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The Sci-Fi Spinoff That Destroyed Our Chance At A Franchise To Rival Star Wars

By Joshua Tyler
| Published

New space science fiction shows rarely catch fire right away. Star Trek was infamously cancelled after three seasons due to low ratings, only to rise from the ashes in rerun syndication. Firefly was cancelled after a few episodes, only to spawn a movie so good it ended up near the top of our list of the best space movies of all time. 

But one space series did the impossible. It captured the cultural zeitgeist right away. In the now-forgotten era of binge-watching via post office-mailed Netflix DVDs, it became an obsession for sci-fi fans and normies alike.

That should have been a launching pad for a generational sci-fi franchise to rival Star Wars. Instead, it spawned a spinoff series so disastrous that everything it built evaporated into thin air, leaving behind nothing but the sweat of shirtless wrestlers.

Watch our full Why It Failed video on Caprica.

This is Why Caprica Failed.

Battlestar Galactica Finishes On A High

When the reimagined Battlestar Galactica finished in March 2009, it had the two things a franchise needs: audience heat and critical credibility. During its run, episodes of the show aired in theaters to eager packed audiences. It was a watercolor topic of conversation and sucked in even people who weren’t into science fiction. 

The final run averaged 2.2M viewers in the U.S., and the finale spiked to ~2.4M, the show’s best number in years. Those may not sound like big numbers, but they were huge for a show airing on SyFy, a basic cable channel people otherwise ignored.

Tricia Helfer as Six in Battlestar Galactica

When Battlestar Galactica arrived on DVD, it became an even bigger hit as people bought box sets and binged the show all at once in the pre-streaming era. Battlestar popularized the idea of binge-watching, setting the stage for the streaming future that was to come. 

The BSG universe was perfectly poised to go bigger and become the kind of mega-media franchise that lasts for generations. Star Trek turned itself into a mega-franchise after being canceled three seasons in, and here was Battlestar Galactica riding a wave of success that should have made it much easier to propel to the next level. 

Instead, the follow-through came in stuttered moves that dispersed attention and trained fans to stop checking in. Only a few short years after its success, Battlestar Galactica was a dead franchise, a once-in-a-generation missed opportunity by SyFy’s parent company, NBCUniversal. 

How NBCUniversal Squandered Battlestar Galactica’s Potential With Its Next Show

NBCU/Syfy did produce companion pieces: Razor (2007) during the run and half-hearted DVD-only The Plan (2009) after, but the core “what’s next” arrived as Caprica in 2010. 

The cast of Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

Ronald D. Moore, the genius solo creator of Battlestar Galactica, only served as a co-creator on Caprica. He shares the title with a man named Remi Aubuchon, who’d previously worked with Moore in the BSG writers’ room. By all accounts, it was Remi, not Moore, who was the real architect of the show. Which may, at least in part, explain why it’s so different. 

Set more than fifty years before the events of Battlestar Galactica, Caprica is about how human bureaucracy accidentally invents the society that will lead to its own extinction. Caprica focuses on two families, the Graystones and the Adamas, as cutting-edge technology collides with grief, religion, and ego. It results in the birth of the Cylons. The idea was for it to happen slowly, very slowly, over the course of the show. 

A typical scene from Caprica

In practice, Caprica played out like a soap opera, with few sci-fi elements on screen.  The show was creatively ambitious but also tonally totally different. 

Caprica was a prequel about corporate intrigue set in a universe where audiences expected gritty space combat. It gave fans something with the Battlestar Galactica name attached to it that bore no resemblance at all to the franchise they loved. Imagine if, after Star Trek was cancelled in the 60s, CBS had decided to follow it up with a Star Trek police procedural set on Earth, and you’ll start to understand what a horrible mistake Caprica was. 

An early Cylon Centurian prototype on Caprica.

Caprica needed patient scheduling and a clear runway to overcome the hurdle of its premise. It didn’t get either. Critics tried to give it a chance, but despite praising its intellect, ultimately they admitted it was unreasonably slow, way too talky, and wildly uneven. Again, basically nothing like the tension-filled world of Battlestar Galactica.

Ratings slid from a mid-season high of 1.6 M to fewer than 900,000 viewers after a hiatus; Syfy then canceled the show and pulled the remaining episodes from its schedule, burning them off months later. Whatever audience was willing to follow learned the wrong lesson: don’t invest. 

After Caprica, NBCUniversal Stopped Caring

It was a failure so immediate and extreme that whatever faith there was in BSG evaporated. Still, a last-ditch attempt to salvage things was thrown together. 

After Caprica, the series Blood & Chrome was announced, and it sounded like the crowd-pleaser they should have made in the first place. It was to be about young Adama in a Cylon War setting. 

