will be firmly grounded on the planet of Caprica rather than lots of space-based jumping around between different locations. Executive producer David Eick said technological emphasis in the new show will be on artificial intelligence instead of space travel.

“That’s what’s new on this show, rather than space travel, which we take as an existing technology," Eick says.

A few other articles worth checking out...

TV Week talks about where the tension in Caprica will come from.

The TV Addict talks a little bit about Caprica's look.

[DANIEL GRAYSTONE] In his early 40s, a spectacularly wealthy computer engineer/designer, Daniel is married to Amanda and the father of Zoe -- but his extensive business interests leave him little time for his child, whom he still sees as a little girl in pink shoes. Busy trying to design an intelligent robot, Daniel is devastated when Zoe is killed in a suicide bombing, and has no idea that his daughter had a complex, very secret life. After learning that his own wizardry with computer technology was exceeded by his own child, who found a way to upload her personality into an online avatar, Daniel realizes that with a little stolen technology, and with a little intellectual elbow grease, he can create a robotic version of his dead daughter -- and in doing so, he creates the first Cylon...SERIES REGULAR - SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES.

[JOSEPH ADAMS] In his 40s, he is a Tauron, an off-worlder who has emigrated to Caprica; his hair is already starting to go iron-grey and his entire demeanor is that of someone who's already put on more miles than most men his age. There's a gravitas to Joseph, an intelligence, and a strong sense of someone you wouldn't want as your enemy. He has risen above the traditional Caprican prejudice against Taurons, and has become a powerful, influential defense attorney, with powerful ties to the Tauron crime underworld. His wife and daughter are killed in the same blast that takes out Zoe, and he bonds with the much-wealthier Daniel in a common grief. A man who has done a few crooked things in his life (largely in order to use his position to protect his fellow Taurons), Joseph reluctantly agrees to assist Daniel in his grief-fueled efforts to create robotic versions of both their children -- but after stealing vital technology from a Tauron computer developer, Joseph is ethically appalled by the robot version of his dead Tamara, and repents his actions. Left with a 9 year old son to care for, Joseph reaches out to young William, revealing to him that his last name is really Adama...SERIES REGULAR - SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES. HOWEVER, PREFER LATINO.

[AMANDA GRAYSTONE] In her late 30s, Daniel's wife, she is a successful surgeon with a volatile streak to her, who has married well and dearly loves her daughter. Devastated after the death of her daughter Zoe, Amanda turns for consolation, not to her husband but to an ex-lover, Tomas Vergis, a Tauron who is one of her husband's competitors. Furious with herself for having cheated on her husband, Amanda in fact is something of a double agent, plucking information about Vergis' intellectual property from his blabbing mouth and taking it home to Daniel to use as he sees fit...SERIES REGULAR - SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES.

[SISTER CLARICE WILLOW] In her mid 30s to 50s, dressed in the traditional clerical robes of an Athenian High Priestess, Sister Clarice is the headmistress of the Athena Academy, a private religious school, where Zoe, Lacy and Ben are all enrolled. A gracious, eloquent, thoughtful woman who grew up in a slum and has seen it all, she's elegant and sophisticated -- and utterly duplicitous. In fact, she is a closet monotheist, and has taken the best and brightest of her students and shared her own (illegal, closeted) beliefs with them -- only to see her efforts literally explode in her students' faces...SERIES REGULAR - SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES.

[ZOE GRAYSTONE / ZOE-A / ZOE-R] 16 going on 40 (18 TO PLAY 16), with severe hair and makeup, Zoe is the daughter of Daniel and Amanda Graystone, and she's a girl with many secrets. A computer genius like her father, she has found a way to enliven a holographic avatar of herself, by uploading all her memories and DNA into the hologram, thus creating her online twin, Zoe-A. A closet monotheist in the polytheistic culture of Caprica, and obliged to perform her religion in private, she tries to leave the planet with her boyfriend, Ben, only to be killed when Ben suicide-bombs them both into oblivion. But Zoe-A is left behind, a baffled, grieving digital duplicate of the real, flesh and blood Zoe. With the collaboration of Daniel and Joseph, Zoe-A is downloaded into a robotic brain, thus becoming the first Cylon: Zoe-R...SERIES REGULAR - SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES.

[WILLIAM ADAMS] 9 years old, Latino, Joseph's sole surviving child, William is inward and withdrawn in the best of times, and grows more taciturn after the death of his mother and sister. Barely aware of his father, whose work kept him away from the family, William is a stoical Tauron who keeps his deepest thoughts to himself and rarely smiles. Promised a closer relationship by Joseph, he is taken aside, taught the basics of his Tauron heritage, and told that his Tauron name is William Adama...7 / 13 SERIES REGULAR -TO PLAY EDWARD JAMES OLMOS AT 9 YEARS OLD.

[BEN STARK / BEN-A] 16 years old (18 TO PLAY 16), with close-cropped hair, Ben has an intensity to him, a sense of a kid who's gone someplace far away and may not be coming back. Zoe's boyfriend, he is a fanatical monotheist; he introduced her and Lacy to his cult, and induced them both to flee Caprica with him. But Ben is a little crazy, and he's fleeing Caprica in a different way than he promised: by blowing up their train with a suicide bomb. He later is revealed to have his own uploaded avatar, an on-line twin named Ben-A, whom only Sister Clarice can contact...7 / 13 SERIES REGULAR - SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES.

