New Battlestar on-set photos from seasons 1-3

Thanks to Michelle at Battlestar Blog for discovering that Sci-fi Channel photographer Carole Segal has posted nearly a hundred never-before-seen photos from the Galactica set during seasons 1-3.
More than a dozen feature Helo (half of which are new). You can see all the Helo photos over at the all.about.tahmoh Flickr.

Frakking hilarious Battlestar Galactica recap (video)

If you haven't yet, you must watch the frakking awesome 8-minute recap of Seasons 1-3 of Galactica. Helo features rather largely in it due to his plot-heavy arc.

It's up over at Scifi.com or IMDB for international fans.

I've also uploaded the early Helo promo pictures from Season 1 that surfaced a few weeks ago to the site's Flickr for ease of browsing. All of them are watermarked, unless fans have photoshopped them, like this terrific one above.

New high-res photos of Tahmoh at Emmys, on set

Again thanks to the tremendous dryope, here are some high-res photos of Tahmoh from the 2007 Emmys. For the earlier Emmy photos she found, see this post. These photos of Tahmoh and Tricia Helfer are from the BAFTA Tea Party.

Thanks also to the terrific Michelle over at Battlestar Blog for tracking down some rare behind-the-scenes photos of the Battlestar cast on the set in Season 1. This photo of Tahmoh in the Helo flight suit was shot during the filming for Season 1's "Hand of God" in the heat of August. Here's the untagged thumbnail and larger tagged version:

Helo/Sharon scenes we never saw...

Jeff over at Kindreds has assembled a short (4 minute) clip of all the Helo/Sharon scenes that have shown up in previouslies or previews that never made it into the final episodes.

You can just download the clip and watch them, but he's also compiled an illustrated list of lost scenes with descriptions, in case you're curious as to what we've missed.

It's a fascinating list. Like I never realized Helo went sliding down a chute while down in the sewers on Caprica in "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down":

Or apparently there was also a kiss during "Rapture" we missed:

Poor Tahmoh and Grace, they do all these stunts themselves and they get left on the cutting room floor. Heh.

See the full list and download the clip.

Helo in the BSG Collectible Card Game

Even if you're not a gamer, I thought you might like to see the Helo cards in the Battlestar Galactica Collectible Card Game. Critical Gamers recently reviewed the game.

BSG-122/175-Uncommon -- Helo, Flight Officer (Personnel)

BSG-123/175-Common -- Helo, Karl Agathon (Personnel)

BSG-124/175-Rare -- Helo, Raptor ECO (Personnel)


See the other cards in the game.

If you want to learn how to play, the official site has some pointers.

Helo "ArtiFEX" trading card

Lt. Karl Agathon was given his own "ArtiFEX" trading card (SPA8) in the Rittenhouse Archives Battlestar Galactica Season One trading card series. Artist Sean Pence created eight other cards in the series, including Adama, Roslin, Lee, Kara, Baltar, Six, Sharon and Tigh.

Not the most flattering artwork, but there it is. It's great Helo was included.

Helo in "The Alibi Room"

While I'm no Vancouverite, I am pleased to answer my own question regarding the restaurant Helo and Sharon discover in S1 ("Act of Contrition" and "You Can't Go Home Again"), thanks to the Official BSG Companion. The scenes were shot at "The Alibi Room" in Gastown, Vancouver.

"The Alibi Room is an industrial heritage space with two levels locatied in Vancouver's historic railtown. The Alibi occulpies the two lower floors of a five story post and beam, brick building."

The restaurant also advertises itself as a filming location with features such as "large windows on the north and south sides of the building".

They have 4 VR/panoramic images of the restaurant that you can explore in 360 degrees. Click on the images below to compare.

Here's the restaurant facade. They seriously compressed it for the show. Sort of like they did to the Scotia Bank building.


They seem to have brought in that wall of square glass panes themselves and pulled up the blinds. Otherwise the window and the tables are the same:


Note the bar, bar stools, railing and Sharon coming out of the emergency exit.


Helo up against the kitchen counter:


It's interesting how they made quite a large restaurant seem quite small onscreen.

