1977- Star Wars came to the cinema. All of the sudden, various studios and television networks began to look into the possibility of bringing the space action of Star Wars to the small screen without using the movie itself. Enter Universal Pictures, ABC Network, and writer Glen A. Larson. Larson had a concept called Adam's Ark and had proposed the idea of Galactica to Universal. They agreed to produce a pilot and a three hour movie was filmed. ABC picked up the series and the rest is history. Similarities between the two productions led George Lucas to begin a half-hearted lawsuit for plagurism, Larson responded by claiming that if anything, the series was based on the Bible, with the human surviors playing the part of the Israelites searching for the promised land, with the cylons cast as the Eygptians.

The series originally aired in the 1978-79 season on the ABC TV Network. It is the story of the last Battlestar (a large space vessel) Galactica. The ship leads a fleet of 220 civilian vessels to a legendary lost human colony, a colony called Earth. According to the story, humanity is spread between 13 colonies, the first 12 (where the fleet comes from) named after the signs of the western zodiac, with Earth being the lost thirteenth colony. Meanwhile they are pursued by a machine race responsible for the destruction of their home, the Cylons.

III. Why are they being pursued? (Premise)

The Cylons were once reptillian, but their machine creations turned on them, then began a 1000 yahren (Colonial term for year) war against the humans. the Battlestar fleet was destroyed by a Cylon force during a trap disguised as a peace conference. The peace conference was devised by humanity's greatest traitor, Lord Baltar (played by John Colicos).

Galactica Commander Adama (played by Lorne Greene)decides that mankind's only hope lies in the lost thirteenth tribe and their home. He gathers a fleet and leaves the Colonies with every last living human, followed by Baltar and the Cylons.

IV. Who are the characters? (Cast)

Well, there's Adama, Baltar, Adama's children: Bridge officer Athena (Maren Jensen) and Fighter Pilot Apollo (Richard Hatch), Apollo's wife Serina (Jane Seymour) and her son Boxey (Noah Hathaway), Apollo's wingman Starbuck (Dirk Benedict), and Adama's second-in-command Colonel Tigh (Terry Carter).

V. A little more background on the series, please? (Other Facts)

Okay. The visual effects, costuming, sets, and other elements made Battlestar Galactica the most expensive television series of its time (at $1 Million per episode).

The Visual Effects were produced by John Dykstra, best known for Star Wars, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and the Spiderman movie.

The show was a)Too expensive to produce, and b)Ratings lowered past the point to justify the costs, so the show was cancelled after only one season.

The show was revived in 1980 as Galactica 1980. The show was a failure and is not too popular with fans.

A large Battlestar Galactica revival campaign exists on the internet. The fans will soon get their wish in late 2003 as a new 4-hour miniseries airs on the Sci-Fi channel. Unfortunately, the project is not too popular with the more vocal fans.

VI. Where else can I go? (links)

http://www.battlestargalactica.com The home for information on the revival.

http://www.scifi.com/galactica For information on the 2003 mini-series

http://www.kobol.com A large collection of Battlestar Galactica info with memorabilia for sale.