OOooooo! So you've rewatched the whole thing? I'm getting started on doing that.
I have a very strong feeling that some episodes are better than I remembered, and other episodes are far worse than I remembered. But you are so right, when the 1978 series was on, it was on fire. When it missed, it missed very, very badly.
I think the key problem with the 1978 series is that a lot of those misfires were early on (if I remember right), which meant that it lost audience. A lot of that had to do with production problems. ABC ordered them to series so quickly, that the production team was scrambling very, very hard between 'Gun on Ice Planet Zero' and (I think) the Pegasus arc.
I also get the impression that the TOS was canceled at the last-minute (and this was a case like Angel: canceled for purely financial reasons instead of ratings reasons). They were actually planning out a S2 arc, and had brought in Isaac Asimov to write a show bible (yes, S1 was produced without a show bible).
The writers on the original series several years ago said this is what they were planning for S2 (and it's actually a pretty awesome list):
Tigh was going to get killed and Adama was going to be forced to promote a not-ready-for-primetime person to be his second-in-command
Boomer was going to move from being a viper pilot to being a scientist. The rationalization was that scientific talent was thin on the ground, and Boomer had been shown to have skills in that area during S1
Cassiopea was going to become a regular character (with Lorette Spang in the opening credits), and she was going to become a doctor
End of the Starbuck/Cassiopea 'ship, because, in the words of the writers, "she was too damn good for the likes of him." Srsly.
The Fleet was going to find a habitable planet, and there was going to be open rebellion between the people who want to settle on the planet, and the people paranoid about the Cylons finding them after they settled
Apollo's manpain was going to get the better of him, and he was going to resign from the military and get into politics
Starbuck was going to be promoted and forced to take over leadership of the squadrons on the Galactica, a position he does not want at all
Those are what I remember off the top of my head. I know I don't have the complete list, but I think I remember hearing some talk about the Pegasus coming back and Sheba being forced to chose between Adama and her father, but I'm not 100% sure on that one.
Considering the amount of research Moore has done with TOS, it wouldn't surprise me if he was aware of this list, especially considering everything he's done in his version.
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I have a very strong feeling that some episodes are better than I remembered, and other episodes are far worse than I remembered. But you are so right, when the 1978 series was on, it was on fire. When it missed, it missed very, very badly.
I think the key problem with the 1978 series is that a lot of those misfires were early on (if I remember right), which meant that it lost audience. A lot of that had to do with production problems. ABC ordered them to series so quickly, that the production team was scrambling very, very hard between 'Gun on Ice Planet Zero' and (I think) the Pegasus arc.
I also get the impression that the TOS was canceled at the last-minute (and this was a case like Angel: canceled for purely financial reasons instead of ratings reasons). They were actually planning out a S2 arc, and had brought in Isaac Asimov to write a show bible (yes, S1 was produced without a show bible).
The writers on the original series several years ago said this is what they were planning for S2 (and it's actually a pretty awesome list):
Those are what I remember off the top of my head. I know I don't have the complete list, but I think I remember hearing some talk about the Pegasus coming back and Sheba being forced to chose between Adama and her father, but I'm not 100% sure on that one.
Considering the amount of research Moore has done with TOS, it wouldn't surprise me if he was aware of this list, especially considering everything he's done in his version.