Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica (BSG for short) was a science fiction franchise conceived by Glen A. Larson in the late-1960s. The basic premise concerned the annihilation of The Twelve Colonies of Humanity by the artificially intelligent robotic Cylon race. Led by Galactica , Humanity's last surviving capital warship, called a "battlestar " and under the command of Commander Adama , a "Rag Tag Refugee Fleet " carrying the last few remaining Humans, sets out to find the lost and mythical thirteenth colony of mankind, only known as "Earth".

While the basic premise had little in common with that of Star Trek aside from being a space-based science fiction show, and with in-camera crossover references being few and far between in either, as franchises both shared similarities in their histories. Apart from this, there were many behind-the-scenes connections, which held especially true for Ronald D. Moore's re-imagined version of the 2000s.

The two franchises, however, did share some commonalities in themes. Both BSG and Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) had a heavy influence from American westerns, and the country's white pioneer heritage (particularly given Larson's Latter-day Saint aka Mormon background). Other similarities in the franchises include Humans being hunted by a ruthless cybernetic race, beings who are so highly evolved as to appear gods, Erich von Däniken-esque ancient astronaut themes, lost Human space colonies, the fraught relationship between a space military and civilian colonists, and a wandering crew à la Voyager. Star Trek writer Harlan Ellison was highly critical of Glen Larson calling him "Glen Larceny" for his alleged plagiarism. ("Glen A. Larson does Star Wars!": Empire Magazine, No. 261; [1]^(X))

As such, the original BSG series was broadcast in the gap between TOS and Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), meaning there was no direct competition between the franchises on the small screen initially – Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS) had also been cancelled a few years previously. After the cancellation of BSG, there was a major fan-based letter writing campaign, somewhat similar to that which occurred after the axing of TOS. Unlike TNG, however, BSG's first revival, Galactica 1980, was a failure.

Original Battlestar Galactica (1978-1980)

Original Battlestar Galactica series opening title and logo

Originally called Adam's Ark, Glen Larson had been working on the outline since 1968. When Larson landed one of his first professional jobs as a writer on the television series It Takes a Thief (1969-1970), he met former TOS writer and producer Gene L. Coon in Coon's first gainful employment as a television writer after he had left Star Trek. Coon was known for his tendency to act as a mentor for aspiring writers, and this he also did for Larson, helping him out to beef out and professionalize his story treatment, which Larson, grateful for "Coon's perception of science fiction", in the process renamed to Galactica. [2]

Coon's help notwithstanding, Larson was unable to sell his premise for the next decade, until the first Star Wars film premiered in 1977. The entire industry taken aback by the huge and completely unexpected runaway success of the film, Larson found Universal Studios suddenly interested in the property. Universal, actually, had something to set straight, as they were one of the studios that had turned down George Lucas, when he approached them with his Star Wars proposition in the mid-1970s. [3] Nor was Universal the only Hollywood studio caught unawares by Star Wars: Paramount Pictures, too, was taken aback, leading up to their spur-of-the-moment decision to upgrade their television series Star Trek: Phase II, which at that time – October 1977 – was in an advanced state of development, into the theatrical feature Star Trek: The Motion Picture, with all the repercussions it entailed. (See The Motion Picture: Production history.)

Renamed Battlestar Galactica on the insistence of the studio (in an obvious ploy to capitalize on the "star" in Star Wars) and armed with an hitherto unheard of production budget of US$1 million per episode, Larson set to work on the two-part pilot episode of his series, "Saga of a Star World ", which was actually, again as a ploy to capitalize on the success of Star Wars, re-edited into the May/July 1978 theatrical feature Battlestar Galactica, becoming the de facto start of the franchise, before the main series , picked up by broadcaster ABC (one of the broadcasters to turn down the original Star Trek back in April 1964, only to turn down Star Trek yet again in the fall of 1986 when John S. Pike approached them with the pitch for The Next Generation), started its television run on 17 September 1978.

Battlestar Galactica in Star Trek

While there had been few in-camera crossover references in either franchise, then and later, there were a couple from original BSG that made it as homages into the later Star Trek: Voyager incarnation, specifically in the season seven episode "Flesh and Blood",

Boray, an alien species, after the similarly named species in the episode "The Magnificent Warriors ". (Star Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 1, p. 92)
Ovion, an alien species, after the similarly named species in the pilot episode "Saga of a Star World". (Star Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 2, p. 117)
Tylium, a fuel substance also referenced in the later Voyager episode "Workforce", after the similarly named fuel ore in the Galactica series. (Star Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 2, p. 431)

Cast crossover appearances

Since Battlestar Galactica as a television series began a decade before Star Trek restarted its run in 1987 with Star Trek: The Next Generation, most of the then relatively young performers who appeared in both, appeared first in Galactica before making their Star Trek appearances. But there were several original Star Trek veterans as well though, most notably Kor performer John Colicos in an equally memorable role for original BSG, as well as John Hoyt and Paul Fix, the USS Enterprise ship doctors, before DeForest Kelley was cast in the role.

Worthy of mention was the noticeable guest star appearance of Lloyd Bridges in the two-part episode "The Living Legend " (re-edited into the little known 1979 theatrical feature Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack), playing the part of the strong but misguided Commander Cain , commanding the battlestar Pegasus , incorrectly presumed destroyed previously. In 1964, Bridges had been one of the very first choices of Gene Roddenberry to play the lead in the pilot, "The Cage" for a proposed science fiction series. Bridges turned down the role, not wanting to be involved in another science fiction project following the failure of his 1950 film Rocketship X-M and feeling that doing a "space show" would hurt his career. [4]^(X) [5]^(X) Years later, Roddenberry still considered hiring Bridges, this time for the role of Gary Seven in the proposed series "Assignment: Earth", and later in the backdoor pilot episode of the same title. However, Bridges again turned him down. (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season Two) A glimpse of what the Original Series' first captain of the Enterprise might have looked and acted like, was therefore proffered when Bridges did concede to appear in a "space show" after all.

