Battlestar Galactica (1978)

:This article is about the original movie and television series; for other versions, see Battlestar Galactica (disambiguation).

Broadcast history

The opening narration is as follows: "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. 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."

Related Topics:
Egypt - Toltec - Maya - Lemuria - Atlantis

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The pilot to this series, the biggest budgeted ($7 million) at the time, was originally released theatrically in Canada, Western Europe, and Japan in July, 1978 in an edited 125-minute version.

Related Topics:
Pilot - Series - $ - Canada - Western Europe - Japan - July - 1978

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On September 17, 1978, the uncut 148-minute pilot premiered on ABC to spectacular Nielsen Ratings (attracting 65 million viewers). Two-thirds of the way through the broadcast, ABC interrupted with a special report of the signing of the Camp David Accords at the White House by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and witnessed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. After the ceremony, ABC resumed the broadcast at the point where it was interrupted.

Related Topics:
September 17 - 1978 - ABC - Nielsen Ratings - Camp David Accords - White House - Menachem Begin - Anwar Sadat - Jimmy Carter

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In 1978, 20th Century Fox sued Universal Studios (the producers of Battlestar Galactica) for plagiarism, claiming it had stolen 34 distinct ideas from Star Wars. Universal promptly countersued, claiming Star Wars had stolen ideas from the 1972 film Silent Running and the Buck Rogers serials of the 1940's. The lawsuit would be eventually dismissed in 1980 as having no merit.

Related Topics:
20th Century Fox - Universal Studios - Plagiarism - Star Wars - 1972 - Silent Running - Buck Rogers - 1980

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As the series progressed, the ratings began to slide, even though the show still consistently won its coveted Sunday evening timeslot. Although each episode had a budget of about $1 million, the show reused so many special effects shots due to budgetary constraints that many critics derided it as "overplayed into tedium."

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In mid-April 1979, ABC executives cancelled the still strongly-rated show. Some sources indicate that the million-dollar-per-episode cost led to the show's demise. Others believe that it was a failed attempt by ABC to position its hit comedy Mork & Mindy into a more lucrative timeslot. (The ratings for Mork plummeted far below what they had been for Battlestar Galactica.) The cancellation led to viewer outrage, protests outside ABC studios, and even contributed to the suicide of Eddie Seidel, a 15-year-old boy in Saint Paul, Minnesota who had become obsessed with the program. http://www.kobol.com/archives/suicide.html On May 18, 1979, the theatrical version of the pilot was released in U.S. theatres.

Related Topics:
1979 - Mork & Mindy - Saint Paul, Minnesota - May 18 - U.S.

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See also: List of Battlestar Galactica episodes

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