VFX for everything Season 4 and past were internal BSGVFX ran by Gary Hutzel, not Zoic. We did Razor, The Plan, Caprica and Blood and Chrome (then went on to Defiance also on SyFy). It was pretty revolutionary to take the VFX in-house and was awsome to work on. A key difference, for example on Razor, we felt it was a little boring as originally written and delivered more than twice as many VFX shots as requested. Any vendor-based VFX would've required another million or more extra for that. I think Razor was peak BSG, wish it'd gotten a little more time here. The Plan... yeah. What we accomplished on Blood and Chrome was extraordinary... as was the fuckery from SyFy...
Was there ever an attempt to make a list of civilian ship designs to keep it in line with the script? Episode dialogue indicates between 60 and 75 ships but counting to the end of S4 and The Plan, I get upward of 95 ships!
Loved Caprica, the further exploration of the other peoples of the universe and the Monotheism verses the polytheist ideas especially in relation to the AI. Great ideas!
Caprica was my first look into BSG as a teen. As a fan of period dramas, as well as sci-fi, the blending of the dynastic family drama and higher science fiction concepts really hit home with me and I still wish there had been more of the series. I was so angry about the cancellation, I didn't watch anything else related to BSG for years. Last year, I came across Caprica on dvd and rewatched it, finding myself falling in love with the world again and following it up with BSG (including Razor and the Plan) proper. Perhaps in another universe where Caprica had another season, I would have gotten into it sooner. All I know is that I wish I had checked it out as a teen
You know, even after all he did I still strangely feel pity for John Cavil in the end. His overwhelming drive to experience his world in something other than that limiting human form speaks to me and I can somewhat relate. @@richlisola1
The entire plot of that film just makes their "plan" ridiculous. It's all boiled down to two Cavil's in a "Pinky and The Brain" type plot: "What we doing tonight Cavil B?". "Same thing we do every night Cavil A, try to wipe out the rest of the human race!".
While not always well executed, I always like that ideas behind Caprica, I’m always a sucker for a good “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” story. And as far as The Plan, the more screen time Dean Stockwell gets, the better in my book
@@cryptc as Rowan pointed out, Ron stepped away from the series and Dave tried to run the rest of this. Had Ron stuck it out and didn't do a Glenn Larson, it may have lasted longer.
Yeah I was a big fan of Caprica too, mostly the concepts. I thought the execution was a little and clunky at times, and I didn't like the music, but I liked the various colonies and exploration of their cultures which put a lot of meat on the bones.
"All of this happened before, and all of it will happen again." The idea of a reboot or reimagining is at the very core of BSG phikosophy; as long as it's produced and delivered well it can simply be thought of as another loop within the endless cycle.
Yep funny I mentioned this and then saw you post here. I am sure someday we will see another take on this! Funny I am sure with AI type stuff someone will even wrap up the first series or something like that. At least Richard Hatch was trying to do something like that.
This is madness. I spent this morning listening to the excellent BSG retrospectives and was literally just thinking whether you'd cover the follow up series. 30 minutes later, this video drops. You mind-reading legend 😀
Ah, yes I eagerly awaited this review. Caprica was actually pretty good, I just think it was ahead of its time, and the audience wasn’t prepared for “Dallas” in a BSG-setting Also, I’d like to follow the adventures of Husker. Too bad it didn’t take off
BSG creators: You dont try to repeat the formula Stargate creators: Yeah so SG1 was a success... lets make Atlantis with the same formula.... but in another galaxy 👌
@@gregorymcavoy758 SGU flopped exactly because it tried to change the formula of Stargate and copied too much BSG. Stargate fans at the time felt scammed cause the new Stargate didnt feel as a Stargate series
@@intellectic9155 well that "ass" ran for 10 seasons on the OG series, 2 movies, spinoff series of 5 seasons and 2nd spinoff that ran for another season. But you have your opinion
Oh you guys did it all. The last video was so long it caused me to do something I never do, comment three times under one video. Now here you go again. This one looks like it's shorter, but I really thought I was one of the few people on the planet that saw caprica and blood and chrome. So handsolute for covering it. This is great stuff.
I adamantly believe that Caprica has been one of the most underrated shows. It is a slow paced but gripping series, with rich world building and interwoven plots - and its complexity really pays off at the end of the first season. The second season was going to be amazing.
Caprica was absolutely gold. It didn’t need to be perfect when it was better than 95% of the content that was in production at the time. Shame it didn’t get the appropriate marketing and was canceled.
This short series has shown a lot of love to BSG. I remember the original from when I was younger, this new series blew me away. It was well thought out, darker, it had some terrific characters and acting. It was sci-fi, but so much was relatable and familiar about the people. I liked the spinoff's I definitely thought they added to the show. I didn't watch Caprica though. I watched the first episode, and even though it set up some things, the characters didn't grip me like BSG. Terrific work as always.
You missed that around the time BSG (2004) was drawing to a close in 2009, a movie version was in development. Initially, it was to be directed by John Orloff (Anonymous) and directed by Bryan Singer. The project fell into development hell with a revolving door of directors from Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend & The Hunger Games) to Lisa Joy (Westworld).
Absolutely loved this retrospective! I loved how balanced it is showing your obvious admiration with ample evidence to back up it's strength AND it's weaknesses (also with ample evidence). It honestly makes me want to give the whole thing a re-watch! Looking forward to anything more you do Rowan!
Another excellent retrospective. I loved the concept of Caprica, and loved the world building... but it lost something pretty quickly. There were some bone chilling scenes along the way, but I couldn't stay invested. Never saw Blood and Chrome for the reasons you mentioned.
Only halfway through and you've already earned my sub. You've a great narrative voice, your observations are crisp and concise, and I look forward to exploring the rest of this retrospective. (I landed on part 3)
BSG 2003 is such a fascinating show - in some ways it is one of the greatest sci-fi shows ever made while also being a cautionary tale about going for that one last plot twist at the expense of everything else.
I still maintain that they should have gone first cylon war. You don't have to do the same thing over. You can have black ops missions, recon, follow multiple ships, anything! Sure you know how it ultimately ends up but still the characters themselves are fair game. Plenty of room for tragedy too.
@jonny-b4954 it does but that's Battlestar Galactica. This would be a spin off. Like how star trek was about exploring the galaxy but then we got DS9. It would be game of thrones like in the sense that anyone could go at a any time. Full fleet action for a change.
