"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..."

The leaders of the twelve human colonies are making plans to sign a peace treaty with their mortal enemies, the Cylons. On the eve of the ceremony, the Cylons attack and destroy most of the colonies. The remaining Colonial ships, led by the battlestar Galactica under the command of Adama, head out into space and seek out a "lost" 13th colony, which turns out to be Earth. Along the way, the Colonials encounter various races (both friendly and hostile), the legendary human warrior Commander Cain, and the planet Kobol, the mother world of all the colonies. All the while, the Cylons--led by the human traitor, Baltar--are in hot pursuit...

Lorne Greene - Cmdr. Adama

Richard Hatch - Capt. Apollo

Dirk Benedict - Lt. Starbuck

Herb Jefferson Jr. - Lt. Boomer

John Colicos - Count Baltar

Maren Jensen - Lt. Athena

Noah Hathaway - Boxey

Laurette Spang - Cassiopeia

Tony Swartz - Flight Sgt. Jolly

Anne Lockhart - Sheba

Terry Carter - Col. Tigh

Ed Begley Jr. - Ens. Greenbean

David Greenan - Omega

Jonathan Harris - Lucifer (voice)

Janet Julian - Lt. Brie

George Murdock - Dr. Salik

Sarah Rush - Flight Cpl. Rigel

Felix Silla - Lucifer

Patrick Macnee - Imperious Leader (voice)

John Dullaghan - Dr. Wilker

Bruce Wright - Guard / Bay Technician

Leann Hunley - Female Warrior

Jack Stauffer - Captain Bojay

Alex Hyde-White - Cadet Bow

In the beginning of the premiere episode, six Battlestars appear, although only two are clearly named: the Galactica and Atlantia. Faint background radio voices can be heard identifying the other four - Pacifica, Triton, Acropolis, and Columbia.

The ships from the movie Silent Running were re-used in one episode as "Agro Ships". This was stock footage from the earlier Universal production, as the original (there was only one) was destroyed at the end of filming.

The humans in the series had their own units for measuring time. A "micron" was the equivalent of a second; a "centon," a minute; and centar, secton, sectar, and yahren corresponded to hour, week, month, and year.

The Cylons are led by an "Imperious Leader." The word "imperious" actually means arrogant and overbearing, but the writers chose it because it sounded different from "Imperial," a word that too strongly evoked Star Wars.

The first weekly television series budgeted at over $1,000,000 per episode. Much of this lavish (for the time) sum was consumed by the special effects processes used. This necessitated the frequent, often glaringly obvious, re-use of effects footage throughout the series wherever possible.

As of early 2001, star Richard Hatch and executive producer Glen A. Larson are both engaged in competing projects to revive Battlestar Galactica, on both TV and the big screen.

Props from this series were later recycled for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

The exact size of Colonial battlestars such as the Galactica and of Cylon base stars was never properly explained in the show, leading to some disagreement over the years. A scale measurement comparison of the Galactica to one of her vipers provided the final answer - the Galactica and identical battlestars were each 4,150 feet in length, with each of two flight bays measuring 1,977 feet in length and some 215 feet in width; each flight bay was thus nearly twice the length and almost the width of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, and a battlestar could easily carry far more fighters than the listed 150 with 24 shuttles - a more accurate measurement would be 300 fighters (with perhaps a third in ready reserve; Saga Of A Star World listed the Galactica's pilot contingent at over 200 while in Lost Planet Of The Gods injured warriors hastily return to duty and fly what are presuambly backup fighters stored in ready reserve) and 40 to 50 shuttles. A Cylon base star, based on scale measurement comparison, is 5,800 feet wide and can carry far more than its listed contingent of 300 fighters.

Was a complete rewrite of a pilot called "Adam's Ark", in which Earth is destroyed and the survivors ship out into space. The Colonies are all named after the signs of the Zodiac.

In some parts of North America, the premiere episode/movie was interrupted for close to an hour for news coverage of the signing of an Israel-Egypt peace treaty.

Mark Hamill was offered the role of Cmdr. Adama but turned it down.

There were contemporary news reports that either George Lucas or his studio considered legal action against the producers over alleged similarities with the Star Wars saga. Although "BSG" was indeed created to capitalize on the popularity of Star Wars, nothing came of this controversy.

