For many modern science-fiction fans, you may know Ronald D. Moore from his works on the Apple+ series, "For All Mankind". Yet, for fans of a certain age, you may remember Moore's work on Star Trek. He's often seen as one of the best writers the franchise ever had. Yet, between the current Apple+ series, and his work on Star Trek, Moore rebooted the maligned 1970s and 1980s series, Battlestar Galactica.
Moore helmed the show, which got picked up by SyFy first as a limited-run mini-series, and then later as a full-fledged show. While the show fell off heading into the fourth and final season, it still remains one of the most consistent, thought-provoking and incredible science-fiction series to date.
Yet, not everyone was a fan of the show, or more specifically, the changes Moore made to the series. According to the book "So Say We All: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Battlestar Galactica" by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, the original creator really hated the reboot.
The show was first created by Glen Larson, who saw the original series debut in 1978. While it had its fans at the time, it didn't have nearly enough support to warrant continuing on with the show. Somehow, however, Larson would get a second chance at the franchise, doing a soft reboot of the show, called, unoriginally enough, Galactica 1980.
The show had its supporters but the franchise once again failed to find any real support, airing just 10 episodes and leaving one left unfinished and unaired.
So, 20-odd years later, Moore took a shot at it and nailed it. He created a series that fans loved, that punched up the original source material and made it better. Except, the changes angered Larson. This led to there being issues between Larson and Moore.
Larson would eventually demand a teleplay credit, a credit that claims someone wrote the story. While Larson did create the original series, Moore's teleplay was not written by Larson in any way. Moore would eventually concede to giving Larson a story credit, a credit that implies you helped create the idea, but that didn't satisfy Larson. Instead, Larson took the issue to the Writer's Guild of America and ultimately got his way.
To stick it to Moore, Larson then had himself credited as "Christopher Eric James", a move that made it look like someone re-wrote Moore's original treatment. This caused Moore to have some series issues with Larson, with Moore later being quoted in the aforementioned book (via MentalFloss) as saying;
“So it’s not written by Ronald D. Moore and Glen Larson, which at least sort of would acknowledge the roots of it and my contribution versus the creator. It’s my name and some other guy’s name, which makes it look like I was either rewritten or someone else contributed in some way. I never quite forgave him for that.”
The show would go off and become of one the SyFy network's biggest successes. It helped prove the network as a reliable home for exciting dramas over the next decade before it started to lose its way as a channel.
Moore, likewise, proved his worth as a showrunner and proved he didn't need Star Trek to succeed, though we'd all like to have him back regardless. Larson, however, would never find another hit again. He'd try with a Knight Rider reboot, another show he created in the 1980s, but unlike Galactica, the reboot just didn't have the updated edge to succeed that Galactica did.