Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - Battlestar Galactica: Cast Photo

Battlestar Galactica ran from September 1978 until August 1979 on ABC.

Battlestar Galactica was the most highly publicized new series of the fall 1978 schedule. Reported to have cost one million dollars per hour to produce-the highest budget ever for a regular series-it used spectacular special effects to depict a mighty life and death struggle between the forces of good and evil in outer space, thousands of years in the future. Lasers flashed, majestic spaceships lumbered through deep space, and dashing caped heroes fought half- human, half-robot villians for no less than the survival of mankind. If this sounds like a copy of the movie Star Wars, it was. Battlestar Galactica was such a literal imitation of Star Wars that the producers of the movie sued ABC for stealing their film. Part of the similarity lay in the special effects, such as laser battles and closeups of the spacecraft, which were created by John Dykstra, the same man who worked on Star Wars. The setting was the seventh millennium, A.D. Galactica was the only surviving battlestar after a surprise attack by the evil ceylons, aided by the treacherous Count Balter( John Colicos), had shattered the interplanetary peace and wiped out most of humankind. Now the ceylons were pursuing Galactica and her attendant fleet of 220 smaller spacecraft as they sped through space toward a last refuge, a distant, unknown planet called Earth. Commanding the mile-wide Galactica was the stoic, silver-haired Adama (Lorne Greene). His son Apollo( Richard Hatch), led Galactica's fighter sqadron ( another son was killed off by the Ceylons in the premiere). Starbuck (Dirk Benedict), was his ace pilot, as well as a smooth-talking con artist and ladies man. Muffit was the mechanical canine daggit. Many other characters came and went from the large cast, including the singing Android Sisters, who entertained with 2 sets of mouths apiece, in a surrealistic outer-space bar peopled by oddly shaped creatures from other civilizations ( remember that scene from Star Wars?) Despite the hype, the audience for Galactica declined sharply until eventually only the kids were left watching. It left the air after a single season, although a sequel series entitled Galactica 1980 would air from January until August 1980. Despite its short life Battlestar Galactica developed a cult following in the years that followed. A following that remains active to this day.

For a great Battlestar Galactica website go to www.battlestargalactica.com/