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© (C) 2006 NBC Universal
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Executive Producer David Eick
:
Exclusive Interview: EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DAVID EICK GIVES iF THE SCOOP ABOUT BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - PART 1
The genesis of creating a series that would not be a STAR TREK rip-off is revealed
By SEAN ELLIOTT, Associate Editor
Published 4/19/2006
When David Eick was asked by Universal Studios to produce a new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA TV series, he knew he wanted to veer away from anything that would be conceived as a STAR TREK rip-off. Who better to helm the writing of the series, and to keep it away from TREK themes than Moore, who had worked on STAR TREK in it’s various incarnations for ten years. Thus began the creative process behind one of television’s most successful and popular Science Fiction dramas on the air.
In the middle of working on scripts for the highly anticipated season three of BATTLESTAR, Eick took time out of his day to share stories of the genesis of GALACTICA, and how he became joined at the hip to fellow producer Ronald D. Moore.
iF MAGAZINE: How much of a split was there in the creation of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA between yourself and Ronald D. Moore?
DAVID EICK: I wouldn’t say it’s a fifty/fifty split when one guy actually goes and writes the teleplay. Ron wrote the thing. On that front there was a lot imagination and conjuring. Prior to his starting that gauntlet of pain; there were a number of very lengthy and involved meetings talking about what we wanted to achieve with the series. We talked about characters, plot, and how we wanted to tone the style of the work. There was a lot in place for him to sort of use as the backboard as he was going through the writing. After he had a draft, we then went through two complete revisions before we submitted it to anyone.
The great thing about working with him in the concept stage is that Ron is not like other guys who do what he does for a living. Ron lacks insecurity, and he has a real healthy sense of self-confidence and a certain calm understanding of his abilities. It makes him very collaborative and open to suggestions. Not just suggestions like having Six’s [Tricia Helfer] spine glow; that’s an idiosyncratic thing in a scene that gets a lot of attention. He accepts input on really significant conceptual themes. That extends even to now. He and I will break out a season arc, in terms of what we want to do with a season. We’ll spend a lot of time working on it, and the low-man on the totem pole writer will suggest something that might be a wrecking ball through all the work we’ve just done. If we think it’s a good idea we’ll do it though. A LOT of writers will not do that. Those writers have a lot of insecurities as craftsmen, and they don’t want people meddling with things on that level. It’s refreshing to work with someone who doesn’t suffer from any of those ailments.
iF: Was the Sci-Fi Channel the first network you approached for BATLLESTAR?
EICK: This whole thing began in an unorthodox way. There was a script for a project called BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, which was a continuation of the old series produced by Bryan Singer. It was set up at Fox as a two-hour pilot. They had gotten the script and hated it, and were trying to back out of the commitment. Fortunately for everybody, Bryan had to go do X-MEN 2 and that gave everyone the out. Back at Universal David Kissinger and Angela Mancuso said ‘why are we doing this for Fox, when we should be doing this for our in -house network? Let’s do it as a mini-series and let’s throw this bad script out and start from scratch.’ David called me, asked if I would like to take it on, and I asked if I could start all over. He said I could, and I started shopping around for a writer. There was already a buyer lined up, and it was formulated that I would produce it, Sci Fi would be the network it would be on; now all we needed was a writer and an idea.
I started sitting down with different people that I had known, and Ron was one of them. He really sold me on the idea of the series being an analog for post 9/11 socio-political landscapes. Everyone else was yelling about the Cylon planet, and stuff that I certainly wasn’t interested in. That was the beginning. We only knew each other generally. He had worked for me when I was an executive running development at USA Network. We had brought him on board to be a consultant producer on a show called G VS. E, and I had gotten to know him in that capacity. In fact when we decided to do GALACTICA we had had a pitch meeting in my office the week before to discuss whether we wanted to do a series together, so when I was asked to produce GALACTICA he was fresh in my mind.
