On the evening of April 20, 2009 at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood, Battlestar Galactica fans were treated to a truly unique and special evening at the annual PaleyFest.  Thanks to the Paley Center for Media, I was able to take part of this spectacular event.

If you don’t already know (and you should!), Battlestar Galactica aired it’s final episode March 20, 2009 and stunned audiences with its ending.  BSG fans however were delighted to know that show creators Ronald Moore and David Eick had something special up their sleeves for their fans.  Released today on DVD and through the Zune Marketplace is a movie event to kick-start the new television series, Caprica.

Caprica takes place in the BSG universe, but 58 years before what is known as “the fall,” where the Battlestar Galactica series took off from.  The pilot movie sets a dark tone that paves the way to the inevitable events, triggering the near genocide of humanity by the Cylons.

At the Arclight, the audience filled the Cinerama Dome to watch the premiere screening of Caprica.  The version that was screened was the cinematic, unrated and uncensored version, which will surely be edited to be aired on television later this year.  What was most amazing about the screening however was that the cast and crew of BSG and Caprica joined the audience for its entirety.

The pilot episode is really phenomenal, setting up eerie bridges and connections for a stunning turn of events, and what will no doubt be an intense and dark first season.  What is more, although Caprica stands alone as a series (watching BSG is not a prerequisite to enjoy Caprica), BSG fans will relish the history and background in these pivotal characters.

After the screening, a brief preview of the BSG movie event called “The Plan” wowed the audience.  It was a teaser in every sense of the word, providing those signature glimpses of the BSG story told from the Cylons’ perspective.

After the curtains closed and the lights were raised, actor and super geek Seth Green as moderator, formerly introduced the cast and crew.   But before everyone took the stage, David Eick and Ronald Moore, in line with tradition, took a swig of tequila from Eick’s flask.  Green even asked to get in on the action, and shared in the christening of the evening.

Executive Producers Ronald D. Moore, David Eick, and Jane Espenson were joined by Paula Malcomson (Amanda Greystone, “Caprica”), Eric Stoltz (Daniel Greystone, “Caprica”), Esai Morales (Joseph Adama, “Caprica”), Alessandra Torressani (Zoe Greystone, “Caprica”), Magda Apanowicz (Lacy Rand, “Caprica”), Tricia Helfer (Number Six, “Battlestar Galactica”), and Grace Park (Sharon/Athena/Boomer, “Battlestar Galactica”).

Seeing these superstars together on stage was a sight to behold!

Seth Green, plied with liquid courage (as if he needed any) and armed with index cards cut in the shape of BSG documents (corners cut off), brought his A-game.  Green quizzed the panel with almost every question BSG fans were left with after the series finale.  When Green asked whether Moore and the writers knew in the beginning of the show whether certain characters would end up being cylons, or whether certain events would transpire at the tail end of the show, Moore preceded his answer with a light-hearted warning: “This is how the sausage is made.”  Basically, while the writers operated within rules and parameters of the BSG universe, they made some important things up as they went along.

The actors were able to share their anecdotal stories about subjects ranging from how they ended up landing their roles for Caprica, to Helfer and Park discussing what it’s like acting in scenes as doubles of themselves.

Even the audience was able to participate by asking their questions, but one of the highlights of the evening was when Green asked a few quiz questions about BSG, with winners taking home BSG memorabilia and a brand new Zune media player.

When the event was formally over, the panel was incredibly welcoming and patient, signing autographs and taking photos with the fans.

I was even able to ask Moore about something a friend of mine was puzzled about from Caprica: where did the 300MB number come from?  (You’ll know what I’m referring to when you watch Caprica).   Moore responded by saying that it was something he pulled off from the internet after a cursory search, with hopes that his “science guys” would properly vett the figure.  Obviously, that didn’t happen, and it was too late to fix the “error” for the DVD release.  Moore did assure me however that they made a loop to replace the figure to something much higher for the televised version of the pilot.

This evening at PaleyFest09 was truly unforgettable.

Here’s a bonus outtake video from the event which will most certainly get a laugh out of you, as it did the audience:

Be sure to check out more photos here: Photo Album

And you’ll definitely want to check out the rest of our HD videos, featuring the rest of the stars from the evening: Video Playlist

written by Rick Kim