Okay, now that I have shown how the paper corners were indeed an inside joke as to how they had to cut corners, I will post some interesting stuff.
Here is some BSG trivia:
As in the original "Battlestar Galactica" (1978), Viper weapons fire is red and the Cylon Raiders' is white.
There are only four ships that appear in the remake but not in the original: "Colonial One" (the transport used by Laura Roslin), the Olympic Carrier, Cloud 9 and the ringed passenger liner.
Commander Adama has a shaving mirror in his cabin. This mirror is made by IKEA, and is a model called "Fräck" (spelling according to IKEA Web site). This word is similar to "frak" (spelling according to the subtitles with an "a" and without a "c"), which is the primary vulgarity in the Battlestar Galactica universe. "Fräck" is Swedish and can actually mean insolent or shameless but the meaning IKEA is most likely after is striking, which is another interpretation of the word.
In the original scripts, Admiral Cain's first name was Nelena.
"Kobol" in the ancient Persian language means "Heaven". It is also an anagram of "Kolob", the name of the planet/star nearest the "throne of God", according to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) - Glen A. Larson, the executive producer of the original television series, was a church member and incorporated a number of themes from Mormon theology into the show.
Number Six (Tricia Helfer) was named after Patrick McGoohan's character in the television series "The Prisoner" (1967).
The Season 2 opening theme song is a famous Hindu mantra, the Gayatri Mantra, taken from the Rig Veda. The words are "OM bhûr bhuvah svah tat savitur varçnyam bhargô dçvasya dhîmahi dhiyô yô nah pracôdayât", which may be translated in various ways but means approximately "may we attain that excellent glory of Savitar the God / so May he stimulate our prayers".
Katee Sackhoff was able to continue wearing her thumb ring while shooting by explaining it away as Zak Adama's ring.
Paper in the series have corners cut off. It is said that director Michael Rymer did this during the miniseries as a reference to how he had to "cut corners" financially to make the miniseries work on a limited budget.
The telephone handset used on the bridge of the Galactica is a US Army issues field telephone used since the Korean War, known as the TA-1.
Jane Seymour was offered the role of Admiral Nelena Cain. When she turned down the offer, Ronald D. Moore offered the role to Michelle Forbes and she accepted.
The characters Tarn and Selix, who first appear in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 2", were named at the behest of Aaron Douglas, who plays Chief Petty Officer Tyrol. Douglas noted that the two were originally listed in the script generically (Technician 1 and 2) and, recognizing the potential of the two characters, consulted with others in the cast to give them proper names. Douglas then inserted their new names into his lines on every take.
The season 1 finale, "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Parts 1-2", went through a number of changes according to the Podcast commentary for both episodes. Some of these early differences include:
1. Part One was to conclude with the Raptor crashing and Part Two would end with Starbuck stealing the Raider to finish the finale with a season-ending cliffhanger. This was changed when the original pacing wasn't working.
2. Originally, the ruins on Kobol were supposed to be a huge temple that was mirrored on Caprica. This was abandoned due to cost constraints.
3. What Baltar and Number Six experienced inside the ruins on Kobol went through a number of changes. Originally, Ron D. Moore proposed to the other writers that there was supposed to be a bright corridor of light. In a later version, there was to be complete darkness punctuated with music from a song recognizable by both the audience and the two explorers. Then, Dirk Benedict (Starbuck from the original "Battlestar Galactica" (1978)) was supposed appear and say something like, "Hi. I'm God." followed by TO BE CONTINUED... However, the other writers quickly disparaged the idea as implausible, and Ron D. Moore reluctantly agreed.
4. One concept that the writers liked, but were forced to abandon was the idea that the interior room of the ruins was to be located in "otherspace" or in a different spatial or dimensional location.
When they created the sub plot with Helo and Boomer on Caprica the creators did not know why Boomer and the Cylons were interested in Helo. It was only about half way through the first season that they decided that the Cylons were interested in biological reproduction, an issue that has become very important to the series.
The subplot set on Cylon Occupied Caprica with Helo and Boomer was not originally planned; after being left of Caprica in the mini series, Helo was supposed to never be seen again: the audience would be left to assume that he died. Only after seeing the audience's reaction to Helo did the show producers decide to bring him back, and introduce another Boomer, and the Cylons' experiments in creating a Cylon/Human Hybrid, which eventually became an integral part of the Cylon "plan".
Doc Cottle is named after Michael Rymer's childhood pediatrician, who was actually a very nice person unlike his fictional counterpart.
The phrase "so say we all", which is used as a ceremonial affirmation in the series, was ad-libbed by Edward James Olmos in a speech given by Commander Adama in the mini-series.
The Battlestar Pegasus set is actually the recycled set of the Jupeter 2 from The Robinsons: Lost in Space (2004) (TV). The set was purchased when the latter's pilot failed to generate a series.
Both Ronald D. Moore and James Callis have said that all the lead actors were required to sign seven-year contracts when they were hired for the pilot miniseries.
Lucy Lawless was originally offered the role of Ellen Tigh, but rejected it feeling that she was wrong for the part. The producers so wanted her for a role on the series, however, that they later wrote the role of D'Anna Biers with Lawless in mind.