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Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series, produced in 1978 by Glen Larson and starring Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict. The Sci-Fi Channel produced a television miniseries based on the original plot in 2003.
Warning: Plot details
follow.
Synopsis of the original pilot film
The show is set in a distant part of outer space in what is disclosed as "the seventh millennium of time". There, the human
colonies had been fighting a thousand-year war against the mechanoid Cylons who sought to exterminate humanity. The series began with the Cylons suing for peace
thanks to the diplomatic efforts of human councilor Baltar. In reality, he had betrayed humanity for personal power by leading
the fleet of the main ships of the line, giant fighter carriers called Battlestars, into a trap.
At the rendezvous, the Cylons attacked the unsuspecting ships and destroyed all of them except for the Galactica. Commander
Adama of the Galactica had already been suspicious of this uncharacteristic peace offer, and was the only one to put his ship on
battle alert after his sons Apollo and Zac found the attack force on patrol. Realizing that the home worlds were now vulnerable,
he withdrew to intervene, only to learn that the Cylons had already devastated them.
With the human colony civilization in ruins, Commander Adama proposed the only chance for humanity to survive. He would lead a
refugee fleet in search of the lost human colony, a planet known only as Earth. Thus,
with the Galactica leading a ragtag fleet of ships of every variety and state of repair, Adama with the help of his second,
Colonel Tigh and his best fighter pilots, his surviving son Apollo, and the hotshot pilot, Starbuck, search for that planet.
Unfortunately, the Cylons are in determined pursuit. The Cylon Imperious Leader, however, is displeased with Baltar's part of the
deal and orders him sought and executed (at least in the theatrical version of the pilot).
The fleet finds brief haven on the resort planet of Carillon. Meanwhile, our heroes discover a trap with the Cylons plotting
to turn over the entire population of the fleet to the Ovions. Starbuck and Apollo, while rescuing their fellow comrades, set
fire to the tylium mine below which will cause the planet to self-destruct at a certain point in time. The humans escape, the
fleet battles the Cylons, and Starbuck and Apollo manage to intercept the Cylon Base Star before Carillon is destroyed. The
ragtag fleet continues their quest for Earth.
In the uncut television version of the pilot, there is an epilogue in which Baltar's life is spared, thus setting the stage
for the series to come.
The balance of the series followed the fleet on their journey. The series is also noted for its references to Mormonism and its clear leaning towards right wing politics.
Broadcast History
Original
The pilot to this series, the biggest budgeted of that time, originally was released theatrically in Canada and Europe in the
summer of 1978 in a 125-minute version, and in most cases outgrossed "Star Wars" in terms of box-office receipts. Months later,
in September, the uncut 148-minute pilot premiered on ABC with spectacular ratings, but as the series continued they slid as the
writing declined and the budget restrictions meant that the established special effects shots were overplayed into tedium.
Star Wars creator George Lucas sued the producers for plagiarism, and in April of 1979 the network executives cancelled the
still strong-rated show in a failed attempt to position Mork and
Mindy into a more lucrative time slot. A month later, the theatrical version of the pilot was finally released to U.S.
theatres.
Galactica 1980
A sequel series, called Galactica 1980, in which the fleet found and protected Earth, was a quick failure due to its
low budget, widely-panned writing, and ill-placed time slot (Sundays at 7:00 PM, a time slot generally reserved for
family-oriented programming and news shows).
Revival Attempts
However, the original show has maintained a cult fandom ever since
which support competing efforts by Glen Larson and Richard Hatch to revive the premise.
2003 miniseries
Universal Studios produced a "re-imagining" of the theme
concepts for the Sci Fi Channel,
debuted December 8, 2003. The term
"re-imagining" was used to indicate that it was not simply a remake of the original but a new direction taken from the same
original premises, similar to a reboot.
Although purists amongst the original show's fandom loudly disapproved of the revival's changes to the premise, the show
earned high ratings for the TV channel. Those ratings were strong enough to prompt the channel to commission new ongoing
television series, premiering January 2005.
The changes to the series' premise include:
- The Cylons are now a creation of the humans who rebelled against their creators and formed their own civilization which
carries on the same genocidal crusade, which they are resuming after an extended truce following a 40 year old war
- The Cylons come in many designs like the older classic design, more modern fighting machines (both humanoid and vehicular)
and stealth units designed to impersonate humans for the purpose of infiltration.
- Baltar's role in initiating humanity's fall was unwitting and now legitimately helps the refugee fleet as a valued scientific
advisor, albeit for his own reasons.
- The Cylons' most feared ability that enabled their defeat of the human colonies is the ability to seize control of
sophisticated enemy computer systems for their own use.
- Instead of being the flagship of the human fleet, The Galactica is an old ship, originally slated for decommissioning, but it
was brought back into full service on account that it was made with older technology that Cylons can not gain control of
easily.
- The costuming strongly resembles contemporary fashions.
- The ruling Council of Twelve is replaced by a female president who was the last major surviving elected official and capably
shares equal authority with Commander Adama.
- The personal details of various characters have been changed such as: Starbuck is now a woman, the unusual names of some of
the characters ("Starbuck", "Apollo", "Boomer") have become pilot call signs, etc.
External links
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