Battlestar Galactica: Fun Facts

Can't get enough of the popular sci-fi show? Here are some fun factoids.

Starbuck, who is played by Katee Sackhoff, was a man in the original Battlestar Galactica (1978) show, played by Dirk Benedict. It's also the name of the first officer aboard the Pequod in the book Moby Dick.

Commander Adama has a shaving mirror in his cabin. This mirror is made by IKEA, and is a model called "Fräck" (spelling according to IKEA Web site). This word is similar to "frak" (spelling according to the subtitles with an "a" and without a "c"), which is the primary vulgarity in the Battlestar Galactica universe.

The opening theme song for seasons one, two, and three is a famous Hindu mantra, the Gayatri Mantra, taken from the Rig Veda. The words are "OM bhûr bhuvah svah tat savitur varçnyam bhargô dçvasya dhîmahi dhiyô yô nah pracôdayât," which may be translated in various ways but means approximately "may we attain that excellent glory of Savitar the God / so May he stimulate our prayers."

Paper in the series has corners cut off. It is said that director Michael Rymer I did this during the miniseries as a reference to how he had to "cut corners" financially to make the miniseries work on a limited budget.

The telephone handset used on the bridge of the Galactica is a US Army issues field telephone used since the Korean War, known as the TA-1.

Adama's lighter was actually purchased at a garage sale.

When they created the sub plot with Helo and Boomer on Caprica, the creators did not know why Boomer and the Cylons were interested in Helo. It was only about half way through the first season that they decided that the Cylons were interested in biological reproduction, an issue that has become very important to the series.

The term "skinjob", used to describe any of the humanoid Cylon models, is a reference to the movie Blade Runner (1982) in which Edward James Olmos also starred (and suggested Tricia Helfer watch to help her prepare), and the Nexus 6 models are described by the same moniker.

The combat helmets worn by the Marines are actually Giro "Bad Lieutenant" snowboarder helmets. They're made out of plastic, not Kevlar.

In Hebrew the name "Adama" (last name of William, Lee and Zak) actually means "ground" or "earth" and pronounced almost exactly: "ada-ma". Hardy a coincidence since finding Earth is the main theme of the series.

Source: IMDB