Possible ways to keep Battlestar Galactica (1978) going for at least three years?

All Rounder · Sep 16, 2016

Battlestar Galactica was a show conceived by Glen Larson and Donald Bellisario in late 1978, with the idea having been around since the late 60s. The show ran for little over seven months, having been canceled as a result of ratings never getting higher than 28 percent in ratings and the MASSIVE budget, which is comparable to Star Wars in quality but not in acting. The show was rebooted around 25 years later on the Sci Fi Channel as a four hour miniseries, then a full fledged show around a year later to critical acclaim.

But would it be possible to have the series get higher ratings, to the point where the amount of money being garnered balances or over takes the budget? If so, could movies be possible and what could happen in general as a result of the series being considered a success?

pattersonautobody · Sep 16, 2016

More sex. I never watched the show, but I figured that answer pretty much works for everything, even Gilligans Island and the Brady Bunch...just not Mr Ed.

DG Valdron · Sep 16, 2016

Significant international sales? Perhaps as a series of theatrical movies?

CalBear · Sep 16, 2016

Take all the ABC executives who ruined the show and send them to the island from Lost. Be kind, and eliminate the really weird shit going on.

That should get you at least two seasons.

Also help if Carter, Begin and Sadat didn't decide that the night of the big,massively promoted premier was the perfect time to sign the Camp David Accords and preempt most of the broadcast.

Talk about the kiss of death.

All Rounder · Sep 16, 2016

CalBear said:
Take all the ABC executives who ruined the show and send them to the island from Lost. Be kind, and eliminate the really weird shit going on.

That should get you at least two seasons.

Also help if Carter, Begin and Sadat didn't decide that the night of the big,massively promoted premier was the perfect time to sign the Camp David Accords and preempt most of the broadcast.

Talk about the kiss of death.

So push the date of it's premier from September 17th to the next possible date? Sending all the ABC executives to that one Indian island with the untouched aggressive tribe would be good enough

.

Michel Van · Sep 16, 2016

DValdron said:
Significant international sales? Perhaps as a series of theatrical movies?

Irony they just do that for international market, cut the episode together into theatrical movie for Europe.
als had Glen Larson and Donald Bellisario restart the serie as Galactica 1980 (also cut those episode together into theatrical movie für Europe).
but the 1980 Series was shut down by ABC after 10 episode. rightly in my point of view.
Scripts and stories were weak and to lung in, reuse of theatrical movie clips like from Movie Earthquake.

The Reason why the ABC executives shut down original Battlestar Galactica were several:
the High production cost compare to other shows and constant trouble it made for the Network
trouble ?
20 Century Fox had sued the BG producers for 34 cases of plagiarism, copyright infringement etc. of Star Wars because of BG theatrical movies.
next to that were similar problem about Movie "Silent Running" because BG use the Valley Forge als agricultural ships
All this was dismissed in trail court in 1980 and let to restart the serie as Galactica 1980

Had those trouble had be settle other wise and the BG theatrical movies were never produced,
i think ABC had order more season of Battlestar Galactica despite it high cost because it had solid rating.

All Rounder · Sep 16, 2016

Michel Van said:
Irony they just do that for international market, cut the episode together into theatrical movie for Europe.
als had Glen Larson and Donald Bellisario restart the serie as Galactica 1980 (also cut those episode together into theatrical movie für Europe).
but the 1980 Series was shut down by ABC after 10 episode. rightly in my point of view.
Scripts and stories were weak and to lung in, reuse of theatrical movie clips like from Movie Earthquake.

The Reason why the ABC executives shut down original Battlestar Galactica were several:
the High production cost compare to other shows and constant trouble it made for the Network
trouble ?
20 Century Fox had sued the BG producers for 34 cases of plagiarism, copyright infringement etc. of Star Wars because of BG theatrical movies.
next to that were similar problem about Movie "Silent Running" because BG use the Valley Forge als agricultural ships
All this was dismissed in trail court in 1980 and let to restart the serie as Galactica 1980

Had those trouble had be settle other wise and the BG theatrical movies were never produced,
i think ABC had order more season of Battlestar Galactica despite it high cost because it had solid rating.

Reportedly one million per episode, and the plagiarism could have been lifted or settled earlier or not done at all.

