Cheato

I copied the appropriate posts from the Deals forum thread, as the discussion is OT there. I wasn't going to bother following up, but I just couldn't accept the assertions in the last post.



Actually, I am not sure I understand your last post, kenichi.
But first, just a tip: try to avoid phrases like "this may come as a shocker to you," unless you're trying to be a prick.

Do you mean "reclassify?" Creating a movie with the hope that it gets picked up as a pilot actually IS the definition of a type of pilot. The first 10 links of a Google search for "tv series pilot definition" (no quotes) back up that point. BSG 2003 is actually listed on Wikipedia's page as an example of a "backdoor pilot," along with the aforementioned Knight Rider and U.S. Doctor Who.

In the old days of TV, a simple pilot was just used as a test episode to show what could be done. The Get Smart pilot was filmed in B/W and not intended to be aired, but was used to first sell the series to a network, and then sell advertising spots to potential sponsors. The actual series was produced in color, and the pilot was not part of the syndicated package. Same with the I Love Lucy pilot, and many of the scenes from it were integrated into an actual episode that aired a few weeks in. Same with the rather famous "The Cage" pilot that became 2 later episodes of the original Star Trek.

However, in the modern age of TV, the "backdoor pilot" (definition by Variety) is a pilot that is intended from the beginning to be aired as a movie or mini-series or special or event or whatever the marketing people want to call it. Production values are high, everything is in place in case it becomes a series, it is a complete story (albeit with unanswered questions and unresolved issues), etc.. It just tests the waters of viewer reaction for the network and sponsors.

never...not? Again, I think maybe a grammar/vocabulary mistake (combined with a date mistake), causing some confusion. I'll just state what I said before: BSG 2003 was a pilot. It was a mini-series, so you can call it a pilot mini-series if you want, since that tells you what format it was delivered to the viewers in. It was always hoped to be picked up as a series for TV in some format (a series of TV movies, a series of mini-series, a regular ongoing series, whatever). It is obviously the beginning of a larger story. Again, this is the very definition of a type of pilot: something made with the hopes that it will be picked up and turned into a series. Just like the original BSG pilot movie from 1978. Again, if you think the producers/creators of BSG 2003 weren't hoping/praying for the SyFy Channel to give the go-ahead for a series, you're nuts.

Sorry, but again, this argument holds no water whatsoever. The SyFy Channel (God, I hate that spelling) will call it whatever they want to call it to make it sound attractive to viewers. I'm just imagining their thinking here, but if it's a "movie," it sounds big budget and professional, and since it doesn't have the words "Battlestar Galactica" in its title, then it might bring in viewers who didn't watch that original series. And BSG fans will still catch it since they know it's part of the same universe.

Gunde

I don't see how this needs a new thread.

That beeing said, of course the mini series was created with a future series in mind. Might not have been set in stone but of course everyone involved had that in mind.

Cheato

I just wanted to keep the OT discussion from bumping the thread in the Bargains forum. It's OT there, but not here. Also, the thread in the Bargains forum was essentially redundant, anyway, since the BSG titles being on sale were just part of another bigger sale that has its own thread.

Ropes Pierre

This thread makes my head hurt.

"But first, just a tip: try to avoid phrases like "this may come as a shocker to you," unless you're trying to be a prick."

or about to administer two in the pink, one in the stink.