Battlestar Galactica: Will Season Four Be the Last?

Though the ratings have been down, Sci Fi has decided to increase its initial 13 episode order of Battlestar Galactica to 22 hours for season four. The order includes a special two-hour episode that will air late this year and will then be released as a separate DVD by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The two-hour episode will feature the whole cast but will not necessarily be related to the ongoing story line. The rest of season four will begin in early 2008. Production will begin in May.

The current Battlestar Galactica series was created by science fiction veteran Ronald D. Moore and is a re-imagined version of the original ABC TV show. It began in 2003 as a three-hour mini-series and debuted as a series in 2004.

Battlestar’s third season finale will air this weekend, wrapping up a ratings-challenged year. The Peabody Award-winning series has averaged a 1.4 household rating (with a low of 1.1), down 30% from last year’s 2.0 average.

Will the fourth be the final season? Sci Fi’s Executive VP of Programming Mark Stern said, “At this point, we don’t know. It’s still early days. We need to sit with Ron [Moore] and David [Eick] to hear what their plans are for that [fifth] season, and what they’d like to do about any future seasons.”

Unofficially, there are rumors that the fourth season will probably be Battlestar’s last. But, if the ratings for season four were to match those of seasons one or two, anything could happen. Stay tuned!