Winning Over The Fans

Some updates -- including turning Lt. Starbuck, Dirk Benedict's role in the original, into a woman (Katee Sackhoff) -- outraged some diehard fans. But good stories, performances and the kind of effects that would have been impossible back in '78 have resulted in strong ratings. The show's numbers have validated executive producer-writer Ronald Moore's belief that "the fan community has started to embrace this version of the show."

Photo courtesy NBC Universal, Inc. Tricia Helfer as Number Six

For Moore, who also produced the miniseries, the challenge of creating a large-scale sci fi drama for television has its financial and logistical challenges. "We don't have a huge budget," he says, unwilling to get specific but confirming that it's "significantly less" than that of Star Trek: Enterprise.