@@KabbalahSherry it got 2. U can gage it by the old norm of 23 episodes per season. Or u can go by what it states on the release. Life’s better when ur not anal 🤡
I think if Blood and Chrome had followed the path BSG Deadlock took it would have made for a long lasting series. Watching the 1st Cylon War and how it influenced the 2003 series really solidifies the world building.
I absolutely loved Caprica! But immediately knew it was doomed to failure for the reason you talked about in the video - while BSG was more about being drama that just happens to be in space than being sci-fi, this was drama not in space that is kinda-sorta more sci-fi-ish and that's just too niche for sci-fi fans, yet too connected to nerdy things for "normies". On the other hand that's also exactly what Black Mirror did and became a huge success, so you never know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I just commented on the other video that the "They have a plan" line was the biggest betrayal of the series. I had no ide the writers did not like that line^^
Caprica was Awesome and stands as a great predicesor of BSG! I do hop for a future of this imaginative series! I have read that there is maybe ANOTHER new version of the story in production.. Is not 2 versions enough already🙄
And this is what happens when the writing staff doesn't plan it out and shoots from the hip. It's always a letdown. Babylon 5, on the other hand, was fully planned out from A - Z and managed to survive a small budget, cast changes, etc to have an amazing ending.
@@sethzwicker3631 the last 6 or 7 episodes of B5 S5 were great, but the 14 or 15 prior to that were pretty terrible. And trust me: HUGE B5 fan here. Saw the pilot before it was even on TV, and I don’t like Star Trek, so I have no ulterior motive in being critical. Speaking of which, I think it’s fairly obvious BSG had some influence on the RDM Galactica, but that’s never really been discussed
@@mahatmarandy5977 Yes, I would agree but here's (my opinion) why: The last 6/7 episodes were the original intended finale & wind down. Fall of Centari Prime is just incredible but you already know that. The prior 14 were somewhat filler because the intended content of season 5 was shoved into the backhalf of season 4 due to the fact they thought they'd be cancelled so they wanted to complete the 2 main storylines: Shadow War & Earth Coup and they also shot the finale "Sleeping in Light" as a 4th season episode which worked out well because Ivanova was still in it whereas she would have been absent if they shot it in season 5. Low and behold TNT picked up the show and now they had a 5th season but didn't have a full season's worth of content.
@@sethzwicker3631 sort of true, but there were some other concerns. Number one is that the budget was smaller for the TNT season and it shows, number two is that they lost a day off of their 10 day production cycle for every episode, and that shows. One day it doesn’t sound like much but over the course of the season it’s the amount of time that they could make two full episodes in. Number three is the way they handle the drakh mystery. I like the concept of it, but we have seen our heroes, solve much more difficult mysteries in much less time, and since we know what’s going on, but they don’t, it makes them seem like idiots, trying to catch up with us. Number four, and what absolutely kills it for me, is the damn seven episode arc with Byron and the Telepaths. It just doesn’t work. It has no energy, it goes nowhere, and worse still it is completely unnecessary. After everything that we have already seen, we do not need the 1998 model Marcus to come in, and teach leader, how to be a leader. She already has more than enough experience behind her, and rising with the challenge on her own, would have better serve the character. And of course, there is no resolution to it. Just an absolute waste of time. Your filler comment is correct but honestly that doesn’t make it any better. Season one was largely filler as well, but that worked much better and after all we’ve been through we know these characters well enough for the audience to expect a little bit more. Allegedly, JMS had a much more cohesive concept of what he was going to do in the first 2/3 of the season, but he lost it. And I have always suspected he was just spread too thin. He was simultaneously doing 22 episodes of B5, writing 3 TV movies, gearing up for Crusade…just too much stuff. I don’t blame him, I just think he was overextended and it shows in the work.
That can happen with many creative things when put out there... I will say in the end yeah the creators vision is what we get, but there is are some shows and films that really just don't play out well in the end. Then at times we hear someone give it a better idea of how it could of played out and wow if they had gone that way with it boom! But hey such is how it works with creative material many a time and we all have our opinions in the end.
I liked Caprica but I think it would have been more successful if it had been more focused. It felt like the writers kept introducing new arcs every few episodes. I just didn't care about Tamara Adama becoming the queen of the sim game, for example. I was interested in Joseph Adama and Daniel Grasystone and how their mutual grief led to Graystone's rediscovery of resurrection technology. I wasn't that interested in the Tauron mob smuggling Cylon prototypes back to Tauron for use in the civil war, but I was interested in Willie Adama being drawn into his uncle's world. I wasn't that interested in the investigation into the maglev bombing but I was interested in how the rise of monotheism led to the Cylons' rebellion being a religious crusade.
A Blood and Chrome video game would have probably worked really well at that time. I'm glad Deadlock got a mention in this video. I think there was also a PS2 game based on the original show but I never played it myself.
in the best case scenario i can see BSG becoming almost like a western version of Mobile Suit Gundam, a long-running franchise which shares tropes and beats across distinct continuities with their own flavours and thematic concerns.
This! Every Gundam series starts with a colony drop. BSG starts with a genocide. Kind of dark. A new BSG series should go with a heroic space opera. A traditional heroes journey. Apollo and Star Buck from 79 were classical hero archetypes. While their 2003 characters were merely protagonists. AI cyclons should be ditched replaced with humans or aliens. Revisiting the Moore's BSG would be wrong. But I have ideas of how it would be possible.
I'd like to see the first cylon war covered in a new series. The cylon rebellion, the prelude to war, first battles etc and finale. Which could be stand alone episodes or two partners. Rather than a continuous arc, complete episodes acting as a flashback to an event or experience
The best scene of Caprica in the final episode when the young girl (Zoe's Best Friend) says "You should KNEEL!" It's funny the way the Sister looked at the Cylon and then back to the young girl.
Caprica had a shaky start but it was conceptually strong-And if nothing else, it made the 12 Colonies real. You feel the enormity of what was lost-12 Worlds of billions of people spread throughout solar systems, with thousands of years of history behind them, and seemingly ahead of them. Seemingly but we know there are only 58 years left for their civilization. Caprica made the loss of BSG feel real. Made the unimaginable conceivable. You feel the loss. And Blood And Chrome though unneeded was fun. To get a taste of the first war, and a young Adama. Bridging Caprica and BSG. It was perfect as a miniseries, but too many actors reused
I've said it before and will say it again, Cyperpunk is a very very tough sell at the best of times even to people who like science fiction. Tying to make a TV show on it is a very big risk. I love Caprica though.