He was very receptive when I contacted him to do it. I think he surprised himself by wanting to do it, because he had been doing STAR TREK. I did know that he was tired of STAR TREK. He had been off of it for a while and he had done ROSWELL, but to him STAR TREK was a very limited sort of environment. Not that he had always felt that way about it, but he had gotten to point after ten years where he felt very constricted by it. I knew that I wanted to do something very un-STAR TREK like, and I knew we weren’t going to get the go-ahead from the network unless we had something that distinguished itself very loudly as not STAR TREK. I didn’t know what that meant, I vaguely knew what STAR TREK was and I knew that its conventions had been ripped off and done to death by a hundred other shows. I knew we had to veer away from that, and who better to bring on board than someone who knew STAR TREK backwards and forwards and could go right every time they went left. It did inform my decision to call him.
11077-11097
Reader Comments
best internet savings accounts from Bahrain sez....
Coll blog, thanks.
8/23/2008 7:20:54 AM
Lorne Greene's Ghost from Colonial One sez....
You know, it completely blows my mind how some dumbasses are so SET on defending their shitty old Original Battlestar. Perhaps you're still stuck in some weird faux- childhood state, still loving a cheesy old Star Wars ripoff. Yes, I've watched the entire Original Series. Yes, it sucked balls. So continue saying that the new Battlestar sucks. If it gives you security in bashing something that isn't your toddler sci fi show, then all power to you. Just please do not ignore the amazing press the new show gets, the constant "one of the best shows on TV" the show gets by respectable critics, and the large fan base the new show has secured. Frankly, David Eick and Ron Moore are frakking geniuses.
It might be too late for any response to this, but at least my comment will be on top :)
5/5/2007 6:32:39 AM
Languatron from In the closet sez....
I'm just kidding. This is my favorite show on Television. I hope it has fifty seasons in it!
2/1/2007 6:47:49 PM
Languatron from Ron Moore's Infringement Shelf sez....
Moore and Eick are doing a great job? I suppose that if you look at it from the standpoint of Moore and Eick having delivered a product to the Sci-Fi Channel that fulfills all of the political and business requirements of the NBC-Universal corporation (screw the 1978 "Galactica" series at all costs), then yes, I suppose Moore and Eick have done a great job. Of course, a desire to entertain the public in no way interfered with what Moore and Eick were hired to do.
7/8/2006 9:30:32 AM
Andy Mejias from Collegedale, TN sez....
Never thought that show business was that cruel. BSG is my favorite show, though I tape it to watch it later because of the time slot. I have seen episodes I did not care too much for, but the story line and mix of drama and sci-fi is much better than the old BSG. Never got into Star Trek, being too lopsided, or the old BSG (my age shows). Eick and Moore are doing a great job.
6/30/2006 1:44:46 PM
Languatron from Ron Moore's Infringement Shelf sez....
Years into a production that technically, should have been cancelled due to ratings hovering in the 1.7 range. Politics and politics alone are keeping this production alive, not any sort of implied, literal, or perceived success. DeSanto isn't the only one Ronald D. Moore and David Eick have ripped off. They have also ripped off Gene Roddenberry, Glen A. Larson, Ridley Scott, James Cameron, the producers of "West Wing" and "24", soap operas, and anything else these two schlockmeisters can get their hands on.
5/10/2006 1:52:49 PM
Stuart Rifkin from New York sez....
Again, continue to say what you want. But the fact remains, that years into this production, whether you like the new show or not, it's producers are still answering questions regarding the DeSanto project. They just can't crawl out from under DeSanot' shadow.
5/9/2006 8:16:41 PM
Languatron from Ron Moore's Infringement Shelf sez....
Is that the same thing as Ronald D. Moore trying to recapture the sense of security he felt earlier in his would be career by surrounding himself with an entire staff of "Star Trek" writers who were more talented than he was?
5/9/2006 2:25:49 PM
curious from virginia sez....
Uh... If you don't like it, there's likely a DVD of Galactia 1980 you could watch over and over and over again. Or make your own movie, if you'd like. Why waste time worrying about how your lost childhood won't be recaptured the way you want it?
