Battlestar Galactica

Popup-free, more recent version of this page

Battlestar Galactica came from one of the Hollywood studios who told George Lucas that science-fiction was dead. When Star Wars started breaking box office records, they dusted off their scripts and story ideas, hired Star Wars special effects wizard John Dykstra (he won an Oscar for his work in SW, and tv audiences were wowed by the battle scenes in BG), and created Battlestar Galactica. While it may bear a superficial similarity to Star Wars or Star Trek, all 3 have major differences. Battlestar Galactica, the ship, is essencially an aircraft carrier in space. In Star Wars, the good guys have no "mother ship" for their fighters, and Star Trek doesn't even have one-man fighters as seen virtually every week on BG. Nevertheless, lawyers for Lucas threatened to sue and the series was almost killed before launch.
Each episode would start with impressive narration by Patrick Macnee (sometimes incorrectly spelled MacNee, he prefers the other spelling) of Avengers fame and host of Ghost Stories. He later guested as a mystery man who seemed able to work miracles. The entire series is essencially a quest for an unknown homeworld called Earth. BG leads 220 spaceships of various sizes & functions containing the last survivors of the 12 Colonies, destroyed by sneak attack from the Cylon Empire during treaty negotiations. To make the series easier to sell to US and British television, which both had strict limits on death portrayed on the screen, the Cylons were a robot race; this way you could blow away as many of them each episode as you wanted, robots aren't alive so they don't die...
But after an impressive beginning with good ratings, the series seemed to run out of steam. After its 1st year, 1978-79, most of the human cast was fired and the series name changed to Galactica 80 (hoping to last thru 1980, I guess), but the series was cancelled after only a handful of new episodes. The highlight was an episode (possibly the 1st of Galactica 80) in which Los Angeles is destroyed in the opening minutes by Cylon ships. The camera pulls back to show that this is a simulation of what would happen if they reach Earth, which they're now close to, because it's too primitive to fight off Cylons.
The series starred Lorne Greene (known in his native Canada as the Voice of Doom during WW2) as the ship's commander and admiral of the fleet. Dirk Benedict, and Richard Hatch played his fighter-pilot sons, and Anne Lockhart joined the cast with the Living Legends episode, also as a fighter-pilot. The writer/director list included Donald P. Bellisario of "JAG" and Quantum Leap, Glen A. Larson of Buck Rogers, and Leslie Stevens, the creator of Outer Limits.
Battlestar Galactica books & videos are available, as well as eps available on video or DVD

Battlestar Galactica (1978) three-hour pilot episode/movie
Baltar's Escape
Conquest of the Earth (they reach Earth)
Fire in Space
The Living Legends (aka: Mission Galactica, 2 hours)
The Long Patrol
Lost Planet Of The Gods
The Lost Warrior
The Magnificent Warriors
The Man With Nine Lives
Murder on the Rising Star
The Young Lords

Why are we being attacked? They hate us...for our love of freedom Lorne Greene, pilot episode
Sci-Fi channel broadcasts of Battlestar Galactica (new season 3)
Times shown are EST/Pacific

08/10/2007 02:00 AM (SEASON 3) DIRTY HANDS 08/13/2007 08:00 AM (SEASON 3) TAKING A BREAK FROM ALL YOUR WORRIES 08/13/2007 09:00 AM (SEASON 3) THE WOMAN KING 08/13/2007 10:00 AM (SEASON 3) A DAY IN THE LIFE 08/13/2007 11:00 AM (SEASON 3) DIRTY HANDS 08/13/2007 12:00 PM (SEASON 3) MAELSTROM 08/13/2007 01:00 PM (SEASON 3) THE SON ALSO RISES 08/13/2007 02:00 PM (SEASON 3) CROSSROADS - PT 1 08/13/2007 03:00 PM (SEASON 3) CROSSROADS - PT 2 08/17/2007 02:00 AM (SEASON 3) MAELSTROM 08/24/2007 02:00 AM (SEASON 3) THE SON ALSO RISES 09/07/2007 02:00 AM (SEASON 3) CROSSROADS - PT 1 09/14/2007 02:00 AM (SEASON 3) CROSSROADS - PT 2 09/21/2007 02:00 AM (SEASON 3) THE OCCUPATION 09/28/2007 02:00 AM (SEASON 3) PRECIPICE

Click here to hear Battlestar Galactica, the themesong
Or here for the Mars Attacks themesong from the Tim Burtin movie: Monstervision host segments of Mars Attacks
See Star Base letters page for comments about the new Battlestar Galactica movie said to be in the works
Official Battlestar Galactica website (if it's still there), with Battlestar Galactica episode titles & descriptions
Episode title list only, both seasons
Star Trek page

Return to Star Base at www.Sci-fans.com
Return to TV Listings
Episodes of Battlestar G. scheduled previously
How did it all begin???
Official Sci-Fi Channel Schedule website
Or would you prefer to go to the Planet of the Apes?

See if your favorite person, TV series or
motion picture is available on video/books:

Search:
Keywords:

Let slip the dogs of war!