This series (I think) really showed the most likely path for AI to become a type of real Cylon. With Chat gpt now widely used to control NPC characters in video games (giving it virtual bodies) the jump to a real body is getting smaller everyday. In that aspect this series was really ahead of its time. I found it very interesting to watch at the time. But as they say :). Nothing that is true will ever be popular, and nothing that is popular can ever be true...
As someone who wasn't enamoured by the BSG reboot, I found Caprica fantastic. I've rewatched it multiple times, and pick up new subtle details each time. I was bitterly disappointed when it was cancelled, though it works well as a single season show.
As far as I was concerned, having seen the last season of the BSG reimagining, Caprica was so much more interesting than anything else on TV at the time. Its cancellation was the first time in my adult life I really cared about a show being cancelled. The cutdown second season to finish it off was so rushed that it didn't work, but that's what happens when a show needs to reach its conclusion in a hurry.
@@SingularityOrbit I think what helped caprica was that it was a cyberpunk genre inspired series. I agree, the last season of the BSG 2003 reboot was a complete mess and the series finale is considered one of the worst series finales of all time. The series started to go downhill with the middle half of season 3 after they wrapped up the New Caprica storyline. The 3-part season 3 finale almost redeemed the season. Season 4 was a whole lot of nothing and is generally considered the weakest season in the series.
@@SingularityOrbit BSG seasons 1, 2 and the early half of season 3 (New Caprica) were the best seasons of the show. Season 4's biggest problem was that it was made during a writers strike and had to be split in two. The series finale ultimately ruins the entire series.
@@NaquanGreen-zt4gr Oh, apart from mentioning that I watched all the way through BGS, the rest of my comment was all about Caprica. I don't think the ending ruins the series, apart from not taking their audience's emotional need to know what "God" was all about seriously (and I include myself in that audience who needed more than what we were given). It just wasn't a _perfect_ ending.
I would love to see a video on all the BSG webisodes. I remember there being 3 or 4 different web series but I don't think any of them have been collected and released on DVD or bluray.
I just can't imagine a new reboot doing as good a job as the 2003 edition. That latter version got so much right, and we're in a time when telling stories is difficult for a variety of political reasons both within the show and because of the participants' actions in the real world.
Well, I wasn't aware that Caprica was a failure. In fact, I loved it. And for the time it came out it was very with it - the internet as another reality you could escape into; how the stories of these 2 girls lead to the human version Cylons - and all occurring in a realistic corporate / political / governmental society we know too well. And it was hilarious at time - a valley girl teenager transplanted into a Chrome Robot Body ? - Uhhhh - Duhhh - mind bending and hilarious as well.
It’s been awhile since I’ve looked into anything related to the new BSG show being made, but if Sam Esmail is still the show runner attached he already said the his new battle star galactic a show wouldn’t be a reboot. Quote “why mess with perfection?”. Personally I think focusing on a story about the exodus from Kobol would allow for a similar story in the same canon while giving new opportunities to try new ideas.
It’s always been my strong opinion that the BSG reimagining embraced one fatal flaw, and that was when Edward James Olmos made them promise not to bring in aliens of any kind (supernatural elements likely lumped in by default), thereby forcing them to abandon their original premise/ending, or at least that’s my theory. The concept that the cylons left for outer space only to return, seemingly possessed, because they met someone or something terrible out there was a real missed opportunity, twice now. Blade Runner meets Chariot Of The Gods is a real gem of a conflict, far more intriguing than the now played out Star Wars. What does it mean to be alive? Can such a thing as tangible evil actually exist? If there are devils, then there must be angels…?
@toddblackwood129 Your comment just gave me a thought for an alternative path the show could have taken: what if the Cylons, after leaving the 12 Colonies behind, found the "Cylon" colony that had annihilated itself (the one the Ragtag Fleet found near the end of the series)? They might have run away from the implications of Cylons destroying themselves, went through some societal craziness, and came out the other side with their new religion and determination to eliminate their weaknesses . . . including everything about their creators on the colonies. Of course, this isn't how it happened, it's just a fanfic notion, but it would have made some sense of it all. It doesn't explain Head/Angel Six and all of that, but nothing in the existing series does, either.
@SingularityOrbit the mythology of it all is ripe for expansion, isn’t it?? Although, and correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t the character Count Iblis explain some of the lore/backstory of the Cylons? I think that was a character that should've been brought back in the reimagined series…
That's one thing I like about The Expanse. While that series focuses on human conflicts, the extraterrestrial elements gradually move from the background to the foreground in a way that doesn't detract from the political intrigue between the various factions in the solar system. BSG could have incorporated aliens in a way that wouldn't have sacrificed the grounded grittiness the series was known for. A lost opportunity.
The cancellation of Caprica was a crime. Like any series, you need to get to know the characters, which the first season did, and did very well. I was so ready for Season 2, but they never really gave it a chance, I thought it deserved one. ST:TNG should of died during the 2nd Season, but it got so much better because we knew the crew, and the stories could start... Caprica never got that chance..
To be honest what I would do with the next series, is reimagine it all over again. Take elements from both of the first two series, but create something new and unique that paves its own path forward. I would lean really heavy into the mystical elements of the first show while grounding it a little bit like the second show.
I liked the idea of ai becoming sentient via a shortcut where an already concious mind is translated into a digital substrate, sparking a cascade of existential risk that we all know ends in genocide via nuclear holocaust. And that extinction level event is perpetrated at least in part by bits of this young girls mind.
Nice video and I love all BSG both versions warts and all. As they say this is happened before and will happen again sort of a haunting statement in itself. So I feel someone will do another take of BSG and will I still be around to see it...
Caprica had a good concept it ended up becoming more soap opera than scifi in the end. I do believe that had we gotten more out of the show we would find out that Zoe evolves and becomes the god of the Cylons.
Blood and Chrome foi extraordinário como inicio da nova série reimaginada. Caprica foi muito longa para tratar do desenvolvimento dos cilônios como arma. A cultura de Cáprica era próxima a da cidade de Chicago.
You forgot the best BSG spin-off: the Portlandia episode “One Moore Episode”. Also, whenever I see the old 70’s BSG special effects, all I see are the effects from the MST3K episode Space Mutiny.
