This document is ©2005, John Larocque. All rights reserved.
Then in a fit of nostalgia in 1992, I picked up a copy of Starlog #27, which contained an episode guide of the series. Around the same time I picked up some of the old Marvel comics. By then it was too late -- I was hooked all over again. I grabbed whatever I could get my hands on -- magazines, books, endless videos, original scripts, electronic archives, what have you. These materials were used to put together several documents, including the Battlestar Galactica Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list.
When it came to Battlestar Galactica on the Internet at the time, there was almost nothing outside of the odd episode guide. Meanwhile, in my corner of the universe, I was slowly building up an impressive collection of information on the series. A desire to disseminate it, and an almost propietary interest in putting my personal stamp on it, was my motivation in constructing the FAQ, which was first published in May 1994.
For the Canadian theatrical release, I relied on an article published in the August issue of Marketing Magazine, a Canadian publication. The U.S. theatrical information was furnished from Starlog #21 and an interview with Glen Larson in the New York Times. Initial air dates of the episodes (including Galactica 1980) were collected from existing episode guides, and later, confirmed with other independent sources. Researching the cancellation of the show, and Galactica 1980, was just depressing. I still feel sad, thinking back to 1979, when ABC, shortsighted and greedy, dropped Galactica from its lineup.
Over the years, I've managed to put together a near complete library of all known variants of Galactica episodes on home video, including official home videos, and episodes shown in syndication, original broadcasts, the three theatrical releases, and the twelve telemovies. Even if one just looked at the variants of the pilot episode, it still boggles the mind. The sections on video availability, and the telemovies, is therefore, a short introduction to the history of what is available. The release of the Complete Epic Series DVD package in 2003 has greatly simplified this equation.
Sources for the Star Wars lawsuit included a biography of George Lucas, Starlog magazine, and a special issue of Not of this World. The lawsuit stemming from the Atlanta toy death took some time to research. A boy had choked to death on a missile firing Viper toy, and his parents sued. The sources for this was almost exclusively from period newspaper clippings, including the New York Times and the Calgary Herald. The icing on the cake was an article on the incident's impact on the rocket-firing Boba Fett action figure, courtesy of Star Wars collecting expert, Stephen Sansweet (Lucasfilm Fan Club, Winter '94.)
In the first edition of the document, from May 1994, I sometimes used excerpts from the novelizations, but these were all later replaced with gratuitous quotes from the series. There's a special magic, and mystery to this show, and there's nothing better to reproduce those feelings than to use the right quote. This is especially true when discussing two episodes in particular, "Lost Planet of the Gods", and "War of the Gods", which highlighted the religious and mythical motifs of the series.
On two occasions, I relied on the original scripts to answer questions. The script (and novelization) answer once and for all what really was down on the planet in "War of the Gods" -- a fallen ship of Count Iblis' allies (and not the Pegasus as many still believe.) The quote from Adama from the "Lost Planet of the Gods" script as to why Kobol perished (environmental destruction) was a happy choice. At the time, I had no idea that that portion of the original script was actually filmed, and integrated with the telemovie verison of this episode. In subsequent versions, I replaced what was in the script with what was in the telemovie version.
Some of the information could not have been put together without the use of Sharon Monroe's Galactica Stuff. From her book, I derived a list of ship names and types, places, and peoples, and a list of Colonial currency and units of measurement. I always felt a twinge of guilt in not asking for her permission to use the information. Nevertheless, I give her publication full credit in the FAQ, and am grateful for its existence.
Several years ago I found out that there were some thematic connections between the series, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a.k.a. the "Mormons".) Intrigued, I set out to put together a list of items in common and came to the conclusion that I was going to have to research this one out myself, although I later found two other documents which covered the same territory.
The FAQ also lists the more important publications that a fan might want to obtain, in addition to the episodes. Over the years, much material, on or about the series, has been published. I have come across nearly all the essential pieces, including the original novelizations originally published by Ace, the Battlestar Galactica Scrapbook, Galactica Stuff, and a dozen other items including official musical soundtracks. They are all in the list provided in the FAQ.
2. The Battlestar Galactica Registry and Battlestar Galactica Fandom -- Electronic versions of both documents first appeared in October 1994, updating material that first sappeared in Rick Perriguey's Visions of the Galactica. The Registry is a list of media properties which feature Galactica material in them, and was originally created by Jim Lorrig. BG Fandom is a list of Galactica fan publishers and organizations, and was originally created by Davey Jones. These have not been maintained since 2000, although copies can be found at www.kobol.com.
3. Colonial Time Units -- This was first created in January 1995, after I made the decision to discontinue support of a similar Colonial Timeline file. This is a list of Colonial time units and their definitions, as I feel they are best understood from the context in which they were used in the series. It was last updated in April 2000.
4. The Battlestars and Their Name Sources -- This was created in July 1996, in response to a private letter sent to me by long-time BSG fan Laura Michaels. This list contained the contents of an article written by Larry Mager culled from the pages of Anomaly on the the names of the battlestars. With Mager's list as a guide, I went through every known official and semi-official BSG document and listed all known battlestar names in this document. Laura is former publisher of the fanzine DiStasis (Dimensional Stasis.) It was last updated in April 1998.
5. The Different Versions of the Battlestar Galactica Pilot Episode -- An incredible amount of work went into the preparation of this document. It contains a list of every known difference between the pilot episode released theatrically in the United States in 1979 (and later released on home video, laser disc and DVD), and the one that originally aired on ABC in 1978. Also discussed in this document are every other known variant of the pilot, and two versions of the pilot episode script. Originally created in July 1996 and modified a year later, major revisions to the document occured in August 2000, after a fan named Jerry Zabel sent me an exhaustive list of things I missed. In March 2005, the document was updated yet again, taking into account the release of The Complete Epic Series DVD box set.
6. Extra Scenes from the Telemovie Syndicated Package -- In 1997, I acquired all twelve of the BSG telemovies. Five of these telemovies feature material not originally aired in the network versions. They are four two-part episodes (Lost Planet of the Gods, Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Living Legend, War of the Gods), plus the Experiment in Terra telemovie. In April 1998, I published several documents listing the differences between the telemovie and network versions of these last five episodes. They were integrated into a single document in March 2005, also taking into account the release of The Complete Epic Series DVD box set.
7. Battlestar Galactica Revival Information -- First posted on Usenet in April 1994, and pieced together from Usenet and mailing list articles and various print sources, this was a comprehensive review of events surrounding the revival of Galactica since the time it was cancelled. These documents have not been maintained since the DeSanto/Singer announcement of February 2001, although copies can be found at www.battlestarpegasus.com. The information in these documents have assisted me in putting together histories of recent events to revive Galactica, including the Larson/Moyer partnership, Richard Hatch's trailer, the aborted "biodomes" Galactica of 2001, and a history of the DeSanto/Singer project.
8. Letters on the Low Turnout at the Galactica Reunion in 1993 - This is a collection of letters from people who attended, and witnessed, the sabotage of the 15 Yahren Reunion in Los Angeles in 1993.
9. An Introduction to Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica -- This document introduces the reader to the re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica from Ron Moore and David Eick. It was published in December 2003, on the eve of the premiere of the original miniseries on the Sci-Fi Channel, and has gone through several minor modifications since then, the last being January 2006. This is a springboard to other articles on the new series at my website, Documents on Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica.
I'm glad that my presence on the Internet has allowed me to interact with so many fellow fans, all of whom share a common interest, our love of Battlestar Galactica.