"BATTLESTAR GALACTICA" FLIES AGAIN!

Squabbling Cylons debate which version of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is the best! Image: Richard Livingston via the GALACTICA.TV website.

Fans old and new missing their fix of the mighty BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and it's rag-tag human fugitive fleet's quest for the legendary Thirteenth Tribe, located on that "shining planet, known as Earth" can now rejoice in the news from Hollywood this past week that popular film director Bryan Singer, who brought MARVEL comics mutant heroes THE X-MEN to critical and commercial box office success, as well as other fine movies like THE USUAL SUSPECTS and the under-appreciated SUPERMAN RETURNS, will be at the helm of a brand new big-screen movie version of the epic sci-fi saga, though it will not be a continuation or successor to the previous modern-day TV version, helmed by ex-TREK writing veteran Ronald D. Moore, whose pioneering darker-edged work equally proved to  a cult hit across the world separate and equal to the classic original, and spawned its own highly diverse and appreciative fan base in the process). Singer's new take on GALACTICA will be a re-imagining of the series grand 1978 pilot episode Saga of a Star World, of which he is apparently working closely, in surely a formidable creative relationship, alongside the series original creator, Glen A. Larson, who has for some time been trying to get a major scale 3-D movie of his own off the ground related to his universe and the cast and crew of another legendary Battlestar: the Pegasus, as commanded by the war-savvy Cain (first played on TV in the classic shows one and only original season by Lloyd Bridges).

Intriguingly, Bryan Singer, along with X-MEN producer/writer Tom De Santo, had planned on bringing back GALACTICA to the screen/TV way back in 2000, but when X-MEN became a reality with TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX, the duo's heavily worked on ideas for BG sadly fell by the wayside. Now, thankfully, Singer's participation is back on the table and many of those intriguing ideas will hopefully come to fruition very soon, though just how everything is going to play out in the casting department, and who will be playing the main leads of Colonial Warrior heroes Adama, Apollo and Starbuck (and whether the latter will return to being a male again, as once personified by Dirk Benedict) is currently unknown. Undoubtedly, their main nemesis, the robotic reptile Cylons, will be back to cause more terror and carnage across the galaxy, but how they'll be realized (a brand new interpretation or a hybrid of what we've seen before in the 1978 and 2000's series?) will surely prove equally intriguing.The new movie script is currently being enthusiastically pulled into shape for UNIVERSAL STUDIOS by popular BAND OF BROTHERS screen writer John Orloff.

More news as and when, and look out for future articles on the original 1978 BATTLESTAR GALACTICA on KOOL TV very soon...

For more on GALACTICA old and new, head over to the terrific website: GALACTICA.TV - Battlestar Galactica Cast & Crew

IS THERE A "HOUSE" IN THE DOCTOR?

Life is but a (pill induced) dream for Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie). Image: NBC UNIVERSAL

Once upon a time, about a year or so before it began to get very silly- bogged down with out-of-character relationships and way out there fantasy trappings which were dominating, sometimes destroying, strong and memorable plots, alongside an unnecessary fracturing of a strong core team cast that really didn't need to be mucked about with- HOUSE really was a terrific, well made and acted series, created by the talented David Shore with strong Executive Producer kudos from famous film writer/director Bryan Singer (of which THE X-MEN franchise hasn't been the same since his full-on creative departure!) and a powerhouse love him and hate him performance from Hugh Laurie- of which Quincy he certainly ain't!- that has since led to the re-imaging of the medical drama series in general with series like GREY'S ANATOMY and the black comedy NURSE JACKIE soon following in its indomitable footsteps.

Now, as the series enters its presumably eighth and final season, HOUSE and its lead character have just become plain annoying and past their sell by date in my honest opinion. Prescription: a strong but memorable euthanasia where, hopefully, its makers will give him a better, more dramatic, interesting and satisfying send-off to a fine new gig within the Medical Genre area of TV history. Before that happens, though, fans wanting to remember HOUSE at its peak can check out the UK's UNIVERSAL and HD channels, currently showing some very good episodes from the shows third year weekday mornings about 10am (Season Five episodes will also begin screening in July). And, unlike the common cold, they're well worth catching!

Seasons one to seven of HOUSE are also available on DVD from NBC UNIVERSAL.