Caprica, for me, was oddly wasted potential. It would've been better shorter (like you said) but also in the finale/epilogue bit it hinted at a greater story that I REALLY wished to see, namely the Gemenese/monotheist/Sister Clarice plot.
Caprica was never really given a chance. They didn't even release the full first season, they strung it out, changed airing times, and in several regions didn't air the final few episodes.
Caprica, like B5's Crusade, was something that could've been great if it had been given time. So many interesting ideas, characters, and story directions for the show to go in. Sure, aspects of that were hampered by some wheel spinning, a short season would definitely have been a benefit, and sometimes the family drama got a little too soapy for my liking, but there was a whole lot of potential there, if only it had found its audience. The issue with audience as well. It probably is too much of a radical departure to have worked so soon after Galactica wrapped. Still, even if a lot of BSG fans didn't come over I think in time Caprica could really have come into its own with its own dedicated fanbase larger than what it currently has, something I couldn't really say about Blood and Chrome. Blood and Chrome is fun but kind of meh overall and I've no idea how they could've made it interesting in the long term. In my opinion there were nowhere near as many interesting plot hooks in that pilot compared to Caprica.
I like Caprica. It was canceled before it could find it’s stride, just like SGU. I understand that it didn’t produce viewing numbers to justify it’s cost, but if it was made today I bet it could have been saved by Fan Outreach; Online Petitions & Social Media.
Thanks for this retrospective! Have you watched 'For All Mankind', also by R.D. Moore? I absolutely love this series and it would be interesting to know your opinion.
You know they said they didn’t want to do a young Adama origin story but having those young Adama scenes in Razor I think would have been great for it’s own show. Plus people would watch because of that Razar episode. Could have also used the same actor that played young Adama in that episode. Could later in the show do a small time jump and bring back Starbuck and Apollo and dive deeper into Zack. Could do 4 seasons first two seasons focus on young Adama and the War with the Cylons then at the end or start of season 3 do a couple year time jump bring back Starbuck and Apollo and introduce Zack and now you could show the events of Starbucks relationship with Zack. Then you can end that show tied up with Battlestar Galactica.
Have to agree with Rowan and The Plan: great concept, but they just did not find the right Cylon angle with which to make the approach. Like how about the entire Cavill line sold the other models by fibbing about having a plan and it turns out he has been playing cover-up the whole time. just one small change and Cavill has real personal stakes. funny how i rewatch as often as the rest of the series. its still a good a watch.
New reimagining, huh? Okay, so BSG is trying to become the American version of Japan's Gundam franchise. Here's the trick to that plan: Gundam series are developed in parallel, kind of like Fanal Fantasy video games. One Gundam series gets its one or two seasons as planned, and is then replaced with the next one. The novels and comics keep the previous series going. If the model kits and toys sell well enough then it might come back with a new miniseries or movie. If BSG is going to be a self-replicating franchise then they need to think that way, not in this "make a version until it faills down in some way, cancel it for a decade or two, then ignore the old one and try again" pattern.
Let's keep this in mind. The design of Pike's Enterprise is from the ship lenage of the NX01 Enterprise which explains why the Enterprise looks different. I believe once SNW run is done, the Enterprise will be refitted to look similar to the Classic TOS Enterprise but with an updated look.
Franchises like BSG remind me of the TMNT franchise. Revisionism is sort of hard wired in to its DNA now. Each step forward (either a reboot or new gronds) just builds on the universe without always erasing or treading on what has come before. 2 generations now have there own "take" on what BSG is. I think much like TMNT you'll see several takes in the near/far future that won't necessarly hobble it as it has done with other more popular franchises.
HELP THE CHANNEL GROW: www.patreon.com/rowanjcoleman
Please do a Tier Ranking of every Star Trek DS9 episode to celebrate that show's 30th Anniversary.
VFX for everything Season 4 and past were internal BSGVFX ran by Gary Hutzel, not Zoic. We did Razor, The Plan, Caprica and Blood and Chrome (then went on to Defiance also on SyFy). It was pretty revolutionary to take the VFX in-house and was awsome to work on. A key difference, for example on Razor, we felt it was a little boring as originally written and delivered more than twice as many VFX shots as requested. Any vendor-based VFX would've required another million or more extra for that. I think Razor was peak BSG, wish it'd gotten a little more time here. The Plan... yeah. What we accomplished on Blood and Chrome was extraordinary... as was the fuckery from SyFy...
That's rad!
-Minus the fuckery
Your work is appreciated and still exceeds a lot of the slop put out today. Bravo.
Considering how much had to rebuilt because the sets were torn down. It's been 10 years, but dad gum it's still a good watch.
Was there ever an attempt to make a list of civilian ship designs to keep it in line with the script? Episode dialogue indicates between 60 and 75 ships but counting to the end of S4 and The Plan, I get upward of 95 ships!
Loved Caprica, the further exploration of the other peoples of the universe and the Monotheism verses the polytheist ideas especially in relation to the AI. Great ideas!
Yes! I agree. I’d love to see another dive into the world of the Colonies.
Caprica was my first look into BSG as a teen. As a fan of period dramas, as well as sci-fi, the blending of the dynastic family drama and higher science fiction concepts really hit home with me and I still wish there had been more of the series. I was so angry about the cancellation, I didn't watch anything else related to BSG for years. Last year, I came across Caprica on dvd and rewatched it, finding myself falling in love with the world again and following it up with BSG (including Razor and the Plan) proper. Perhaps in another universe where Caprica had another season, I would have gotten into it sooner. All I know is that I wish I had checked it out as a teen
The Cylons did have a plan. The progress bar just got stuck at 99%.
It wasn’t the Cylons plan, it was Cavil’s plan-Always Cavill
You know, even after all he did I still strangely feel pity for John Cavil in the end. His overwhelming drive to experience his world in something other than that limiting human form speaks to me and I can somewhat relate. @@richlisola1
Spiny wheel of death just keeps turning. What does ‘buffering’ mean?
The entire plot of that film just makes their "plan" ridiculous. It's all boiled down to two Cavil's in a "Pinky and The Brain" type plot: "What we doing tonight Cavil B?". "Same thing we do every night Cavil A, try to wipe out the rest of the human race!".