*Actors who have appeared in Star Trek* and the original Battlestar Galactica.**
Actor	Star Trek role	Star Trek episode/film	Date	Galactica role	Galactica episode	Date
Ian Abercrombie	Abbot	VOY: "Someone to Watch Over Me"	28-04-199	Forger 7	Battlestar Galactica: "The Long Patrol "	15-10-1978
Ian Abercrombie	Milo	VOY: "Spirit Folk"	23-02-2000	Forger 7	Battlestar Galactica: "The Long Patrol "	15-10-1978
Sharon Acker	Odona	TOS: "The Mark of Gideon"	17-01-1969	Anne	Galactica 1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I "	27-01-1980
Arthur Batanides	Lt. D'Amato	TOS: "That Which Survives"	24-01-1969	Central Park Cabbie	Galactica 1980: "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part II "	20-04-1980
Ed Begley, Jr.	Henry Starling	VOY: "Future's End", "Future's End, Part II"	06-11-1996 13-11-1996	Ensign/Flight Sergeant Greenbean	6 Battlestar Galactica episodes: from "Saga of a Star World, Part I " to "War of the Gods, Part I "	17-09-1978 to 14-01-1979
Geoffrey Binney	Compton	TOS: "Wink of an Eye"	29-11-1968	Second Warrior	Battlestar Galactica: "Saga of a Star World "	17-09-1978
Larry Cedar	Nydrom	DS9: "Armageddon Game"	30-01-1994	Cadet Shields	Battlestar Galactica: "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Part I "	22-10-1979
	Tersa	VOY: "Alliances"	22-01-1996
	Tessic	ENT: "Marauders"	30-10-2002
John Colicos	Kor	TOS: "Errand of Mercy"	23-03-1967	Count Baltar	14 Battlestar Galactica episodes: from "Saga of a Star World, Part I" to "The Hand of God "	17-09-1978 to 29-04-1979
John Colicos	Kor	DS9: "Blood Oath", "The Sword of Kahless", "Once More Unto the Breach"	27-03-1994 20-11-1995 11-11-1998	Count Baltar	Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming	1998
Walt Davis	Tantalus therapist	TOS: "Dagger of the Mind"	03-11-1966	Vickers	Battlestar Galactica: "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Part I and II "	22-10-1978 29-10-1978
	Romulan crewman	TOS: "Balance of Terror"	15-12-1966
	Klingon Soldier	TOS: "Errand of Mercy"	23-03-1967
Dick Durock	Elasian guard	TOS: "Elaan of Troyius"	20-12-1968	Imperious Leader (uncredited)	Battlestar Galactica: "Saga of a Star World"	17-09-1978
Marj Dusay	Kara	TOS: "Spock's Brain"	20-09-1968	Mildred	Galactica 1980: "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part II"	20-04-1980
Paul Fix	Doctor Mark Piper	TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before"	22-09-1966	Commander Kronus	Battlestar Galactica: "Take the Celestra "	01-04-1979
Ted Gehring	Second Policeman	TOS: "Assignment: Earth"	29-03-1968	Croad	Battlestar Galactica: "The Long Patrol "	15-10-1978
Ted Gehring	Second Policeman	TOS: "Assignment: Earth"	29-03-1968	Sheriff	Galactica 1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part II "	03-02-1980
Sandra Gimpel	Talosian	TOS: "The Cage"	February 1965	Seetol	Battlestar Galactica: "Saga of a Star World"	17-09-1978
Sandra Gimpel	M-113 creature	TOS: "The Man Trap"	08-09-1966	Seetol	Battlestar Galactica: "Saga of a Star World"	17-09-1978
Robert Hitchcock	Janus VI civilian engineer	TOS: "The Devil in the Dark"	09-03-1967	Council member	Battlestar Galactica: "Greetings from Earth "	25-02-1979
Erik Holland	Ekor	TOS: "Wink of an Eye"	29-11-1968	Second German	Galactica 1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part II and III "	03-02-1980 10-02-1980
John Hoyt	Doctor Phil Boyce	TOS: "The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part I", "The Menagerie, Part II"; DIS: "If Memory Serves"	February 1965 17-11-1966 24-11-1966	Sire Domra	Battlestar Galactica: "Baltar's Escape "	11-03-1979
John de Lancie	Q	8 TNG episodes: from "Encounter at Farpoint" to "All Good Things..."	28-09-1987 to 23-05-1994	People's Nationalist Force Officer	Battlestar Galactica: "Experiment in Terra "	18-03-1979
		DS9: "Q-Less"	07-02-1993
		VOY: "Death Wish", "The Q and the Grey", "Q2"	15-02-1996 27-11-1996 11-04-2001
		LD: "Veritas"	24-09-2020
		Star Trek: Borg	06-11-1996
Anthony De Longis	Culluh	5 VOY episodes: from "State of Flux" to "Basics, Part II"	10-04-1995 to 04-09-1996	Taba	Battlestar Galactica: "The Man with Nine Lives "; "Baltar's Escape"	28-01-1979 11-03-1979
Lance LeGault	K'Temoc	TNG: "The Emissary"	1990-10-01	Bootes	Battlestar Galactica: "The Lost Warrior "	08-10-1978
Lance LeGault	K'Temoc	TNG: "The Emissary"	1990-10-01	Maga	Battlestar Galactica: "The Man with Nine Lives"; "Baltar's Escape"	28-01-1979 11-03-1979
