The series was originally to focus on Commander Xaviar travelling through time to disrupt Earth history, with Captain Troy and Lieutenant Dillon chasing him as they try to restore history. While that concept was dropped, it reportedly inspired producer Donald P. Bellisario to create Quantum Leap (1989).
For a sequence that showed the Cylons attacking Earth, the producers used footage from Earthquake (1974) and superimposed Cylon fighters firing and causing the destruction in the sequence. Thus they managed to create a spectacular sequence on a tiny budget.
This show was originally to be more straightforward and dramatic, similar to Battlestar Galactica (1978). However, a limited budget, along with the network scheduling the show to air in a timeslot reserved for family friendly, educational, and information themed shows, resulted in a drastic overhaul of the show's format.
The turbocycles used in several episodes were modified 1979 Yamaha MX175 motorcycles. Only two were made. A dummy half turbocycle with fixed wings was under construction, and to be suspended from a helicopter for a realistic take-off, but was incomplete when filming started. One of the operational motorcycles was cut in half instead.
Aside from Adama and Boomer, the series was to originally include Apollo, Starbuck, and Baltar, with the remaining original characters excluded for budgetary reasons. Dirk Benedict was unavailable (aside from his guest appearance in the last episode), and Richard Hatch turned it down, unclear on what Apollo's role would be in the revised format. As a result, Apollo and Starbuck were re-written as Troy and Dillon, with Kent McCord and Barry Van Dyke cast in the roles, respectively, largely due to their resemblances to Hatch and Benedict. The reformatting also resulted in he creation of Commander Xaviar to replace Baltar as a regular villain.