That's what they get for running on f**king Windows Vista. 😉
While not always well executed, I always like that ideas behind Caprica, I’m always a sucker for a good “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” story. And as far as The Plan, the more screen time Dean Stockwell gets, the better in my book
But... Dean Stockwell is... gone 🥺⚰️
I really liked Caprica a lot! Lots of neat ideas, and very very dark. I liked the world and the lore they built. A pity it wasn't successful.
There were moments that the series got wonky, but it could have been good for Syfy to give it more time.
Caprica might have done better if it was its own franchise and not as heavily weighed down by BSG, but I liked it a lot.
@@cryptc as Rowan pointed out, Ron stepped away from the series and Dave tried to run the rest of this. Had Ron stuck it out and didn't do a Glenn Larson, it may have lasted longer.
Blood and Chrome was THE way to go for a prequel series to BSG. Caprica series never looked related to BSG and it was pretentious and boring as hell.
Yeah I was a big fan of Caprica too, mostly the concepts. I thought the execution was a little and clunky at times, and I didn't like the music, but I liked the various colonies and exploration of their cultures which put a lot of meat on the bones.
"All of this happened before, and all of it will happen again."
The idea of a reboot or reimagining is at the very core of BSG phikosophy; as long as it's produced and delivered well it can simply be thought of as another loop within the endless cycle.
Sort of like Regeneration in Doctor Who. Except instead of a new cycle of the main character, we get a new cycle of the entire show
@@Zreen001 haha ya nice comparison. As long as they don't suck I'm ok with it. 😄
Yep funny I mentioned this and then saw you post here. I am sure someday we will see another take on this! Funny I am sure with AI type stuff someone will even wrap up the first series or something like that. At least Richard Hatch was trying to do something like that.
This is madness. I spent this morning listening to the excellent BSG retrospectives and was literally just thinking whether you'd cover the follow up series. 30 minutes later, this video drops. You mind-reading legend 😀
Ah, yes I eagerly awaited this review. Caprica was actually pretty good, I just think it was ahead of its time, and the audience wasn’t prepared for “Dallas” in a BSG-setting
Also, I’d like to follow the adventures of Husker. Too bad it didn’t take off
BSG creators: You dont try to repeat the formula
Stargate creators: Yeah so SG1 was a success... lets make Atlantis with the same formula.... but in another galaxy 👌
That was the hang-up at the time. Viewers were getting burned out on sequels and prequels. Show us something new guys.
You are forgetting that Stargate Universe was done like nuBSG as well. NuBSG for a time was a heavy influence on Scifi series styling.
The Stargate show is ass though.
@@gregorymcavoy758 SGU flopped exactly because it tried to change the formula of Stargate and copied too much BSG. Stargate fans at the time felt scammed cause the new Stargate didnt feel as a Stargate series
@@intellectic9155 well that "ass" ran for 10 seasons on the OG series, 2 movies, spinoff series of 5 seasons and 2nd spinoff that ran for another season. But you have your opinion
Oh you guys did it all. The last video was so long it caused me to do something I never do, comment three times under one video.
Now here you go again. This one looks like it's shorter, but I really thought I was one of the few people on the planet that saw caprica and blood and chrome. So handsolute for covering it. This is great stuff.
I adamantly believe that Caprica has been one of the most underrated shows. It is a slow paced but gripping series, with rich world building and interwoven plots - and its complexity really pays off at the end of the first season. The second season was going to be amazing.
Caprica was absolutely gold. It didn’t need to be perfect when it was better than 95% of the content that was in production at the time. Shame it didn’t get the appropriate marketing and was canceled.
This short series has shown a lot of love to BSG. I remember the original from when I was younger, this new series blew me away. It was well thought out, darker, it had some terrific characters and acting. It was sci-fi, but so much was relatable and familiar about the people. I liked the spinoff's I definitely thought they added to the show. I didn't watch Caprica though. I watched the first episode, and even though it set up some things, the characters didn't grip me like BSG. Terrific work as always.
Just finished a BSG run and I'm watching Caprica for the first time- very timely post for me, thanks so much!
You missed that around the time BSG (2004) was drawing to a close in 2009, a movie version was in development. Initially, it was to be directed by John Orloff (Anonymous) and directed by Bryan Singer. The project fell into development hell with a revolving door of directors from Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend & The Hunger Games) to Lisa Joy (Westworld).
I've never felt the need to become a member on someone's patreon or their youtube as much as I did waiting for this eps 😂😂😂
Absolutely loved this retrospective! I loved how balanced it is showing your obvious admiration with ample evidence to back up it's strength AND it's weaknesses (also with ample evidence). It honestly makes me want to give the whole thing a re-watch! Looking forward to anything more you do Rowan!
Another excellent retrospective. I loved the concept of Caprica, and loved the world building... but it lost something pretty quickly. There were some bone chilling scenes along the way, but I couldn't stay invested. Never saw Blood and Chrome for the reasons you mentioned.
Only halfway through and you've already earned my sub. You've a great narrative voice, your observations are crisp and concise, and I look forward to exploring the rest of this retrospective. (I landed on part 3)
BSG 2003 is such a fascinating show - in some ways it is one of the greatest sci-fi shows ever made while also being a cautionary tale about going for that one last plot twist at the expense of everything else.
I still maintain that they should have gone first cylon war. You don't have to do the same thing over. You can have black ops missions, recon, follow multiple ships, anything! Sure you know how it ultimately ends up but still the characters themselves are fair game. Plenty of room for tragedy too.
I dont know. Core of the series is the escape from the Cylons and being chased. It adds a lot
@jonny-b4954 it does but that's Battlestar Galactica. This would be a spin off. Like how star trek was about exploring the galaxy but then we got DS9. It would be game of thrones like in the sense that anyone could go at a any time. Full fleet action for a change.
Caprica was when they hit Peak Vancouver. Eventually, you’ve seen every local landmark and every local actor.
Caprica was so ahead of it's time.
Technology is just now catching up to what it predicted.
I LOVED Caprica. It’s was soooooo good, I was heartbroken when it ended after only 2 seasons. I would very much like them to bring it bk
It only got 1 season actually 🫤
@@KabbalahSherry it got 2. U can gage it by the old norm of 23 episodes per season. Or u can go by what it states on the release. Life’s better when ur not anal 🤡
@@KabbalahSherry Season 1 was split months apart, so might have seen like 2 seasons for a lot of people
Excellent video. I'm a huge Galactica fan and yet never quite understood what spin-offs were available. Now I know. 👾
I think if Blood and Chrome had followed the path BSG Deadlock took it would have made for a long lasting series. Watching the 1st Cylon War and how it influenced the 2003 series really solidifies the world building.
