Wired.com has an interview with Mark Stern, executive vice president of original programming at Sci Fi Channel, who discusses BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and the pilot for the prequel (which is currently being developed, now that BSG is in its last season).
Of the decision to bring BSG to a close, Stern says:
[…] I respect [BSGexecutive producers] Ron [Moore] and David [Eick]’s decision to end it, because there’s nothing worse than to suck it dry and have it limp along after you’ve done the best of the best.
But it has given us the courage to say, “OK, but let’s find another show that does take on the more serious issues of science fiction” […]. And what’s interesting about Caprica is that it does that. We’re doing the pilot right now called “Revolution,” which is an allegory for the American Revolution, that has its own opportunities for character and depth and discussion. It’s about finding things that are worthy successors, not just rip-offs.
Stern also explains the advantages of using science-fiction to discuss serious issues:
[…] the great thing about the genre is that it allows you to talk about issues that would be too polarizing if you really were talking about, say, the occupation of Iraq and the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo. First of all, I don’t want to watch that show, cause I’m watching it on the news every day, and it’s too close to us. It doesn’t allow you to speak allegorically and explore things that resonate with you the way Galactica does. So the fact that you’re dealing with a speculative fantastical premise about robots that look like us that attack and destroy, that allows you into other great themes because in the back of your mind you can say, “Yes, but that’s not us. That’s them.”