Charles Lucia	Ves Alkar	TNG: "Man Of The People"	05-10-1992	M.C.	Galactica 1980: "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part II"	20-04-1980
	Mabus	VOY: "Alliances"	22-01-1996
	Keene	ENT: "Fortunate Son"	21-11-2001
Ken Lynch	Chief engineer Vanderberg	TOS: "The Devil in the Dark"	09-03-1967	Hornig	Battlestar Galactica: "Experiment in Terra"	18-03-1979
Ken Lynch	Chief engineer Vanderberg	TOS: "The Devil in the Dark"	09-03-1967	Grover	Galactica 1980: "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part II"	20-04-1980
Richard Lynch	Arctus Baran	TNG: "Gambit, Part I", "Gambit, Part II"	1996-01-22 to 1996-09-04	Wolfe	Battlestar Galactica: "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Part I and II"	22-10-1978 29-10-1978
				Xaviar	Galactica 1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I, II, and III"	27-01-1980 10-02-1980
				Count Iblis	Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming	1998
Arlene Martel	T'Pring	TOS: "Amok Time"	15-09-1967	Adulteress 58	Battlestar Galactica: "The Long Patrol"	15-10-1978
Allan Miller	Alien	Star Trek III: The Search for Spock	01-06-1984	Colonel Jack Sydell	Galactica 1980: "The Super Scouts, Part I and II "; "Spaceball "	16-03-1980 27-03-1980 30-03-1980
George Murdock	"God"	Star Trek V: The Final Frontier	09-06-1989	Dr. Salik	5 Battlestar Galactica episodes: from "Lost Planet of the Gods: Part 1 " to "Greetings from Earth "	24-09-1978 to 25-02-1979
George Murdock	Admiral J.P. Hanson	TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds", "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"	18-06-1990 24-09-1990	Dr. Salik	Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming	1998
Reggie Nalder	Shras	TOS: "Journey to Babel"	17-11-1967	Bartender	Battlestar Galactica: "Saga of a Star World"	17-09-1978
Nehemiah Persoff	Palor Toff	TNG: "The Most Toys"	07-05-1990	Supreme Commandant	Battlestar Galactica: "Experiment in Terra"	18-03-1979
Brock Peters	Admiral Cartwright	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country	26-11-1986 06-12-1996	Chief Opposer Solon	Battlestar Galactica: "Murder on the Rising Star "	18-02-1979
Brock Peters	Joseph Sisko	6 DS9 episodes: from "Homefront" to "Shadows and Symbols"	01-01-1996 to 07-10-1998	Chief Opposer Solon	Battlestar Galactica: "Murder on the Rising Star "	18-02-1979
Logan Ramsey	Proconsul Claudius Marcus	TOS: "Bread and Circuses"	16-03-1968	Moore	Battlestar Galactica: "Experiment in Terra"	18-03-1979
Peter Mark Richman	Ralph Offenhouse	TNG: "The Neutral Zone"	16-05-1988	Colonel Briggs	Galactica 1980: "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I and II"	13-04-1980 20-04-1980
Ned Romero	Krell	TOS: "A Private Little War"	02-02-1968	Hector Alonzo	Galactica 1980: "Space Croppers "	27-04-1980
	Anthwara	TNG: "Journey's End"	28-03-1994
	Chakotay's grandfather	VOY: "The Fight"	24-03-1999
Eric Server	Bajoran peace officer	DS9: "The Circle"	03-10-1993	Dipper	Battlestar Galactica: "The Magnificent Warriors "	03-02-1980 10-02-1980
Felix Silla	Talosian (uncredited)	TOS: "The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part I", "The Menagerie, Part II"	February 1965 17-11-1966 24-11-1966	Lucifer (uncredited)	10 Battlestar Galactica episodes: from "Saga of a Star World, Part I" to "War of the Gods, Part I"	17-09-1978 to 14-01-1979
Michael Strong	Doctor Roger Korby	TOS: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"	20-10-1966	Resistance Leader	Galactica 1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part II and III"	03-02-1980 10-02-1980
Norman Stuart	Vulcan Kolinahr master	Star Trek: The Motion Picture	07-12-1979	Statesman	Battlestar Galactica: "Saga of a Star World"; "War of the Gods, Part I and II"	17-09-1978 14-01-1979 21-01-1979
Bruce Wright	Sarish Rez	DS9: , "Crossfire"	29-01-1996	Deckhand	Battlestar Galactica: "Saga of a Star World"	17-09-1978
	Sarish Rez	DS9: , "Crossfire"	29-01-1996	Colonial/Council Security officer	Battlestar Galactica: "Lost Planet of the Gods, Part I"; "War of the Gods, Part I"	24-09-1978 14-01-1979
	Fer'at	ENT: "The Expanse"	21-05-2003	Corporal Lomas	Battlestar Galactica: "The Man with Nine Lives"	28-01-1979
	Fer'at	ENT: "The Expanse"	21-05-2003	Aide	Galactica 1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part II"	03-02-1980