I absolutely loved Caprica! But immediately knew it was doomed to failure for the reason you talked about in the video - while BSG was more about being drama that just happens to be in space than being sci-fi, this was drama not in space that is kinda-sorta more sci-fi-ish and that's just too niche for sci-fi fans, yet too connected to nerdy things for "normies". On the other hand that's also exactly what Black Mirror did and became a huge success, so you never know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Blood & Chrome definitely should've gone to series 👍 And there should be a project set during 1st Cylon War 👍
I just commented on the other video that the "They have a plan" line was the biggest betrayal of the series.
I had no ide the writers did not like that line^^
Caprica was Awesome and stands as a great predicesor of BSG! I do hop for a future of this imaginative series!
I have read that there is maybe ANOTHER new version of the story in production.. Is not 2 versions enough already🙄
What really kills me about this is that so many of “The Plans’ that the fans came up with via guessing were so much better than the non-plan we got
And this is what happens when the writing staff doesn't plan it out and shoots from the hip. It's always a letdown.
Babylon 5, on the other hand, was fully planned out from A - Z and managed to survive a small budget, cast changes, etc to have an amazing ending.
@@sethzwicker3631 the last 6 or 7 episodes of B5 S5 were great, but the 14 or 15 prior to that were pretty terrible. And trust me: HUGE B5 fan here. Saw the pilot before it was even on TV, and I don’t like Star Trek, so I have no ulterior motive in being critical.
Speaking of which, I think it’s fairly obvious BSG had some influence on the RDM Galactica, but that’s never really been discussed
@@mahatmarandy5977 Yes, I would agree but here's (my opinion) why:
The last 6/7 episodes were the original intended finale & wind down. Fall of Centari Prime is just incredible but you already know that. The prior 14 were somewhat filler because the intended content of season 5 was shoved into the backhalf of season 4 due to the fact they thought they'd be cancelled so they wanted to complete the 2 main storylines: Shadow War & Earth Coup and they also shot the finale "Sleeping in Light" as a 4th season episode which worked out well because Ivanova was still in it whereas she would have been absent if they shot it in season 5.
Low and behold TNT picked up the show and now they had a 5th season but didn't have a full season's worth of content.
@@sethzwicker3631 sort of true, but there were some other concerns. Number one is that the budget was smaller for the TNT season and it shows, number two is that they lost a day off of their 10 day production cycle for every episode, and that shows. One day it doesn’t sound like much but over the course of the season it’s the amount of time that they could make two full episodes in. Number three is the way they handle the drakh mystery. I like the concept of it, but we have seen our heroes, solve much more difficult mysteries in much less time, and since we know what’s going on, but they don’t, it makes them seem like idiots, trying to catch up with us. Number four, and what absolutely kills it for me, is the damn seven episode arc with Byron and the Telepaths. It just doesn’t work. It has no energy, it goes nowhere, and worse still it is completely unnecessary. After everything that we have already seen, we do not need the 1998 model Marcus to come in, and teach leader, how to be a leader. She already has more than enough experience behind her, and rising with the challenge on her own, would have better serve the character. And of course, there is no resolution to it. Just an absolute waste of time.
Your filler comment is correct but honestly that doesn’t make it any better. Season one was largely filler as well, but that worked much better and after all we’ve been through we know these characters well enough for the audience to expect a little bit more. Allegedly, JMS had a much more cohesive concept of what he was going to do in the first 2/3 of the season, but he lost it. And I have always suspected he was just spread too thin. He was simultaneously doing 22 episodes of B5, writing 3 TV movies, gearing up for Crusade…just too much stuff. I don’t blame him, I just think he was overextended and it shows in the work.
That can happen with many creative things when put out there... I will say in the end yeah the creators vision is what we get, but there is are some shows and films that really just don't play out well in the end. Then at times we hear someone give it a better idea of how it could of played out and wow if they had gone that way with it boom! But hey such is how it works with creative material many a time and we all have our opinions in the end.
Love all three parts of your retrospective, very well done! 👍
I liked Caprica but I think it would have been more successful if it had been more focused. It felt like the writers kept introducing new arcs every few episodes. I just didn't care about Tamara Adama becoming the queen of the sim game, for example. I was interested in Joseph Adama and Daniel Grasystone and how their mutual grief led to Graystone's rediscovery of resurrection technology. I wasn't that interested in the Tauron mob smuggling Cylon prototypes back to Tauron for use in the civil war, but I was interested in Willie Adama being drawn into his uncle's world. I wasn't that interested in the investigation into the maglev bombing but I was interested in how the rise of monotheism led to the Cylons' rebellion being a religious crusade.
Such an influence on my original writing. Hopefully, I can get it all done someday so I can talk about this influence.
This video was so good I bought Caprica while watching it.
A Blood and Chrome video game would have probably worked really well at that time. I'm glad Deadlock got a mention in this video. I think there was also a PS2 game based on the original show but I never played it myself.
They really should have done a First Cylon War series, and if they ever revive the franchise that's how they should do it.
I just want Caprica season 2. And I know we’ll never get it.
We can make it with AI.
in the best case scenario i can see BSG becoming almost like a western version of Mobile Suit Gundam, a long-running franchise which shares tropes and beats across distinct continuities with their own flavours and thematic concerns.
This! Every Gundam series starts with a colony drop. BSG starts with a genocide. Kind of dark. A new BSG series should go with a heroic space opera. A traditional heroes journey. Apollo and Star Buck from 79 were classical hero archetypes. While their 2003 characters were merely protagonists. AI cyclons should be ditched replaced with humans or aliens. Revisiting the Moore's BSG would be wrong. But I have ideas of how it would be possible.
Anime is dumb.
@@intellectic9155 yeah that's why it rules
I'd like to see the first cylon war covered in a new series. The cylon rebellion, the prelude to war, first battles etc and finale. Which could be stand alone episodes or two partners. Rather than a continuous arc, complete episodes acting as a flashback to an event or experience
Blood and chrome is one of my all time favorites. And I don’t have many.
The best scene of Caprica in the final episode when the young girl (Zoe's Best Friend) says "You should KNEEL!" It's funny the way the Sister looked at the Cylon and then back to the young girl.
