Battlestar Wiki:Official Communiques

This page is one of Battlestar Wiki's many projects. This page serves to coordinate discussion on a particular aspect of this Wiki. The formal recommendations of a project may be treated as policies.

Members of Battlestar Wiki: This page is to coordinate all questions to any official members of the cast or crew of "Battlestar Galactica." Please sign your question after you are done. The "summary" of the question should be be first, if any, and then the questions, in short form, should be placed at the bottom. This is to not confuse people and to keep the questions distinctive.

Cast/Crew: These are questions we are seeking answers to. If you have the time, please answer them as best you can. We will move these questions/answers to the correct page once they have been done. You can also check out Category:Seeking Official Information for larger items - particularly pictures.

All questions which have been previously answered can be found on the archive pages. Questions get moved to the archives once items and questions stemming from the issue have stopped.

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Question on a recurring extra

In early Season One, there was a large Asian pilot with tattoos that appeared at a card game. As far as I remember, he disappeared after that. Then he reappeared during the partying scenes in Scar. And now he's back in a major way in Season Three, appearing in most scenes involving lots of pilots. Personally, I'm a huge fan of the man, and was wondering if there's any actual information on him. Does he have a name? And will he ever get a line? Thanks for your time. Alpha5099 13:51, 6 December 2006 (CST)

Good question. Lots of pictures can be found in this Galactica BS thread.--Pedda 18:02, 6 December 2006 (CST)

I created an article about him: Tattooed pilot. When (if) Brad gives us his actual name, we can move it.Ausir 06:09, 22 December 2006 (CST)

He's getting the reputation of being BSG's counterpart to Morn from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. :) --Spencerian 09:38, 5 January 2007 (CST)

Now we know the name of the extra: Leo Li Chiang. Ausir 20:17, 15 January 2007 (CST)

Maybe its like a running joke, that he's been in it since the beginning but still doesnt have a name? :D --Mercifull ^{(Talk/Contribs)} 08:47, 2 March 2007 (CST)

If we give him a name, you won't have the fun of trying to guess what it is. - Ngarenn 19:01, 20 March 2007 (CDT)

But... But... if he doesn't have a name then there's nothing to guess! --BklynBruzer 21:22, 20 March 2007 (CDT)

Props to David Weddle and Bradley Thompson

This last episode, "Maelstrom" is some of the best storytelling I have ever seen! Give your selfs a pay-rasie and a high-five! Cylon Shooters on me. Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 23:24, 5 March 2007 (CST)

A good episode indeed, although it can never beat the immortal "Rapture" ;) --Catrope 08:49, 6 March 2007 (CST)

Thanks for liking them both! - Ngarenn 18:59, 20 March 2007 (CDT)

You guys do downright amazing work. --BklynBruzer 12:05, 21 March 2007 (CDT)

Harvey Frand

What is this guy's job exactly? He doesn't seem to be directly involved in the creative side of the show. Is he more of an administrative producer? Making sure the logistics work, sets are built, actors hired, etc. I'm not saying that that's not important, just curious :) --Serenity 07:20, 13 March 2007 (CDT)

Without Harvey Frand, Galactica would not be nearly as spectacular as it is. He keeps everything on time and on budget, makes sure the scripts can be done with the resources available, finds the most efficient way to allot those resources -- and when something is necessary to make the story work -- yet is financially impossible to do, he finds a way. Harvey is the man who literally makes the show happen in the real world, which calls for tremendous creativity and risk-taking. He's the guy on Maelstrom who pointed out that we had an eight page day to shoot on location in Socrata's apartment -- and a location day can make at best six pages. It was impossible to do, even with overtime, given what we'd accomplished in seasons previous.

As David Weddle was trying to cut those scenes down to something we could shoot, he realized that doing so would gut their emotional impact. He brought this to the attention of Michael Nankin, who agreed - we needed all eight pages. We went to Harvey with the problem and swore that everything would go right, that the guest star would know her lines, that Michael could cut some corners on coverage to be able to make the day. If anything fell apart (camera failure, safety issue, botched lines... anything like that and we'd be hosed. We couldn't stay late. (You can't keep the trucks on the street after a certain hour in that section of Vancouver or you're busted, fined and can never shoot there again.) Not only that, but the rest of the schedule would be thrown out of whack and it wouldn't just be these critical scenes that would be unfinished... would there be budget left to do the spectacular end of the season? Or even the humungous dogfight at the end of Maelstrom? Harvey had a tough call to make.

