Now that the reimagining of the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries "Battlestar Galactica" is in the can, an actor of the original show is speaking out once again over the way the cable channel is handling the franchise.

Richard Hatch, who played Capt. Apollo in the original series, had tried a couple years ago to revive the venerable science-fiction franchise, and was among several people who believed they had the rights to the show.

However, in the end, the Sci-Fi Channel won out, and brought in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" alumnus Ronald D. Moore to reimagine the series through a backdoor pilot. Hatch recently reaffirmed his opposition to the new project to Sci-Fi Pulse.

"I think the reimagining of 'Battlestar' is the result of a network that does not truly understand its core audience," Hatch said. "The Sci-Fi Channel is unfortunately becoming anything but the Sci-Fi Channel. Due to the fact that the science-fiction demographic is 18 to 49, not 12 to 24, I would think that they would be trying to appeal to a slightly older and more sophisticated audience."

Like some fans of the series, Hatch has expressed displeasure with the fact that two of the characters from the original series get a sex change in the new miniseries. He said it goes against what the original series was about, and what original fans are asking for.

"How can they justify changing two of 'Galactica's' most popular characters into women?" Hatch said. "That is just a slap in the face to fans. In fact, 'Battlestar' already had several strong female characters to draw from, but they chose instead to leave them out and dramatically alter the remaining male ones.

"Why couldn't they have just created some new female characters as opposed to messing with existing ones? It surprises me that they did not give Capt. Apollo a sex change as well."

Hatch said that he felt Moore is on the right track by blurring the solid lines between good and evil that was prevalent on television in the 1970s when BSG was first airing, but at the same time, it was wrong to blur those lines using existing characters.

"Ron Moore has some very good ideas concerning science-fiction in general, and I can see where he is going by trying to make his characters more conflicted," Hatch said. "That's a very plausible direction to go in when dealing with new and unfamiliar characters, but you can't take well-established characters from a sci-fi classic and dramatically alter them without alienating your core fan base."

Hatch even went as far as saying that the Moore miniseries shouldn't even carry the series name.

"They should not really call this remake 'Battlestar Galatica,' because it goes completely against the spirit and the original premise of the show," he said. "A spinoff or an entirely different title would be more appropriate. This epic series was about three generations of family: heroic, characters struggling to survive and find a new homeland against impossible odds. The characters were flawed but endearing, and they always pulled together when the chips were down. We always cared and rooted for them and their heroic struggle to survive against the unknown darkness."

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