Caprica had a shaky start but it was conceptually strong-And if nothing else, it made the 12 Colonies real. You feel the enormity of what was lost-12 Worlds of billions of people spread throughout solar systems, with thousands of years of history behind them, and seemingly ahead of them. Seemingly but we know there are only 58 years left for their civilization.
Caprica made the loss of BSG feel real. Made the unimaginable conceivable. You feel the loss.
And Blood And Chrome though unneeded was fun. To get a taste of the first war, and a young Adama. Bridging Caprica and BSG. It was perfect as a miniseries, but too many actors reused
Great review! Many thanks!
I've said it before and will say it again,
Cyperpunk is a very very tough sell at the best of times even to people who like science fiction. Tying to make a TV show on it is a very big risk.
I love Caprica though.
One of the reasons i really liked Caprica. Very cyberpunkish and i was not expecting that heh.
@@actionvestadventure
Yeah exactly. That's why I loved it too.
It's not often that Cyberpunk TV shows get made.
Caprica was just finding its legs - when it was cancelled. This show would have been brilliant!!!
This series (I think) really showed the most likely path for AI to become a type of real Cylon. With Chat gpt now widely used to control NPC characters in video games (giving it virtual bodies) the jump to a real body is getting smaller everyday. In that aspect this series was really ahead of its time. I found it very interesting to watch at the time. But as they say :). Nothing that is true will ever be popular, and nothing that is popular can ever be true...
I looked forward to seeing BSG air..Even bought the DVDs.
I really need to sit down with Caprica everything else I have seen
As someone who wasn't enamoured by the BSG reboot, I found Caprica fantastic. I've rewatched it multiple times, and pick up new subtle details each time.
I was bitterly disappointed when it was cancelled, though it works well as a single season show.
As far as I was concerned, having seen the last season of the BSG reimagining, Caprica was so much more interesting than anything else on TV at the time. Its cancellation was the first time in my adult life I really cared about a show being cancelled. The cutdown second season to finish it off was so rushed that it didn't work, but that's what happens when a show needs to reach its conclusion in a hurry.
@@SingularityOrbit
I think what helped caprica was that it was a cyberpunk genre inspired series.
I agree, the last season of the BSG 2003 reboot was a complete mess and the series finale is considered one of the worst series finales of all time.
The series started to go downhill with the middle half of season 3 after they wrapped up the New Caprica storyline.
The 3-part season 3 finale almost redeemed the season.
Season 4 was a whole lot of nothing and is generally considered the weakest season in the series.
@@SingularityOrbit
BSG seasons 1, 2 and the early half of season 3 (New Caprica)
were the best seasons of the show.
Season 4's biggest problem was that it was made during a writers strike and had to be split in two.
The series finale ultimately ruins the entire series.
@@NaquanGreen-zt4gr Oh, apart from mentioning that I watched all the way through BGS, the rest of my comment was all about Caprica. I don't think the ending ruins the series, apart from not taking their audience's emotional need to know what "God" was all about seriously (and I include myself in that audience who needed more than what we were given). It just wasn't a _perfect_ ending.
@@SingularityOrbit
Caprica was great and deserved another season. I just love the way it felt like a cyberpunk genre series.
I would love to see a video on all the BSG webisodes. I remember there being 3 or 4 different web series but I don't think any of them have been collected and released on DVD or bluray.
That will be a great film it looks amazing
Great video ... as always!
I just can't imagine a new reboot doing as good a job as the 2003 edition. That latter version got so much right, and we're in a time when telling stories is difficult for a variety of political reasons both within the show and because of the participants' actions in the real world.
GD with those lense flares... J.J. Abrams is jealous.
Damn I loved Caprica and Blood and Chrome as prequels to the BSG03 reboot I thought they were both excellent!
Well, I wasn't aware that Caprica was a failure. In fact, I loved it. And for the time it came out it was very with it - the internet as another reality you could escape into; how the stories of these 2 girls lead to the human version Cylons - and all occurring in a realistic corporate / political / governmental society we know too well. And it was hilarious at time - a valley girl teenager transplanted into a Chrome Robot Body ? - Uhhhh - Duhhh - mind bending and hilarious as well.
It’s been awhile since I’ve looked into anything related to the new BSG show being made, but if Sam Esmail is still the show runner attached he already said the his new battle star galactic a show wouldn’t be a reboot. Quote “why mess with perfection?”. Personally I think focusing on a story about the exodus from Kobol would allow for a similar story in the same canon while giving new opportunities to try new ideas.
It’s always been my strong opinion that the BSG reimagining embraced one fatal flaw, and that was when Edward James Olmos made them promise not to bring in aliens of any kind (supernatural elements likely lumped in by default), thereby forcing them to abandon their original premise/ending, or at least that’s my theory. The concept that the cylons left for outer space only to return, seemingly possessed, because they met someone or something terrible out there was a real missed opportunity, twice now. Blade Runner meets Chariot Of The Gods is a real gem of a conflict, far more intriguing than the now played out Star Wars. What does it mean to be alive? Can such a thing as tangible evil actually exist? If there are devils, then there must be angels…?
@toddblackwood129 Your comment just gave me a thought for an alternative path the show could have taken: what if the Cylons, after leaving the 12 Colonies behind, found the "Cylon" colony that had annihilated itself (the one the Ragtag Fleet found near the end of the series)? They might have run away from the implications of Cylons destroying themselves, went through some societal craziness, and came out the other side with their new religion and determination to eliminate their weaknesses . . . including everything about their creators on the colonies. Of course, this isn't how it happened, it's just a fanfic notion, but it would have made some sense of it all. It doesn't explain Head/Angel Six and all of that, but nothing in the existing series does, either.
@SingularityOrbit the mythology of it all is ripe for expansion, isn’t it?? Although, and correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t the character Count Iblis explain some of the lore/backstory of the Cylons? I think that was a character that should've been brought back in the reimagined series…
That's one thing I like about The Expanse. While that series focuses on human conflicts, the extraterrestrial elements gradually move from the background to the foreground in a way that doesn't detract from the political intrigue between the various factions in the solar system.
BSG could have incorporated aliens in a way that wouldn't have sacrificed the grounded grittiness the series was known for. A lost opportunity.
@robwalsh9843. And the Expanse is Ronald D Moore, isn’t it? Or am I wrong?