Low-budget green screen wall for Blood & Chrome

Unfortunately, NBCUniversal had already quit on BSG. Rather than a fast series order and a serious investment, the project arrived as a 10-part web series on Machinima in late 2012 and only later as a TV movie in early 2013. 

Battlestar Galactica needed a grand Star Trek: The Motion Picture-style blockbuster movie to push it to the next level. NBCUniversal gave it a low-budget web series. Producer David Eick publicly positioned Blood & Chrome as “always meant” for online, but that didn’t make it better; it just made it more insulting. 

Ronald Moore Killed His Own Creation

The truth is, much of the fault lies at the feet of Ronald D. Moore. Before you come at me with your pitchforks, let me say that I love Ron Moore. And I loved him long before Battlestar.

Moore was a huge part of the creative force behind the best parts of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and his work is simply incredible. But when he finished Battlestar Galactica, he basically quit on the franchise he’d birthed into being.

He’s admitted he was burned out. Burned out on space stuff. He spent a decade working on Star Trek, then created his own space show, and he just didn’t want to do space sci-fi anymore. 

The thing is, that’s what he’s good at, and that’s where his success always was. Nothing he’s done since has come close to reaching the level of quality achieved in Star Trek and BSG. He’s done a lot since then, just none of it in space.

Ron Moore had a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and when BSG finished, he decided he wasn’t going to do anything with it. The result was a show no one wanted in Caprica, followed by the evaporation of everything he’d worked so hard at creating. 

He could have been the next Gene Roddenberry, but instead, he’s spent his time since making things like time-travel romance, with no real cultural footprint.

SyFy Gets Turned Into A Wrestling Channel

While all this was unfolding, the channel that launched Battlestar Galactica was repositioning itself. Sci Fi Channel rebranded to Syfy in 2009 and leaned harder into broader-appeal reality/wrestling alongside genre.

Turning your science fiction channel into a wrestling channel was always a bizarre choice. It diluted the sense that “space opera lives here,” right when Galactica fans needed a dependable home for successors. Trade coverage and industry commentary at the time called out the shift, with cancellations clustered around quality scripted sci-fi. 

NBCUniversal Throws Ron Moore’s Sci-Fi Universe Away

Universal eventually began announcing Battlestar Galactica feature films. That sounds positive, but it wasn’t. They were all reboots and not continuations of the show. There was one with Bryan Singer attached in 2011, later Francis Lawrence in 2016, then Simon Kinberg in 2020. None of them actually happened.

What had happened was that NBCUniversal had clearly signaled to fans that the once-in-a-generation sci-fi universe Ron Moore spent 10 years building was being thrown in the garbage, and that if BSG ever came back, they’d be starting all over from scratch. Universal did the impossible, producing a hit sci-fi show. And then they decided to erase it and start over rather than continue to grow on that foundation.

The Battlestar Galactica leads the fleet in Ron Moore’s once-in-a-generation science fiction hit.

Imagine if, instead of giving William Shatner’s Captain Kirk a movie, they’d recast him and redid all the same episodes again. Or instead of introducing a new show set in the same universe, in the form of The Next Generation, Star Trek had wiped the slate clean, created a new sci-fi universe, and slapped the old name on it.

Unfortunately, that’s now standard practice in Hollywood. A practice that accelerated beyond all reason after BSG. That mentality is why there has never been another long-running sci-fi universe like Star Trek or Star Wars, and why there will never be. Battlestar Galactica was perfectly poised to take that trip, but no one at Universal dared to make a real investment.

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We found the best MacBook deals during Amazons Big Spring Sale — including the MacBook Neo

Amazon’s third annual Big Spring Sale runs from March 25 to 31, and the opening day of the sale already features deals on must-have tech — including flagship Apple products. Apple just refreshed and expanded its MacBook lineup earlier this month, and some of the new Apple laptops are already on sale.

The colorful new MacBook Neo with Touch ID is a whopping — wait for it — $9 off. (Don’t forget about the Apple Store’s $100 education discount.) Of course, there are better deals to be had.

Amazon’s biggest discount thus far is going to a 15-inch M4 model with 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, which is now $300 off — its lowest price ever. You can also score 13-inch M4 MacBook Airs starting at $899. Remember: Apple has discontinued the M4 MacBooks, so once supplies dry up, they’ll only be available on the refurbished market.

SEE ALSO:

Amazon’s Big Spring Sale is back: The best deals already live on Apple, robot vacuums, headphones, and more

The brand-new M5 MacBook Airs and M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pros are all $50 off for the Big Spring Sale, and that’s probably going to be as cheap as they get for now. (The then-new M4 models got the same discount last year.) Look for better deals in a couple of months come Prime Day.

This is just day one of the Big Spring Sale, and Mashable will be keeping track of all the latest MacBook price drops. Check back to be the first to know about the top Apple deals.

