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Battlestar Galactica revolutionized science fiction television. The series, which ran from 2004 to 2009, synthesized commentary on politics, gender, race, and religion in a story of warring humans and machines. Created in the shadow of 9/11, Ronald D. Moore's reimagining of the eponymous 1978 series won critical praise and still endures as a cult classic. Battlestar Galactica (henceforth referred to as BSG) also revolutionized “space opera.” Moore invoked this subgenre of science fiction explicitly in his manifesto “Naturalistic Science Fiction, or Taking the Opera out of Space Opera.” He repudiated the traditional space opera—shows like Star Trek and Doctor Who—asserting that it was outdated, overdone, and unrealistic:
Our goal is nothing less than the reinvention of the science fiction television series. We take as a given the idea that the traditional space opera, with its stock characters, techno-double-talk, bumpy-headed aliens, thespian histrionics, and empty heroics has run its course and a new approach is required. That approach is to introduce realism into what has heretofore been an aggressively unrealistic genre.1
BSG revised iconic elements of the classic space opera, including plot, characters, editorial style, and cinematography. And while Moore neglected to mention music in his essay, composer Bear McCreary would revolutionize the soundtrack with exotic timbres and rhythms that departed from the traditional brassy fanfares.
And yet, for all of Moore's assertions that his show was “not just another space opera,” BSG embodies many of the subgenre's defining characteristics.2 Space opera traces its origins back to the 1930s and 1940s when books and radio serials dominated entertainment. The term, coined by magazine journalist Wilson Tucker in 1941, draws from other popular genres of the time: “In these hectic days of phrase-coining, we offer one. Westerns are called ‘horse operas,’ the morning housewife tearjerkers are called ‘soap operas.’ For the hacky, grinding, stinking, outworn space-ship yarn, or world-saving for that matter, we offer ‘space opera.’”3 Tucker clearly intended the label in a derogatory swipe at the formulaic, mediocre products he regularly encountered. The use of “opera” within the label refers not to the musical genre, but rather to an overarching concept of melodrama and intense emotions. Furthermore, Tucker suggested that space opera must possess certain key characteristics, including a spaceship,...