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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[edit source]
- There is no R&D TV skit shown in the Miniseries.
Season 1[edit source]
33[edit source]
Ron lets loose a gorilla that attacks David.
Water[edit source]
David beats Ron over head with a baseball bat after talking too much.
Bastille Day[edit source]
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[edit source]
David throws Ron through the office window to be run over by a passing NBC studio van.
You Can't Go Home Again[edit source]
Ron slaps David so hard that his head spins 360 degrees. David cries effeminately.
Litmus[edit source]
David calls a shark to eat Ron with his whistle.
Six Degrees of Separation[edit source]
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[edit source]
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[edit source]
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[edit source]
David subjects Ron to a thousand paper cuts to the face.
Colonial Day[edit source]
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[edit source]
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[edit source]
Before the two can suggest suggesting an idea, a courier makes a special delivery with packages for each. A small toy vibraphone playing "Pop Goes the Weasel" is heard as the packages open with monstrous heads that look like the courier on springs. The heads promptly consume both David and Ron.
Season 2[edit source]
Scattered[edit source]
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[edit source]
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[edit source]
- This skit is re-used from a previous episode.
Resistance[edit source]
Ron says, "This is hot". David says, "So is this", whips out a drying iron, and melts Ron's face with it.
The Farm[edit source]
- This skit is re-used from "Litmus."
Home, Part I[edit source]
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[edit source]
- This skit is re-used from "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down."
Final Cut[edit source]
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[edit source]
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[edit source]
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[edit source]
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[edit source]
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[edit source]
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[edit source]
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[edit source]
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[edit source]
- This skit is a repeat from the one used on the previous episode
The Captain's Hand[edit source]
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[edit source]
- This skit is a repeat from the one used on the previous episode.
Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I[edit source]
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[edit source]
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[edit source]
- There is no R&D TV skit in the webisode series, Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance.
Season 3[edit source]
Occupation[edit source]
Ron suggests an idea.
Precipice[edit source]
David suggests an idea.
Exodus, Part I[edit source]
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[edit source]
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[edit source]
David suggests, "More rebels".
Torn[edit source]
A Measure of Salvation[edit source]
Hero[edit source]
Unfinished Business[edit source]
The Passage[edit source]
The Eye of Jupiter[edit source]
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[edit source]
- This skit is a repeat of the one used for "Litmus."
Taking a Break From All Your Worries[edit source]
Ronald with lightbulb says "Backmasking." The room transforms into the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album cover. Ron falls to the ground from the weight of a large number 9 that David (in Sgt. Pepper uniform) gives him while saying "Turn me on dead man" (what many fans believed to have heard John Lennon say in a song from the Revolver album when it was played in reverse using backmasking).
The Woman King[edit source]
Ron says "I feel gloomy." After a ping, David has black hair like Robert Smith of The Cure and plays a guitar as the room transforms to a "goth", bleak landscape. In response to the gloom, Ron cries, pulls a razor blade from his jacket and begins cutting his own wrists.
A Day in the Life[edit source]
Dirty Hands[edit source]
- This skit is re-used from "Exodus, Part II."
Maelstrom[edit source]
Just as Ron begins to speak, a Muppet-like creature that resembles the Cookie Monster appears from behind, claiming, "I'm the Ronnie Monster." Before Ron can question further, the monster jumps onto Ron and begins munching on his head.
The Son Also Rises[edit source]
"More rebels," David says. Ron transforms into Jack Nicholson's character from One Flew Over The Cookoo's Nest and asks to watch a little TV in Nicholson's voice as he chokes David, now dressed as a nurse.
Crossroads, Part I[edit source]
Crossroads, Part II[edit source]
Season 4[edit source]
External links[edit source]
- ↑ Bassom, David (2005). ed. Adam "Adama" Newell Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion. Titan Books. ISBN 1-84576-0972, p. 43.