By Chris Snellgrove
| Revealed 33 seconds in the past
One of many issues that made Ronald D. Moore’s Battlestar Galactica reboot so profitable is that it was mainly every little thing that Star Trek wasn’t. Whereas Gene Roddenberry’s basic present was all in regards to the hopeful exploration of the cosmos, Moore’s collection targeted on humanity’s frantic struggle for survival after a genocidal assault by the Cylons.
Regardless of the variations between the franchises, Battlestar Galactica was really impressed by Star Trek to create Cloud 9, a civilian fleet vessel whose inside appears like a lush, out of doors planet.
How Star Trek Created The Cloud 9
The Battlestar Galactica reboot launched Cloud 9 within the episode “Colonial Day,” a really political episode that known as for a slight change in setting. Showrunner Moore wished to introduce some out of doors environments to the present to maintain it from feeling too claustrophobic, however he additionally wished to keep away from having the Galactica go to a brand new planet every week, a la Star Trek. The answer was to introduce Cloud 9, a civilian ship whose inside conveniently appears like the outside of a planet.
At this level, you is perhaps asking your self why the Battlestar Galactica showrunner and different producers thought the collection wanted Coud 9 within the first place. The brief reply is that if the present by no means takes its characters to new areas, viewers will ultimately begin going stir-crazy as their favourite characters do. This is likely one of the large causes that Galactica, a present about characters who reside in area 24/7, nonetheless discovered so many alternatives to go to Caprica and different planets.
A lot of that exploration got here in a while as Ronald Moore turned extra snug with having these characters discover unusual new worlds. Nonetheless, the Battlestar Galactica showrunner wished to create Cloud 9 in Season 1 in order that the writers didn’t essentially should take the principle ship and its heroes to a brand new planet each week, like in Star Trek: The Authentic Collection or The Subsequent Era. Because of Cloud 9 (a vessel whose inside appears like that of a planet), the present may present a visible change of tempo as wanted with out forcing the title vessel to make any detours.
If the showrunner had been anybody else, we seemingly wouldn’t have gotten a brand new ship. Our heroes would merely go to a brand new planet every week, a method made common by Kirk and Spock. Nonetheless, Ronald Moore obtained his begin in present enterprise by writing for Star Trek: The Subsequent Era, and he landed that job largely due to his nice ardour for The Authentic Collection (he even turned TNG’s Klingon knowledgeable due to his love of TOS). As soon as he started operating his personal present, Moore seemingly wished to do one thing totally different, so Battlestar Galactica launched Cloud 9 so he wouldn’t should chunk Trek’s type.
As hardcore Battlestar Galactica followers know, Cloud 9 didn’t make it to the top of the collection. As an alternative, this uncommon ship was destroyed by a nuclear system by the hands of a model of Six whose breakup with Dr. Baltar led to some very literal fallout for our heroes. However we’d by no means have had this ship within the present in any respect if not for Star Trek and its “planet of the week” trope that Ron Moore desperately wished to keep away from. He was finally profitable (so say all of us!) in making a standalone sci-fi collection that boldly went the place no Trek had gone earlier than.
