Writer:	Glen A. Larson
Director:	Richard Colla
Star:	Lorne Greene (Commander Adama),  Richard Hatch (Captain Apollo),  Dirk Benedict (Lieutenant Starbuck),  John Colicos (Baltar),  Maren Jensen (Athena),  Herbert Jefferson Jr. (Boomer),  Laurette Spang (Cassiopeia),  Noah Hathaway (Boxey),  Terry Carter (Col. Tigh),  Dick Durock (Imperial Leader),  Tony Swartz (Jolly),  Patrick Macnee (voice (uncredited))
Recurring Role:	Ed Begley Jr. (Greenbean),  Norman Stuart (Statesman),  David Greenan (Omega),  Sarah Rush (Rigel),  Jane Seymour (Serina),  Bruce Wright (Deck Hand),  Paul Coufos (Pilot)
Guest Star:	Rick Springfield (Zac),  Lew Ayres (President Adar),  Ray Milland (Sire Uri),  David Matthau (Operative),  Chip Johnson (1st Warrior),  Sandy Gimpel (Seetol),  Patti Brooks (Tucana Singer),  Geoffrey Binney (2nd Warrior),  Carol Baxter (Woman in elevator)

"Saga of a Star World" originally was a theatrical movie that ran in Canadian and and US theaters. When the movie was edited for TV, there was a major change for the fate of Baltar. In the theater version, Baltar was executed after being dragged before the Imperious Leader. In the TV version, he was 'held for execution' and eventually spared by the Leader's successor. (edit)

Apollo: No way those guys can outfight us without a 10-to-1 margin.
Zac: Apollo, look at your scanner...
Seeing a solid wall of Cylon ships is chasing them
Apollo: No, but 1,000-to-1, that's not fair.
(edit) Commander Adama: Mr. President, a wall of unidentified craft is closing in on the fleet.
Baltar: Possibly a Cylon welcoming committee?
Commander Adama: Sarcasticly Sir, might I suggest we launch a "welcoming committee" of our own?
(edit)

The Cylons of the first series were originally a reptilian race, replaced before the thousand year war by their robotic versions (and which plays into the Cylon origin and war of the current series). This is according to Glen Larson's novelisation of the pilot. (edit) It held the #1 Nielsen rating (U.S.) with the premiere of "Saga of a Star World", having the highest viewership in U.S. history for its day. (edit) Goof: When the Warriors are playing cards, Starbuck places his cards on the table near the gold coins, saying "A perfect pyramid. Unless there's a better hand, the pot is mine". His right fingers tap on the table and his cigar is in the ashtray. When the shot cuts, his hand is suddenly up by his mouth, holding the cigar, and the cards and coins have vanished. (edit) Props from this series were later recycled for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. (edit) The first weekly television series that budgeted at over $1,000,000 per episode. Much of this lavish (for the time) sum was consumed by the special effects processes used. This necessitated the frequent, often glaringly obvious, re-use of effects footage throughout the series wherever possible. (edit)

Terminology: Though much of the terminology is taken from Greco-Roman mythology, much of the "theology" and storyline of Battlestar Galactica comes from Glen Larson's own Mormonism. The 13 tribes, Kobol (an anagram of "Kolob"), and theological concepts in marriage and spirituality are fundamentally Mormon. And the monetary unit, "cubit" is obviously taken from the biblical unit of linear measure of the same name. (edit) Character names: Many of Galactica's characters have names drawn from mythology and literature. Apollo was the Greek god of light and the son of Zeus. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and daughter to Zeus. Starbuck was first mate of the Pequod in Melville's "Moby-Dick" and, like his Galactica counterpart, a heavy smoker. (edit)