 |
| Taiko drummers performing at the Sky Church for the Battlestar Galactica opening party, Friday Night. |
I’m guessing every Fan Boy/Girl in town is aware of it, but for those of you who aren’t that fanatical in your love for all things Sci Fi, or the casual viewer of the show, EMP/SFM just opened a brand new show devoted to all things Battlestar Galactica related. Featuring costumes, props, set pieces (including a Viper and Cylon full sized ships) and interactive installations, the Battlestar Galactica show focuses on not only the original series from the 1970’s that starred Lorne Greene, and Richard Hatch, but devotes the majority of the exhibit to the beloved reboot of the show that ran for 5 years on the SyFy channel and starred Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell and was filmed in Vancouver, B.C.
I had the opportunity to check out the new exhibit last Friday, the day before the official opening, and attended a press conference featuring several members of the cast and the producer of the rebooted BG, Ronald D. Moore, followed by a tour of the new exhibit. In a rare twist of fate, (or, probably because I knew the exhibit was coming up) I’ve been watching the dvds of the rebooted series, so I was relatively up on the whos/whats/whys/hows of the newer version. (I was 13 when the original aired, and I still watch the reruns on Retro TV; I’ve got those mothers memorized…) And, being a kind and considerate sibling, I brought along my brother, Christopher Strangeways to act as my Jimmy Oleson…also, he is a bigger Galactica fan than I am so he could fill me in on anything I didn’t understand.
 |
| The panel (left to right) consisted of the curator, Richard Hatch, Kate Vernon, Michael Hogan, Edward James Olmos and Ronald D. Moore. Also pictured: the back of M.J. McDermott and Adam Gehrke’s heads. |
The press conference wasn’t very long and it wasn’t very illuminating but it’s always interesting to see actors from favorite shows, in the flesh…for one thing, they’re always either BETTER or WORSE looking in reality, and usually much shorter than you would have imagined. The panel at the press conference consisted of star Edward James Olmos, (Admiral Adama); Michael Hogan, (Saul Tige); Kate Vernon, (Ellen Tige) and Richard Hatch, Apollo in the original series who also had a recurring role as Tom Zarek in the reboot. Also present, producer/writer Ronald D. Moore. The questions asked by the audience weren’t very interesting or profound and the answers were usually a bit dull and long-winded. Edward James Olmos is a talented actor, but he’s a serious kind of guy, and some of his stories went on a bit long…at one point, co-star Michael Hogan tried to gently guide him to concluding one anecdote, but without much success.
As for Mr Hogan, I found him surprisingly likable and far more attractive in person, than he was on Galactica. The man must be at least 60 and he looked his age on the show, but in person he was youthful and charming and very down to earth, a big contrast to his belligerent, tough, and alcoholic character, Saul Tigh. His co-star and on-screen wife, Kate Vernon, was also very down to earth, and good natured in her responses to questions. I liked both of them a lot; they seemed like real people.
I did get to ask one question, and since I had a long list of them on my pad, I had to narrow it down to just one, so I went for broke and asked a “fun” question; all the other journalists tended to ask more serious (and generally, duller) questions. If you’ve never watched either show, the question won’t make any sense to you, but anyone who has seen either, will appreciate it:
Strangeways: My question is for the entire panel…is there a blooper reel that exists, for either series, containing instances where the actors screwed up saying “Frak”, or “Motherfrakker”, or “Hey, Baby, let’s go frak!” Was it common for actors to slip up, and actually say the “real word” that “Frak” is meant to stand in for?
The panel, seemed to enjoy the question, as did the audience members who were actual fans of the show. Michael Hogan laughed at the question, Kate Vernon grinned but I don’t think Mr Olmos was that amused. The general consensus of the panel was that, “no, it really wasn’t an issue” but they all enjoyed being able to use the word so openly as an euphemism for the other “F” word and it helped make the show, and the world they were creating, more believable. I replied that, I thought it was an awesome word and I’ve used it, on occasion, for the last 30 years, especially in business environments where you can’t get away with screaming, “Fuck Explorer! My fucking computer has crashed for the third time today!” (Also, Liz Lemon uses it all the time on “30 Rock” and no one is cooler than Tina Fey, so it’s obviously a great word.)
 |
| Colonial Viper ship and an Original series costume. |
As for the exhibit itself, it was entertaining and interesting. The full size Colonial Viper ships were pretty awesome, (and, they were a bitch to get into the EMP/SFM building; they had to cut a hole in the side of it…don’t tell Frank Gehry!) The Cylon Raider was less cool…very Styrofoamy and fake but since it didn’t need to be as authentic looking as the Viper, (actors had to interact with the Viper ships; the Cylon ships were only models since only the Robot Cylons used them) it’s to be expected.
 |
| Number Six’s very sexy red dress. |
There’s a nice selection of costumes, from both series, as well as props and a few set pieces but nothing major. Be advised that EMP/SFM isn’t that large of a museum and they don’t have huge amounts of room for big pieces of the set. There are also a few interactive displays, one in particular focuses on the music score for the rebooted series, that gives you the ability to score a scene from the show with different kinds of background music…it’s about what you would expect from an EMP exhibit.
Oh, you know who else was at the press conference and tour? Adam Gehrke and M.J. McDermott from Q13 Fox’s Morning News were both there and seemed to be geeking out a bit…I think they might be Nerds. They were having a grand time taking photos of each other in front of the sets and costumes. I desperately wanted to take a picture of them, taking a picture of the exhibit because it seemed kind of meta, but it also seemed kind of lame, so I refrained…
I was invited to, but couldn’t attend the big grand opening party for the exhibit which was held Friday evening in the Sky Church at EMP and featured this amazing Taiko drum performance, (Taiko drumming was frequently used in the soundtrack to the rebooted series). It looked like a great party and I’m a bit sad I couldn’t attend.
Who’s this exhibit for? Uh, Battlestar Galactica fans specifically and SciFi fans in general will enjoy it. Everyone else should linger at the Jimi Hendrix displays downstairs, while their Starbuck and Apollo loving better halves head upstairs to fantasize about Number Six’s very sexy red dress and what it would be like to wear a Cylon helmet…
– Michael Strangeways and photos by Christopher Strangeways
