How much did Battlestar Galactica cost?
There are conflicting numbers for the initial costs of the show. The Galactica office had announced that the first seven hours (the premiere, “Lost Planet of the Gods” and “Gun on Ice Planet Zero”) had a $7 million budget, but some sources put the actual cost at $9 million. Canadian publicity even claimed that the project was $14 million in the making. In its first seven hours, Galactica worked out to $1 million per episode, though, in an interview in Fantastic Films #5 (February 1979), Glen Larson estimated the true cost was closer to $750,000 per episode, the price ABC paid for each hour. No matter what the numbers, Galactica is one of the most expensive shows ever to appear on the small screen. The Galactica bridge was estimated at $850,000. The computer hardware giant Tektronix donated $3 million worth of high tech computer hardware to dress up the set. Television monitors totaling $35,000 were used. The six-foot long model of the Galactica, which weighed 60 pounds, cost $50,000. I
