The pilot episode was budgeted at $8 million, making it one of the most expensive TV productions of its time, and it was theatrically released in Sensurround.

The show was originally announced as a set of three television films, but after the second episode aired, creator Glen A. Larson suddenly announced it would become a weekly series, catching the writing and production staff off guard and leading to rushed 'crash of the week' scripts.

Because scripts were sometimes finished only minutes before filming, actors had to read their lines off cue cards, which affected their performances.

After the second episode introduced a new gold-trimmed cape costume for the warriors, part of the pilot had to be reshot to match, and this refilmed version was released in theaters in 1979.

20th Century Fox sued Universal Studios in 1978 for allegedly stealing 34 distinct ideas from Star Wars, while Universal countersued claiming Star Wars had itself borrowed from Universal's 1972 film Silent Running and the 1930s Buck Rogers serials.

Star Wars director George Lucas threatened legal action against Apogee, Inc., the visual effects studio founded by former Industrial Light and Magic artist John Dykstra, claiming they were using equipment Lucas had left behind to create effects for a competing show; Apogee eventually surrendered the equipment to ILM.

On Christmas Day 1978, a child was fatally injured after accidentally shooting a pellet from a Cylon Raider toy into his throat, prompting Mattel to recall all Galactica toys with firing missiles within two weeks; a second, non-fatal incident with a Colonial Viper toy led Mattel to redesign the toys so pellets could no longer be fired out.

The series' 1979 cancellation sparked viewer protests outside ABC studios and was linked to the suicide of a 15-year-old fan in Saint Paul, Minnesota who was obsessed with the show.

The pilot's score was composed by Stu Phillips and performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded at 20th Century Fox studios—the same studio that would later sue Universal over the series.

Actor Dirk Benedict, who played Starbuck, later appeared in a scene for The A-Team where his character Templeton Peck reacts with a deja vu gesture upon seeing a Cylon robot walk past on the studio lot.

Series creator Glen A. Larson was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and incorporated many themes from Mormon theology into the show.