Battlestar Galactica (TOS)

Battlestar Galactica
Created by	Glen A. Larson
Starring	Richard Hatch Dirk Benedict Lorne Greene
Theme music by	Stu Phillips
Statistics
Production company	Glen Larson Productions Universal Studios
Number of seasons	1
Number of episodes	21 (list)
Debut channel	ABC
US first-run airdates	1978-09-17—1979-04-29
UK first-run airdates
DVD release	2004-02-10
Production staff
Executive producer(s)	Glen A. Larson
Producer(s)	John Dykstra David J. O'Connell
Supervising producer(s)	Don Bellisario Leslie Stevens
Associate producer(s)	David G. Phinney Gary B. Winter
Co-producer(s)
Story editor(s)	Jim Carlson Terrence McDonnell
Series Chronology
		Next
	Battlestar Galactica	Galactica 1980
Online Purchasing
Available at iTunes – [{{{itunes}}} Purchase]
Related Media
			@ BW Media

The original 1978 premiere of Battlestar Galactica was the show that began the saga of humanity's survival against the Cylons.

Introduction and Concept

The original Battlestar Galactica television series premiered on the ABC television network on September 17, 1978. One of the most spectacular television programs ever produced, Battlestar Galactica ran only a single season but has retained an active fandom to this day.

Battlestar Galactica (also known as the Original Series on this wiki to differentiate it from its Re-imagined Series counterpart) was created by Glen A. Larson. The show concept gradually evolved from an earlier project titled Adam's Ark. Although Larson had first proposed Ark in the late 1960's, it was not until 1978, after the success of Star Wars, that interest in the show developed.

Production History

Initially envisioned as a series of TV movies for ABC, consisting of a three hour premiere and two additional movies of two hours in length, Battlestar Galactica was ultimately developed into a regular television series. The "first seven hours" of the series, consisting of "Saga of a Star World," "Lost Planet of the Gods," and "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero," was reported to have cost–"at over one million dollars an hour," according to Galactica's publicist, Joe Santley–over $7 million dollars. However, this figure is contradicted by Richard Colla, who revealed that the budgets for the three-hour pilot were nine million dollars alone, despite the fact that it was sold to ABC for 1.8 million.

Academy Award-winning special effects supervisor John Dykstra served as both the show's visual effects director and line producer. Dykstra, working with his Industrial Light & Magic crew, oversaw the series' extensive special effects sequences. The initial seven hours of programming were structured as three television movies—one three-hour premiere followed by two two-hour productions. Each installment was designed as a self-contained story written and directed by Larson, whose previous television work included creating The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew series.

Maren Jensen, who portrays Athena in the series, discussed the challenges of her role as the only daughter of Commander Adama (Lorne Greene). In a contemporary interview, Jensen noted that "Athena has her work cut out for her, stressing her feminine persona aboard a starshipful of blatantly macho types." Jensen also revealed insights into her character development process: "The show is still establishing itself," she stresses. "But I think that the series is going to have to appeal to viewers because of both its special effects and its characterizations. It's right now that it's the special effects that dominate it and people are watching primarily for that great look. Eventually, I feel that the accent will have to be put on human relationships... and viewers will start identifying with the regular characters."

To defray costs, the three hour premiere was re-cut as a theatrical release. Several weeks before the TV series premiered in America, the series pilot appeared as a two hour film in Canada, Europe and Japan. Opening on July 7, 1978, the theatrical release did quite well, given modest expectations.

The three hour Galactica pilot first broadcast on ABC on September 17, 1978. For the next eight months, 17 original episodes of the series were aired, totalling 24 hours of broadcasting.

Episodes of Battlestar Galactica

Main article: Season 1 (1978-79)

The artwork for the Complete Epic Series DVD package

During its single season, the series went through a few phases, as the Fleet got farther away from the Colonies, and closer to Earth. After the initial series pilot, where the Fleet visited Carillon, the next stop was the mythic planet Kobol where the ancient birthplace of humanity was found. Together, these two stories established the mythos of the series.

Next, there were a series of episodes where the Colonials visited lost colonies such as Equellus, Proteus and Attila.

In the middle of the season were some two part episodes that established foils for Commander Adama with the introduction of Commander Cain and Count Iblis.

Then, there were some episodes that focused on the life of the Fleet, focusing on characters such as Chameleon. This was followed by a series of episodes based around the Terra arc.

Lastly, the Cylons, who had been absent for awhile, were reintroduced in the final episode of the series.

Narration

Opening narration

There are two different opening narrations, both narrated by Patrick Macnee, who portrayed Count Iblis and was the voice for the Imperious Leader during the series' run.

The opening narration to "Saga of a Star World":

"There are those who believe that life here began out there, far across the universe, with tribes of humans who may have been the forefathers of the Egyptians, or the Toltecs, or the Mayans. They may have been the architects of the great pyramids, or the lost civilizations of Lemuria or Atlantis. Some believe that there may yet be brothers of man who even now fight to survive far, far away, amongst the stars."