Note: Deals marked with a 🔥 have dropped to a record-low price.

Best MacBook Air deal

$949
at Amazon

$1,199
Save $250

 

Why we like it

The 13-inch M4 MacBook Air may be a last-gen laptop, but it’s still an incredibly capable ultraportable, now $250 off for its lowest-ever price. It’s faster than much pricier Windows laptops, and it has the same 12MP Center Stage webcam, Liquid Retina display, and 18-hour battery life as its new M5 counterpart. This particular model is also well future-proofed amid the ongoing RAM crunch — thanks, AI.

Read Mashable’s full review of the Apple MacBook Air (M4).

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Amazon Big Spring Sale 2026: Tablet deals are in full bloom with savings on the latest iPad Air

Best Big Spring Sale Tablet Deals

An Apple iPad Air with M4 chip

A Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ (WiFi) tablet

An Amazon Fire 7 Kids

Amazon’s Big Spring Sale kicks off on March 25. The seasonal sale, which runs through March 31, focuses on seasonal transition items – think cleaning supplies to freshen up your home and camping supples to get outdoors. However, it wouldn’t be a sale without tech deals, too.

Ahead of the sale, we’ve spotted early savings on tablets, good timing considering Apple just dropped a brand new tablet. The Apple iPad Air with M4 chip just dropped this month, and the good news is, it’s already on sale. But if iPads aren’t your thing don’t worry, there are plenty of other tablet deals to shop.

Here are all the best tablet deals to shop ahead of Amazon’s Big Spring Sale.

Best Tablet Deal

$559
at Amazon

$599
Save $40

 

Read our full review of the Apple iPad Air (M4).

Apple’s latest iPad drop is the iPad Air with M4 chip. It’s one of the retailers speediest, most efficient tablets, scoring 13,176 on the Geekbench 6 test, which puts it ahead of most laptops. When Apple released the new iPad Air, they didn’t raise the price, keeping the midrange tablet at $599. However, it already receive a price cut at Amazon.

Ahead of the Big Spring Sale, get the Apple iPad Air with M4 chip for just $559. While that’s only $40 in savings and less than 10% off its list price, it’s still a great deal considering it’s a brand new tablet.

So while we might like this deal best, if you want some bigger savings, there are plenty more deals to shop.

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Joss Whedon’s Cancellation Still Makes No Sense, Unless It's An Attack On You

By Joshua Tyler
| Updated

The first twenty years of the 2000s belonged to Joss Whedon, and he found that success by becoming king of the nerds. His was the mind behind the most successful geek properties of all time, and he was Marvel’s chief genius, the architect of assembling The Avengers. Then, in 2021, he was cancelled. I still don’t understand why.

First, it must be said that Joss Whedon definitely did bad things, and he’s not someone I would ever be friends with. The source of my confusion isn’t a debate over whether he’s a virtuous person; he isn’t. What doesn’t add up is why Hollywood’s powers think his level of virtue should determine whether or not he’s allowed to work.

To understand how strange Joss Whedon’s cancellation is, first, we need to understand what he’s accused of. Here’s a simple, bullet-point list.

Joss Whedon’s Bad Behavior

  • Joss Whedon is accused of saying mean things to Ray Fisher and Charisma Carpenter.
  • Joss Whedon was a bad husband and had consensual relationships with his actresses.
  • Joss Whedon’s sets weren’t always fun, according to some people.

None of these things is good, but to put them in context, let’s compare that list to things done by other Hollywood notables who aren’t cancelled and can do whatever they want. 

Woody Allen’s Bad Behavior

  • Woody Allen is accused of molesting his daughter, Dylan Farrow.
  • Woody Allen married his adopted daughter. 
  • Woody Allen cheated on his wife with his adopted daughter.

That seems worse than Joss Whedon. A lot worse. Yet Woody Allen isn’t cancelled. Let’s try someone else, maybe Woody Allen is a one-off? What about acclaimed director Roman Polanski, who frequently wins Oscars and can work on anything he wants? 

Roman Polanski’s Bad Behavior

  • Roman Polanski pleaded guilty to, and was convicted of, raping a 13-year-old child. 
  • Roman Polanski pleaded guilty to, and was convicted of, drugging a child.
  • Roman Polanski fled the country to escape justice.

Roman Polanski has suffered zero consequences and instead is frequently nominated for awards and praised as a genius. What about a more modern figure, like Mel Gibson?

Mel Gibson’s Bad Behavior

  • Mel Gibson was arrested for a DUI, which endangered the lives of others.
  • Mel Gibson is on tape making sexist and full-on anti-Semitic and racist comments.
  • Mel Gibson pleaded not guilty to domestic battery against a helpless woman.
  • Mel Gibson is on tape making violent threats.

