One of Those "Buried Battlestar Galactica Mysteries" From The Past That Universal Studios Prefer No One Knows About

 

Original "Saga of a Star World" (the 1978 Battlestar Pilot episode) director Richard A. Colla filmed a good 95% of the pilot episode. He only had "4 scheduled remaining days left to go" before Glen A. Larson fired him, and dumped his perfectly good, theatrical quality footage in the trash heap never to be seen by anyone, ever.

One of the sequences he filmed was a long and extended sequence of the "Ovions" escorting Apollo, Serena, and Jolly through the "Ovion Catacombs." Just as "Boxey" was captured by the "Ovions" and taken someplace else....Apollo, Serena, and Jolly are loaded into a "tram" and taken to the entrance of the "Ovion Catacombs." Apollo, Serena, and Jolly get off the tram and begin a slow walk through the catacombs. A rather lengthy sequence with no dialogue. Apollo, Serena, and Jolly follow "Ovions" with other "Ovions" walking behind them. Apollo staring at ceilings and walls while the walk continues, Jolly nervously looking down at his gun during the walk, with Serina looking very upset. This leads up to what is left in the movie, Apollo communicating with the "Queen Ovion - Lotay" asking her where "Boxey" is at.

This is just an example of the great stuff we lost in extended footage from the movie. ABC-TV and Glen A. Larson cut this fantastic footage, Universal Studios never catalogued and stored the footage in protected surroundings (destroyed forever through neglect), and the other fantastic, extended stuff that Richard A. Colla shot was apparently lost in a fire. (Convenient).

"So Say We All!!"