Read/see more about BSG filming locations in my earlier posts:

- Where in Vancouver? I mean Caprica.
- Where in Vancouver... update!
- BSG Shooting locations on Google Earth

BSG Season 1 Trading Cards

On March 22, 2006 a new set of Galactica trading cards produced by Rittenhouse Archives will appear. The 81-card series will cover the entire first season and each box will contain 1 Autograph Card and 1 Costume Card.

Tahmoh was one of the many stars to sign autograph cards:

• Tahmoh Penikett as Lt. Karl C. "Helo" Agathon
• Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslin
• Grace Park as Lt. Sharon "Boomer" Valerii
• Kandyse McClure as Petty Officer Dualla
• Donnelly Rhodes as Doctor Cottle
• Jamie Bamber as Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama

See more details and the full list of autograph and costume cards.

Though the cards are ostensibly from S1, they seem to have picked a shot of Tahmoh from the miniseries for his autograph card. Of course, so is Grace Park's, so at least both Helo and Boomer are together.

Great Helo/Boomer Moments

During the hiatus, repr0b8 has been posting quotes, screen caps and clips of some the best Helo/Boomer moments on the show over at Hidden Elysium (a Helo/Boomer fan community). This week's moment is from ep. 108 "Flesh and Bone."

Boomer: We've got to travel fast, even faster than before.
Helo: Why? What's different?
Boomer: Everything. Just trust me.
Helo: I do.

See the 8 other great Helo/Boomer moments.

Thanks to repr0b8 and Hidden Elysium!

Fabulous S1 Helo music vid

humansrsuperior has created a fantastic new Helo video using clips from Season 1. Of course, I'm partial to Coldplay, but "Spies" seems an especially appropriate song for Helo.

Spies
Focus: Helo
Song: Spies by Coldplay
Size: 58mb

Makes me very nostalgic for Caprica.

More music videos here.

Thanks to sabaceanbabe over at Hidden Elysium for the vid rec!

BSG Season 1 DVDs out today

The wait (and countdown) is over. The US version of the Season One DVDs are now available!

New Season 1 DVD website up

Scifi (or NBC Universal) has now created a new website for the Season 1 DVDs.

The site features a trailer for the set, a synopsis and list of bonus features.

The trailer doesn't feature Helo much, but it does include a scene I'd never seen of Six biting Baltar's back.

Here's hoping there are some Helo deleted scenes...

Also can anyone tell me if the "8 Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes" are new or if they're the same as the ones online? If they're the same as the ones online, I wonder why they didn't include all 12.

Remember the set comes out on Sept. 20th (see Countdown at left; buy from Amazon at right).

BSG Season One DVD available for pre-order

Amazon.com has now listed the first season of Galactica for pre-order for $41.99. The 5 disc set (including the miniseries, deleted scenes and 9 commentary tracks) will be available on September 20th.

I've started a new countdown in the left sidebar to the DVD release date.

You can read more about the box set and see the cover art here.

BSG Season 1 DVD to be released Sept. 20

Universal Studios has announced new details and new cover art for the US release of Season One:

Battlestar Galactica (2004): Season One

Release Date: 09/20/2005

Added Value: 1 of 3 DVD Exclusive Trading Cards

See technical information and disc contents here.

The set will include the miniseries and 4 new commentary tracks by Eick and Moore on "33", "Bastille Day," "Act of Contrition" and "You Can't Go Home Again."

The rest of the commentary tracks have been previously released. Personally I was hoping for a cast commentary on at least one episode, but the current set is all Moore and Eick all the time.

I wonder what "Behind the Scenes" will mean. The video featurettes already on the Sci-Fi website? Here's hoping for a bit of new material.

TV Shows on DVD has screen shots and had this to say:

Universal has announced their "all retailers" release this morning, and as you can see on the left, the cover is noticably different than the box which Best Buy has been depicting. The release is set for September 20th, and the SRP is $59.98 (which means you'll be able to purchase it anywhere from $40 to $55, after retail discounts are applied). The running time is 757 minutes for a 5-DVD package (one more than the Best Buy set), including the 2003 mini-series on the first disc, and there are many extras.

For those who don't want to wait for the new bonus features and different cover art, Best Buy is releasing the UK version of the Season 1 set on July 26th.

BSG Season 1 Marathon on Sci-Fi Today!

Sci-Fi is airing the entire first season today starting at 10AM/9C.

See the schedule here.

That's alot of Helo time.