The cancellation of Caprica was a crime. Like any series, you need to get to know the characters, which the first season did, and did very well. I was so ready for Season 2, but they never really gave it a chance, I thought it deserved one. ST:TNG should of died during the 2nd Season, but it got so much better because we knew the crew, and the stories could start... Caprica never got that chance..
Looking interesting
To be honest what I would do with the next series, is reimagine it all over again. Take elements from both of the first two series, but create something new and unique that paves its own path forward. I would lean really heavy into the mystical elements of the first show while grounding it a little bit like the second show.
I liked the idea of ai becoming sentient via a shortcut where an already concious mind is translated into a digital substrate, sparking a cascade of existential risk that we all know ends in genocide via nuclear holocaust. And that extinction level event is perpetrated at least in part by bits of this young girls mind.
I LOVE CAPRICA, they didn't give it enough time to mature!
Nice video and I love all BSG both versions warts and all. As they say this is happened before and will happen again sort of a haunting statement in itself. So I feel someone will do another take of BSG and will I still be around to see it...
Razor was by far the best work of all the Battlestar productions
The Plan was good I enjoyed it
Why did I spend so many years thinking I remembered Freddie Prinze Jr playing husker?
Caprica had a good concept it ended up becoming more soap opera than scifi in the end. I do believe that had we gotten more out of the show we would find out that Zoe evolves and becomes the god of the Cylons.
I loved the ending of the series! Best ending of all series! Compare it to Lost or others...
Blood and Chrome foi extraordinário como inicio da nova série reimaginada. Caprica foi muito longa para tratar do desenvolvimento dos cilônios como arma. A cultura de Cáprica era próxima a da cidade de Chicago.
You forgot the best BSG spin-off: the Portlandia episode “One Moore Episode”.
Also, whenever I see the old 70’s BSG special effects, all I see are the effects from the MST3K episode Space Mutiny.
Why ya gotta hate... It's fun to watch things from a different side.
Caprica, for me, was oddly wasted potential. It would've been better shorter (like you said) but also in the finale/epilogue bit it hinted at a greater story that I REALLY wished to see, namely the Gemenese/monotheist/Sister Clarice plot.
Loving these videos! Any chance of a Stargate retrospective?
&&&& yeah !!! YES.
I'd enjoy that immensely
Next year :)
@@RowanJColeman Thank you.
loved blood and chrome
When I first used chatGPT I immediately remembered Caprica series.
I really loved Caprica.
Keep your scam. I already have your telegram account blocked
Great work as always!
Now do Lost :)
Caprica was never really given a chance. They didn't even release the full first season, they strung it out, changed airing times, and in several regions didn't air the final few episodes.
Caprica, like B5's Crusade, was something that could've been great if it had been given time. So many interesting ideas, characters, and story directions for the show to go in. Sure, aspects of that were hampered by some wheel spinning, a short season would definitely have been a benefit, and sometimes the family drama got a little too soapy for my liking, but there was a whole lot of potential there, if only it had found its audience.
The issue with audience as well. It probably is too much of a radical departure to have worked so soon after Galactica wrapped. Still, even if a lot of BSG fans didn't come over I think in time Caprica could really have come into its own with its own dedicated fanbase larger than what it currently has, something I couldn't really say about Blood and Chrome.
Blood and Chrome is fun but kind of meh overall and I've no idea how they could've made it interesting in the long term. In my opinion there were nowhere near as many interesting plot hooks in that pilot compared to Caprica.
Crazy how shows would get canceled for pulling in 5 times the viewers shows get now
I like Caprica.
It was canceled before it could find it’s stride, just like SGU.
I understand that it didn’t produce viewing numbers to justify it’s cost, but if it was made today I bet it could have been saved by Fan Outreach; Online Petitions & Social Media.
Loved Caprica
I never though the writers of Caprica were swinging for the fences. It seemed more like they were trying to draw walks.
Thanks for this retrospective! Have you watched 'For All Mankind', also by R.D. Moore? I absolutely love this series and it would be interesting to know your opinion.
Blood and Chrome would have been such a great video game
You know they said they didn’t want to do a young Adama origin story but having those young Adama scenes in Razor I think would have been great for it’s own show. Plus people would watch because of that Razar episode. Could have also used the same actor that played young Adama in that episode. Could later in the show do a small time jump and bring back Starbuck and Apollo and dive deeper into Zack. Could do 4 seasons first two seasons focus on young Adama and the War with the Cylons then at the end or start of season 3 do a couple year time jump bring back Starbuck and Apollo and introduce Zack and now you could show the events of Starbucks relationship with Zack. Then you can end that show tied up with Battlestar Galactica.
The Cylons had a plan. Just not one that was thought out.
How very human of the Cylons.
Have to agree with Rowan and The Plan: great concept, but they just did not find the right Cylon angle with which to make the approach. Like how about the entire Cavill line sold the other models by fibbing about having a plan and it turns out he has been playing cover-up the whole time. just one small change and Cavill has real personal stakes. funny how i rewatch as often as the rest of the series. its still a good a watch.
I love the 2 lead girl character appearance in The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
I tried watching Caprica and there were parts of it that I really liked, but I just didn’t find myself keeping up with it.
They're gonna cite you in the future my guy
I realy liked Caprica.
New reimagining, huh? Okay, so BSG is trying to become the American version of Japan's Gundam franchise. Here's the trick to that plan: Gundam series are developed in parallel, kind of like Fanal Fantasy video games. One Gundam series gets its one or two seasons as planned, and is then replaced with the next one. The novels and comics keep the previous series going. If the model kits and toys sell well enough then it might come back with a new miniseries or movie. If BSG is going to be a self-replicating franchise then they need to think that way, not in this "make a version until it faills down in some way, cancel it for a decade or two, then ignore the old one and try again" pattern.
Let's keep this in mind. The design of Pike's Enterprise is from the ship lenage of the NX01 Enterprise which explains why the Enterprise looks different. I believe once SNW run is done, the Enterprise will be refitted to look similar to the Classic TOS Enterprise but with an updated look.
Thy need to bring back this show and battlestar galactica back plz
Franchises like BSG remind me of the TMNT franchise.
Revisionism is sort of hard wired in to its DNA now. Each step forward (either a reboot or new gronds) just builds on the universe without always erasing or treading on what has come before.
2 generations now have there own "take" on what BSG is. I think much like TMNT you'll see several takes in the near/far future that won't necessarly hobble it as it has done with other more popular franchises.