Battlestar Galactica

Warning: Wikipedia contains spoilers

The show is set in a distant part of outer space in some undisclosed time. There, the human colonies had been fighting a centuries long war against a mechanoid race called the Cylons[?] who were on a crusade to exterminate humanity. The series began with the Cylons suing for peace thanks to the diplomatic efforts of Councilor Baltar. In reality, he had betrayed humanity for personal power by leading the fleet of the main ships of the line, giant fighter carriers called Battlestars, into a trap.

At the rendezvous, the Cylons attacked the unsuspecting ships and destroyed them, except for the Galactica. Commander Adama of the Galactica had already been suspicious of this uncharacteristic peace offer, and was the only one to put his ship on battle alert after his sons found the attack force on patrol. Realizing that the home worlds were now vulnerable, he withdrew to intervene, only to learn that the Cylons had already devastated them.

With the human colony civilization in ruins, Commander Adama proposed the only chance for humanity to survive. He would lead a refugee fleet in search of the lost human colony, a planet known only as Earth. Thus, with the Galactica leading a ragtag fleet of ships of every variety and state of repair, Adama with the help of his second, Colonel Tigh and his best fighter pilots, his surviving son Apollo, and the hotshot pilot, Starbuck, search for that planet. Unfortunately, the Cylons are in determined pursuit, using Baltar as an aid in their plans for genocide.

This series, the biggest budgeted of that time, opened with spectacular ratings, but they slid as the writing declined and the budget restrictions meant that the established special shots were overplayed into tedium. Star Wars creator George Lucas sued the producers for plagiarism, and the network executives cancelled the still strong-rated show in a failed attempt to position Mork and Mindy into a more lucrative time slot.

A sequel series, called Galactica 1980, in which the fleet found and protected Earth, was a quick failure with a low budget and widely panned writing.

However, the original show has maintained a cult fandom ever since which support competing efforts by Glen Larson and Richard Hatch to revive the premise. A remake for the Sci-Fi channel[?] is currently in production.