R and D TV
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- The title of this page given above is incorrect, due to technical limitations. The correct title is R&D TV.
R&D TV is the name of a production company who produce the Re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series. It was set up by writer/developer Ron D. Moore and producer David Eick.
At the end of the credits of every episode of the Re-imagined Series, Ron D. Moore and David Eick present themselves in cartoon form inside their office settling developmental arguments by maiming each other alternately in humorously creative and highly violent ways. This animation, produced by Jerry Hultsch[1], is the production logo (of sorts) for R & D TV, Battlestar Galactica's production company. Each cartoon is immediately followed by the NBC Universal logo.
The background pictures in the office also change periodically for unknown reasons.
The victim of each attack usually starts to suggest an idea ("Get this..!", "I think..", "I've got it..", etc.) as a lightbulb appears over the head of the episode's victim. This sign indicates that bloodshed, maiming, and/or death is about to begin. Luckily for the viewers, Ron and David are revived to write and produce again (before their next scheduled episode and subsequent R&D TV demise, at least).
Ron and David do not provide their own voices for the cartoon, but the creator of the skits impersonates their voices so well that Ron Moore has pointed out that most viewers don't notice.
Here is a summary of cartoon results tabulated to date. Each episode lasts only 5 seconds.
Miniseries
- There is no R&D TV skit shown in the Miniseries.
Season 1
33
Ron lets loose a gorilla that attacks David.
Water
David beats Ron over head with a baseball bat after talking too much.
Bastille Day
Ron balls up David's body into a paper wad with eyes and shoots David through a small basketball goal. The audio of a cheering crowd saluting Ron's basket accompanies the R & D TV logo.
Act of Contrition
David throws Ron through the office window to be run over by a passing NBC studio van.
You Can't Go Home Again
Ron slaps David so hard that his head spins 360 degrees. David cries effeminately.
Litmus
David calls a shark to eat Ron with his whistle.
Six Degrees of Separation
David smirks "Major brainstorm" then Ron pulls out a magic wand (complete with a star on top), says, "No bones", and zaps David's bones away, leaving him a boneless mass that crumples to the floor.
Flesh and Bone
Ron sings, "I've got an idea" as the office looks like in a concert, and David rips a portion of Ron's shirt off.
Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down
As David says, "...This'll kill ya..." Ron brings on an armored knight, whose mace crushes David's skull as David says "Oh my God..!"
The Hand of God
David subjects Ron to a thousand paper cuts to the face.
Colonial Day
David proposes "Rock, Paper, Scissors", and Ron says "Go". As David prepares a large set of scissors, Ron goes off-screen to find a very large rock, dropping it on David's body to squish him flat, winning the match.
Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I
Ron says "This will shock you..." David flings magic lightning from his fingers at Ron, who is transformed into Martha Stewart by the lightning's effects.
Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II
Before the two can suggest suggesting an idea, a courier makes a special delivery with packages for each. A small toy vibrophone playing "Pop Goes the Weasel" is heard as the packages open with monsterous heads that look like the courier on springs. The heads promptly consume both David and Ron.
Season 2
Scattered
Ron says in an exaggerated cowboy accent, "I've got an I-dear!". David smacks him in the face, and it falls off, revealing that he is a robot, in an homage to the film "Westworld."
Valley of Darkness
David gets an idea, not noticing Cylon Centurions appearing outside the window. Ron runs away, and David is riddled with bullets by the Centurions. This is a take-off from the plot of "Valley of Darkness".
Fragged
- This skit is re-used from a previous episode.
Resistance
Ron says, "This is hot". David says, "So is this", whips out a drying iron, and melts Ron's face with it.
The Farm
- This skit is re-used from "Litmus."
Home, Part I
David says "Jot this down." Ron says "OK" and proceeds to use his pen to violently carve the word "THIS" into David's forehead.
Home, Part II
- This skit is re-used from "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down."
Final Cut
David suggests an idea, but is interupted by the telephone ringing, and Ron answers it. Annoyed, David jams the telephone into Ron's head, then shouts in the mouthpiece, greatly amplified, "Can you hear me now?" as Ron screams from the den.
