# When does Battle Star Galactica take place? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111 "2009-03-11T19:37:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/1 "2009-03-11T19:37:02Z")
When does Battle Star Galactica, the original series, take place? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/2 "2009-03-11T19:52:03Z")
In what was then our present. The series closed with the fleet receiving the TV broadcast of the Apollo landing. They finally landed on Earth in time to film “Galactica 1980”, about which no more should be said. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/3 "2009-03-11T21:51:17Z")
Personally, I thought the Moon Landing reference was moderately cool. ---
**Author:** ![Huvudtvatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Huvudtvatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huvudtvatt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/4 "2009-03-11T22:15:27Z")
Weren’t they supposed to be the ancestors of the Toltecs or the Mayans? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/5 "2009-03-11T22:22:34Z")
It went like this: > [@Patrick Macnee](#): > > There are those who believe… that life here… began out there. Far across the universe. With tribes of humans… who may have been the forefathers of the Egyptians… or the Toltecs… or the Mayans… that they may have been the architects of the Great Pyramids… or the lost civilizations of Lemuria… or Atlantis… Some believe that there may yet be brothers of man… who even now fight to survive… somewhere beyond the heavens ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/6 "2009-03-11T22:26:01Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > They finally landed on Earth in time to film “Galactica 1980.” Take back that filthy lie. No such series was ever made. Next you’ll be claiming they made a Star Trek series with that guy from Quantum Leap. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/7 "2009-03-11T22:31:32Z")
IIRC, The last season of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (also a Glen Larson vehicle) had Buck on a deep space exploratory vessel named Searcher looking for lost colonies of Earth. That would’ve made a rather tidy crossover situation. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/8 "2009-03-11T22:50:01Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > In what was then our present. The series closed with the fleet receiving the TV broadcast of the Apollo landing. They finally landed on Earth in time to film “Galactica 1980”, about which no more should be said. By the time of **Galactica 1980** it’d been about 30 years since the destruction of the Colonies. The events of the original series occured over 3 years. Therefore the Colonies were destroyed in 1950 and Apollo & company received the broadcast of the lunar landing in _1953_. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/9 "2009-03-12T00:58:55Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > By the time of **Galactica 1980** it’d been about 30 years since the destruction of the Colonies. The events of the original series occured over 3 years. Therefore the Colonies were destroyed in 1950 and Apollo & company received the broadcast of the lunar landing in _1953_. Closer to 20 years, if you recall that the character Troy was supposed to be the adult Boxy. The original BSG underwent many changes between it’s original conception, the script for the pilot movie, and how the series developed, which you get a glimpse of if you’ve ever read the novelization of the pilot. Originally the series featured a humanity that had been spacegoing for so long that it’s origins had been lost in myth and legend. It was ambiguous as to whether Earth was founded by the Colonies, or vice-versa. If the latter, then events would have taken place in the far future. The series was conceived of as a string of two-hour TV movies released two or three times a year; Larson only reluctantly accepted shoehorning the series into the network’s standard format of 13 one-hour episodes a year. In some of the scripts envisioned for the original concept, there were teasers that there was still some very tentative contact between the Colonies and Earth, roughly along the lines of a lone Marco Polo or two making the journey once every few centuries or so. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/10 "2009-03-12T02:25:09Z")
Of course, in reality any broadcast of the Apollo landings would take years, if not centuries (depending on the distance) to make its way to another solar system. I always thought it would have been cool if they had been 300 or so light years away when they received that broadcast and they arrived at our solar system only to encounter the United Federation of Planets and were greeted by the Enterprise… ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/11 "2009-03-12T02:57:49Z")
> [@Huvudtvatt](#): > > Weren’t they supposed to be the ancestors of the Toltecs or the Mayans? They boldly integrated every completely contradictory supposition of the Ancient Astronaut school of woo-woo that was currently in vogue-- the zodiac is a garbled memory of the scattered colonies; the Greek pantheon contains trace references to our heroes; the ancient Egyptians’ royal costume was in imitation of Colonial space helmets; the book of Exodus is a rote account of the twelve Colonial tribes’ flight from Cylon oppression.. no, wait… so the Colonial Fleet is simultaneously the tribes of Judah _and_ the forefathers of the Egyptians… ummm… and, oh yeah forget all that jibber-jabber that Ben Cartwright was on about with the “there are those that believe that life down here began out there,” because those people were probably just high, or trying their best to evoke “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away” without getting their pants sued off. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/12 "2009-03-12T03:09:14Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Take back that filthy lie. No such series was ever made. Next you’ll be claiming they made a Star Trek series with that guy from Quantum Leap. Calm yourself, Rhymer. Some scenery chewing actor leapt into that role. All is well. OP: I go with Lemur’s explanation. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/13 "2009-03-12T14:28:11Z")
Even as a young kid, I thought _Galactica 1980_ was one of the stupidest shows on the air. (Which somehow did not stop me from watching it.) One episode, “The Return of Starbuck”, however was good. Far better than most of the episodes of the original series. So I cannot pretend that the second series never existed. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/14 "2009-03-12T14:34:57Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > The series was conceived of as a string of two-hour TV movies released two or three times a year I just want to say that this is a brilliant idea. Has anything like this happened before? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/15 "2009-03-12T14:40:03Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I just want to say that this is a brilliant idea. Has anything like this happened before? “McCloud” and “McMillan & Wife” were both part of _The ABC Mystery Movies_, which ran for several years in the early 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/16 "2009-03-12T15:06:34Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I just want to say that this is a brilliant idea. Has anything like this happened before? It has happened before, and it will happen again. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/17 "2009-03-12T15:42:35Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > trying their best to evoke “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away” without getting their pants sued off. IIRC Lucas actually did sue them on that basis, but lost. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/18 "2009-03-12T16:31:44Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > IIRC, The last season of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (also a Glen Larson vehicle) had Buck on a deep space exploratory vessel named Searcher looking for lost colonies of Earth. That would’ve made a rather tidy crossover situation. “You say you left a destroyed Earth to look for the colonies? Well, we left the destroyed colonies to look for Earth … aw, FRAAAKKKKK!!!” ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/19 "2009-03-12T16:49:04Z")
Pardon me. That would, of course, have been “Aww, FELGERCARB!” ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111/20 "2009-03-12T17:40:22Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > and, oh yeah forget all that jibber-jabber that Ben Cartwright was on about with the “there are those that believe that life down here began out there,” Nitpick: According to IMDb, the opening sequence announcer was Patrick Macnee, not Lorne Greene. > [@Pushkin](#): > > IIRC Lucas actually did sue them on that basis, but lost. Apparently, not quite: > [@IMDb Trivia](#): > > There were contemporary news reports that either George Lucas or his studio considered legal action against the producers over alleged similarities with the Star Wars (1977) saga. Although “BSG” was indeed created to capitalize on the popularity of Star Wars, nothing came of this controversy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-battle-star-galactica-take-place/489111.md?page=2)