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SAN DIEGO — At the 30th Anniversary Battlestar Galactica panel at Comic-Con International, “X-Men” producer Tom DeSanto talked about the Battlestar Galactica that almost was — a direct sequel to the original series.  Starting in 1998, DeSanto worked with director Bryan Singer to bring a continuation of the series to television.

After some original confusion about who owned the rights, in July 2000, Singer and DeSanto pitched a $13.5 million backdoor pilot to FOX, with a series pickup contingent on the ratings. 

FOX and SciFi entered into an agreement that would have allowed SciFi to broadcast letterboxed versions of the episodes a few days after they originally aired. 

“We were eight weeks away from shooting when 9-11 happened,” DeSanto said. 

The pilot’s plot, about kamikaze pilots crashing into buildings on the human city of New Caprica, suddenly seemed too close to home.  DeSanto and company attempted to rework it, but the schedule slipped, and Singer had to decide between “Battlestar Galactica” and “X-Men 2.”  Singer and FOX struggled with the decision, but ultimately Singer went on to helm “X-Men 2.”

DeSanto showed several effects tests for the series, which he wanted to have a World War II, 16 mm newsreel feel. 

DeSanto correlated the “Battlestar Galactica” story to the Biblical Exodus of the Jews.  The sequel would have followed that story.

“What if the Jews had stopped at Mt. Sinai and built Las Vegas?” he said.

The story was set 20 years after the events of the original series, when the remaining humans voted to build a new society and stop the search for Earth.  They became unprepared for the Cylons, who eventually found them.

“9-11 paralleled our story very much,” he said. “Cylons came back with a fury.”

After a sneak attack on the humans, the conflict is reignited.

The final shot of the pilot would have revealed a human-Cylon hybrid — the former Apollo, played by Richard Hatch.

The storyline of the series would have showcased the conflict between Apollo and his son, now the commander of the fleet, and the battle for Apollo’s soul.

– Matt Price

Jessica Hynes and Simon Pegg in “Spaced.”

From Friday’s The Oklahoman:

By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor

The cult-hit British sitcom “Spaced” arrived on DVD this week. The series, co-created by Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes, featured London twentysomethings posing as a couple to save on rent.

Pegg played aspiring comic-book artist Tim Bisley, and Hynes played aspiring writer Daisy Steiner.

Hynes has stayed busy post-“Spaced” — when she called to talk to The Oklahoman, she had just finished rehearsals for the evening at the Old Vic in London for “The Norman Conquests,” a trilogy of plays by Alan Ayckbourn. She’ll take a break from rehearsals to visit America this week. Today, she’s at Comic-Con International in San Diego, and she’ll spend Sunday in Austin, Texas, as part of the “Spaced Invasion.” On Sunday at 5 p.m., Hynes and the other “Spaced” creators will be at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz, at 320 E 6^th St. in Austin for a marathon “Spaced” screening.

“I feel a bit guilty for having a week in America, but it’s a good reason. I couldn’t miss this,” she said.

“Spaced” has been long-requested on Region 1 DVD, leading some to take serious steps to see the program.

“This guy in Austin said that his local video stop started stocking multiregional DVDs in order to sell them to customers who wanted to watch ‘Spaced,’” Hynes said.

Like “The Office,” there had been plans for an Americanized version of “Spaced,” this one developed by director McG. Hynes wasn’t too upset about the failure of the American version to make it on a broadcast schedule, as neither she nor Pegg nor Wright were involved in the remake. Still, she would like to return to “Spaced” in some way.

“Basically, at this point, I have no idea how, when or if Spaced will continue,” she said. “I think Simon’s quite clear he doesn’t want to make a film of it. I think a film would work, but it’s a logistical thing as well. Simon’s signed up for the next few ‘Star Treks’, and Edgar’s making films, and there’s no way we could do it without the three of us, so who knows? I’d love to revive the characters and write the show again, it was great.”

One possibility might be to continue “Spaced” as a comic book. Hynes is a comic-book fan, naming Daniel Clowes’s “Eightball,” Terry Moore’s “Strangers in Paradise,” and Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s “Preacher” as favorites.

“I’ve got a friend, Glyn Dillon, who’s a great graphic novelist,” Hynes said. “He was involved with ‘Tank Girl,’ and we were talking about doing a graphic novel about something different, but I was thinking about talking to him about it, because he’s based in England and it could work. It would be a way of keeping the stories alive, and the characters alive.”

From Friday’s The Oklahoman: 

By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor

WORD BALLOONS

The tale of the Witchblade, an ancient weapon first seen in comics, blazed the path for original cable TV programming, says the publisher of the “Witchblade” comic books. “Witchblade,” the television series, will be released on DVD on Tuesday.

“When “Witchblade” debuted on TNT back in 2000 there weren’t that many comic adaptations particularly on television,” said Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik. “In fact in the era of ‘The Shield,’ ‘Monk’ and ‘Rescue Me’ it’s funny to remember that there wasn’t much original cable television programming.”