The original premiere was interrupted for over 1 hour during the signing of the Israel/Egypt peace accord, by Begin and Sadat, overseen by President Jimmy Carter

The character Starbuck was ranked #21 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Greatest Sci-Fi Legends".

John Colicos became so well known for his Baltar role that reportedly it was what won him the role of Mikkos Cassadine for the ABC daytime drama General Hospital for its Ice Pricess story arc in the summer of 1981, and in 1991 he was appearing in theater in his native Toronto, and after performances audience members would applaud him and supportively chant "Baltar Lives!"

Continuity error: When Starbuck's Viper is damaged he runs a check of his system with Athena. The first computer screen display for the "Alpha Circuit" shows on the right hand side of the screen "Made in USA"

Continuity error: In "Murder on the Rising Star", Apollo's shuttle indicator shows a loaded weight of 2250. Just before Charybdis climbs aboard, without anything else having been added, the weight shown is 2425. After we see him stepping aboard the shuttle, we cut to the weight indicator changing to indicate his additional weight. It stops at 2425.

Continuity error: In "War of the Gods Part II", Sheba is seen in a dress before the triad match. But when the match starts she is shown on a viewer screen in her flight uniform and then next in a live shot back in her dress next to Count Iblis.

Continuity error: The length of Starbuck's hair throughout "The Gun On Ice Planet Zero" part 1 & 2 is different. Apparently Dirk Benedict got a haircut somewhere along the shoot and it shows up in different scenes.

Crew or equipment visible: In "Take The Celestra" when Apollo and Starbuck land on the Celestra in their Vipers, they are seen "rolling" up after landing. The metal framewoek that makes up the front of Starbuck's Viper is visible at the bottom of the screen.

Continuity error: In "Fire In Space", Sheba is shown launching from the Galactica wearing a helmet with a pegasus crest on it, from her previous ship. In later scenes, she's seen wearing a helmet with the stylized bird crest that the Galactica's pilots wear.

Revealing mistakes: In "Fire In Space" when Apollo and Starbuck are setting the charges on the hull you can see the wires holding them.

Continuity error: In "Gun on Ice Planet Zero Part 2", sparks are seen from Leda's jacket when Vulpa shoots her in the back. However, the jacket is undamaged when Croft cradles her in his arms seconds later.

Revealing mistakes: in "The Living Legend Part 1", the first few laser bolts fired by Sheba are blue, instead of the more usual orange. (This view was originally of two Vipers under fire from Cylon fighters.)

Continuity error: When Sheba is first seen in "The Living Legend", the insignia on her helmet changes from the stylized bird used by Galactica pilots, to the art deco type used by Pegasus pilots and back again, during the same flight.

Revealing mistakes: Towards the climax of "The Living Legend”, Cain sends the Pegasus through a bright starfield after Baltar's Baseship. According to the dialogue, the Pegasus is travelling alone at this point. However, the exterior shots in this sequence show the Battlestar being followed by at least half a dozen other ships. (These shots are actually of the Galactica leading the fleet through the Nova of Madagon, from "Saga of a Star World").

Two episodes were edited together to form the made-for-video movie Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack. In syndication, the series incorporates the episodes of "Galactica 1980" (1980).

The opening three-part TV episode was originally produced as Battlestar Galactica (a 2-hour movie), which was released to theatres. The three-hour TV version contained a number of scenes not shown in theaters. Baltar is executed in the theatrical version. This three-hour version is now available on the DVD set of the entire series as the first episode, "Saga of a Star World".

1-1                      17-Sep-1978                  Saga of a Star World (TV Movie)

When the Cylons trick the human fleet and destroys all its ships except the Battlestar Galactica, Commander Adama gathers up the remaining humans on the 12 colony worlds and leads them in search of the legendary 13th colony -- Earth.  When the fleet stops at the planet Carillon to refuel, another Cylon ambush awaits them.

1-2                      24-Sep-1978                  The Lost Planet of the Gods (Part 1)

1-3                      01-Oct-1978                  The Lost Planet of the Gods (Part 2)

Apollo and Starbuck discover a void in space. Commander Adama is convinced that this void will lead them to the planet Kobol, and orders they go through.  While Commander Adama leads the rag-tag fleet of ships to the planet Kobol, where he hopes to find clues of Earth's location, the Viper pilots contract a disease, making it necessary for the women to take on fighter patrol duties. But the traitor Baltar leads the Cylons in an attack on the Galactica.

