[2] The series follows Kevin Sorbo as Captain Dylan Hunt of the Systems Commonwealth, an intergalactic government that presided over an extended period of peace and prosperity until its destruction from a rebellion led by the warmongering Nietzcheans and parasitic Magog.

[3] In Canada, the show aired on Global Television Network (Fireworks' parent company) and ran in first-run broadcast syndication in the United States.

The name Dylan Hunt had previously been used for the hero of two television pilots Roddenberry had produced in the mid-1970s – Genesis II and Planet Earth – all of which shared a similar dystopian post-apocalyptic premise.

Caught in a surprise attack in the first engagement of the Nietzschean uprising, the Andromeda is crippled, prompting Dylan to order the crew to evacuate.

Dylan kills Gaheris as Andromeda is caught at the edge of the event horizon of a black hole, freezing both in time.

303 years later, in CY 10087 (approx 5167 AD), the Andromeda is pulled from the event horizon by the crew of the salvage ship Eureka Maru, captained by con-artist and expert pilot Beka Valentine, super-genius engineer Seamus Zelazny Harper, doctor and alien of unknown origin Trance Gemini, and pacifist Magog Rev Bem (the salvage crew's beneficiary also secretly brings Nietzschean mercenary Tyr Anasazi).

After a long and bitter war of attrition with the major powers of the Triangulum Galaxy, the Vedran Empire was reorganized as the democratic Systems Commonwealth.

[5] Bette Chadwick was in charge of casting, while visual effects were initially handled by Lost Boys Studios and Northwest Imaging & FX.

[5] The Andromeda theme music used in season one was composed by Alex Lifeson, guitarist for the Canadian progressive rock band Rush.

Andromeda's first episode was aired on syndication in the United States on October 2, 2000[1] while being carried on Global Television Network in Canada.

[13] During filming of season two, series developer and executive producer Robert Hewitt Wolfe announced he had been released from the show's production and was replaced by Bob Engels.

The change was purportedly to make the show more episodic and open to casual viewing since Wolfe's version—although episodic—had many plotlines and story arcs.

Starburst described Andromeda as a "delightfully motley cast of characters, and the scripts by Wolfe and his writing team are brimming with witty interplay.

[33] In a retrospective, Digital Spy remarks "this show hasn't exactly aged that well... but if you remotely like sci-fi, we also bet you'll find yourself sucked into this nostalgia-fest in no time".

[34] Andromeda received negative reviews from the Los Angeles Times ("Don't expect much excitement... 'Andromeda' isn't intended to be taken too seriously, but that doesn't excuse its penchant for dopey dialogue"),[35] Entertainment Weekly ("After surviving a hilariously bad slow motion fight sequence.. Sorbo meets up with a band of misfit scavengers who may not be as bad as they seem, but make up for it by being twice as annoying"),[36] Common Sense Media ("this series lacks the spark that made Star Trek so much fun.

The politics sometimes seem overly confusing, and some of the characters are thinly developed"),[37] SciFiNow ("It's a cliche but decent enough... but the problem is that Andromeda falls into Star Trek: Voyager territory by playing it safe and not doing enough to develop its characters")[38] and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ("it's kiddie-minded science-fiction with average special effects... and a set that was clearly built on a lower budget than the 'Star Trek' shows.").