Galactica.com - Letting go of 'Battlestar'

By Kimberly Nordyke, on 04-06-2007

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Ronald D. Moore

Letting go of 'Battlestar'
Producer: 'Time is now' to wrap
By Kimberly Nordyke

June 4, 2007

Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, executive producers of Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica," said they took their cues from the series' story lines in determining when the time would be right to end the show.

As reported last week, "Battlestar's" upcoming fourth season, set to debut early next year (a special two-hour episode airs in November), will be its last, and the producers said during a conference call with reporters Friday that the time was right to wrap up the story of humanity's struggle for survival.

"This is a decision that took some time to arrive at," Eick said. "There was a number of questions internally and a creative agenda we wanted to serve, and we all had to collectively decide when to be definitive about it, and that time is now."

Moore said the duo started thinking about the show's end midway through the second season but that the idea really gained traction somewhere in the middle of Season 3, when the characters reached the algae planet and got a clue to finding Earth.

"We thought, if we don't start paying this off and really revealing those secrets, we'll be moving in the wrong direction and get to a place where it felt like we were jerking off the audience," Moore said, adding that the network was supportive of the duo's decision.

As for the cast's response to the news, Eick said it was mixed, with some expressing surprise and others who were more understanding. He added that the cast is approaching the fourth season differently knowing that it's their last.

Moore and Eick were vague on their plans for the series' final episodes, but Moore did say that viewers will "get to see Earth" by the end of the show. He added that most story lines will be tied up in the finale but believes there's "value to leaving some things open to the imagination and unresolved." Moore also said there are no plans for a feature or miniseries beyond the finale, but he added, "Never say never."

The producers also are talking to Lucy Lawless about reprising her "Battlestar" role as D'Anna Biers, but nothing is definite.

Moore and Eick added they haven't received word from the network yet on any pickup for "Caprica," a spinoff prequel of "Battlestar" announced more than a year ago.

Asked if they have any regrets about something they wish they'd done differently with "Battlestar," Eick joked, "We never got Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) and Number Six (Tricia Helfer) together."

"Battlestar," which also stars Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Jamie Bamber, James Callis and Grace Park, is produced by NBC Universal Television Studio.

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