'Battlestar Galactica': Say it ain't frakkin so!

Sad but true: "Battlestar Galactica" will end its run next year after its fourth and final season.

After weeks of speculation, the end is in fact near. According to a high level source at Sci Fi Channel parent company NBC Universal, the show will dock after its next 22-episode season, slated to kick off in early 2008.

Sources say the decision came down from executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, who are said to feel creatively like this upcoming arc will be its last.

Rumors began circulating this month when two "Battlestar Galactica" stars, Edward James Olmos and Katee Sackhoff, referred to the next season as the show's swan song while attending the annual Saturn Awards.

“It’s the final season, so it’s definitely going to be the most vicious,” Olmos told reporters.  “As far as we know, in respects of the way we have this show constructed, this is the final season.”

Sci Fi Channel is expected to announce the news as soon as this afternoon.

UPDATE: Minutes after this was posted, Sci Fi Channel sent us the press release confirming the show is ending. See what Eick and Moore have to say after the jump...

"This show was always meant to have a beginning, a middle and finally, an end. Over the course of the last year, the story and the characters have been moving strongly toward that end and we've decided to listen to those internal voices and conclude the show on our own terms," Eick and Moore said in the statement. "And while we know our fans will be saddened to know the end is coming, they should brace themselves for a wild ride getting there –- we're going out with a bang ."

-- Denise Martin

(Photo courtesy NBC Universal)

Comments

[James Harris]

Finally after all these years some Decent Television and it ends in the fourth round, Yet all the rubbish will run for years to come,
What the hell happened to this world.

[Ron Faust]

Frell,frack,and crap.
I can see why it needs to end,but i still cant bring myself to like it.I was floored when farscape bellied up.At least i wont be blindsided this time.I guess it will be fun to watch knowing the climax is just around the corner.Of coarse, one must remember that farscape was deemed to expensive and hard to follow and that is why it died so unexpectedly.Oh well,i guess this will open the door for the next series......

[sy lon]

Motherfrakker it cant end!

[George Lewis]

I was a fan of the original show, and it's a shame that they can't find something new to do with it. I mean, star trek had it's spinnoffs... why not have them land on earth in the future? And find that the earth has evolved into something terribly wrong? How about they land on earth in the year 1000? - FRAK!!! They have to do something to keep this great show going!!!

George Lewis

[BSGRulz]

I think it is good.

In the one extreme if a show stops mid-story it sucks (which sometimes happen). The other extreme TV shows could also tend to overstay it's welcome (Lost anybody ? And Prison Break is going that way too.). This show will have a good finale (or it better :-D). This will mean that the whole concept does not get watered down but remains a classic.

Rather have another good concept for a TV show, then milk this one for all it's worth. It does not even have to be that original (as BSG and Stargate can attest)

Steve

[Xenoexo]

BSG is a amazing fraking great show!!
From the miniseries till season 3 it wants you to see more.
I think season 4 will be the best although its sad that it will be the last season (if it will)

Toasters forever!

[jake]

hi
i am glad its closing out, it was dumb anyway, not much interesting, more like asoap opra and that sucked, thank God

[Mandi]

I'm actually ok with this being the last season. I've heard the rumors for awhile, so I'm not too surprised. I also trust the writers enough to know that when it ends, it's going to end big. This show has been one of the most satisfying in terms of acting, writing and story developement. Thanks for ending on a high note.

[Bob]

I can't believe they are ending BSG after season 4. How many Stargate / Stargate derivatives does scifi have? Hasn't Stargate been on for like over 10 years or something.

[Jeffrey]

How would you like to go to a hockey game with the Chief?

That's right, our own Aaron Douglas will take one fan to a Canucks hockey game, along with another buddy of his up in Vancouver. And how can you score this treat? Simple. By going to Pencils2MediaMoguls.com and buying as many boxes of pencils as you can. On the first page (which is a subset of United Hollywood) you'll see a place to identify which show you're supporting. Type in "BSG Aaron Douglas" and we'll enter your name into a raffle, with the lucky winner getting to attend the hockey game with Aaron.

In case you haven't heard, the Pencils Campaign is designed to send a huge amount of pencils to the major studios as a symbol of fan support for the strike. More information can be found on their website. www.pencils2mediamoguls.com

Mary McDonnell, Tricia Helfer, Michael Hogan, Jamie Bamber, and Michael Trucco have all agreed to make a personal phone call to fans who win the raffles in their names. The way this will work is simple: when you go to the Pencils site, the first box you’ll see asks you the name of the show you wish to support. Type in “Battlestar Galactica” and then the name of one of these actors, and your name will then be automatically entered into a raffle, with the winner in each category receiving a personal phone call from that actor. You can certainly buy boxes of pencils for more than one actor, but each box can only be assigned one name.

