By: Kevin Kelly, Special TCA Correspondent
Set fifty years before the events of the first Cylon war, CAPRICA explores the rivalry between two different families, the Greystones and the Adamas, and sets them on a path that eventually results in the creation of the Cylons.
The clip reel they showed during Sunday’s Television Press Tour Panel had a real detective / film noir look to it. Men wear suits, fedoras, and live in a world where people smoke and drink. Plus, they also apparently go to strip clubs, as there was a pretty clear shot of some side boobage. CAPRICA looks to be trying to up the “hot” factor with this spinoff. According to Remi Aubuchon, writer and executive producer, they weren’t specifically trying to emulate the look of MAD MEN, but he said that that show and CAPRICA do a “good job of making the viewer realize immediatelty that you’re looking at a different era.”
Ron Moore said that the tension in the show will come from the fact that audiences who have been watching BATTLESTAR GALACTICA know what eventually happens to everyone on the planet. He compared it to making a good WWII movie, “You know that the Nazis are going to lose, but that doesn’t keep you from telling a compelling story.”
He also said that they were exploring the idea of a prequel right from the beginning, especially since “The way we end BATTLESTAR GALACTICA doesn’t hold itself open to another story. We end that pretty definitively with a sentence that has a period at the end of it.” They toyed with the idea of doing a show about another rogue Battlestar, but eventually decided that they wanted to pursue a story that wasn’t taking place in outer space. There’s commerce, relationships, and wars between the planets, but “that’s just not where the show lives” according to Moore. It’s a lot more like a contemporary drama.
When asked why the show was set fifty years before the events of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, Moore explained that in the miniseries they say it’s been forty years, since anyone has heard from the Cylons. So, that gives them a little padding in terms of walking toasters. They do have an emphasis on artificial intelligence, which takes the technological centerpoint on the show. They don’t plan on visiting other Battlestar characters, meaning we won’t be running into Felix Gaeta’s grandfather or anything. Most of the strife and larger part of the plot is about the strife between the 12 colonies.
Esai Morales, plays the father of Edward James Olmos’ William Adama character, and a young boy plays a version of Olmos’ character. Moore quipped, “Eddie wantd to do it. He came in doing one of those things where he’s on his knees with the shoes. He’s really upset that we didn’t use him.” When asked why we haven’t seen other Adama characters played by Hispanics, Moore said “Well, within the world of Battlestar Galactica, the Adama’s aren’t Hispanic. He’s an immigrant from a colony called Tauron, and he changes his name to Joseph Adama to try and assimilate himself.”
Eric Stoltz sort of zinged one of the reporters who asked “It’s been awhile since you’ve been a regular on a television show. Are you happy to be returning?” Stoltz responded with “I… never have had a regular televsion role. So… yes?”
When asked if they would have a gay or lesbian character in CAPRICA, Polly Walker said, “Well, Eric.” To which he replied “Great, now you’ve let the secret out of the bag.”
CAPRICA is currently a two hour backdoor pilot that’s airing at an unknown date. The network will take delivery of the show in the next few weeks and then decide when it’ll air. Most likely they’ll try to dovetail the series onto the end of BATTLESTAR, which has 10 episodes left and starts airing in January. 