“Witchblade” is about a New York City police detective, Sara Pezzini, who encounters the Witchblade, an ancient and powerful artifact. The Witchblade is a gauntlet that’s been passed down from woman to woman throughout time and serves as a balance between the forces of dark and light. Yancy Butler starred as Pezzini in the 23 episodes which aired over two seasons.

Sablik said the “Witchblade” series stayed mostly faithful to the comic book.

“They were limited by budget as far as what they could do, but the key characters … were all there,” he said. “The Witchblade is still an ancient powerful weapon, but instead of a organic like metal it took the form of a more traditional gauntlet with a sword that came out.”

“Witchblade” remains Top Cow’s most popular comic book. Sablik described “Witch Hunt,” the first story arc by writer Ron Marz, as a good jumping on point for “Witchblade.” Comic-book stores have a special edition of the story for $4.99, collecting six issues.

“It’s the entry arc for the modern era of ‘Witchblade,’” Sablik said.

“Witchblade” is currently in development for a 2009 feature film.

From Friday’s The Oklahoman: 

Following in the footsteps of “Smallville,” Batman-related characters got a youth-oriented WB television series in “Birds of Prey.” Following the Tim Burton Batman films, to a degree, the film is set in “New Gotham,” in the future. Batman and Catwoman have had a daughter — The Huntress (Ashley Scott, “Jericho”). Batman himself has disappeared after a final showdown with the Joker — and the Joker, after escaping, shot and paralyzed Batgirl (Dina Meyer, “Starship Troopers”). Her paralysis didn’t stop her crusade — only how she accomplishes it. She now fights crime as Oracle, a cyber-sleuth who trains superheroes for the future, including Huntress.

Joining Huntress and Oracle is Dinah (Rachel Skarsten). Her telepathic powers keyed in on Huntress when Catwoman was killed, and on Oracle when she was shot. Thus, she believes these women are the key to her destiny.

“Birds of Prey” debuted strongly, but ratings slipped. Comic fans thought the series deviated too much from the comic book on which it was based. The show did alter the origins, but it didn’t ignore the comics; it just melded several different versions into one show. In retrospect, the show was better than it gets credit for, but not as good as it could have been. Meyer is consistently good, and it’s too bad fans didn’t get to see more of her as Batgirl or Oracle.

The original pilot, with Sherilyn Fenn (“Twin Peaks”) as Joker sidekick Harley Quinn is included. Fenn was replaced with Mia Sara (“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”).

Also included are three seasons of the flash-animated “Gotham Girls,” which come to about an hour of programming.

– Matthew Price

A promotional trailer for SCI FI Channel’s upcoming “Battlestar Galactica” prequel “Caprica” is now up on SCIFI.COM. The trailer contains the footage screened for critics in the recent Television Critics Association press tour.

– Matt Price

See the conclusion of Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, starring Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion.

- Matt Price

The second act of Joss Whedon’s “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” is up!  Go check it out.

– Matt Price

In case you’ve forgotten, the first episode of “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer,” “Welcome to the Hellmouth,” has one of the great pre-credit sequences of all time.   This and other episodes of “Buffy,” “Smallville” and more are now available online (though still in beta test mode, so you have to sign up and be approved) at www.thewb.com.

The third season of “The Incredible Hulk,” starring Bill Bixby as David Banner, has fewer two-part episodes than previous seasons, but still manages some solid episodes.

While the season’s fifth episode, “My Favorite Magician,” has some flaws, it’s got several interesting ideas working for it. It co-stars Ray Walston, Bixby’s co-star on “My Favorite Martian,” and it features Banner becoming a magician’s assistant, likely referencing Bixby’s 1973 series “The Magician.”

The highlight of the third season is “Homecoming,” in which Banner returns to his hometown for the first time since the accident that transformed him, in times of stress and anger, into the Incredible Hulk (portrayed by Lou Ferrigno).

The episode “The Psychic” features Brenda Benet, Bixby’s first wife, as a psychic who discovers the connection between Banner and The Hulk.

While the third season lacked the dynamic two-parters of seasons two and four, it holds up as part of one of the best television adaptations of a comic-book hero.

— Matthew Price

From Friday’s The Oklahoman:

The strike-shortened 1980 season of “The Incredible Hulk” started off with a bang, with the two-part episode “Prometheus” exploring the more science-fictional aspects of the show. A meteor with unusual properties causes David Banner (Bill Bixby) to be caught in a half-Banner, half-Hulk stage. He eventually triggers the full transformation, but is caught by a government agency seeking to capture extraterrestrials.

Lou Ferrigno, who played Banner’s alter-ego the Hulk in each episode, gets to guest-star without the green paint in “King of the Beach.”

A two-part episode called “The First” explores Dr. Jeffrey Frye’s earlier radiation experiments that created an earlier version of a Hulk-like monster. This “Hulk” is played by Dick Durock, who later became another comic-book hero in the “Swamp Thing” TV series and films. The Hulk vs. Hulk showdown is worth the price of admission.

“The First” is followed with two other classic episodes — “The Harder They Fall,” in which Banner finds himself temporarily paralyzed, and “Interview with the Hulk,” when another reporter gets the scoop on Jack McGee (Jack Colvin) and lands an interview with Banner.

— Matthew Price