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Emma Reust Deborah Warshaw Senior Project 18 December 2012 A History of Battlestar Galactica

The Original Battlestar Galactica 1978-80 In 1978 ABC (American Broadcasting Company) aired the pilot to a show that has been compared to the likes of Star Wars and Star Trek but yet it is not a household name. That show was Battlestar Galactica. Battlestar Galactica aired approximately nine years after the end of the original Star Trek and it has been said that Battlestar Galactica helped to change television the same way that Star Wars helped to change movies. Sixty-five million people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds tuned in to see the debut on ABC in September of 1978, giving one of the most highly publicized series in history a very respectable fifth-place finish in the Nielsen ratings (Hatch 1). That debut was the pilot, Saga of a Star World, that aired on September 17, 1978. The pilot had a budget of 7 million dollars, the most expensive for a television pilot at the time. Due to the expensive production costs of the show an edited 125-minute version of the pilot was theatrically released in several countries including Canada, Japan and Western Europe during the summer of 1978. The full 148-minute pilot premiered on ABC to high ratings. Two-thirds of the way through the East Coast broadcast was interrupted by a report about the signing of the Camp David Accords at the White House by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat with Jimmy Carter as witness. After the report, ABC resumed the broadcast from where it was interrupted.

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Battlestar Galactica is about a distant star system that is made up of the Twelve Colonies of Mankind. In the show the Twelve Colonies have been at war with warrior robots, the Cylons, which were created by a reptilian race that had long since become extinct. The Twelve Colonies and the Cylons were nearing the end of a thousand year war when the Cylons lunched a sneak attack on the home worlds of the Twelve Colonies that lead to humanitys ultimate defeat. The handful of humans that survived the attack gathered together to create a rag-tag fleet of 220 ships that came under the protection of the last surviving capital warship, a battlestar called the Galactica. Under the command of Adama, played by Lorne Greene, the fleet began a quest to find the long-lost thirteenth colony, Earth. Over the course of 24 episodes the last of humanity travels across the universe looking for Earth while being pursued by the Cylons. On April 29, 1979 the last of the original 24 episodes of Battlestar Galactica aired. It was called The Hand of God. While the reason behind ABCs decision to cancel Battlestar Galactica has never been officially released, it is believed that while Battlestar listed in twentyfourth place and the sixth highest-rated new series of the season (Hatch 1) the high production costs and the impossible challenge of mounting a theatrical-style series for television on a weekly basis (Hatch 1) was what lead to the decision to cancel the show in April. The fan base of Battlestar Galactica was generally shocked to find that the series had been canceled because it seemed that the show had a strong viewership. After the series ended, several attempts were made to launch a continuation motion picture or series. The Battlestar Atlantis project from Glen Larson (creator of the original Battlestar Galactica), the Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming project by Richard Hatch (Captain Apollo), and the studio-endorsed Singer-DeSanto project are all examples of attempted continuations. Several changes were made to the show after its cancellation. The three episodes

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that made up the pilot were edited together into a new theatrical release using the Sensurround enhancement system, a process developed in the 1970s to enhance the audio experience during film screenings. The episodes The Living Legend" and "Fire in Space" were re-edited into a full length movie called Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack. Another full length movie that was edited together was Conquest of the Earth which used the episodes "Galactica Discovers Earth" and "The Night the Cylons Landed. All of the episodes were turned into telemovies (television film) for syndication. Two episodes were turned into a single narrative to be shown over a two hour time period. A few months after Battlestar Galactica was cancelled a spin-off series was created called Galactica 1980. The series aired on January 27, 1980. Galactica 1980 was the result of a massive write-in campaign started by fans after the cancellation. The show is set 30 years after the original Battlestar Galactica and is about the fleet finding Earth. When Galactica 1980 first aired, the ratings were initially promising but due to questionable writing that followed science fiction clichs the show was disliked by both critics and fans. This version of the show only lasted 10 episodes. Re-Imagined Battlestar Galactica 2003-2008 Approximately 23 years after the original Battlestar Galactica was cancelled, Universal Pictures (legal rights holders of Battlestar Galactica) announced that they would be making a remake of the show rather than a sequel. The pilot, a three hour miniseries that aired over two nights, produced by David Eick, directed by Michael Rymer and written and produced by Ronald D. Moore. On December 8, 2003 the Sci Fi Channel aired the first half of the three hour long miniseries. The second half aired the next night. The miniseries for Battlestar Galactica was the third-most-watched program ever on the Sci Fi Channel.

