Battlestar Galactica (1978)
This article is about the 1978 show. For the 2003 miniseries and 2004-2009 television series, see Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Fandom | |
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Name: | Battlestar Galactica |
Abbreviation(s): | BSG (original) |
Creator: | Glen A. Larson |
Date(s): | 1978-1979 |
Medium: | Television |
Country of Origin: | United States |
External Links: | wikipedia page; slash archive; genfic LJ comm |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |

Show overview

Battlestar Galactica came out in 1978, the year after Star Wars, produced by people who had worked for Lucasfilm. Fan anticipation was high, and the pilot got high ratings. The main two characters, Captain Apollo and Lt. Starbuck, were two very pretty men who fought side by side, and obviously cared a lot about each other. Everything seemed primed for a new fandom, and a new slash fandom.
Sadly, the writing wasn't very good, the effects were ahead of their time (and therefore very expensive) and the ratings steadily fell. There were only seventeen episodes of the first series, and another ten (even lower rated) episodes of the ill-fated reunion show in 1980, Galactica 1980.
Although fiction, and eventually slash fiction, appeared in both BSG and multimedia zines at the time, it never became a major fandom.
Richard Hatch remained a big fan of the concept, and was a willing guest at media cons trying to drum up interest in another reunion/remix/restart of the show.
Some Fan Comments
1979
BG had better redeem itself. The first episode was great. I was a little turned off by the religious content, and the constant "Chariots of the Gods" references, but I suppose if the Mayans had been removed from the Star Trek movie, they had to go somewhere. In any case, subsequent episodes really stank. Heavily borrowed story-lines made for weak scripts, and the acting, in most cases, was wooden. Nifty keen special effects, though. I've only missed a few episodes. Why do I keep, watching? Well, BG is better than most of the other stuff on the tube at present, and the special effects are fun to watch. I also like Apollo, Starbuck, Boomer, and Commander Tigh. With the last episode, involving Starbuck's father, Fred Astaire, I detected a glimmer of hope--there actually was a plot, and the story was rather interesting and hardled well. Besides, I like Fred Astaire. I hear there's some doubt about BG being picked up for next season. It will be a shame if it's cancelled. Letter campaign, anyone? Like W.C. Fields, however, I find little use for Boxey. Muffit is slightly more tolerable. Maybe we should have Harlan write a BG episode. [1]
Fanworks
Fanfic
There is much fanfic here.
In 2008, a group of fans created a virtual season: Virtual Second Season and Virtual Third Season.
Archives
- By Your Command houses 62 stories by 14 authors, mostly slash.
- Galactica Fan Fic Archives houses stories dating back to the mid 1990s and is still being currently updated.
- Stories by Jean Graham
Zines
These are either zines with a Battlestar Galactica focus, or multimedia zines with some Battlestar Galactica content.
Ad Astra | The Adama Journal | Airwaves Battlestar Galactica Special | Alternate Conspiracy | ANKH | | Anomaly | Anomaly Battlestar Galactica Concordance | Apollo's Odyssey | The Aurora Signal | Babblestar Blastica | The Battlestar Galactica Files: Cylon Attack (by D. Murry) | The Battlestar Review | Blue One | Blue Squadron Journal | Book of the Word | By the Lords of Kobol! | The Carousel of Mourning | Change of Command | Colonial Forum | Colonial Warriors Technical Manual | The Colonials | Cosmic Communications | Cry Sanctuary | Erato | Felgercarb | Fire In His Soul | Frak | Galactica | Galactica 1988: Ten Years Later | Galactica Gazette | The Galactica Journals | Galactica History: From Kobol to the Colonies | Galactica Stuff: A Colonial's Guide To The Galaxy | Galacticamania | The Galactican | Ghosts in the Machine | The HomLegends from the Rising Starecoming | The Hunt I (by Erik Sprowls) | In the Shadows | Journals of Kobol | The Kobol Chronicles | Last of the Pirate Queens | Legends from the Rising Star | The Lords of Kobol | Loyalty Check | Melas | Mind in the Shadows | Misfit File | Murmurs | The Pegasus Chronicles | The Battle of Molukai | Cain's Command | Second Coming | Joint Maneuvers | The Plot | Purple and Orange? | Pyramids | The Race for Earth | Rainbows Always End | Red Squadron Dispatches | Rising Star | Saga of a Star World | Shelter | Sins of the Fathers | The Star Kobol Journals | Song of Caprica | Star Searches | Star Trek: The Galactican Encounter | Streets and Stars | Survive the Alliance | Tales of the Galactica | Tally of the Souls | The Thirteenth Tribe Newsletter | Thicker Than Blood | To Be Reborn | Tribal Tales | Two from Thirteen | Vipervisons | Visions of the Galactica | Warriors' Luck | We Know Who We Are | Well Met in Space and Time | Who Lives By the Sword
Zinefic Online
Clean Slate Press was a BSG publisher during the 1980s and '90s. In 2002, a fan who noticed that the press had stopped publishing got permission to post several of them to his own website, collected on a page called Free Battlestar Galactica Fan Fiction Novels (includes several standalone short stories as well as the novels and connected short-story collection below).
