Remember that awesome trailer for “Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome” that surfaced this week and offered a brief glimmer of hope for space based sci-fi to make a comeback on TV?
Consider that hope squashed.
Syfy has announced that it will not go forward with “‘Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome” as a TV series despite the fact that the pilot hasn’t even been aired. The exact reason for the network’s decision isn’t known, but Deadline cites the long post-production cycle for the pilot; which was announced back in 2010. Extensive greenscreen effects were used to recreate and expand the original Galactica sets. The pilot episode was finished and turned in to the network in November 2011, just over a year since it was first given a greenlight.
“Blood & Chrome” was originally planned as a ten part web series by “BSG” veteran Michael Taylor and executive producer David Eick. But Syfy was reportedly so high on the project at the time that it bumped it up to a TV movie and openly teased that it could lead to a brand new “Battlestar Galactica” prequel series that may have succeeded where “Caprica” failed.
The lone silver lining in today’s announcement is that “Blood & Chrome” may still go forward as a web series, according to Syfy’s President of Original Programming, Mark Stern.
“Though the vision for ‘Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome’ has evolved over the course of the past year, our enthusiasm for this ambitious project has not waned,” said Stern. “We are actively pursuing it as was originally intended: a groundbreaking digital series that will launch to audiences beyond the scope of a television screen. The 90-minute pilot movie will air on Syfy in its entirety at a future date.”
However, the wildly enthusiastic response to the video should have demonstrated that there is still a huge demand for this franchise to return to TV. Hopefully, Syfy will reconsider its decision.
What are your thoughts on the “Blood & Chrome” TV series stopping before it even began? Let us know in the comment section below!
