The series was created after a massive fan write-in campaign following the cancellation of the original Battlestar Galactica, which was unusual for 1979 and prompted ABC to reconsider its decision and revive the show in a cheaper format.

The original relaunch pitch by Glen A. Larson and Donald P. Bellisario was set five years after the original series finale and would have kept major characters like Adama, Boomer, Apollo, Starbuck and Lord Baltar, with Baltar having atoned and become President of the Council of Twelve.

An early version of the show centered on Baltar stealing a time-travel ship to alter Earth's history after the Council rejected his plan, with Starbuck and Apollo chasing him through different eras each week.

Dirk Benedict (Starbuck) was unavailable for filming, and Richard Hatch (Apollo) turned down the script because he was unsure of his character's role, forcing the writers to set the series 30 years later and create new characters Troy (a grown-up Boxey) and Lt. Dillon to replace Apollo and Starbuck.

Lorne Greene and Herbert Jefferson Jr. were the only principal actors from the original series to return, with Herb Jefferson Jr.'s character Boomer promoted to Colonel.

The role of Dr. Zee was recast partway through the series, played by Robbie Rist for the first three episodes and then by James Patrick Stuart from episode four onward; similarly, Commander Xaviar was played by Richard Lynch in episodes 1–3 and by Jeremy Brett in episode 6.

After the pilot was completed, ABC executives disliked the time-travel concept intended as an ongoing weekly premise, and only agreed to pick up the series if that element was dropped, forcing Larson and Bellisario to reluctantly refocus the show on protecting Colonial children on Earth.

The show was cancelled mid-production of an eleventh episode, 'The Day They Kidnapped Cleopatra,' which was left unfinished; a planned sequel to the finale 'The Return of Starbuck' was also never completed.

After cancellation, footage from episodes was recut into a feature film called 'Conquest of the Earth,' which spliced in a scene of John Colicos as Baltar taken from the original series and partially redubbed to fit the new context, even though Baltar never actually appears in any Galactica 1980 episode.