I can see why "Battlestar Galactica" didn't get a fair shake when it debuted on ABC Sept. 17, 1978.
Everything about the show seemed to have aspects of director/writer George Lucas' vision of "a galaxy far, far away" written all over it. The villains called the Cylons, an army of slow-moving mechanical robots could well be compared to the Empire's stormtroopers in the Star Wars trilogy (1977-1983). Was it a coincidence that their leader was named "Imperious Leader" as in "Imperial Leader" for Darth Vader's Empire?
Shades of Harrison Ford's Han Solo could be seen in Dirk Benedict's Starbuck; the cynical colonial warrior for the Battlestar Galactica who's good with a blaster, always has his mind more on gambling, wooing the ladies, and figuring out a way out of the military service.
As for aliens, in the three-hour pilot, the "rag-tag fugitive fleet" led by “the last battlestar” reaches a planet resembling a casino full of alien denizens who may as well come from Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine in Star Wars (1977). The place even has a band of long-legged alien women who are like the Pointer Sisters who come equipped with two mouths and two eyes.
Add Lorne Greene to the cast as the ship's commander who along with his son, Captain Apollo (Richard Hatch) is in charge of protecting and leading the last remnants of the human race (220 ships in all) to safety after having all their home planets wiped out by the Cylon Empire and one might think this is an outer space rendition of "Bonanza" (1959-1973).
All this didn't matter to a third grader like me who the year before Galactica debuted was still flying on that "Star Wars" high from the summer of 1977. As a kid growing up in Chicago, I made sure every Sunday night from the show's debut in September 1978 to its untimely cancellation in April 1979 was reserved to watching "Battlestar Galactica." I made sure to be in front of the television when the series' 24 episodes was condensed into 12 two-hour movies a couple years later airing on either Friday or Saturday nights every few weeks.
Plot and character development meant nothing to me at the time. What I wanted to see was the weekly outer space dogfights between the Colonial Vipers and the Cylon Raiders and the countless explosions that went with them courtesy of special effects coordinator John Dykstra who also worked on Lucas' Star Wars team.
I am not ashamed to say Galactica is still one of my favorite science fiction shows 40 years later. I have obviously grown up in the forty decades plus since I first saw the show as a kid. I can tell now, for example, after watching a few of the episodes that the shots of Cylon Raiders exploding were repeated sequences reused for later chapters and just another means to save money (ABC had $1 million invested in each episode).
A lot of the stories were thinly plotted and were obviously inspired by ideas done in countless other TV shows or even disaster movies like "Fire in Space.' Perhaps the most embarrassing episode out of the whole series where part of the Galactica is in flames following a Cylon attack leaving half the crew trapped in a burning area of the ship. All hope is relied upon a four-legged mechanical Daggit (the human version of a dog) to save the day.
The best episodes I have repeatedly viewed again on the special DVD box set released in 2003 (still no Blu-ray release other than the 125-minute theatrical version of the series’ pilot released this year) are the ones that ran in two parts. Among them, "Lost Planet of the Gods", in which the Galactica discovers a dead planet of ruined cities that resembled the pyramids of ancient Egypt. I have found it to be the most emotional two-part episode of the entire series since it ends with the death of Apollo's wife (Jane Seymour). I still cry whenever I watch that episode. (I know of some forty-year-old men who still cry every time E.T. bids Elliot (Henry Thomas) farewell in Steven Spielberg's "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial" (1982) and when Kevin Costner asks his dad near the end of "Field of Dreams" (1989) if he wants to play catch so I wouldn't laugh. I know who you are.)
Perhaps the two most popular two-part episodes are "The Living Legend" starring Lloyd Bridges ("Airplane" - 1980) as Commander Cain, a Patton-like battle commander with a death wish who was thought to have perished long ago. While in "War of the Gods", Patrick Macnee ("The Avengers" - 1961-1969) made a guest appearance as a self-proclaimed savior who could possibly be the Prince of Darkness.
Despite being on for only one season, it isn't surprising to note the show has developed a cult following the past three decades, though maybe not as big as the Star Trek franchise. Realizing their mistake in canceling the show in 1979, ABC attempted to recreate the series in 1980 in what most everyone says is the worst program ever made called "Galactica 1980" where the battlestar finally reaches Earth. Gone, however, were all of the original cast with the exception of Lorne Greene and the series only lasted six episodes with the best one being where Dirk Benedict reprised his role as Starbuck who's marooned on a planet and the only friend he has is a Cylon.
To some extent, "Battlestar Galactica" has slowly made a comeback. Actor Richard Hatch, who died in 2017, had his own website at www.richardhatch.com, and authored a few books based on the series' characters and at one point, planned on reviving the TV series again titled The Second Coming using some of the same cast. Hatch unveiled a four-minute trailer at a 1999 sci-fi convention but despite positive fan reaction, Universal, the studio who owns Galactica’s rights didn’t show interest. Despite being a mix of computer-generated effects and familiar movie soundtracks of "Crimson Tide" (1995) and "Independence Day" (1996) in the background, watching the four minute trailer on youtube.com I found it to be a joy to see Hatch and a couple other familiar faces from the original series again.
