The low-rated Battlestar Galactica prequel attracted about 1.3 million viewers when it returned for its Season 1.5 debut earlier this month. Among those who continued to tune in for the dark series was Rosemary Medrano, instigator of the Save Caprica campaign to keep the show on the air. After the show was canceled, Medrano came up with the apple stunt.

“The apple is iconic to us Caprica fans,” Medrano wrote on her blog. “It is on basically every piece of advertising Syfy made. Buy a bag and mail them out to Steve Burke, Mark Stern and whomever else you can reach! Include a note with the STO symbol on it. I’m going to start preparing my packages tomorrow. Updates and pictures to come.”

A backlash over Caprica ’s cancellation is brewing on other fronts as well. The fan-fueled Operation Airlock Facebook page urges “an organized boycott of the SyFy network, and their sponsors, for the cancelation of Caprica.” Meanwhile, series actors Sasha Roiz and Alessandra Torresani have been using Twitter to rally the troops, citing a mention on CBS’ Big Bang Theory and hyping the ?#savecaprica tag.

“There’s been some serious mobilizing,” Roiz tweeted late Thursday. “Beware the #CapricaArmy.”

“#apples #operationairlock #savecaprica #syfy #cylonarmy #capricaarmy bitches beware!!!!” chimed in Torresani.

While the viral uprising offers Caprica cultists a chance to vent, odds are slim that Syfy will have a change of heart. A Syfy spokesman told Wired.com that the network axed Caprica with reluctance.

“A decision like this is never an easy one and, believe me, we will miss this show as much as the fans,” the rep said. “As [programming head] Mark [Stern] said, we love the [Battlestar Galactica] franchise, which is why we are looking to continue the story with Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome.”

The Caprica brouhaha raises a larger issue addressed by many Save Caprica campaigners: For a network bearing the name Syfy, there seems to be precious little hard-core science fiction on the channel.

Save Caprica champion Michael Ilasi, editor of RedEyeRogue, told Wired.com in an e-mail that “the problem with the Syfy channel is it’s really not about sci-fi. It’s mostly B movies and horror films and bad sci-fi television shows and wrestling and ghost-hunting. Whatever sells.”

Lacking Battlestar Galactica’s lightning-in-a-bottle storytelling chemistry, Caprica failed to capture a broad enough audience to satisfy the Syfy braintrust. Here’s hoping Blood & Chrome proves more successful at reintroducing serious science fiction to the Syfy network.

Follow us on Twitter: @hughhart and @theunderwire.

See Also:

• So Long, Cylon: Syfy Cancels Caprica
• Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome Will Tell Adama's War Stories
• Battlestar Galactica Exhibit Lands Vipers in Seattle
• Ronald D. Moore on Why Galactica Steered Clear of 'Technobabble, Aliens

Authors: Hugh Hart

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