Flight of the Phoenix
David gets an idea and says "this will make your jaw drop." Ron punches David in the jaw, making his head swivel around in a circle on his neck, and David's jaw drops off.
Pegasus
Ron says, "Here's a good one..." David pushes a football into the hands of Ron, who is quickly tackled (and decapitated by its force) by a football player. The audio of a whistle accompanies the R & D TV logo.
Resurrection Ship, Part I
David goes, "Bingo! Let's...", but Ron interrupts with a R&D TV weather bulletin, complete with a national map which covers the entire office: "This just in...Lightning." David is cleaved by the lightning strike.
Resurrection Ship, Part II
As Ron says, "I need your verdict on this one. What if...?" David quickly transforms into a British Lord, complete with robe, wig, and a very, very large gavel, and pummels Ron in one shot into a barely recognizable goo. David replies: "I hate it!"
Epiphanies
Ron states, "I think..." just as David pinches Ron's butt. "Cut it out!" Ron cries. When David tries again, Ron reveals a sword and removes David's offending arm. "Testy," David answers.
Black Market
Ron suggests "Monsters!" when David himself explodes into a multi-tentacled monster (which looks surprisingly like a creature from John Carpenter's The Thing), which attacks Ron furiously.
Scar
David suggests a "Valentine's Day episode." Ron disagrees at David's suggestion, instead, heaves a jack-o-lantern over David's head and eats a candy bar in celebration.
Sacrifice
- This skit is re-used from "Valley of Darkness".
The Captain's Hand
Ron says "I know," but David interrupts, asking "Hungry?" as he hands Ron an apple. Ron lifts the apple to his mouth and David pulls out a bow and shoots the apple and Ron's face in one smooth motion.
Downloaded
- This skit is re-used from a "Scar".
Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I
David suggests, "New scenery." Ron snaps his fingers to change the office into a surreal mountainous area as he escapes out of the picture. David enjoys the change for only a moment into a prehistoric raptor pounces on him like a cat on a ball of string.
Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II
David begins to play a flute as Ron says, "...And now a moment of zen as we reflect on season 2..." Ron can't finish his thought as he is swallowed by a very large viper David has summoned. Seeing Ron being eaten, David says, "Payback!" (referring to his raptor attack at the conclusion of part I of this episode)
Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance
- There is no R&D TV skit in the webisode series, Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance.
Season 3
Occupation
Ron suggests an idea.
Precipice
David suggests an idea.
Exodus, Part I
David, with accompanying lightbulb, exclaims, "This will mark new territory". Ron responds with his own lightbulb, and the office is transformed into a moonscape, with Earth setting in the background behind a passing viper. Ron is now wearing a space suit and reaches out of scene for something. David warns, "Don't do it", before Ron stabs him in the chest with a flag bearing the R&D TV logo.
Exodus, Part II
Ron (wearing a clerical collar) suggests, "More religion." The scene darkens as lightning flashes and David's head transforms into Linda Blair's character from The Exorcist. David's new head performs a 360 degree rotation, tells Ron, "Your soul is mine!" and proceeds to vomit on Ron, incapacitating him.
Collaborators
David suggests, "More rebels".
Torn
A Measure of Salvation
Hero
Unfinished Business
The Passage
The Eye of Jupiter
David suggests, "Slapstick." Both characters transform into sepia-toned versions of themselves (with Ron looking more sinister) as a "Why, certainly" silent-film placard appears as Ron's response. Ron proceeds to slap David with a cane before he sticks David's skull to the opposite wall with the cane through his left eye.
Rapture
This skit is a repeat of the one used for "Litmus."
Taking a Break From All Your Worries
Ronald with lightbulb says "Backmasking" (?). The room transforms into the cover of "Sgt. Pepper" and David in uniform gives him a big "9".
The Woman King
Ron says "I feel gloomy." After a ping, David has black hair like Robert Smith of The Cure and plays a guitar. Ron cries, pulls a razor blade from his jacket and cuts his wrist while the room transforms into a dark landscape.
A Day in the Life
Dirty Hands
- This skit is re-used from Exodus, Part II.
External links
- ↑ Bassom, David (2005). ed. Adam "Adama" Newell Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion. Titan Books. ISBN 1-84576-0972, p. 43.