## BSG: The Original Series

The opening is strong and in particular, the special effects and
production values are really high. This is doubly true given what was
state-of-the-art circa 1980 when it was made. But like most television
of the time, the original turned to stand alone/episodic story telling
and it did so in a way that leaves me thinking that there wasn't even
a "series Bible" to guide the writers. Lacking a good arc to
guide it, and a series Bible to give it a consistant tone, the
original became a disconnected set of space opera stories. Some of
those stories were good but most were just flimsy layups built on a
poor plot device like the western episode where the bad guy was a
Centurian who'd forgotten he was a Cylon.

If I remember correctly, BSG was originally supposed to be 3 or 4 TV movies. The original 3 hour one, the 2 hour Kobol one, and then I want to say one more, but it might have been two more. The TV execs liked what they saw so much, they turned it into a series. The Western episode was more of a sign of the times than anything. I actually thought it was quite well handled, much better than the one with the Boray (which technically could probably be considered a 2nd Western episode).

Part of the set quality for the original series is down to the amount of actual Tektronix computer equipment and test equipment that was purchased. The bridge of the Galactica along cost roughly $1.5 Million. I was quite happy to recently get my Dad’s copy of “Tek Week” (the Tektronix employee newspaper) that talked about the show.