5/8/2006 9:29:16 PM
Languatron from Ron Moore's Infringement Shelf sez....
Vancouver, British Columbia is a low budget shit hole drowning in piss staffed with untalented producers and writers who couldn't get normal jobs in Hollywood, and who must now support themselves (barely) by cranking out low budget shit for the Sci-Fi Channel. Forgive me if I'm unable to locate the sense of pride you feel for Vancouver in light of all this.
5/8/2006 4:03:15 PM
Languatron from Ron Moore's Infringement Shelf sez....
Ronald D. Moore's "Soap Opera Shit/Iraqi War Shit/West Wing Shit" is not Battlestar Galactica. One more bitter truth these "GINO Suckers" just can't swallow.
5/8/2006 3:37:15 PM
Languatron from Ron Moore's Infringement Shelf sez....
1.6 is the magic number, "GINO Suckers." Once it hits that, and it is only two points away from that, there is not a damn thing Ronald D. Moore and David Eick will be able to say or do to save this crappy ass show.
5/8/2006 3:34:47 PM
SmarterThanYou from Up Your Ass sez....
Boy oh boy...this comment board sounds like a typical day on The Democratic Underground, (not that I would know, as I'm a Republican.) ie. A pissing contest on who's idea (script) was better.
It's obvious we've got some old school BSG fans here who can't let go of their beloved '70s space cheese opera. Well, tough. It's time to move on and embrace the new school. The truth is that you may think that nuBSG is shot on the cheap with the special effects and location shoots, but let me tell ya...welcome to TV production in Vancouver, B.C. I guess you have never watched an episode of Stargate?
The problem with old school BSG fans is, just like the modern Democratic Party, is that live in the past and can't stand the fact that the other side has better ideas than they do.
nuBSG has a fan base and the producers have made the cast sign a 5-year contract AFTER the first season, with one exception...the guy who played Billy wouldn't commit, so that's why his character was killed off. So, this series will probably last a total of 6 seasons if not more. The ratings? What's the big deal? Sci-Fi only typicaly gets ratings in the 1.5-2.5 range. Why? Because of the other 200+ channels it has to compete with. Today's television market is WAY different than it was back in '78 when there was only 4 or 5 channels to choose from. And remember BSG was on NBC primetime, so the ratings had to be higher back then.
5/7/2006 4:48:57 PM
Todd from Malibu sez....
Eick and Moore should give credit where credit is due and they would not have a job right now if DeSanto and Singer did not jump start interest in Galactica. Galactica would still be collecting dust at Universal if not for them. Plus the season two finale is the storyline from the DeSanto/Singer storyline right down to them calling it New Caprica. Shame for Eick and Moore not mentioning DeSanto or Singer in any positve light.
5/6/2006 3:37:11 PM
brett from CSC sez....
what are you guys talking about? you may hate the show. you may hate the fact that it is a re-make of an old show you liked. you may have a good reason not to like it. but people do like the show. the ratings are good. the press is good. its far beyond people just "tuning in for curiosity". people like the show. hey, there are a lot of things that people like that i dont like and it pisses me off that they like it because i cant see how people can like things so stupid. but to be in denial about the fact that something is well recieved and has a fan base is a little ridiculous. its just a t.v. show. watch your dvd's of the little kid with the robot dog that seems to save the day in bat shit insane situations propogated by bad writing. or watch chips. or b.j. and the bear. same people.
5/4/2006 2:40:13 PM
Languatron from Ron Moore's Infringement Shelf sez....
Yes, this crap is going to a third season with cancellation potential ratings of 1.8. When 1.6 is the level in which "GINO" will get cancelled, it doesn't have much farther to go, does it? And this series has been hovering around 1.6 for the past two seasons. This is a high rating as far as Sci-Fi Channel is concerned? No wonder Sci-Fi Channel isn't much of a success.