There was, for a time, some vague noise about cancellation over Gibson’s anti-semitic comments, but it never happened. He kept working, getting payday roles in big Hollywood movies like Daddy’s Home. At this very moment, Mel Gibson is working on directing The Passion of the Christ 2. Meanwhile, Joss Whedon’s Firefly series is being handed over to a talentless hack who made a bunch of terrible superhero shows, because Whedon is not allowed to work.

Maybe Joss Whedon’s problem is that most of his bad behavior revolved around things that happened at work. Let’s take a look at another big, Hollywood director.

James Cameron’s Bad Behavior

  • James Cameron is accused of saying mean things to Ed Harris and other actors.
  • James Cameron was a bad husband and had numerous consensual relationships with his actresses.
  • James Cameron’s sets aren’t always fun, and he’s known to yell at people, mistreat his cast, and physically endanger them.

James Cameron’s history seems similar to Joss Whedon’s. Yet he’s currently in production on another Avatar movie, and no one seems to mind any of it.

Evil Flourishes In Hollywood

Mel Gibson, Roman Polanski, and Woody Allen are not edge cases. Neither is James Cameron, whose behavior is pretty much a mirror of every successful Hollywood director. The movie-making business is full of people who are, by any objective measure, extremely evil.

To actually get punished, you usually have to be as bad as Harvey Weinstein, a serial assaulter and abuser with dozens of accusers. He’s now in jail, where he belongs, but if he gets out (and that’s a real possibility), he’ll never work in Hollywood again.

By comparison, Joss Whedon said some vaguely mean things, was a bad husband, and yet, like Harvey Weinstein, he’s never going to work again. It doesn’t add up.

The Psychology Behind Hating Nerds

Until the early 2000s, nerds like Joss Whedon and the nerd audience he represents were treated like a joke. Nerds were disrespected, hated, and entire movies, like Napoleon Dynamite, were built around the idea of how funny it was to bully and dunk on them.

That changed as Hollywood began to see the profit potential behind catering to geeks, but that doesn’t mean the powers that be were happy about it. They couldn’t be, because of something called Status Identity Threat Syndrome.

Status Identity Threat Syndrome (noun): A psychological response in which individuals experience anxiety, defensiveness, or hostility when the traits or skills that underpin their social status and self-worth are devalued or displaced within a shifting hierarchy.

Extroverted networkers tend to build influence through visibility, relationships, and social fluency, the traditional, human-centric routes to power. For most of human history, these kinds of networkers ran not just Hollywood, but the entire world. When “nerd” types, people who win through technical mastery, obsessive focus, or systems thinking, start outperforming them, it scrambles that hierarchy. 

Napoleon Dynamite gets shoved into a locker for laughs

Psychologically, it’s a form of status inconsistency: the traits that used to signal dominance (charisma, connections) suddenly matter less than competence in domains the networkers don’t control. That creates anxiety, because it’s not just losing, it’s losing in a way that makes your skill set feel obsolete.

People defend traits on which they base their self-worth. If success shifts away from social skills like extroverted networking, those invested in social capital can feel threatened. So if you’re an extrovert who has built your entire life around looking cool, seeing an awkward nerd succeed would, from a well-founded psychological perspective, make you very nervous.

Anti-Nerd Bigotry Is Real

As you might expect, as the founder of sites like GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT, I’m something of a nerd. The more successful I’ve gotten, the more the extroverts who man the levers of power dislike me, and the harder they’ve worked to push me out. It’s not something unique to me; it’s something that happens to every introverted nerd in every industry and social corner. Ask them about it, and they’ll tell you.

It’s why educational research shows that introverted students are more likely to be ignored by teachers, receiving less attention and help, resulting in lower grades and fewer opportunities. It’s why data shows that extroverts are more likely to get favorable outcomes in court and even receive superior medical care. It’s why introverted nerds, on average, make 20% less than their extroverted counterparts, despite data showing they demonstrate superior competence at work.

Joss Whedon isn’t the only nerd to be cancelled over allegations like these. Pixar’s bespectacled, Hawaiian shirt-wearing John Lasseter was kicked out of Hollywood for giving a hug. Anyone seen Harry Knowles lately?

I’m not arguing here that Joss Whedon should be un-cancelled; he seems like a hypocritical jerk. Also, Harry Knowles always struck me as a sleaze; we’re probably better off without him. But if being unlikable is the baseline standard we’re setting for whether or not you’re allowed to work, then shouldn’t Woody Allen be locked up in a torture dungeon, instead of being celebrated as a genius?

Make it make sense. Until you do, I’m going to assume you hate nerds and respond by hating you right back. I’m also never going to celebrate anything by Roman Polanski. Sorry, Rosemary’s Baby.

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