Esmail, the creator of Mr. Robot and Homecoming, announced via Twitter that the new show will not be a reboot, because “why mess with perfection,” but instead an entirely new story within the spirit of the original series.
It’s a bit comical that Esmail needed to clarify this, considering the Battlestar Galactica could arguably be considered one of the most rebooted shows in TV history. The franchise started in 1978 as a short-lived TV series, followed by Galactica 1980, a sequel series in 1980 (also short-lived). Then in 2003 Ronald D. Moore and David Eick created a two-part miniseries inspired by the original series. That became so popular that it was developed into a weekly TV series, airing on Syfy Channel and distributed by NBCUniversal until 2009.
Little is known about Esmail’s new vision for the Battlestar Galactica franchise, or if any of the cast from the 2003 iteration will appear in the new series. Deadline reported Moore gave Esmail his blessing for the show because of Esmail’s commitment to the universe Moore created.
The response to Esmail’s clarification about the new series was met with relief from many hardcore fans of the franchise.
In addition to the new Battlestar Galactica series from Esmail, Peacock will also stream the 2003 miniseries and the TV show that followed it on the new platform.
One thing NBC has going for their new Peacock platform is the impressive back-catalog of content to pull from. One of the network’s most popular shows The Office will leave Netflix in 2020 and stream exclusively on Peacock starting in 2021. NBC even hinted at a possible reboot of The Office to join their other reboots (but not Battlestar Galactica, of course).
“It is my hope and goal that we do an Office reboot,” Bonnie Hammer, Chairman of Direct-to-Consumer and Digital Enterprises for NBCUniversal, told Deadline.
With all these announcements about new content from fan-favorite classic shows, the Peacock platform is sure to become a major player in the streaming wars to come in the near future. But can they take over the fleet à la Battlestar Galactica’s Admiral William Adama (Edward James Olmos)? That’s yet to be seen.
Peacock will launch in April 2020.