5/3/2006 4:46:05 PM
Stuart Rifkin from New York sez....
Say what you people want. But here we are going into the third season of this show, and years later they're still talking about the killed DeSanto project.
5/1/2006 11:33:23 AM
Ron from Mountain View sez....
Jeez, all the hatred here. First off, where do you all get your ratings info. When the series is in first run mode it is the highest rating thing sci-fi has. That is the reality of sci-fi channel's reach. Yes, they had more ratings on thier highly hyped mini-series, but it has since settled into the top rated show on the channel. Did I love the show as a kid, sure. But the new show has a LOT of improvments. After the colonies are wiped out, episodes like "water" and "33" were a hell of a lot better than the first epsiode of the original after the pilot which had the survivors kicking it up at a bug casino! And this Baltar is a LOT more interesting than the original snidely whiplash version. And no space nazis!
5/1/2006 11:02:18 AM
Languatron from Iguanatron's Boxer Shorts sez....
Is that you Mr. Wright? I would like to congratulate you for having the hooked on phonics mandate waived before you came NBC-Universal's CEO.
4/26/2006 6:59:48 PM
Languatron from Iguanatron's Boxer Shorts sez....
Is that you Mr. Wright? I would like to congratualte you for having the hooked on phonics mandate waived before you came NBC-Universal's CEO.
4/26/2006 6:58:37 PM
Matthew from brooklyn, NY sez....
kooks. do you all talk this way about you friends and families too? the new BSG on Scifi holds it own against the west wing, the sheild, the sopranos, rescue me, etc. its better than most movies. wat is it abour scifi fans that feeled compelled to toss good storytelling when someone reinvents a story and characters. maybe you all should read MacBeth and then check out the mulitple screen adaptations let alone stage. Jeez
4/26/2006 2:48:30 PM
Bud Schnorkenschneider from Kalamazoo sez....
Is Eick wearing a hair piece?
4/26/2006 12:06:06 PM
Languatron from Jim Bennet's Campaign Office sez....
Does Ronald D. Moore have the premise of his television series nailed down yet after being on the air for two years? Lets see now. He started off by doing a poorly reimagined version of "Battlestar Galactica" which was unmistakable in structure and foundation to a Rick Berman produced "Star Trek" series. He even threw in a "Seven of Nine" clone named "Six." (That failed to bring in ratings.) He then went off half cocked ripping off every Science Fiction movie and television show ever made. (That failed to bring in ratings.) He is now where he is at the moment, trying to back out of doing a Science Fiction television series entirely in order to implement yet another reboot. This time, hoping to emulate "West Wing" and "Commander In Chief." (This too, has failed to bring in ratings.) Isn't it funny how time continues to pass, and the economic realities of trying to do a television series combined with Ronald D. Moore's lack of talent presses more and more weight on his shoulders, he is forced to push what could be identified as "Battlestar Galactica" further and further away? It's a safe conclusion that at this moment in time, not even Ronald D. Moore himself would want to be Ronald D. Moore.
4/25/2006 3:58:51 PM
meNOTyou from here sez....
DavidE: Who is to say the killing of the baby is an act of evil? That's our human prejudice. A natural reaction
4/25/2006 4:10:00 AM
Rav from Wis sez....
"They had gotten the script and hated it, and were trying to back out of the commitment. Fortunately for everybody, Bryan had to go do X-MEN 2 and that gave everyone the out. Back at Universal David Kissinger and Angela Mancuso said ‘why are we doing this for Fox, when we should be doing this for our in -house network? Let’s do it as a mini-series and let’s throw this bad script out and start from scratch."
This does sound rather arrogant. I would say that Bryan Singer and Tom DeSanto have a significantly better track record than Eick.
The new Galactica started out at 2.6 rating and are currently in the 1.7~1.8 range. I am surprised they continue to invest with the ratings plunge.
Re-inventions just don’t seem to work. People tune in to see something to remind of what they once had and get something totally diffent. They probably should have called it something else.
