Battlestar Galactica (1978)

Battlestar Galactica
Premiere	September 17, 1978
Finale	April 29, 1979
Creator	Glen A. Larson
Network/Provider	ABC
Style	60-minute sci-fi drama
Company	Glen A. Larson Productions, Universal Television
Distributor	MCA Television (until 1996) Universal Television Enterprises (1996–1998) Studios USA (1998–2002) Universal Domestic Television (2002–2004) NBCUniversal Television Distribution (2004–2021) NBCUniversal Syndication Studios (2021– )
Seasons	1
Episodes	24 (List of episodes)
Origin	USA

"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. That 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."

Battlestar Galactica is an American science-fiction series which aired on ABC.

Running for only one season before its cancellation in 1979, it is doubtful whether or not Glen A. Larson would have expected his series Battlestar Galactica to become the cult classic that it has, spawning a second, critically panned short-lived series in 1980 and another, which became a hit, in 2005.

Originally envisioned by its creator as a show called Adam's Ark, about an oddball millionaire taking the best of mankind from a dying Earth off-planet in search of a new home to colonize, the show garnered no interest from Universal Studios. No interest, that is, until the success of science-fiction classic Star Wars in 1977. Universal, now interested in getting in on the action, had Larson and producer Leslie Stevens rework the series into what would become Battlestar Galactica.

The series was originally intended to be a series of television movies. Given a massive budget for its time, Battlestar Galactica brought on John Dykstra and the special effects staff from the original Star Wars movie to develop the visual effects for the series. This resulted in many intentional and unintentional similarities to Star Wars which have haunted the series to this day - many still dismiss the original series as a simple ripoff of a popular movie. This was not helped by the fact that 20th Century Fox sued Universal Pictures, citing dozens of similarities to Star Wars.

The show debuted to massive success, and the decision was made to make Battlestar Galactica a weekly series. Unfortunately, the ratings did not keep up from week to week, and the drop in viewers, combined with rising legal costs and the massive costs of each episode, caused the series' cancellation after only one season.

Battlestar Galactica was picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel as reruns some time before they began the new Battlestar Galactica.

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
ABC
Season One	September 17, 1978	April 29, 1979				24

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series
• Locations and Places: A list of all the different locations known in the Battlestar Galactica universe
• Ships and Technology: A listing of all the technology that populates the series, including ships and weaponry

DVD Releases

Title	Release Date	#
Complete Series
The Complete Epic Series	December 28, 2004	6

External Sites

• Battlestar Wiki
• BattlestarGalactica.com
• Battlestar Galactica 1978 interviews