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Phoenix666 writes:

I always liked his robot dog:

In a way, Richard Hatch never left the Galactica. The actor, who died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer at age 71, was Captain Apollo on the original "Battlestar Galactica" for just one season, but it forever remained a part of his life.

"Hurtling through space with reckless abandon, playing the dashing hero, battling Cylons, monsters and super-villains -- what more could a man want?" Hatch said of his role. "All in all, I feel proud and honored to have been a part of such a fun and highly entertaining show."

And though "Galactica" aired just a year after the mega-success of 1977 film "Star Wars," Hatch defended his show's originality.

"I still feel that our story is no more a rip-off of 'Star Wars' than a western film is derivative of every other western film," he said on his website. "Our show was inspired by 'Star Wars', but it definitely had its own unique characters' flavor and point of view."

Hatch would return to the "Galactica" franchise, playing Tom Zarek, when the show was re-envisioned in 2005, but even before then, he was writing novels, hoping to revive the series. He also created a trailer to try and convince Universal Studios to continue the show, although at the time, they passed.

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