Also, in the event that the winner of the Aaron Douglas raffle is not in Vancouver, or cannot travel there (on their own dime), Aaron has offered to make a personal phone call to that fan and send a piece of signed memorabilia.

This is a really great and generous offer from our cast members and it could be a once in a life-time chance to get to talk to them, so take advantage of the opportunity and help us drown the moguls in pencils.

www.pencils2mediamoguls.com

[david]

so there ending the best show on tv?? its sad but i too would rather see a show as good as bsg end with a bang than go out with a whisper! damn!! im gonna miss bsg

[morris]

NBC has killed sci-fi channel....My friends and family used to watch sci-fi channel all night on friday.

Now that nbc has destroyed SG1, SG1-Atlantis, and now BG, there is no reason to watch sci-fi channel anymore.

I just might dis-connect TV

[Fiona Gibb]

FRAK, I'm pissed. Another good Space series gone!!
Star Trek Enterprise was another good one and its gone.
Anyone know which channel and which night they are
showing the new season of BSG? I have Star Choice and
they are repeating last season on some channels, where and
when is the new season, cant find it.....HELP!
Huge Space Fan thanx you in advance.
Fiona

[Peter]

The aim was set in Season0 Episod2 - "Find Earth !" ... So cylon StarBuck found Earth! ... The aim is reached , ... so now what? Set New Goal?
+ Season3 was really boaring at times - no food starving episod? What's that? Soap Opera? Social Problems - poor colonies, rich colonies? Again Soup Opera ?
+ Season3 "Sol Thigh is cylon?" How Come - He is in fleet from 45 years ... Before first cylon wars. StarBuck is cylon? And chief? ... Not that there is some proof that they are ? At least I did not see any proof that they are , but .... If All the major characters are cylons? .... How can the story continue? ... Because cylons did win!

[frak]

that's kind of weird that they are ending this show, there are so many more things they can go with it. I guess it has something to do with the US dollar falling relative to the Canadian dollar.
They do most of the filming for this show in Vancouver British Columbia and i guess its just getting more expensive to work there.

[rog]

Sad, Hollywood has such little to offer in anything yet in a good Scfi. I disagree, keep it going for another season or two. One of the very few shows I make time for.

[Peter]

Yeah the middle of season 3 wasn't as good but the first episode in s4 looks pretty good. I think they should hire some more writters and create one more season. End it at 5. 4 seems a little short.

As there's nothing else on Tv watching these days apart from Family guy, The Simpsons and Curb your Enthusiasm, really isn't anything else that comes to mind.

They killed off Star Trek too early. The rest of the star treks were crap, TNG was ok but no where near TOS. Firefly ended way too early. Farscape was crap in there final season but i think if they gave them a little notice it would have been a good one rather then the peacekeeper wars.

I've been hearing good things about that "Greek" show, have to check it out.

Lost + Prison Break Sucked. Stargate ALL sux. How the hell do people watch American Idle and BB? enough of this rant.

Give us one more season, end it on 5.

Bring back Firefly and Futurama. Why the hell did they put on American Dad vs Futurama?

[SAD fan]

I'm just going to go home after work and go straight to bed! BSG gave me a reason to look forward to coming home- besides seeing my husband and my 2 dogs! My husband and I have seen all the episodes up to the end of season 3, which was semi-lame- but we didn't mind. The way that certain people found out that they were Cylons through a lame-ass song was disappointing! Wow. WTF! We haven't seen the most recent episodes, but we are excited about them. I wanted to be on this show! Now I will never be. Could I be Seven in a spin-off? Ronald Moore- I want to be on your next show!! Please keep us entertained! Even if there are episodes that aren't well written! Please just throw it together and it will still be good! We'll miss our BSG.

[SciFiFan]

This show was way too violent. I tried to watch it and could not. I prefer the original BSG series. Stargate SG1 was an EXCELLENT series and so was Bablyon 5. I'm glad this series is going off the air many of the original BSG fans have come to really dislike the series due to the excessive violence and use of rape as torture in the series. We don't need to see that on TV. That's supposed to be good quality science fiction? Certainly NOT. I'm very glad that Larson has the movie rights to BSG. Hopefully we can get a really good quality BSG movie and forget that this terrible remake ever existed.

[Apollo13]

Series finale spoiler: The last episode will feature a return of the curse word 'Feldercarb'
I say, it's about Frakkin time!!!