Production staff crossovers

The original incarnation was served by future Star Trek Visual Effects (VFX) Producer Dan Curry as matte painter, (Assistant) Director Winrich Kolbe, VFX Compositor David Stipes, [6] with production illustrators Andrew Probert and his mentor Ralph McQuarrie (commissioned previously in a similar role on the abandoned Star Trek: Planet of the Titans project) as concept designers.

Of critical importance to the production was famed former Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) co-founder and Star Wars visual effects (VFX) wizard John Dykstra (who also served as co-producer on BSG for the duration of his tenure, and who was brought aboard because of his Star Wars credentials in the first place) and his mostly uncredited staff, which included among others Don Trumbull, Steve Gawley (who was on loan from ILM due to slow business), and Grant McCune. During his tenure on the pilot and the subsequent three series episodes, Dykstra formed his Apogee, Inc. company and the effects he and his team produced were extensively reused as stock footage throughout the remainder of the original franchise. This was actually the exact same original intent for the effects produced by ILM for The Next Generation pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint" a decade later. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 3rd ed., p. 31) Dykstra's protégée Patricia Rose Duignan, who was featured in a 1978 behind-the-scenes video made on personal title by the VFX crew, albeit unidentified, [7] served alongside him as an uncredited production associate on BSG.

Directly after the February 1979 VFX debacle, he was offered a VFX commission on Star Trek: The Motion Picture by his former mentor Douglas Trumbull, son of the aforementioned Don Trumbull. Actually, Dykstra had already been approached earlier by Paul Rabwin as one of the VFX companies sought out after the upgrade decision in October 1977, while he was still working on his BSG commission (during which he had formed his company), and had already committed his company to a follow-up project, the 1980 film Altered States, so he had to decline on that occasion. Trumbull was faced with the gargantuan task of recreating all the VFX from scratch for the film at the eleventh hour, and suggested his former protégé in order to get a head-start on VFX production, as he needed time to revitalize Future General Corporation (FGC), his own near dismantled VFX company. At that particular time though, Dykstra had to decline again as he and his company was still working on Altered States. However, less than a month later, the project was taken away from the company and Dykstra, with no further work left in the pipeline, was able to offer the services of his company, along with most of his BSG staff, to a relieved Trumbull after all. (Cinefex, issue 2, p. 51; Return to Tomorrow - The Filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, pp. 46-47, 372-374) Dykstra and his team subsequently provided signature contributions for the film. (See: The Motion Picture: Visual Effects) The Galactica pilot episode had earned Dykstra a 1979 Emmy Award, shared with original Star Trek veteran Richard Edlund (one of only two known original Star Trek production staff to serve original BSG as well), both of whom having already shared an Academy Award for Star Wars, the year previously, with Dykstra having earned an additional one in a technical category to boot. Dykstra went on to become an Acadamy Award nominee for The Motion Picture as well one year later, making him a laureate of three major science fiction franchises in only as many years.

Two important, albeit also uncredited, members on Dykstra's BSG team were VFX cameramen Hoyt Yeatman and Dave Stewart. Both men were originally part of Trumbull's FGC company, but the latter was forced to let them go when work on the science fiction film Close Encounters of the Third Kind was completed in November 1977, whereupon both men joined Dykstra's team on BSG. However, both men were among the few that opted not to join Dykstra's newly-formed Apogee and stayed on at Universal after Apogee had left for the remainder of the series, and to subsequently start work on the pilot of Larson's follow-up project Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Nonetheless, their skills were sorely needed for The Motion Picture, and Trumbull managed to re-hire both men back into FGC again after the February 1979 VFX debacle, around the same time Apogee was sub-contracted, and where they were made responsible for that film's studio model photography as eventually realized. (Return to Tomorrow - The Filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, pp. 324-325) A third VFX cameraman concerned Don Dow, as identified in the same behind-the-scenes video Duignan was featured in. [8] Like Duignan, Dow did not join Trumbull's outfit, but opted to return to ILM, both yet to work on several later Star Trek films, starting with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Robert Bralver was the second known original Star Trek production staff veteran (continuing being so for Berman-era Star Trek as well) to serve original BSG as stunt coordinator. Like Bralver and Apogee, Inc., Probert too went on to work on The Motion Picture after the original Galactica film was completed, whereas Curry started his long Star Trek association with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, on that occasion joined by McQuarrie. Stipes joined Curry as VFX supervisor on the later seasons of The Next Generation and beyond, as did Kolbe as director.

Furthermore, the director of the pilot episode/theatrical feature, Richard Colla, later directed The Next Generation first season episode "The Last Outpost", in which the Ferengi were introduced. Additionally, Art Director John E. Chilberg II and his subordinate, Set Decorator Mickey S. Michaels, shared an Emmy Award nomination for their work on the pilot episode. Chilberg later served as such on Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (his only theatrical feature film credit), whereas Michaels, as part of Herman Zimmerman's staff, later worked as set decorator on Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as well as on the first season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, likewise earning him an Emmy Award co-nomination for its pilot episode "Emissary". Original BSG series' Sound Effects Editor Jim Alexander reprised his function as such later on for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Richard James had served as an uncredited art director on the 1978 theatrical feature, and as a credited one on seven episodes of the main series. He then went on to become a production designer on The Next Generation and Voyager.

In the merchandise department, Nicholas Yermakov aka Simon Hawke, wrote the novelizations of the two-part episodes "The Living Legend " and "War of the Gods ", before he penned his three Star Trek novels in the 1990s. Richard J. Anobile adapted the original BSG theatrical feature into a fotonovel, Battlestar Galactica: The Photostory , published in May 1979, before he did the same for the first two Star Trek films, the first of which published one year later. Reference book author Shane Johnson has also written on both franchises, though his writings were in some cases, particularly where original BSG was concerned, limited to fan publications.