Admiral Beez · Sep 16, 2016

As a lad born in 1971, I had all the BSG toys. My fave was the Viper and Raider. Mine was pre-lawsuit for choking some Darwin child, so it shot out the bullet. Should have kept it, worth something on eBay now.

All Rounder · Sep 16, 2016

Please help me with this if possible as I know practically nothing about ratings and how they equate to money, but this is my assumption:
Low estimate for use of TV=1.83 dollars a month or 15 cents, high being 9.13 dollars a month.
It would require a total of seven million people watching an episode to bring in 1,050,000 dollars.
There were around 57 million households with color TV in 1978, you would need seven million people tuning in for every episode to meet the budget.
You would need roughly an EIGHTH of all households, with colored TV, just to balance the budget.
It is possible with non-colored TVs in conjunction with colored TVs to balance the budget, but it would be extremely difficult IMO.

zert · Sep 17, 2016

I fondly remember the series and wish I could see it again. Yes it is hokey and very outdated. But I still enjoyed it.

I could not get into the reboot. Maybe I will give it a try if it comes back on SyFy or syndication.

Dunning Kruger · Sep 17, 2016

Admiral Beez said:
As a lad born in 1971, I had all the BSG toys. My fave was the Viper and Raider. Mine was pre-lawsuit for choking some Darwin child, so it shot out the bullet. Should have kept it, worth something on eBay now.

Holy crap! I had the viper. Lost it early on unfortunately. Wow. Memory lane.

Histor32 · Sep 17, 2016

Dunning Kruger said:
Holy crap! I had the viper. Lost it early on unfortunately. Wow. Memory lane.

I had both as well, I remember playing with the raider or at least seei it in my house even into the mid 90's when I think I gave it to one of my nephews along with some Jurassic park dinosaurs

Histor32 · Sep 17, 2016

zert said:
I fondly remember the series and wish I could see it again. Yes it is hokey and very outdated. But I still enjoyed it.

I could not get into the reboot. Maybe I will give it a try if it comes back on SyFy or syndication.

The reboot was good, it's got some weird parts.
First 3 seasons where great, it started getting weird but still good in season 4 when they were trying to put all the strings back together and wrap it up.

Over all a 3 out of 5, it could have used less sex sells motto though.

sparky42 · Sep 17, 2016

zert said:
I fondly remember the series and wish I could see it again. Yes it is hokey and very outdated. But I still enjoyed it.

I could not get into the reboot. Maybe I will give it a try if it comes back on SyFy or syndication.

It's out on DVD's now if you want it I picked it up fro about €10.

Admiral Beez · Sep 17, 2016

zert said:
I fondly remember the series and wish I could see it again. Yes it is hokey and very outdated. But I still enjoyed it.

I could not get into the reboot. Maybe I will give it a try if it comes back on SyFy or syndication.

No, don't do it! Keep the memories. I've watched it and the acting, models and filming is terribly hokey! Wish I'd never watched it again.

sparky42 · Sep 17, 2016

Admiral Beez said:
No, don't do it! Keep the memories. I've watched it and the acting, models and filming is terribly hokey! Wish I'd never watched it again.

That's about right to be fair, I'd forgotten how they reused space clips over and over for example.

zert · Sep 17, 2016

Oh I remember the special effect ship scenes used over and over and OVER!

With the reboot one thing that put me off from the begining was the space machine guns. If your doing space fighters do energy weapons or missiles.

Just me I am sure but it was a detail that just put me off.

sparky42 · Sep 17, 2016

zert said:
Oh I remember the special effect ship scenes used over and over and OVER!

With the reboot one thing that put me off from the begining was the space machine guns. If your doing space fighters do energy weapons or missiles.

Just me I am sure but it was a detail that just put me off.

Even better you could see where it had been edited in with a frame around it.
As for the reboot, I suppose at least in the start they were going with the "hard" scifi, rather than lasers etc.

All Rounder · Sep 17, 2016

Could we please go back on topic instead of discussing the show itself?

Admiral Beez · Sep 17, 2016

zert said:
Oh I remember the special effect ship scenes used over and over and OVER!

The absolute worst for that was Rocket Robin Hood animated series. Repeated scenes, plus the odd eye vanishing. The Dementia 5 guy and the staircase scared me as a kid.