If you don't have cable or can't spend all day watching TV, Sci-Fi has posted a streaming version of "Kobol's Last Gleaming Part 2" online. (Not that I'm encouraging watching at work).

Moreover, NBC is airing three eps of BSG on Saturday in HD:

8:00 PM - THE HAND OF GOD
9:00 PM - KOBOL'S LAST GLEAMING, Parts I & II

"Flesh and Bone" Tonight on Sci-fi @ 10/9c

Thankfully Sci-fi has recovered its senses and decided to re-air "Flesh and Bone." Of course, maybe they always planned to show them out of order. Anyways, this ep rocks in whatever order it appears.

Some nice CapBoomer development in this ep. Plus it was all nice and sunny for once. Though I've always wondered why she takes Helo's pulse the morning after... was she really concerned it was that good?

Meanwhile, on far-off Caprica, another Sharon conspires with her Cylon associates Doral and Number Six to convince Helo to remain on the planet and start a new life.

Anyone else struck by how poor a summary this is of what actually occurred? Silly Sci-fi.

Go to scifi.com for a more complete summary and two deleted scenes.

Or, if you've seen the episode before, you should definitely listen to Ron Moore's podcast commentary, which you can find here.

Thanks to BladeRunner at Galactica Station for the cap.

Where in Vancouver? I mean Caprica.

This post was inspired by the Unofficial Battlestar Blog's post identifying the garden on Cloud Nine as the University of British Columbia's rose garden and by Battlestar Aggregatica's id-ing the dramatic building below as the Vancouver Public Library.

Vancouver Public Library

So... where in Vancouver? aka Name that Building!

This building screams 70s institutional architecture. Every campus has one such concrete monstrosity. I'd be shocked if this wasn't on some university campus.


An imposing corporate edifice. Telecommunications perhaps?


Nice Dutch colonial architecture, with a friendly bike rack.


Is that a Sheraton hotel? And, more pressingly, what are those movie posters on the building at left?


Finally, identify this highway/parking structure!

Any ideas? Any takers? It'd be fun to find out...

Thanks to Northern Lights for all the caps (except the last one).

"Colonial Day" Tonight on Sci-fi at 10/9c

Lots of Helo in tonight's ep. It has alot of other redeeming features as well.

Light-years away, on Cylon-occupied Caprica, Sharon must make an impossible choice — if she is to save Helo's life, she must finally reveal to him that she is a Cylon.

Go to scifi.com for a more complete summary and one deleted scene.

Or, if you've seen the episode before, you should definitely listen to Ron Moore's podcast commentary, which you can find here.

The Chicago Tribune called it one of 9 shows not to miss this weekend:

"Battlestar Galactica," 9 p.m. Friday, Sci Fi: Hardball politics take center stage as the president of the Galactica fleet (Mary McDonnell) confronts challengers to her leadership, among them political prisoner Tom Zarek (original "Battlestar Galactia" star Richard Hatch). If you haven't done so yet, it's time to get caught up with this stellar sci-fi drama, which is airing repeats each Friday until the second season begins July 15.

Thanks to Northern Lights for the cap.

"Hand of God" on Sci-Fi Tonight at 10/9c

Tonight's ep is pretty awesome, though I guess I'd say that about most eps. Personally I prefer the human drama, but a good action ep is always fun. In this ep, the Colonies Strike Back!

Eh, it's also the barn ep. Lots of Helo scenes.

On Cylon-occupied Caprica, Sharon and Helo's flight from the Cylon overseers suddenly becomes more complicated when Sharon discovers she's pregnant.

Go to scifi.com for a more complete summary and one deleted scene.

Or, if you've seen the episode before, you should definitely listen to Ron Moore's podcast commentary, which you can find here.

The ever friendly poster Sci-Fi suggested that if you've already seen the ep and already listened to Moore's commentary (and, let's be serious, you have), you could also give Alan Light's podcast episode commentaries a try. I've never listened, but who can say no to more Galactica talk?

Thanks to Northern Lights for the cap.

New caps of Tahmoh in Season 1 of BSG posted

Northern Lights (A Tahmoh Penikett Image Gallery) has posted caps of all of Tahmoh's scenes from Season One. It's a great way to revisit each episode and a great resource for any creative fans out there.


You can submit any Tahmoh-related fan art to un4scene (who runs the site) and she'll post it for all to see.