Reception and demise

While the 1978 theatrical feature was generally well received, earning eight industry award nominations of which it won two, including the one Dykstra and Edlund received, [9] critics quickly changed their minds once the regular series started airing. By and large their main criticism boiled down to their assessment that Battlestar Galactica was nothing more than a cheap copy of Star Wars, which, given the original intent of Universal, [10] was not entirely unfounded. Noted scientist, science fiction writer, Roddenberry friend, and unapologetic "trekkie" Isaac Asimov summarized all the criticism in one scathing September 1978 commentary, "Star Wars was fun and I enjoyed it. But Battlestar Galactica was Star Wars all over again and I couldn't enjoy it without amnesia," thereby joining the ranks of critics like fellow science fiction author Harlan Ellison. [11] Star Wars production company 20th Century Fox saw it the same way and sued Universal for plagiarism the same year, (Universal Studios vs. Battlestar Galactica, 2007, pp. 10, 171, ISBN 9780615170305) which was however immediately met with a counter-suit by Universal, accusing Fox of plagiarizing their 1930s Buck Rogers serials and their 1972 science fiction film Silent Running [12] – which was incidentally also served by Dykstra and his then-mentor Trumbull – and rightfully so, according to Susan Sackett, the long-serving personal assistant of Gene Roddenberry. Already in 1978, she had observed that "they're all ripping off Star Wars, which ripped off Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers to begin with". (Return to Tomorrow - The Filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 41) Both suits petered out eventually, evidently "resolved without trial". [13]^(X) Echoing these to-and-fro accusations of plagiarism were the later Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 productions, though in these cases, both franchises refrained from actually starting legal proceedings.

Science fiction fans on the other hand, left wanting for more after Star Wars – which at the time was nowhere near the franchise juggernaut it later became – were of a decidedly different mind. Excepting the ubiquitous reruns of original Star Trek in syndication, no other science fiction show of its kind was aired at the time, and BSG managed to quickly acquire a substantial and loyal fan following of its own.

It were these fans who made the series a ratings success for ABC initially. However, ABC was forced to play fast and loose with time slots in response to competitors shifting time slots of then particularly popular television shows into the ones BSG originally held, causing ratings to fall as interpreted by ABC. ("Battlestar Show Blasting Nowhere at Light Speed", The Montreal Gazette, 27 March 1979; Wilmington Morning Star, 11 January 1979) For ABC executives it became the primary public reason to cancel the show near the end of the first season, though the high production costs were unofficially the actual major factor for the cancellation decision. ("Battlestar Galactica, Five others to be Cancelled Next Fall by ABC", The Toledo Blade, 24 April 1979) In more than one way this chain of events was very reminiscent of the way NBC came to its decision to cancel the original Star Trek series a decade earlier.

And like NBC before them, ABC saw itself unexpectedly confronted with a fierce fan backlash, complete with fans picketing the ABC offices and, worse still, the nation-wide publicized suicide of a young fan because of the cancellation, after he had written a letter to ABC to reconsider, to no avail. [14] [15]^(X) Unlike their Star Trek counterparts however, the fans did not succeed to save the series for another season.

Series creator Glen Larson in the meantime was set to work on the other property he was concurrently contracted for, the remake of Universal's 1930s Buck Rogers serials, somewhat ironically picked up by former Star Trek broadcaster NBC. Following the same pattern set by BSG, to wit, pilot episodes re-edited into theatrical feature to start off the renewed franchise, the new series, called Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, started its television run later that year on 20 September 1979. Production-wise the series had the advantage of being able to use production assets already constructed for Galactica and it too was served by some Star Trek alumni, past and future, most notably Dan Curry who had moved over from Galactica. In visual style unsurprisingly very reminiscent of BSG, the series fared slightly better than its predecessor, running for two seasons, before it too was cancelled in 1981 for pretty much the same reasons as Galactica and original Star Trek had been.

However, while production for Buck Rogers was being geared up, ABC came to reconsider their cancellation decision of Galactica, due to the letter-writing campaign fans had embarked upon, in imitation of Bjo Trimble's famous 1967/1968 "Save Star Trek" letter-writing campaign, which had caused NBC to buckle. Essentially doing the same, but in this case belated, ABC commissioned Universal to proceed with Galactica, but not before some of ABC's most pressing concerns, i.e. production costs, were addressed. Glen Larson, who now had to divide his time between two television productions, was set to work on its development, working in some elements envisioned for the never produced second season, and it was decided to proceed with a separate spin-off sequel series, taking place when Galactica had actually reached contemporary 1980s Earth. But more importantly, it was reasoned that it also afforded considerable cost savings as most of the action was Earthbound, if only for the fact that most Galactica production assets had already been re-purposed for Buck Rogers, enabling the studio to make use of its standing sets, whereas most of the original cast was shed and replaced by unknown, and therefore cheaper performers, with screen-time of the few that were retained limited to an absolute minimum. Furthermore, since outer space visuals was also kept to an absolute minimum, no new visual effects needed to be produced, as use was made of the library of stock footage, including some not previously used, produced for the original series.

Titled Galactica 1980 , the spin-off series premiered on 27 January 1980. It was not what fans expected and most definitely not what they had hoped for, because of the overuse of the by then already tired science fiction clichés, the mostly contemporary Earth-based settings, as well as its heavy emphasis on light family entertainment with children taking up an inordinate amount of quality time, and which actually had already started to cripple the later episodes of the main series on the ill-advised insistence of ABC, contributing to its fall in ratings – thus foreshadowing similar fan criticism of Wil Wheaton who played the part of the child prodigy Wesley Crusher, The Next Generation's counterpart for BSG's Boxey . BSG's Story Editor Allan Cole recalled a testy remark an overworked and exasperated Glen Larson once made when ABC continued to pester him with their incessant demands of including more children on the show, "Okay, I'll give you kids crawling out of your ears!", which he subsequently did. Right from the start, the series became almost overnight an unmitigated and costly ratings disaster, as the studio did not quite realize the savings it had hoped for either, and then some, as the per episode production costs actually surpassed that of the original series. [16]^(X) After only ten episodes, with a nearly completed eleventh one not even allowed to be finished, the series was unceremoniously cancelled in May, effective immediately. In this at least, TOS had fared a little better, as it was allowed to finish up on its third season by NBC when it was definitively cancelled halfway trough its production, albeit shy of a full season by two episodes – much like the later fourth season of Star Trek: Enterprise was, when that series was cancelled halfway through its fourth season production.

