Rumors are spreading fast and furious that Sci-Fi Channel may be looking to get the most out of Battlestar Galactica‘s final season. Several of Galactica’s actors were on hand this past weekend for the annual Dragoncon convention. At the panel, the actors lamented over Sci Fi’s inability to properly handle authentic hit programming, punctuating the point by revealing that the Sci-Fi channel plans to cut the final season of Battlestar Galactica into two ten-episode seasons, one to air in 2008, and the other in 2009.
At present, there is no official confirmation that this was the case, and some fans in attendance that I spoke with earlier said the whole roast on Sci-Fi and the splitting of the season thing was a joke. One attendee I spoke with, however, was completely convinced otherwise.
“There was a huge reaction from the audience. There is no way they would have allowed the fans to leave that bummed out if it wasn’t true.” Fan Ron Estes told me this afternoon. “Really, it is wishful thinking to assume otherwise.”
Around the net, the news is not being met with much enthusiasm. Fans are already enduring a tremendous hiatus between seasons, splitting the final season in two will likely result in an enormously vocal fan backlash.
If the reports are true, Sci-Fi will air the first 10 episodes in February 2008, then put the show on ice until February 2009, when the final 10 episodes of Battlestar Galactica would air.
This would not be the first time that Battlestar Galactica Actors have been the ones to break major news concerning the production. Before the final season deal was in ink, actors Edward James Olmos and Katee Sackhoff both told reporters that the next season would be the last. This was at first denied, but confirmed a few weeks later.
-Jon Lachonis, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of Sci-Fi Channel)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
