Legendary sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov didn’t mince his words when it came to Battlestar Galactica

Glen A. Larson’s “Battlestar Galactica” series in the 1970s was a curious mix of high-end science fiction and pulpy, dirty adventures. The premise was a bit pretentious. Set in an unspecified year, in a very distant part of the galaxy, humans were at war with a species of intelligent robots called Cylons. The Cylons took over humanity and wiped out most of our species, leaving only a few human ships, led by the warship Battlestar Galactica, adrift in the skies. Armed with a fleet of dog hunters and with nowhere else to go, the fleet travels the galaxy in search of a legendary lost home planet known as Earth.

As “Battlestar Galactica” fans might tell you, the 24-episode, single-season series ended with the characters discovering Earth, but not in the way expected. I won’t spoil the ending here.

At the same time, however, much of the series’ appeal came from the high-speed dogfights between its cutting-edge human pilots and their sinister Cylon attackers. There was a pulp element to “Battlestar Galactica” that fans leaned into, and it drove most of the series. Indeed, “Battlestar Galactica” was not afraid to launch into battle, weapons in hand. It also contained fanciful elements, such as a daggit, a dog-like creature that lived among humans.

Sci-fi fans also appreciated the more gripping elements of “Battlestar Galactica.” This brings us to renowned author and essayist Isaac Asimov, the author of “Foundation” (the basis for the Apple TV show of the same name), “I, Robot” and numerous works of science fiction and literary criticism. In 1979, Asimov was interviewed by Southwest Airlines Magazine (archived on the AmericanIndian website) and the writer was able to talk about his favorite science fiction films and television shows from that era. Turns out he wasn’t the biggest fan of “Battlestar Galactica.”

Asimov’s objections came from the show’s lack of scientific accuracy. Of course, Asimov was a science fiction writer himself, so he knew how to take some liberties with technology and physics in order to imagine an imaginary future world. But with “Battlestar Galactica,” Asimov objected to the way ships flew in space. He also didn’t care for its similarities to “Star Wars” (much like George Lucas) and even admitted to hating Steven Spielberg’s recent hit “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” for its scientific absurdity. As Asimov says:

“Well, I liked ‘Star Wars.’ […] “Battlestar Galactica,” for example, began with 20 to 30 minutes of space battles that looked exactly like the air battles of World War I. You could swear the spaceships were surrounded by air, from the way they maneuvered. We felt it was undignified.”

When asked what he thought of “Battlestar Galactica’s” small, fast fighter planes, known as Vipers, Asimov was blunt, noting that their designs were retro to the point of being distracting. According to Asimov, it is impossible that an advanced civilization could make ships that look like this:

“It’s like people in the 1880s were writing fantasy stories about airplanes of the future, and they had pilots lean back behind the wheel and shout ‘Whoa,’ and the plane stopped in mid-flight.”

This belongs to westerns or combat films, not science fiction. Asimov wanted more creativity in his science fiction.