ABC had not been the only broadcaster in their misguided belief that dumbing down a production would result in higher ratings and viewerships. A decade earlier, NBC too demanded less talk and more action – though not more children, if one is to disregard the "And the Children Shall Lead" episode – on top of severe budget slashes when it, after Trimble's letter campaign, reluctantly embarked upon the third season of TOS. It only resulted in that season becoming the least well-received by fans for decades. And when a relieved NBC finally managed to cancel the series in 1969 without much further ado during the season three run, there was no fan outcry this time around, barely even a whisper. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, 1997, p. 409) The showrunner for that season, Fred Freiberger (who was put in charge over Roddenberry), was forced by networks to do something similar to later television shows, including the initially well-received British science fiction series Space 1999 – taken over by American producers after its first season – with very similar results, earning him the unenviable sobriquet "Series Killer".

NBC coincidentally, had been an industry partner of Universal since the 1950s, and the two companies formalized their longstanding relationship in May 2004 when they merged into what is currently the media conglomerate NBCUniversal.

Deeply disappointed with this incarnation of BSG, the fanbase as well as most of the associated production staff, including Larson himself, [17]^(X) consider Galactica 1980 to this day as non-canon or "apocryphal", and the series has never even been considered once for contemplation in later revival attempts. In effect, a very similar fate befell Star Trek: The Animated Series six years earlier, which became even disavowed by creator Roddenberry himself, before the franchise elevated the series to canon in 2006 for commercial reasons after Roddenberry had passed away. However, as had been the case with the TAS episode "Yesteryear", there was one episode of Galactica 1980 that was favorably received by fans and production staff alike, the series' finale "The Return of Starbuck ". In that episode original Starbuck performer Dirk Benedict reprised his role as a guest star, befriending a Cylon after both had crashed on a deserted planet, the only episode with a more or less mature theme, later explored in more depth in the small and unnoticed, yet acclaimed 1985 film Enemy Mine, itself essentially the science-fiction remake of the 1968 World War II film Hell in the Pacific (featuring Toshiro Mifune). A such, fans consider only this Galactica 1980 episode as being semi-canon, much like their Star Trek counterparts do "Yesteryear". (Star Trek: The Animated Series: "Yesteryear" – text commentary) Incidentally, the 2003 season two Enterprise episode "Dawn" is in itself essentially a remake of Enemy Mine, down to the near identical reptilian adversary Trip Tucker eventually befriended.

Following the cancellation of Galactica 1980, ABC commissioned Universal to re-edit the multi-part episodes of both Galactica series into twelve television films, which it repeatedly aired in the early 1980s in order to recoup some of the production costs. [18] Of these, Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack , cobbled together from the action-packed episodes "The Living Legend" (Part I and II), "Fire in Space", and "The Hand of God", directly after the main series had wrapped, was not only the first, but also the most notable one, as it has seen a limited 1979 theatrical release outside the USA a few months before Star Trek: The Motion Picture premiered. Unlike Star Trek in syndication however, this ploy failed to rekindle interest in the Galactica franchise.

Still, while considered "camp" by modern audiences, the original series – as does Larson's Buck Rogers for that matter – retains to this day a relatively small, yet loyal, fanbase, both having attained a cult status in the process. Both these series are regularly re-issued on home video formats as complete collection editions, including on Blu-ray Discs, these brought forth by the success of re-imagined BSG. Unsurprisingly, Galactica 1980 is rarely re-issued and left out of the main series collection releases, though it has itself seen an one-time-only 2007 bare-bone (meaning no special features included) DVD release as the most recent one.

Aftermath

The perceived dismal performance of original BSG, combined with an all-time low interest for televised science fiction in the 1980s, and the near-similar per episode price-tag attached to it, were almost certainly the reasons for ABC to decline the new Star Trek: The Next Generation pitch, when Paramount Television CEO John Pike approached the studio six years later in 1986 in search for an outlet for the new show. (William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge) Yet it was precisely The Next Generation that proved conclusively that a considerable science fiction television audience was still out there when it soared in popularity around the turn of the decade, spawning two successful spin-off series of its own, Deep Space Nine and Voyager, in 1992 and 1994 respectively, and being joined on television in 1993 by a new, equally successful science fiction franchise, Babylon 5. It is therefore not too much a stretch of the imagination to argue that The Next Generation heralded a new era of televised science fiction, as well as paving the way for re-imagined BSG.

Nonetheless, it took some time for minds to ripen to even consider revisiting BSG. First and foremost there was original BSG performer Richard Hatch , who had played the original Captain Apollo , one of the main characters in the original series. Though he had declined to reprise his role in Galactica 1980, having been skeptical of the premise of that series, he remained a staunch and vocal believer and supporter of the original series throughout the 1980s and 1990s. A frequent convention attendee, writer of several BSG tie-in books and novels, and founder of the battlestargalactica.com website, Hatch tried hard to keep the original series in the awareness of the public and studio. His efforts to get BSG back on the screen culminated in 1998 in the four minute, proof-of-concept, trailer Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming , which he co-wrote/produced/starred in/directed, and, coming in at a cost-price of US$20,000, paid for by himself. [19] Intended as a sequel to the original series, discounting Galactica 1980, it was received to great fan acclaim when shown at conventions. Featuring brand new CGI visual effects, Hatch also managed to enlist the help of several former BSG performers, including Star Trek performer Richard Lynch, who thereby gained the distinction of becoming one of only two performers to appear in all three original BSG live-action incarnations – the other one being original Colonel Tigh performer Terry Carter. Despite the fan acclaim though, and much to Hatch's frustration, the trailer failed to get the attention of Universal. Hatch himself though, was yet to make a significant contribution to the live-action franchise later on.

