The upcoming Battlestar Galactica reboot will have an unconventional episode structure, according to producer Sam Esmail. The beloved sci-fi franchise initially began as a television show in 1978, which only ran for one season. However, it became a cult favorite among fans and later spawned additional shows and tie-in materials like video games, web series, and comic books. The most notable was a 2003 miniseries on Syfy that became such a hit, the network created a whole new Battlestar Galactica from it that ran for four seasons starting in 2004. Much like the original series, the 2004 Battlestar Galactica centered on the war between humans and the cybernetic Cylons after the Cylons launched a devastating attack on the humans' Twelve Colonies.
Last fall, the latest Battlestar Galactica reboot was announced for NBC's upcoming streaming service Peacock. Esmail, best known for his work on Mr. Robot and Amazon's Homecoming, will produce the new series alongside Michael Lesslie. Further details have been few and far between, though the reboot is said to take place within the same world as the 2004 Battlestar Galactica. This means the newest series likely won't be centered on the same characters and events, but will instead explore other areas of the universe.
Esmail has offered up a new tease about what fans can expect from this Battlestar Galactica, though it might not quite be what they're expecting. While participating in THR's TV's Top Five podcast, Esmail hinted that his take on the sci-fi franchise won't follow a traditional episodic format. Esmail explained:
There might be episodes that are longer than others. There might be a three-episode arc. There might be a standalone episode that's a half-hour long. We don't want to put guardrails up at all. We want to do whatever's best for each episode. And because I do believe in the episode model, I maybe share the frustration some critics have when showrunners go on an say 'Well, it's a 10-hour movie.' That's silly. It's not. What we're doing here is every episode you have the opportunity to change up the tone, to change up the story, to change up the point of view. So we're going to lean into that, not shy away from it.
Peacock is set to launch in July, but Battlestar Galactica won't be included among the new offerings available. It's actually not clear when Battlestar Galactica will launch; Peacock has delayed several original programs until 2021 because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but Battlestar Galactica wasn't included among the shows being delayed. It sounds like the series is still in its early development stages, which means it'll be a while before it actually premieres on Peacock. Still, Esmail clearly has a lot of plans just waiting to come to life.
Battlestar Galactica fans are probably eager for the arrival of this new reboot, especially since plans for a feature film adaptation seem to have fallen to the wayside. The last update came in December 2018, when Jay Basu joined as a writer. For the time being, though, it sounds like the streaming reboot is getting all of the focus for the franchise. Hopefully, another update will come soon that can give a better idea of when fans can expect to see this latest adventure.
Source: THR