‘Battlestar Galactica’ Is Relaunched on Sci-Fi

Seldom in TV history have fans been so passionate about so little for so long. “Battlestar Galactica” just will not fade away.

On Monday and Tuesday, Sci-Fi Channel reimagines the 1970s TV series with a four-hour miniseries that, if it does well, will also serve as the pilot for a new series. It’s only the latest chapter in an ongoing saga.

In October, fans descended on the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City to celebrate “Galacticon 2003,” the 25th anniversary of the 1978 ABC space opera, which lasted just one season (few fans count its wretched sequel, “Galactica 1980”).

The first “Battlestar Galactica,” which launched with great fanfare and splashy special effects, starred Lorne Greene as Adama, the leader of humans fleeing aboard a ragtag fleet in search of a mythical Earth after the cybernetic Cylons destroyed their 12 space colonies.

Directed by Michael Rymer, the new version stars Edward James Olmos as Cmdr. Adama, with Jamie Bamber as his son, the pilot Apollo; Katee Sackhoff as the pilot Starbuck; and Mary McDonnell as the newly appointed president of the colonies.

At the convention, the faithful (who came from as far as Kuwait and New Caledonia) gathered to see a presentation by Ronald D. Moore, writer of the new miniseries. After clips were shown, the Q&A; session began, and the tone, though polite, was hostile to Moore’s reinvention of the “Galactica” mythos. But when asked if he would yield to fans’ wishes and change things if the miniseries becomes a series, Moore simply said no.

“There are definitely some pockets of people who are never going to like this,” Moore said, away from the fans.

After its one-year run, “Galactica” mostly vanished from the airwaves until it reappeared in recent years in reruns on Sci-Fi.

For a while after the turn of the new century, it looked as though Bryan Singer and Tom DeSanto would mount a new TV version of “Galactica,” a continuation of the original series. But when “X-Men” became a huge hit, director Singer and his story co-creator DeSanto had to go off and make the sequel. Universal Studios, which owned the “Galactica” concept, then called on Moore to give it another go, this time for Sci-Fi.

He sat down to view the original movie-length pilot. “I watched this story of a civilization being wiped out,” he recalls, “and I realized I was looking at it through very different eyes after 9/11. Suddenly I could tell a story about us. What does it do to you to wake up one morning and everything you thought was safe in your world is wiped out?”

“You’re trying to make something great,” says David Eick, executive producer of the miniseries. “You’re trying to not make what people expect you to do.... It was quite a tightrope walk for everybody. The most surprising thing was how effortless it seemed. Everybody intuitively understood that we’re making something called ‘Battlestar Galactica,’ and it is a severe departure from the thing that used to be called ‘Battlestar Galactica.’ ”

In front of TV critics in July, Olmos cautioned fans of the original to tune out the new version, to cling instead to the thing they love.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” he said. “This has changed a lot. It’s not better; it’s not worse. It’s not a continuation of the story.”

Moore’s new version injects a lot more sex into “Galactica,” along with gender-switching the character of Starbuck. Sackhoff takes over from Dirk Benedict while retaining Starbuck’s cigar-chomping, poker-playing swagger.

Moore has also rethought the Cylons, turning them from mysterious metallic foes into humanity’s own creation, some of which can pass among us. But ultimately, it’s the people he cares about most.

“We’re all deeply flawed,” he says, “but we can still do amazing things. ... It’s a story of humanity.”

Kate O’Hare writes for Tribune Media Services.

“Battlestar Galactica” airs at 9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday on the Sci-Fi Channel. The network has rated the Monday program TV14-LSV (may not be suitable for children younger than 14, with advisories for coarse language, sex and violence). Tuesday’s program is rated TVPG-LV (may be unsuitable for young children, with advisories for coarse language and violence).

Cover photograph by Frank Ockenfels.