1-4                      08-Oct-1978                  The Lost Warrior

Apollo is marooned on a Western Frontier-like planet, where he meets a woman and her son ... and a damaged Cylon, known as Red Eye, who has become a notorious gunslinger.

1-5                      15-Oct-1978                  The Long Patrol

Starbuck is assigned to test a new ultra-fast, but unarmed, Viper with a talking computer named CORA; but when he meets a bootlegger, who steals the Viper, Starbuck finds himself arrested by the Galactic Police of a prison planet.

1-6                      22-Oct-1978                  The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (Part 1)

1-7                      29-Oct-1978                  The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (Part 2)

Baltar attempts to lure the Galactica into range of a gigantic pulsar cannon, which Adama becomes aware of.  Apollo and Starbuck lead a group of convicts on a possible suicide mission to destroy the cannon, which is located on an icy planet.

1-8                      12-Nov-1978                 The Magnificent Warriors

When a Cylon attack destroys most of the fleet's food supply, the Galactica must trade equipment for grain on a rural planet plagued by the Borays, a group of pig-like marauders.

1-9                      19-Nov-1978                 The Young Lords

Starbuck crashes on the planet Trillion, where the Cylons have destroyed all the humans except for a band of children, who have become warriors to save their enslaved father.

1-10                    26-Nov-1978                 The Living Legend (Part 1)

1-11                    03-Dec-1978                  The Living Legend (Part 2)

While on patrol, Apollo and Starbuck encounter the supposedly lost Battlestar Pegasus, commanded by the living legend, Commander Cain.  The brash Commander Cain insists that the Galactica join in on a frontal attack on the Cylons -- an attack that Adama believes would be a suicide mission.

1-12                    17-Dec-1978                  Fire in Space

A Cylon kamikaze attack leaves the Galactica burning in space, with no way to extinguish the blaze that has trapped Boomer, Athena, and Boxey except a dangerous spacewalk by Apollo and Starbuck.

1-13                    14-Jan-1979                   War of the Gods (Part 1)

1-14                    21-Jan-1979                   War of the Gods (Part 2)

While the fleet is plagued by glowing lights that constantly fly past them too fast to be followed, Apollo, Starbuck, and Sheba find the remains of a shipwreck, with a mysterious and seemingly all-powerful being named Count Iblis, who helps them capture Baltar.

1-15                    28-Jan-1979                   The Man with Nine Lives

An old con man known as Chameleon meets Starbuck and convinces him that he may be Starbuck's father, to gain Starbuck's help in evading a trio of bloodthirsty Borellians who are after him in revenge for another con.

1-16                    18-Feb-1979                  Murder on the Rising Star

When Starbuck's rival in the popular sporting event is found murders, all the evidence points to Starbuck; and Apollo is about the only person who believes in Starbuck's innocence.

1-17                    25-Feb-1979                  Greetings from Earth (TV Movie)

When Apollo and Starbuck find a primitive sleeper ship carrying a man, a woman, and four children, the inhabitants reveal that they are from Terra, an Earth-like planet at war with the evil Eastern Alliance.

1-18                    11-Mar-1979                  Baltar's Escape

When Baltar plans his escape with the help of the three Borellians and the Eastern Alliance Enforcers, members of the Council of Twelve are taken hostage, and Adama must give in to the escapees' demands.

1-19                    18-Mar-1979                  Experiment in Terra

Apollo and Starbuck follow the escaped Eastern Alliance ship back to Terra, where they help the Terrans overcome a nuclear holocaust, with the help of the race of white lights that had earlier helped them defeat Count Iblis.

1-20                    01-Apr-1979                  Take the Celestra

Starbuck runs in to his long-lost love, Aurora, who is involved with a group trying to free the passenger ship Celestra from its supposedly dictatorial captain.

1-21                    29-Apr-1979                  The Hand of God

Rather than continue fleeing from their enemies, the crew of the Galactica commences an all-out attack on a Cylon base.