The Reinvention of the Science Fiction Television Series

Ron Moore was hired by producer David Eick to reinvent Battlestar Galactica as a television series for Sci-Fi, but Moore had a very specific goal to reinvent the science fiction television series.  “Our goal is nothing less than the reinvention of the science fiction television series.  We take as a given the idea that the traditional space opera with its stock characters, techno double-talk, bumpy-headed aliens, thespian histrionics and empty heroics has run its course and a new approach is required.  That approach is to introduce realism into what has heretofore been an aggressively unrealistic genre.” [David Bassom, The Official Battlestar Galactica Companion, (London: Titan Books, 2005), p. 8.]

The 21st century edition of Battlestar Galactica started first as a late 2003 miniseries, running 3 hours (minus commercials).  This U.S. television series (produced and filmed in British Columbia, Canada) is owned by NBC Universal and was aired on their Sci-Fi Channel.  High ratings directly led to the production of 13 original episodes that began airing in early 2005.  A second season in 2006 featured 20 more episodes.  A third season in 2007 with 20 additional episodes was produced, followed by a fourth and final season that started in early 2008 and concluded in 2009.

In 1966, Gene Roddenberry’s famous Star Trek Guide safeguarded that production against straying from the format by adhering to one essential directive:

Science fiction is no different from the tales of the present or past. Our starship central characters and crew must at least be as believably motivated and as identifiable as character we’ve all written into police stations, general hospitals, and Western towns.

Clearly, Battlestar Galactica under Ronald D. Moore embraced these “tricks of the trade” that had been pioneered 40 years earlier for Star Trek while injecting or embedding discernible themes and messages about politics and religion for the audience to ponder.  Moreover, the 9/11/01 attacks and the subsequent 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq provided the political and cultural context for the series enabling producers and writers to inject urgent and controversial questions of military and political significance for viewers to ponder.

Since the word battle in its title, nobody should have ever been surprised that this series was going to explicitly deal with warfare and conflict between political and cultural opponents using the science fiction format.  What may have surprised everyone, however, is that Battlestar Galactica attempted to compel viewers to evaluate difficult and challenging questions about their core beliefs and values.

Wanting More

The producers chose to end Battlestar Galactica after completing the development of story arcs and characters to their satisfaction.  This decision can best be understood if you consider that famous show business warning:  “Always leave the audience wanting more.” I believe that the business of writing and producing network television programming may not enable the most conducive environment for writers and producers to convey difficult and challenging questions about the audience’s core beliefs and values.  Perhaps that persuasive effort survives and flourishes best in the business of writing novels.

The Intersection of Politics and Religion

But, since the audience for network television programming is much larger than that of novels--and so are the revenue generating possibilities of television--it is easy to understand why there may always be attempts by writers and producers to persuade television viewers by using compelling themes and messages about politics and religion. Battlestar Galactica would have been a much richer experience for its audience had the writers and producers had been given more time to develop the story arcs and characters pertaining to the intersection of politics, organized religion and associated beliefs and values.  This is especially true because we live in a world where politics and religion have a considerable presence in the daily consciousness of many people. No other genre of writing in the English language today can better examine politics and religion on planet Earth compared to science fiction.  The writers and producers of the 21st century edition of Battlestar Galactica were highly savvy in their awareness of this inherent power. However, Battlestar Galactica skirted one provocative question: Was God created by mankind?

On Battlestar Galactica mankind created the Cylons, and the Cylons developed an organized religion to worship one, true God.  Meanwhile, the chosen religion of mankind was that of multiple gods rather than just one.  This significant disparity of religious beliefs between the human race and the human-created race of Cylons emerged as the most compelling storytelling element of Battlestar Galactica.  Imagine how the worldwide audience would be stunned if Battlestar Galactica chose at its conclusion to present “the big reveal” similarly as did The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy and friends started to pay attention to the man behind the curtain.