4/24/2006 2:40:29 PM
Languatron from Jim Bennet's tree house sez....
Such is the logic of Universal Studios executive. They consider it a victory when they blow millions of dollars on a business venture that fails to attract an audience, fails to attract long term advertisers, fails to make their shareholders happy, and fails to tap into the long term marketing potential of the 1978 "Galactica" series. Marketing prowess indeed. If this is what Universal Studios executives consider to be marketing prowess, I would hate to see what they would consider to be a bad day from a business perspective.
4/24/2006 2:16:23 PM
Pete from PA. sez....
Ho hum. It is rather amusing to see so much effort expended to legitimize something which has already alienated one fanbase and is dangerously close to alienating what's left. Such marketing prowess.....I'm in awe.
4/23/2006 7:00:28 PM
Languatron from Jim Bennet's backyard sez....
GINO is the first television series in history not to be cancelled due to low ratings. And the ratings are sinking more and more. GINO is less a television series and more a political animal designed to keep ego's boosted, keep untalented people employed (Ronald D. Moore and David Eick), and allow Universal Studios to keep the Battlestar Galactica copyright active without actually having to do a Battlestar Galactica tv series. Ronald D. Moore and David Eick threw together a "Star Trek" clone in ten minutes and slapped the "Galactica" brand name on it. Unmistakable in structure and foundation to a Rick Berman "Star Trek" series, but with a fraction of the budget and a fraction of the talent. Ronald D. Moore and David Eick are headed to where all former Sci-Fi Channel producers head, straight to the unemployment line.
4/23/2006 9:02:35 AM
maybe the only clearheaded person from in the room sez....
Look it's obvious that David Eich was quoting other people when he said 'bad script', and describing their attitude. If anyone should be insulted by what he said it's maybe the people he characterised with that quote (Kissinger and Mancuso) NOT Brian Singer or Tom Desanto. Eich never once said that he personally disliked the script; pretty much everyone posting comments in here has an agenda that they are trying to push by inventing insults against their pet writers. GIVE IT UP!
4/23/2006 6:30:37 AM
Russell from Florida sez....
Tom DeSanto and Bryan Singer have always regarded Ron Moore and David Eick with style and class. David Eick has never shown a fraction of courtesy in return. For me, its clear who the respectable personalities are. I personally doubt much of this assessment as I've had many reasons to discount statements made by David Eick in the past.
4/23/2006 5:21:31 AM
Russell from Florida sez....
Tom DeSanto and Bryan Singer have always regarded Ron Moore and David Eick with style and class. David Eick has never shown a fraction of courtesy in return. For me, its clear who the respectable personalities are. I personally doubt much of this assessment as I've had many reasons to discount statements made by David Eick in the past.
4/23/2006 5:19:33 AM
Jaeson from Milwaukee sez....
Funny how the DeSanto script stank so much, that Eick and gang decided to plagiarize it for their 3rd season.
What Eick's statements illustrate, is that the respect that Battlestar fans currently have for the material of the ill-fated DeSanto production is detracting from the current Sci Fi Channel production, and Eick and gang are doing their very best to combat that detraction.
Pretty pathetic that mere concepts for a never aired television production, can continue to completely overshadow a currently aired series going into its third season.
4/23/2006 2:32:18 AM
Dan from Columbia, SC sez....
David Eick is full of it. He and Ron Moore have spent two years and countless hours on a show that has gone nowhere. Dramatically, the stories are flat. The writers can't seem to get past the word "Frack". Visually, the effects stink. The prop dept. seems to shop at Staples and The Gap. Finally, the sets are cheap, and it seems like most of the location shooting takes place in the forest or someone's backyard. This is shooting on a dime-literally. The project that Singer/DeSanto had in mind would have been thrilling in both the writing and the visuals. It's a shame that it never happened. However, with ratings of 1.5 million viewers (or less) per week, this show can't last much longer. Hopefully, when it is no longer on the air, someone will realize that there are a whole lot of fans that would rather see "Battlestar Galactica" as the scifi masterpiece it could have been (rather than the lame political garbage GINO is).