Read more HERE.

-------
-------

Depois de, na semana passada, termos anunciado AQUI os dois primeiros nomes a integrarem o elenco do novo projecto do Sci-Fi Channel, Caprica, um spin-off de Battlestar Galactica, ficámos, esta segunda, a conhecer mais dois integrantes do novo drama de ficção científica.

CONTÉM SPOILERS

O primeiro dos nomes é o do Eric Stoltz (Pulp Fiction; Anaconda). O actor viverá Daniel Graystone, um homem com quarentas e poucos, um bem sucedido e inteligente engenheiro informático. É casado com Amanda (Paula Malcomson; Deadwood e John form Cincinnati), com quem teve Zoe (Alessandra Toreson). O trabalho afasta-o da família e impedi-o de reconhecer que Zoe cresceu e tornou-se numa adolescente bastante inteligente e dotada para a informática. Ocupado a tentar desenvolver um robot com inteligência artificial, Daniel só interrompe o seu trabalho quando é informado que a filha faleceu num atentado suicida, sem ter ideia da vida dupla que ela levava. Acaba por descobrir que a sua própria filha fez avanços extraordinários no reino da robótica, e que conseguiu fazer um upload de si própria para o computador, criando a Zoe-A. Em sofrimento, o pai de Zoe decide criar uma versão robótica da filha, e neste processo, desenvolve o primeiro Cylon.

O segundo nome é o de Alessandra Toreson (Terminator: As Crónicas de Sarah Connor, Ossos) que viverá na série a filha da personagem de Stoltz. Toreston interpretará Zoe Graystone, Zoe-A e Zoe-R. Filha de Daniel (Stoltz) e Amanda Gryastone (Malcomson), ela é uma adolescente com muitos segredos. Com grandes conhecimentos de informática, ela encontra uma forma de prolongar a sua vida, fazendo um upload de si própria para o seu computador, criando uma gémea virtual - Zoe-A. Acredita em apenas um Deus, crença que tem que manter em segredo da sua família politeísta e do resto de Caprica. Morre num atentado suicida causado pelo seu namorado Ben Stark. O seu pai, com a ajuda de Joseph Adama (Esai Morales ; Jericó e Vanished), que havia perdido a mulher Evelyn e a filha Tamara no mesmo atentado suicida, fazem download de Zoe-R para um robot, intitulado Zoe-R.

Falta ainda encontrar actores para os seguintes papéis:

- Irmã Clarice Willow - 30/50 anos - Veste-se com os trajes tradicionais, é a directora de uma escola privada religiosa, onde Zoe Graystone, Ben Stark e Lacy (personagem convidada ou recorrente). Uma mulher bonita, inteligente, graciosa, eloquente, elegante e sofisticada.... e mentirosa, porque na realidade ela é uma falsa politeísta, acreditando em apenas um Deus, crença que ensina aos seus melhores alunos, os já referidos Zoe, Ben e Lacy. Fica devastada quando os três morrem por se sentir parcialmente responsável pela instabilidade mental de Ben. Personagem do elenco regular. Procuram um actor de qualquer etnia.

- William Adama/Adams - Nove anos de idade, latino, filho de Joseph (Morales) e Evelyn. É uma criança reservada e que após a morte da mãe e da irmã se torna mais taciturno, raramente sorrindo. Pretende-se um actor entre sete a treze anos de idade. Personagem do elenco regular. Procuram um actor que possa ter parecenças com Edward James Olmos na sua mocidade.

- Ben Stark/Ben -A - 16 anos - Um rapaz intenso, com o aspecto de quem soube mais do que devia e nunca mais se recuperou. Namorado de Zoe (Toreson), ele é um monoteísta fanático, que induziu Zoe e Lacy a fugirem de Caprica com ele. A fuga dele era tanto física como espiritual, e mal os três entram num comboio, Ben explode-o numa atentado suicida. Também ele tem um gémeo online, Ben-A, com quem a irmã Clarice consegue comunicar. Personagem do elenco regular. Procuram um actor de qualquer etnia.

As descrições das personagens deixaram alguns fãs a questionar-se sobre o facto destas personagens partilharem semelhanças com alguns dos modelos Cylons que conhecemos. Vejamos:

1 - Ben tem tendências homicidas, não respeita a opinião dos outros, e é capaz de matar quem quer que seja por uma causa em que acredite. Lembra-vos alguém?

2 - Zoe é uma mulher com espírito aventureiro, sensual e no entanto muito inteligente. Six?

3 - Daniel é um homem controlado, inteligente e dedicado, com um espírito calmo e pouco dado a problemas. Simon?

Existem ainda mais algumas associações entre personagens da nova série e os cylons de BSG, contudo estas parecem as mais apropriadas, ainda que tenham muitas lacunas para preencher antes de me convencerem totalmente desta teoria.

Notícias Relacionadas:

Fotos: Sci-Fi Channel

Fonte: TV Squad

Escrito por: Duarte Faria & Carlos Couceiro

Editado por: Duarte Faria & Carlos Couceiro