Was the original Battlestar Galactica influenced by Mormonis - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

MikeWaters · 02-20-2006, 03:14 PM

from amazon.com review of new series:

"Ronald Moore's miniseries differs substantially from the original 1970s television show. That show, featuring a dose of Mormon theology and family-friendly characters, was feel-good enjoyment more similar to the original Star Wars trilogy and its Joseph Campbell-influenced storyline."

============

Just watched the miniseries last night of the new version. Liked it.

I was thinking that all the talk of humans orginating from "Kobol" had a Mormon ring to it.......

Anyone know more about the BG and Mormon overlap?

SteelBlue · 02-20-2006, 03:25 PM

I've heard many times that the creator of the series was LDS. I never really believed it though. I just figured it was one of those Steve Martin things.

Jeff Lebowski · 02-20-2006, 03:52 PM

I remember reading an article about this. The main writer was LDS and there were LDS-related tidbits scattered throughout the series. Such as a governing "council of twelve".

Archaea · 02-20-2006, 04:25 PM

Homeboy is correct.

The original series was created by a relatively well-known LDS producer. It has lost tribes, councils of twelve, and if you ever watched the series, angles, as well as other Mormon derivatives.

The recent knock-off obviously does not.

tooblue · 02-20-2006, 05:25 PM

Many critiques have suggested it is the best drama on tv, I wouldn’t know except to say I really like the show and it is the best show I have watched for some time. In fact Battle Star Galactica is the only show I watch out side of sports or news. It is even good enough to have caught my wife’s attention –she watches even less tv than I do.

The original series was indeed produced and mainly written by an active member of the church. Much of Mormon theology/mythology is woven into the story line. For example the original Apollo (Richard Hatch, who plays the role of a homegrown terrorist / political prisoner in the new series) was married to another character for ‘time and all eternity’ in the original series. The planet or origin of the human race is Kobol (kolob) and the people who have been virtually wiped out by the Cylons are divided into 12 tribes. The remnant are on a journey to find Earth in the hopes they are not the last of their kind in the Galaxy.

The new series has borrowed the story line and along with it most if not all of the mythology of the original series, though the new producers/writers are not Mormon and as a result give the HEAVEY religious side of the show a real edge. Cylons in fact are like uber religious islamist machines. And amongst the survivors of the human fleet there is a very strong evangelical faction of the people –identical to the Christian right, voting in blocks etc.

The new series is much more centered on questions of human origin, terrorism, sleepers cells –Cylon agents that have all the physical and emotional characteristics of humans, and think they are human being woken up remotely to carry out heinous missions to destroy the human fleet … it really is a great over-dramatization of the state of political affairs in the world today. I’ll continue to watch the show until it gets lame –so far, two seasons in preceeded by a mini series, so good!

Voila, you have now been thoroughly introduced to my geeky side.

Sleeping in EQ · 02-23-2006, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Archaea

Homeboy is correct.

The original series was created by a relatively well-known LDS producer. It has lost tribes, councils of twelve, and if you ever watched the series, angles, as well as other Mormon derivatives.

The recent knock-off obviously does not.

Yep. His name is Glen Larsen. He's produced other sucessful TV series as well, including Buck Rogers, The Six Million Dollar Man, Knight Rider, The Fall Guy and Magnum P.I.

UteStar · 02-27-2006, 04:01 PM

Because of this topic on CougarGuard, my wife and I went out and rented the MiniSeries of Battlestar Gallatica this weekend. I have to say, I was very impressed. It was very good. Though it had some nice action sequences, this was very much a drama that was intriguing and well done. We were also very impressed by the special effects--pretty good especially considering that this is a television show and not a movie.

We look forward to seeing Season 1 sometime in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the suggestion and topic.

02-20-2006, 03:14 PM	#1
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	Was the original Battlestar Galactica influenced by Mormonis from amazon.com review of new series: "Ronald Moore's miniseries differs substantially from the original 1970s television show. That show, featuring a dose of Mormon theology and family-friendly characters, was feel-good enjoyment more similar to the original Star Wars trilogy and its Joseph Campbell-influenced storyline." ============ Just watched the miniseries last night of the new version. Liked it. I was thinking that all the talk of humans orginating from "Kobol" had a Mormon ring to it....... Anyone know more about the BG and Mormon overlap?

02-20-2006, 04:25 PM	#4
Archaea Assistant to the Regional Manager Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: The Orgasmatron Posts: 24,338	Homeboy is correct. The original series was created by a relatively well-known LDS producer. It has lost tribes, councils of twelve, and if you ever watched the series, angles, as well as other Mormon derivatives. The recent knock-off obviously does not. __________________ Ἓν οἶδα ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα

02-20-2006, 03:25 PM	#2
SteelBlue Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Norcal Posts: 5,821	I've heard many times that the creator of the series was LDS. I never really believed it though. I just figured it was one of those Steve Martin things.

02-20-2006, 03:52 PM	#3
Jeff Lebowski Charon Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the heart of darkness (Provo) Posts: 9,564	I remember reading an article about this. The main writer was LDS and there were LDS-related tidbits scattered throughout the series. Such as a governing "council of twelve".

02-20-2006, 05:25 PM	#5
tooblue Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 4,016	Many critiques have suggested it is the best drama on tv, I wouldn’t know except to say I really like the show and it is the best show I have watched for some time. In fact Battle Star Galactica is the only show I watch out side of sports or news. It is even good enough to have caught my wife’s attention –she watches even less tv than I do. The original series was indeed produced and mainly written by an active member of the church. Much of Mormon theology/mythology is woven into the story line. For example the original Apollo (Richard Hatch, who plays the role of a homegrown terrorist / political prisoner in the new series) was married to another character for ‘time and all eternity’ in the original series. The planet or origin of the human race is Kobol (kolob) and the people who have been virtually wiped out by the Cylons are divided into 12 tribes. The remnant are on a journey to find Earth in the hopes they are not the last of their kind in the Galaxy. The new series has borrowed the story line and along with it most if not all of the mythology of the original series, though the new producers/writers are not Mormon and as a result give the HEAVEY religious side of the show a real edge. Cylons in fact are like uber religious islamist machines. And amongst the survivors of the human fleet there is a very strong evangelical faction of the people –identical to the Christian right, voting in blocks etc. The new series is much more centered on questions of human origin, terrorism, sleepers cells –Cylon agents that have all the physical and emotional characteristics of humans, and think they are human being woken up remotely to carry out heinous missions to destroy the human fleet … it really is a great over-dramatization of the state of political affairs in the world today. I’ll continue to watch the show until it gets lame –so far, two seasons in preceeded by a mini series, so good! Voila, you have now been thoroughly introduced to my geeky side.

02-27-2006, 04:01 PM	#7
UteStar Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,817	Because of this topic on CougarGuard, my wife and I went out and rented the MiniSeries of Battlestar Gallatica this weekend. I have to say, I was very impressed. It was very good. Though it had some nice action sequences, this was very much a drama that was intriguing and well done. We were also very impressed by the special effects--pretty good especially considering that this is a television show and not a movie. We look forward to seeing Season 1 sometime in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the suggestion and topic.