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On January 14, 2005 the first season of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica aired. The first season was made up of the miniseries and 13 additional episodes. The first episode that aired 33 became one of the highest-rated programs on the Sci Fi Channel with 3.1 million viewers. Season one of Battlestar Galactica is the Sci Fi Channels highest-rated original series. Season two was made up of 20 episodes. The first half of season two aired on July 25, 2005 and went until September 23, 2005. The second half of the season aired on January 6, 2006 and concluded on March 10, 2006. Season three was made up of 20 episodes and aired from October 6, 2006 to March 25, 2007. The fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica started aired on April 4, 2008 but due to the 2007-2008 Writers Guild strike the season was split in half with a seven month hiatus in between. The final half season of Battlestar Galactica aired on January 16, 2009 and ended on March 20, 2009. Battlestar Galactica also has two full length made for television movies, Razor and The Plan. Razor aired on November 24, 2007 and is about the battlestar Pegasus which first appeared in season two. The movie is about the Pegasus journey after the destruction of the Twelve Colonies until its encounter with the Galactica. The Plan aired on January 10, 2010 and covers the first two seasons of Battlestar Galactica from the Cylons point of view. The basic plot of the show is the same as the original. The Twelve Colonies were attack by the robotic Cylons and the survivors of humanity fall under the protection of a battlestar called Galactica. The fleet spends the entirety of the show trying to find Earth and fleeing from the Cylons. While the plotline is similar to the original show, many of the characters underwent great changes, What the creators of the show did was not so much throw out the old characters and merely retain the names (a legitimate concern when they changed genders on Starbuck and Boomer) but take the strongest elements of the original characterization and elaborate from

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there (Linaweaver 183). An example of this is even though Starbuck is now a woman, the character is still a hot headed pilot who is the best shot in the fleet and that has problems with authority. Comparing the Two Shows While the original Battlestar Galactica was more of a family-oriented show that could offer escapism with its heart, hope, straight forward heroes and harmless entertainment, the reimagined show was different. In the seventies the world was looking for safety and certainty but in a post 9/11 world that has changed. As Ronald D. Moore says We were young once and when the old guy spun his tales of Apollo and Starbuck, we were satisfied with clear-cut heroes and nakedly evil villains. But were older now (Muir 233). In the 1970s TV was about escaping from a stress filled world but in the 2000s it about trying to make sense of the world. We believe that science fiction provides an opportunity to explore our own society, to provoke debate and to challenge our perceptions of ourselves and our fellow Man (Muir 233). While the original Battlestar Galactica offered commentary and reflected on the Cold War, the motto Peace through Strength and SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties) the re-imagined series offers commentary and understanding on a post 9/11 world and the War on Terror. In a time when much was happening in the world but little cultural dialogue was taking place, science fiction offered a venue to examine difficult topic in a safe context. The science fiction format allows the program to maneuver past televisions characteristic aversion to political controversy and to tackle highly volatile issues. Historically, science fiction has given television and other media license to speak critically because its deemed a speculative form, at a remove from reality (Pinedo 175). When the U.S. was attacked, and subsequently went to war, many people needed a place to turn to in order to understand what was happening. The traditional networks

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were not offering that and people turned to a different source to help them. The networks are terrified of controversy. But in sci-fi, they dont notice or care so much you get a free pass (Pinedo 175). Battlestar Galactica offered people a place to talk about and discuss taboo topics, both in the 1970s and in the 2000s.

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Reflection While this paper and the research that went into it does not fully answer my guiding question, How can Battlestar Galactica be used to understand the values of society? I feel that it is an important step I need to take in order to complete my senior project. Before I can start to answer my guiding question I need to gain a good understanding of both the shows. Researching for this paper helped me to understand how much the original and re-imagined shows have in common and the changes that were made to the re-imagined series. This paper also helped me to understand how the two shows differ from each other. When I first started this project, I thought that the original Battlestar Galactica was just a poorly made science fiction show that was a rip-off of Star Wars. By doing this paper I learned that the original Battlestar Galactica offers just as much commentary about the issues of the 1970s as the re-imagined does about the 2000s. I also learned that many of the original plot lines were carried over to the re-imagined series. One difficulty that I encountered with this paper was how to correctly write a research paper about a television show. I have done a number of research based essays before but never one on such a difficult topic. To write a paper about something that is mainstream pop-culture is hard because so much has been written about it but not all of it is factual. One of the skills that I learned while working on this paper is how to cross check information with a number of sources to make sure it is accurate.

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Works Cited Hatch, Richard. "Introduction." Introduction. So Say We All: An Unauthorized Collection of Thoughts and Opinions on Battlestar Galactica. By Richard Hatch, Tee Morris, and Glenn Yeffeth. Dallas, TX: BenBella, 2006. 1-4. Print.

Linaweaver, Brad. "Between the Stars." So Say We All: An Unauthorized Collection of Thoughts and Opinions on Battlestar Galactica. By Richard Hatch, Tee Morris, and Glenn Yeffeth. Dallas, TX: BenBella, 2006. 181-85. Print.

Muir, John K. "SALTed Popcorn: The Original Battlestar Galactica in Historial Context." Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up? By Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin. Chicago, IL: Open Court, 2008. 233-45. Print.

Pinedo, Isabel. "Playing with Fire Without Getting Burned: Blowback Re-imagined." Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up? By Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin. Chicago, IL: Open Court, 2008. 173-83. Print.