Harvey rolled the hard six. And Dorothy had her lines down cold. And Katee was perfect. Nothing broke. And we got out of there with less than seconds to spare.

That's just one of the calls Harvey has to make every day. He's frakking awesome. - Ngarenn 18:52, 20 March 2007 (CDT)

Thanks for that detailed explanation. That's sort of what I assumed. --Serenity 12:20, 21 March 2007 (CDT)

Billing and Contracts

The Son Also Rises rose some questions about how billing works on Galactica. With the exception of Katee Sackhoff's departure, the main credits have remained constant, while the secondary credits for Guest Stars has been more more fluid. However, there've been some constants. Michael Hogan, Aaron Douglas, and Tahmoh Penikett were always the top dogs of the non-main cast, and, with the exception of the rare episode where one of their characters didn't appear, they always appeared in that order.

However, things seem to be changing. Ever since Cally became a prominent character in Season Two, Nicki Clyne has been slowly rising in the ranks of the Guest Stars. At first, she was just getting away with supplanting Alessandro Juliano and Kandyse McClure, but now she has actually broken into the top three, as she was credited before Penikett in the last episode.

I was wondering, what determines billing? I assume it's contractual, as Michael Hogan is always top billed, even in the few episodes he doesn't have any lines. So has Clyne negotiated a new contract that puts her higher in the credits?

Also, I noticed that Sebastian Spense cracked the Guest Stars in The Son Also Rises. Not to speak ill of Narcho, but why has he gotten up to the front of the episode? Did he get a better contract? What makes someone only worthy of getting their credit at the end of the episode? Is Brody Olmos less able to commit to a contract, and that's why he hasn't cracked the Guest Stars?

Sorry I've asked so much. Really, I just want to know how people get their names in the secondary credits, and why certain reliable, long time characters are stuck at the end of the episode. Alpha5099 15:46, 13 March 2007 (CDT)

That's a really good question and I don't have an answer. It is indeed contractual and that's all handled by business affairs, who tend to be a tight-lipped bunch, and rightly so. - Ngarenn 18:22, 20 March 2007 (CDT)

Maelstrom Viper Mark VII

In the excellent fighter scenes in the episode Maelstrom, Apollo consistantly flies a different version of the Mk VII Viper than we've seen before. I was wondering if some light could be shed on what it was, since the changes were fairly substantial, such as one of the "home-made" Vipers from Pegasus, a modified regular Mk VII, or just a retro-active design change? --Talos 23:34, 14 March 2007 (CDT)

Or is it the Viper Mk VIII? :) --Catrope^{(Talk to me or e-mail me)} 05:49, 15 March 2007 (CDT)

Galactica's ships are in a constant state of change. The arms race with the Cylons and shortage of parts and resources means Tyrol's knuckledraggers are constantly making improvements and jury-rigging around lacks. (At one point there were talks about making tylium tanks out of paper to extend the fighter ranges, but the idea was dropped when paper was declared a strategic material.) - Ngarenn 18:19, 20 March 2007 (CDT)

...and when people were eating it during the food shortage ^_^ --Mercifull ^{(Talk/Contribs)} 05:06, 21 March 2007 (CDT)

Intro, survivor count for Crossroads, Part I

The latest episode, "Crossroads, Part I", did not have an intro movie (time constraints?), nor did it show a survivor count. I personally don't care much about the intro movie (since we get back actual episode content), but there are a lot of die-hard fans here eager to know the survivor count. What was the count for Crossroads, Part I? Is Part II going to have an intro and a survivor count? Have you abolished the intro movie altogether? --Catrope^{(Talk to me or e-mail me)} 09:15, 21 March 2007 (CDT)

The survivor count was on the board during the trial. Ausir 18:54, 23 March 2007 (CDT)