In hindsight, and unbeknownst to Hatch at the time, there was actually a reason for this. It turned out that Universal had let the BSG film rights slip back to creator Larson, who subsequently was in the midst of developing his own BSG sequel film called Battlestar Atlantis (in which Commander Cain and his battlestar Pegasus was slated to make a re-appearance) at the same time Hatch was busy with his. A simple trailer, only featuring graphics, was presented before Hatch's more professional one, but like Hatch's, Larson's proposal failed to gain traction as well. The reason for this in both cases was that Universal was still licking its wounds after the costly failure of their own ill-fated 1993-1996 The Next Generation emulation attempt, seaQuest DSV – incidentally also served by some Star Trek alumni, past and future. (A Vision of the Future - Star Trek: Voyager, p. 54)

After Universal had regained the BSG rights, it contracted Star Trek performer and X-Men director Bryan Singer and Producer Tom DeSanto in January 2001 to develop a new BSG sequel series for their and, most ironically, Fox's television divisions, again discounting Galactica 1980. Announced on 22 February 2001, [20] Singer stated at the time, "[T]he Galactica brand is a sleeping giant. It was a show I watched during its initial run, from the pilot to the final episode. The essence and the brand name is quite potent in a climate where there's a great deficit of sci-fi programming." [21] The development, however, was thwarted by the 9/11 terror attacks, and by the time the project could be taken up again, Fox had dropped out, Singer was forced to decline further participation as he was committed to direct the second X-men film, and Universal itself had already decided to go with the different concept of David Eick and Ronald D. Moore. Singer, incidentally, shortly thereafter conceived Star Trek: Federation, a spin-off proposal that was not developed either.

All these revival attempts were very reminiscent of the struggle Gene Roddenberry and others had to go through to get Star Trek back on the screen in the 1970s. (See: The Motion Picture: Production history)

Re-imagined Battlestar Galactica (2003-2012)

Revamped logo

Prior revival attempts having come to naught and prompted on again by industry competitors to revisit its old science fiction property, it was only after the dismal failure of seaQuest DSV and the 9/11 Attacks that Universal Studios decided in 2002 to start anew with a remake instead of a sequel as previously proposed. Despite being industry distribution partners, Universal had by then become one of the Hollywood studios that became increasingly envious of Paramount Pictures for its Star Trek franchise due to the property's stable and highly profitable revenue stream for that studio, particularly in the early-to-mid 1990s when Star Trek was at its peak in popularity, being Paramount's most profitable property for a period of time, admitted as such by them. Universal desperately wanted something of their own like Star Trek as well, and that had been the primary reason for the ill-fated seaQuest DSV project in the first place. (A Vision of the Future - Star Trek: Voyager, pp. 50-51, 54)

In service of that goal, Universal appointed Producer David Eick for its development as showrunner. Eick immediately sought out former Star Trek Writer/Producer Ronald D. Moore – who had been responsible for many of Star Trek's most popular episodes in the Berman-era, just like his predecessor Gene Coon had been on original Star Trek – to serve alongside him as an equal. Eick reasoned that if anyone had a thorough understanding of what made a mature, modern science fiction show tick, it must have been Moore; seaQuest DSV had failed precisely because it did not tick.

The franchise was successfully relaunched as an original production on Sci-Fi Channel (which continued to be the broadcaster for the subsequent remainder of the revamped franchise) with the 8-9 December 2003 two-part miniseries Battlestar Galactica, subtitled "Night, Part 1 " and "Night, Part 2 ". Sci-Fi Channel itself was in effect launched on 24 September 1992 by USA Networks, a 50/50 joint venture of Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures, and had aired the original and animated Star Trek series, but was sold off by them in 1997. Gene Roddenberry and original BSG critic Isaac Asimov had actually served on the initial advisory board of the broadcaster, but neither had lived long enough to see its launch. [22] Universal though, repurchased the broadcaster as sole owner in 2002, in anticipation of the new BSG show they had in development, which was testament to their commitment to the project.

The series was well received by both fans and critics, earning eight industry award nominations of which it won two – purely by coincidence the exact same numbers the 1978 original had – enticing the studio and broadcaster to continue with the production. Essentially one itself, the miniseries has, like Star Trek, seen several spin-off live-action productions. The first was the 2004-2009 four-season main series (into which the miniseries was incorporated as the re-edited pilot episode). Then came four smaller webisodes series (delving deeper into the background of events referenced to in the main series), of which two (Razor and Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome , in 2007 and 2012 respectively, the latter becoming the last live-action outing in the re-imagined franchise) were re-edited into feature length television movies. They were joined by a specifically-made third one (The Plan , 2009), and eventually a spin-off prequel series Caprica (2010). Coined "Re-imagined BSG", the renewed franchise became also frequently referred to as "Rebooted BSG" or "Revamped BSG", akin to the later alternate reality Star Trek films as produced by J.J. Abrams.

Like Roddenberry before him on The Next Generation, the new BSG showrunners were legally obligated to bring in creator Glen Larson in an official capacity on the revamped show because of his "created by" credit. Given the official "Consulting Producer" title, Larson, however, unlike Roddenberry on The Next Generation, largely left the showrunners to their own devices, though he was consulted by them, asked for his input, and generally kept in the loop. This was in stark contrast to Roddenberry when he was given a similar title – but no function – for the five subsequent Star Trek films following The Motion Picture.