Dan
4/23/2006 1:44:40 AM
Jennifer from California sez....
Strange Mr. Desanto told a whole different story in his interview. And he didn't slam Moore or Eick either.Very unprofessional of Eick. It just looks like he is trying to further the new series by trashing Singer/Desanto's idea for a continuation. In the process making him self look like a fool!
4/22/2006 10:22:41 PM
Terry from Los Angeles sez....
I wonder if Fox and Universal hated the script so much why they committed $13.5 million to shoot a two hour pilot and green lit it. They had sets being built, and the artwork which has leaked out through cylon.org is much better than the Eick/Moore vision and according to interviews with Singer and DeSanto they were eight weeks from shooting. Everyone knows the reason as it is public record that the reason for the DeSanto/Singer shut down was due to 9/11 and it pushing production back and Singer's schedule came into conflict with Xmen 2.
By the way if the script was so hated why did the current Galactica steal half their ideas from it from decomissioning the Galactica, the human Cylons, a female president, to the exact designs for thier Vipers from the DeSanto/Singer designs online, I'll bet you this is the tip of the creative theft iceberg. They also stole the season two cliffhanger storyline from the DeSanto/Singer pilot which has been out there for years, it is really disgraceful that fans have not spoken up about this before. I wonder what else the new Galactica has stolen and not given proper credit for.
Hmmmm I think looking at David Eick's creative track record on IMDB - Darkman III: Die Darkman Die ???? that he might be riding the creative coat tails of the DeSanto/Singer Galactica and co opted authorship for a lot of ideas that are not his own. Eick's resume looks like he is a gun for hire and the master of failed series The Agency???? Spy Game??? this does not sound like a creative juggernaught, who would your rather have running the show this guy or the team behind X-Men. I wish Singer or DeSanto would come forward and put this hack in his place as he would not have a job if they did not get Galactica restarted. It needed to be said.
4/21/2006 7:34:56 PM
Erik from Seattle sez....
He wasn't being unprofessional. He just said that the studio execs didn't like the script. That's all. From all accounts, it sounded like it did suck. If he was going to be disparagaing, then he would've said something to the effect that Singer/DeSanto were hacks and they sucked, etc... He didn't say anything like that or make anyother kind of personal remarks.
4/21/2006 6:16:40 PM
Mickey from Tulsa sez....
Gee if they hated it so much - Why did they GREEN LIGHT IT!!
4/21/2006 9:08:13 AM
Andrew from Chicago sez....
...concur, "totally".
4/21/2006 5:41:41 AM
Andrew from Chicago sez....
James -- you are splitting hairs.
True, Mr. Eick did not say that he hated the script, but he stated: (1) FOX hated the script, and (2) David Kissinger and Angela Mancuso wanted to "throw out this bad script". He neglected to mention whether he personally hated the script as well, but he goes on to cite "I asked if I could start all over". This doesn't leave much to the reader's imagination. As you say, he doesn't slam the script "personally". But this does bring up the topic of "professional behaviour". Even if FOX and Universal "hated" the script, was it necessary for Mr. Eick to mention this in the interview? When I do interviews, I take great care to be civil, and not disparage others, no matter what my opinions are, or the opinions of others to which I might be privy.
I concur with the man from Boston -- "unprofessional".
4/21/2006 5:12:28 AM
James from Vienna, Austria sez....
What Eick said was;
"They had gotten the script and hated it, and were trying to back out of the commitment."
I don't see Eick saying that the Singer script was bad. It is (note:totally is not the correct adverb to be used in place of "very") very unprofesional to incorrectly paraphrase somebody and criticise them for it. Peter from Boston should know beter.
4/21/2006 4:01:40 AM
Peter from Boston sez....
Bad script? It's totally unprofessional disparaging other and much better writters. D. Eick should know better.
4/21/2006 3:31:37 AM