- The Race for Earth by Sharon Monroe and Gordon Smuder, a BSG gen novel.
- Alternate Conspiracy by Sharon Monroe, a gen novel.
- The Pegasus Chronicles (gen novels)
- The Battle Of Molecay by Lee Gaul and Sharon Monroe
- Cain's Command by Lee Gaul and Sharon Monroe
- Second Coming by Lee Gaul and Sharon Monroe
- Joint Maneuvers by Lee Gaul and Sharon Monroe
- Galactica History: From Kobol To The Colonies by Sharon Monroe, a collection of short stories about the pre-series history of the BSG universe.
- Survive The Alliance by Sharon Monroe and J.D. Rich, a crossover BSG novel with V, The A-Team, Airwolf, Knight Rider, and others.
- Duty and Honor by C.A. Rien (slash) (1986)
Fan Art
The Battlestar Galactica Archive hosts a small collection of art here.
cover of Survive the Alliance
cover of Purple & Orange #5
cover of Murmurs (Battlestar Galactica zine)
cover of Fantasy Flight
Mailing Lists
- BSG Slash 002 "BSG Slash 002". Archived from the original on 2001-07-07. Description: "This list is for fanfiction and discussion revolving around the TV series Battlestar Galactica. Please note, this is a SLASH list, and therefore unsuitable for children and those who object to m/m or f/f relationships."
- BYC Updates BYC Updates Description: for the Your Command slash archive
- BSG Slash "BSG Slash". Archived from the original on 2003-09-08. Description: "A list dedicated to the fiction and discussion of the slash aspects of the TV show Battlestar Galactica. The list will focus on m/m or f/f relationships and isn't suitable for people under the age of 18, or who object to slash."
Fan Clubs
- Colonial Warriors United - Boston, MA, USA
- Silver Squadron (Eleanor Claasen out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
Resources
- The Battlestar Galactica Concordance, a listing/description/summary of every character, place, etc. in the original Battlestar Galactica. (This specifically does not include Galactica 1980, although the overall site does include reviews of the 2003 "revival" miniseries.)
- SHEBA'S GALAXY - The Ultimate Battlestar Galactica Information Site (convention reviews, fan fiction, stills, episode guides and a general overview of the fandom history)
- Galactica Fan collecting fan fiction, and other fandom news since 1995, also home of the Virtual Seasons.
- Free Battlestar Galactica Fan Fiction Novels offering fan fiction originally published by Clean Slate Press downloadable as epub files which can be viewed on a computer as well as most ereaders.
Newsletters
- Battlestar Omaha Bulletin, the newsletter of an Omaha, Nebraska based Battlestar Galactica fanclub
- Scanner Readout, the newsletter of the Battlestar Connection Fan Club (New Jersey)
References
- ^ comments by Lori Chapek-Carleton in The Oracle Speaks #3