The looks and settings modernized, and using imaginative cinematography for the space action scenes – a variation thereof also introduced in later live-action Star Trek, starting with the 2009 alternate reality movie Star Trek – the miniseries largely followed the story-line of the 1978 original pilot episode/feature film, but the subsequent spin-offs, starting with the main series, differed substantially in story thematics from the more straightforward, superficial, somewhat "campy" – typical for television action shows of the 1970s-1980s era – and action driven ones of its progenitor. "Taking the series seriously" and incorporating lessons learned from 1990s television, the showrunners crafted episodes with more depth in which television audiences could see their own lives and the contemporary social issues they had to contend with reflected realistically in the lives and events of the series' characters in a mature manner. (The 2000's, S01E01: "The Platinum Age of Television, Part Two") In this the showrunners followed in the footsteps of Moore's great example Gene Roddenberry, who had already intended something similar for both his Original and The Next Generation series. In order to focus on the Human condition and Human drama, the re-imagined franchise, contrary to the original one, featured no aliens whatsoever.

Even the original alien Cylon race – having been for BSG what the Borg race was for Star Trek – were re-imagined as being Human-created , and who had risen up against their makers, reflecting the growing ethical concerns in contemporary society about artificial intelligence as voiced by such luminaries as Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking, and Elon Musk. [23] [24] Not only constructed as lifelike Humans (actually already foreshadowed in the unsuccessful Galactica 1980 series, where a Human-like Cylon was introduced in the two-part episode "The Night the Cylons Landed "), the newest, cybernetic/cyborg hybrid models were also burdened with Human emotions, doubts, and fallacies they had inherited from their creators, leading eventually up to a Cylon civil war. The particular theme of a robotic intelligence rising up against its creators only to go to war with itself had actually already been explored in the prior Voyager season two episode "Prototype", whereas the internal conflict had an additional counterpart in Star Trek in the form of the Unimatrix Zero Borg resistance, established in later Voyager episodes. In the even earlier TNG season two episode "The Measure Of A Man", the difficult ethical question was postulated of whether or not an artificial, yet sentient, lifeform remains the property of its creator, to be exploited at will by said creator. This in re-imagined BSG was in effect the very reason for the uprising of the Cylons against their makers, further explored in the prequel spin-off series Caprica, which dealt with the origin of the sentient Cylons – as indeed it became more explicitly in the later season two "Identity" two-part episode of the TNG-inspired science fiction series The Orville from Seth MacFarlane. These two Star Trek episodes therefore, foreshadowed in themselves the advent of re-imagined BSG.

The theme of the fraught relations between artificial lifeforms and their creators, went on to play a major part in season one of the 2020 series Star Trek: Picard, especially in regard to the destruction of Mars by rogue synths, which is very reminiscent of the Cylon surprise attack which set off both incarnations of BSG – including the hacking of defense nets by the attackers in both Picard and reimagined BSG.

There were until 2009, however, two major differences with Roddenberry's enlightened atheistic (Human) universe; first, the basic premise itself made BSG by default a far more darker and grittier universe, especially after the franchise was rebooted, with its thinly veiled references to among others, the 9/11 attacks, the Iraq War, and terrorism. Secondly, religion played a major part in re-imagined BSG, particularly in Caprica, in which religious intolerance and fanaticism served as social commentary on contemporary real world growing religious intolerance. Creator Larson had actually already incorporated subtle references to the Mormon faith, to which he belonged, in his original incarnation. [25] These references, however, were lost on non-believing viewers of the superficial, action-driven original series. While Star Trek's universe has remained largely atheistic, it did become grittier and darker after 2009, first under the reign of J.J. Abrams for the alternate reality films, and subsequently and more prominently under that of Alex Kurtzman and his associates for the CBS All Access-era television series.

Star Trek in Battlestar Galactica

USS Enterprise joining Battlestar Galactica's Rag Tag Fleet — USS *Enterprise* joining the "Rag Tag Refugee Fleet" in the upper right, proceeded by the *Astral Queen* two places up front, with the *Gemenon Liner* in the lower right corner

In the miniseries, one of the "Rag Tag Refugee Fleet" ships had the call sign "Gemenon Liner 1701". The colonial fleet also included a ship named Astral Queen , a reference to the ship of the same name in TOS: "The Conscience of the King". A Constitution-class starship is briefly visible in one shot of the colonial fleet in the miniseries. The footage is subsequently recycled in the first season opening credits, as well as selected stock footage in several episodes themselves. [26] [27] It was later revealed that former Foundation Imaging digital artist Lee Stringer, a Star Trek: Voyager veteran, had been responsible for the latter insertion. (Battlestar Galactica: Designing Spaceships, p. 173, ISBN 1858758009)

Moore has revealed that the first name of the "Kara "Starbuck" Thrace " character, one of the main protagonists from the revamped Battlestar Galactica, was inspired by Deep Space Nine's Kira Nerys, played by Nana Visitor. [28] Incidentally, for Moore's Galactica, the "Starbuck" part was recast as female from the original male character and played by Katee Sackhoff , which, however, was initially met with disdain by its original performer Dirk Benedict. [29]^(X)

In the episode "The Ties That Bind " (S04E05), Colonel Tigh, Chief Tyrol, and Tory Foster meet in weapons locker "1701D", like the "Gemenon Traveler 1701" a reference to BSG show-runner Moore's previous Star Trek work, The Next Generation in particular.

In the Caprica spin-off series finale, "Apotheosis " (S01E19), right before landing Daniel Graystone's personal airplane can be seen flying past a large building featuring a banner which (apart from a new color scheme) is identical to a banner previously seen in the conference hall for the IME conference on Dekendi III in ENT: "Stigma". The large overlap in VFX crew between the two series had more than likely something to do with this.