The opening narration used starting from "Lost Planet of the Gods, Part I":

"There are those who believe that life here began out there, far across the universe, with tribes of humans who may have been the forefathers of the Egyptians, or the Toltecs, or the Mayans. Some believe that there may yet be brothers of man who even now fight to survive, somewhere beyond the heavens." — listen

Closing narration

The closing narration was voiced by Lorne Greene and began in the episode "Lost Planet of the Gods, Part II":

"Fleeing from the Cylon tyranny, the last Battlestar, Galactica, leads a ragtag, fugitive fleet, on a lonely quest—for a shining planet known as Earth."

Year Two

Main article: Battlestar Galactica: Year Two proposal

In recent years, Glen Larson's son, Chris, discovered various memorabilia from his father's personal collection. In addition to packets for the official Battlestar Galactica Fan Club, he also came across a treatment for the second season of Battlestar Galactica. In the treatment, many changes were proposed, including the reduction of the cast size, the addition of Issac Asimov as a story and science consultant, and massive character changes.

While it is uncertain as to whether this document ever made it to Universal Studios, the document does shed light on the origin of various concepts introduced in Galactica 1980. These concepts included the human android Cylons, the concept of Boomer being Galactica's executive officer, and the character of "Troy."

Cancellation and Rebirths (of a sort)

Citing declining ratings and cost overruns, ABC canceled Battlestar Galactica in April 1979. Its last episode, "The Hand of God," was broadcast on April 29. The cancellation was a shock to fans, as viewership was robust and the series was, by many metrics, a major success.

An in-depth analysis of the cancellation published in Fantastic Films magazine argued that the network's official reasons were misleading. According to the article, Galactica was one of the top 25 series on television, with an average rating of 20.4 and an audience share of 32, both well above the average for a successful new show. Demographically, it was highly popular with adults, teenagers, and men, refuting the claim that it was merely a "kiddy show." The central argument of the article is that ABC deliberately "killed" the series for financial reasons. Because of its high production costs, Galactica could not generate the same profit margins as cheaper programs, even with its strong ratings. The network allegedly engaged in "manipulation," frequently preempting the show for specials or reruns, which artificially drove its ratings down and created a public justification for its cancellation.

After the series's cancellation, the pilot was edited together into a new theatrical release, with certain scenes trimmed or edited out completely. This release is notable for the incorporation of the Sensurround enhancement system first introduced in the film Earthquake in 1974, and is considered by most critics as perhaps the only film where the technology was used properly. It was, in fact, the last of only four films ever released in the US to feature Sensurround.

Special effects shots from the series were reused in the low-budget 1988 film Space Mutiny, which later had the dubious honor of being mocked on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

A news story in fandom was reported on the suicide of a 15-year-old boy named Eddie Seidel, Jr., who jumped 200 feet from a bridge out of despair of the series' cancellation.

A series spin-off did appear some months later in the form of Galactica 1980. Despite initially promising ratings, the show became victim to questionable writing that was heavily influenced by science fiction clichés. The show was generally panned by critics and fans alike (with the exception of its last episode). Galactica 1980 was canceled after only 10 episodes.

Despite three attempts over the years to launch a continuation motion picture or series (the Battlestar Atlantis project from Glen Larson, the Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming project by Richard Hatch, and the studio-endorsed Singer-DeSanto project), it would be approximately 23 years later before Battlestar fans would see a new series, but as a reboot, or "re-imagined" version where the central theme remained, but a far darker storyline and significant character changes that would introduce a new facet in the Battlestar universe.

Original Series fans also enjoyed new stories (which generally ignored Galactica 1980 plotlines) in several novels and comic books. As of 2007, Dynamite Comics publishes an Original Series comic as well as several comics based in the Re-imagined Series continuity.

The Battlestar Galactica (2003 game) was created to encompass elements of both the original series and the re-imagined series, but, as such, is in a separate continuity.

Legacy and Retrospective

The Original Series has been described by Ronald D. Moore, creator of the Re-imagined Series, as a "noble failure." Moore praised its ambitious visuals and dark premise, but noted that it was ultimately a "show of its time," created in the wake of Star Wars. He elaborated: "It was made just after Star Wars, which was the ultimate in escapist popcorn fun, so there was no way it was going to be a dark and brooding science fiction series. Ultimately, the show attempted to tell the story of these people after the destruction of their entire civilization and be escapist fun at the same time, and it just couldn't square that circle."

Jamie Bamber, who portrayed Lee Adama in the Re-imagined Series, shared a similar view, stating that while the original "still has a lot of charm today... it is a product of its time and it would be a naive piece of television if you made it now. The world has changed, and television has changed."

References

External Links

• Battlestar Galactica Series Overview at Sheba's Galaxy
• Interesting Battlestar Galactica Facts at Sheba's Galaxy
• Various reviews of Battlestar Galactica
• List of Battlestar Galactica magazine articles - Battlestar Zone
• Article - Star Wars Made Many of the Same Mistakes as Galactica