Although the rush to watch yesterday’s unauthorized, quickly removed trailer for Battlestar Galactica: Blood And Chrome seemed to indicate a genuinely fervent viewer curiosity, Syfy has announced today that it’s decided not to pick up the show after all, but rather return Blood And Chrome to its origins as a possible web series that may or may not happen, and focus instead on people pretending to talk to ghosts and professional wrestling. After all, those are shows that do not inspire the spluttering, nacho cheese-scented declarations of affection from Battlestar Galactica fans that Syfy finds so nauseating, which is why they shooed them away by changing their name from Sci-Fi in the first place.
In the interest of diplomacy, the network’s original programming president Mark Stern released a statement avowing that Syfy’s “enthusiasm for this ambitious project has not waned,” despite executives sitting on the pilot for nearly four months, then immediately passing on it as soon as its fanbase started in with its revolting attention. Stern then added, “We are actively pursuing it as was originally intended: a groundbreaking digital series that will launch to audiences beyond the scope of a television screen.” (A TV series not on a television screen? Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Citizen, nothing is impossible now that you’re living innnn the fuuuuuture.)
Anyway, those restrictive, old-fashioned television boxes will still air the 90-minute pilot at some yet-to-be-determined date, with the decision on actually producing any webisodes now safely put off into the intentionally vague realm of being “pursued.” And if you didn’t get the chance to see the Blood And Chrome “sizzle reel”—which was screened by the show’s scientific adviser during a Wondercon panel, then quickly went viral—you’ve likely missed your chance, as NBC Universal has diligently scrubbed it from the Internet, due to its use of music and other things that hadn’t been properly cleared. And if you did see it and subsequently became excited, you can stop being that now. It is, frankly, disgusting.