I am not what you would call a sci-fi geek. I was a little smidgen when Battlestar Galactica (BSG) came on the air (four years old) yet I could remembered a number of the episodes. I had some of the action figures, as did my siblings and other relations, and reruns shown only a few years later on local affiliates in my area, Wilkes-Barre, PA and Philadelphia, PA, helped refresh my memory. I enjoyed some of the the BSG marathon this past Christmas Eve on the Sci Fi Channel and decided to look up BSG on the web.

To my surprise, I found several sites including Richard Hatch's (Apollo) own website and the very exciting news of his all-out efforts to bring the show back in movie and TV form. I haven't gotten to see the trailer but I saw pictures and was overwhelmed that he was able to get several former cast members involved, and from what I understand, his intent is to bring back the characters and themes and preserve what Battlestar Galactica was all about. I am very pleased with all of this. I hope a major television network or movie production company will take this whole idea under serious consideration and give him the opportunity it would really help if Glen Larson would either help him out and/or support him.

If not, I wish Mr. Larson would withdraw his disastrous idea of going with an entirely new cast and trying to rewrite the "book" on BSG and the story for today's audiences...we've seen what happens when today's movie industry tries to modern our favorite classics, science fiction or not, and end up turn these movies into action and special effects extravaganzas with the absense of a quality story, it would be a nightmare. The actors who played these character like Dirk Benedict, Richard Hatch, John Colicos, Laurette Spang (the hot Battlestar physician Cassieopia), Maren Jensen, Anne Lockhart (as the babe pilot Sheba), Terry Carter, Tony Swartz, and the late Lorne Greene (it's also good to see Richard Lynch involved again as Count Iblis). I know there are names I'm leaving out...nonetheless, they all were talents, and though the show scripts and lines here and there were cheesy, it seems there would be much life left in the BSG franchise even 20 years later.

I think, however, it would be probably more likely that the show could come back on TV rather than in the theatre and if a major network wouldn't be interested, then BSG could go syndicated. It will give Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming more exposure. Look at the successes of Babylon 5 and Star Trek: The Next Generation. No offense, but anyone who said BSG was made as an attempt to cash in on the late 70's Star Wars phenomena would be half correct....however, this show had a great plot and much originality, it could well hold it's own....I think there was even an appeal to it that in a dark sense that our heroes were always the hunted. You were always wondering what would happen next. Would the cylons attack? What other kind of life forms would they encounter, good or evil? What would happen between the characters and the story progressed? You were on the edge of your seat.

Such episodes as "Gun on Ice Planet Zero", "Living Legend", and "The Hand of God" are classic sci-fi stories in my mind. BSG had such a short life, as we all know, when compared with other sci-fi legends. There would be plenty to explore and the older characters have much more room for development along with bolstering the cast with younger talent. I know making it all a reality will be hard. I am a Dr. Who fan and I thought Dr. Who would return to it's glory in 1996 with the FOX telepicture, but evidently it wasn't too well received.

I do not think that would be the fate of BSG. BSG would have more of an appeal than Dr. Who anyway. This is the time to jump in. With the new Star Wars trilogy moving along in the theatres, the interest is back in sci fi. And with the Star Trek franchise having really worn itself out, the door is open for BSG to bring back their old fans and to introduce to the younger generation today to this great tale of a nomadic ragtag human contingent journeying to find Earth and reunite with it's brothers and sisters. Good luck to Richard Hatch and congratulations to him on getting as far as he has on this project with such limited resources. May we see something spectacular develop in the near future.

Sincerely,
A fan