Sex, Religion, Politics

The writers and producers of Battlestar Galactica deliberately chose to tell stories that violated the foundational rule for polite behavior while attending parties:  Never talk about sex, religion, politics.  This choice made Battlestar Galactica memorable and distinctive in comparison to other contemporary television series that chose much safer storytelling paths. Battlestar Galactica chose to pay attention to the sexual side of what it means to be alive:  A central theme in the series was sexually aggressive and highly attractive females who pursued hidden agendas linked to politics and religion in their conquest of males that proved powerless against the pleasures of the flesh. But, equally significant is how Battlestar Galactica posed and answered questions about what happens when people are thrown together in cramped military quarters during the heat of battle. Males and females in Battlestar Galactica were depicted sharing unisex toilets and shower facilities as the norm.  Unlike in our world, Battlestar Galactica showed no evidence of shame or other emotional hang-ups relating to nudity or sexuality. Their universe certainly was one where males and females felt sexual heat for one another minus labels pertaining to heterosexuality or homosexuality.  A more explicit depiction of sexual activity would have benefited the storytelling greatly, but it would only have been possible had Battlestar Galactica been on HBO or Showtime instead of Sci-Fi Channel.  That’s something to fantasize about in the middle of the night when you cannot sleep!

Seeding the Earth

The use of the Bob Dylan song “All Along The Watchtower” in Battlestar Galactica propelled us to the plot twist in the 2009 series finale:  Our Earth in our timeline was seeded by the humans and Cylons during prehistoric times.  This, of course, is not a new idea.  The 1968 book Chariots of the Gods: Unsolved Mysteries of the Past by Erik von Daniken famously ran this up the flagpole to see who saluted.  Few did.  But, this plot device worked well for ending Battlestar Galactica in a credible way.

So What Next?

The Battlestar Galactica question as to whether law and democracy can survive in an ongoing war is perhaps the most compelling of all the questions asked by this series.  Without any doubt, at the very essence of Battlestar Galactica storytelling across most of its episodes is the basic conflict between the behaviors necessary for victory in battle versus the behaviors necessary to maintain a lawful and democratic society.  The injecting of this question into the series into science fiction storytelling--along with the various answers that viewers must inevitably find for themselves--is one of the most noteworthy accomplishments of Battlestar Galactica.  But, now that Ron Moore asked that compelling question in Battlestar Galactica, what will he do next?  While he asked a good question, he didn’t provide a definitive answer in Battlestar Galactica.  Perhaps he will pick up on this question in his future works now that he accomplished his mission of reinventing the science fiction television series.

Ron Moore’s Legacy

‘The New York Times published an op-ed written by Ronald D. Moore on September 18, 2006 in which he addressed the subject of politics in science fiction space adventures.  That commentary hinted at the legacy of Ronald D. Moore as a writer and producer of science fiction television.

He wrote that Star Trek literally changed his life.  He addressed the swagger of Captain James T. Kirk:  “His mission was to explore the final frontier, not to conquer it. He was moral without moralizing. Week after week, he confronted the specters of intolerance and injustice, and week after week found a way to defeat them without ever becoming them. Jim Kirk may have beat up his share of bad guys, but you could never imagine him torturing them.”

Moore addressed the criticism has received in the early part of the decade that Battlestar Galactica was too realistic and too dark:  “Nowadays, it may appear that I’ve turned a blind eye to my lodestar as the crew of the battlestar Galactica behave in ways that would’ve been unthinkable in the Star Trek universe that Gene Roddenberry created. But Battlestar Galactica remains very much informed by the lessons I learned from that slightly paunchy man in the gold pajama top on the good ship Enterprise. My characters may not have all the answers (sometimes they’re not even aware of the questions) but they contain kernels of both good and evil in their hearts and continue to struggle for salvation and redemption against the darker angels of their natures. Their defeats are many, their victories few, but somehow, some way, they never give up the dream of finding a better tomorrow.”

But, now that J.J. Abrams has at last released his reinvented Star Trek movie, the difference between Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek is very clear.  And so is Ron Moore’s legacy:

Battlestar Galactica was given a sharp realism by Moore through its’ depictions of the darkness that genuinely exists in human behavior.  In contrast, Star Trek from Roddenberry through Abrams was given a brighter, more upbeat perspective that assures us that there is an optimistic outcome for mankind some day in the future.  This writer believes that Ron Moore taught us a valuable lesson:  Science fiction on television is especially compelling when it allows us in the audience to hope for an optimistic outcome, but realistically shows us how mankind can often be quite beastly and therefore undeserving of happy endings.