No, the number of people who escaped New Caprica was on the board. "Crossroads" takes place 2 to 3 months later. --Catrope^{(Talk to me or e-mail me)} 09:37, 24 March 2007 (CDT)

Number of Season Four episodes

I realize this was only just announced, and you may not know or be able to comment, but there seems to be confusion over what exactly the 22 episode season order entails. Alongside this announcement, there is confirmation of the made for TV movie, which Sci-Fi is describing as "a special two-hour extended episode." The thing that people are unsure of is whether the movie counts toward the 22 episode count. Will the movie count as two episodes, and then Season Four proper will be the standard 20 episode? Alpha5099 17:39, 22 March 2007 (CDT)

Faster-Than-Light Stuff

Hi there. We know that Ron Moore's goal for the show, as stated in his Naturalistic science fiction essay, was not to use incredulous science for the show, for instance, faster-than-light travel. We have a little debate if that applied to faster-than-light communications. Several instances appeared where Cylon downloading and communications may move faster than light. We understand that "FTL" travel is apparent-FTL through the wormhole theory, but has there been a change to how writers handle, say, communications between Cylons at long range (like between one basestar to the infected one in "Torn"). Did Boomer's consciousness go to a Resurrection Ship and then to Caprica, or traveled farther, relayed, or some other process? If you like, you can see the extended debate in the Talk:Faster-than-light communication article to note our confusion. If true-FTL does not exist anywhere in the Re-imagined universe, we'll just tack it up to a continuity error that, I feel at least, is for cinematic purposes so a story doesn't get all overly technical or complicated. Thanks. --Spencerian 18:07, 23 March 2007 (CDT)

Let me ask me more precise question: how do the Cylons manage to appear at the Fleet's previous position less than 12 hours after it jumped away? The Fleet must be making multi-lightyear jumps, since their destination (the Ionian nebula) is thousands of lightyears away. Does the radiation signature from the Daru Mozu travel faster than light? The radiation signature from the Cloud 9 blast did travel at lightspeed. Do the Cylons have some other way of tracking the Fleet? Or is it simply a continuity error? --Catrope^{(Talk to me or e-mail me)} 03:48, 25 March 2007 (CDT)

Identity of the Final Five

Out of curosity, how long have you guys known who the final five are? I know Ron Moore's made comments that indicate that these were more recent decisions, but I was just curious at what point did you guys decide on who were going to be Cylons, and what really went into that decision. Thanks! ColonelKevin 16:55, 27 March 2007 (CDT)

Production numbers

There is a question about the actual production numbers behind the series. For instance, there is some information on the internet where the production numbers differ. For instance, some are formatted like ("T2701") -- an alleged production number for "Occupation" -- while others are formatted as 03001 (or even 301). Just wanted to know what exactly the actual "production number" should look like. Thanks Bradley! -- Joe Beaudoin ^{So say we all - Donate} 08:58, 28 March 2007 (CDT)

I believe that the T27nn numbers are internal Warner Bros. numbers for the Comcast tapes that they made and fed to Comcast. I believe the 030nn numbers correspond to the production office assignments to the episodes, i.e., where 03019 is the production number for 'Crossroads, Part 2'. Thanks for helping in clearing this up.Vidiot 01:11, 29 March 2007 (CDT)

Xeno vs Zeno Fenner (Dirty Hands)

Currently we have him as "Xeno", but the SciFi website lists him as "Zeno". Do you know which version is correct? --Serenity 11:07, 28 March 2007 (CDT)

Re-imagined Series definition: Battlestar Group ^{(TRS: "Water")}. It also doubles as an acronym for the television series itself.

Re-imagined Series definition: taking large risks; literally, rolling 2 threes with a pair of dice

Re-imagined Series definition: all-purpose vulgarism; Colonial version of "fuck" (see: frak)

Re-imagined Series definition: mineral that can be refined to a powerful fuel, see: tylium

Original Series definition: a highly combustible fuel (see: tylium) ^{(TOS: "Fire in Space")}

Re-imagined Series definition: technology enabling travel across distances faster than the speed of light would permit, see: FTL

Re-imagined Series definition: technology enabling travel across distances faster than the speed of light would permit, see: FTL