I suppose I’d be committing a sin if I didn’t mention the new "Battlestar Galactica" series (2004-2009) that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel (now called Syfy) for four seasons, which was a reimagining of the original starring Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell. Trouble is I was not a fan despite only watched less than a handful of episodes. I can already read the comments from devoted fans of the later series reading this blog telling me how I can be so negative about a show I barely watched and refused to give a chance. I’ll tell you why. Futuristic TV shows that incorporate post 9/11 storylines, family dysfunction, lesbianism and personal battles with alcoholism and breast cancer is not science fiction to me which was among some of the topics covered in the new Galactica series. In plain old Galactica language, I found the new show to be a lot “felgercarb.”
To be honest, that new series would not have been possible were it not for what skeptics found to be ABC's ambitious, big budget epic answer to Star Wars on Sunday nights 40 years ago.
So happy “fraking” fortieth anniversary "Battlestar Galactica" as you continue to flee from the Cylon tyranny leading a rag-tag fugitive fleet on your lonely quest for a shining planet known as Earth.
©9/20/18
Everything about the show seemed to have aspects of director/writer George Lucas' vision of "a galaxy far, far away" written all over it. The villains called the Cylons, an army of slow-moving mechanical robots could well be compared to the Empire's stormtroopers in the Star Wars trilogy (1977-1983). Was it a coincidence that their leader was named "Imperious Leader" as in "Imperial Leader" for Darth Vader's Empire?
Shades of Harrison Ford's Han Solo could be seen in Dirk Benedict's Starbuck; the cynical colonial warrior for the Battlestar Galactica who's good with a blaster, always has his mind more on gambling, wooing the ladies, and figuring out a way out of the military service.
As for aliens, in the three-hour pilot, the "rag-tag fugitive fleet" led by “the last battlestar” reaches a planet resembling a casino full of alien denizens who may as well come from Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine in Star Wars (1977). The place even has a band of long-legged alien women who are like the Pointer Sisters who come equipped with two mouths and two eyes.
Add Lorne Greene to the cast as the ship's commander who along with his son, Captain Apollo (Richard Hatch) is in charge of protecting and leading the last remnants of the human race (220 ships in all) to safety after having all their home planets wiped out by the Cylon Empire and one might think this is an outer space rendition of "Bonanza" (1959-1973).
Plot and character development meant nothing to me at the time. What I wanted to see was the weekly outer space dogfights between the Colonial Vipers and the Cylon Raiders and the countless explosions that went with them courtesy of special effects coordinator John Dykstra who also worked on Lucas' Star Wars team.
I am not ashamed to say Galactica is still one of my favorite science fiction shows 40 years later. I have obviously grown up in the forty decades plus since I first saw the show as a kid. I can tell now, for example, after watching a few of the episodes that the shots of Cylon Raiders exploding were repeated sequences reused for later chapters and just another means to save money (ABC had $1 million invested in each episode).
A lot of the stories were thinly plotted and were obviously inspired by ideas done in countless other TV shows or even disaster movies like "Fire in Space.' Perhaps the most embarrassing episode out of the whole series where part of the Galactica is in flames following a Cylon attack leaving half the crew trapped in a burning area of the ship. All hope is relied upon a four-legged mechanical Daggit (the human version of a dog) to save the day.
Perhaps the two most popular two-part episodes are "The Living Legend" starring Lloyd Bridges ("Airplane" - 1980) as Commander Cain, a Patton-like battle commander with a death wish who was thought to have perished long ago. While in "War of the Gods", Patrick Macnee ("The Avengers" - 1961-1969) made a guest appearance as a self-proclaimed savior who could possibly be the Prince of Darkness.
Despite being on for only one season, it isn't surprising to note the show has developed a cult following the past three decades, though maybe not as big as the Star Trek franchise. Realizing their mistake in canceling the show in 1979, ABC attempted to recreate the series in 1980 in what most everyone says is the worst program ever made called "Galactica 1980" where the battlestar finally reaches Earth. Gone, however, were all of the original cast with the exception of Lorne Greene and the series only lasted six episodes with the best one being where Dirk Benedict reprised his role as Starbuck who's marooned on a planet and the only friend he has is a Cylon.
To some extent, "Battlestar Galactica" has slowly made a comeback. Actor Richard Hatch, who died in 2017, had his own website at www.richardhatch.com, and authored a few books based on the series' characters and at one point, planned on reviving the TV series again titled The Second Coming using some of the same cast. Hatch unveiled a four-minute trailer at a 1999 sci-fi convention but despite positive fan reaction, Universal, the studio who owns Galactica’s rights didn’t show interest. Despite being a mix of computer-generated effects and familiar movie soundtracks of "Crimson Tide" (1995) and "Independence Day" (1996) in the background, watching the four minute trailer on youtube.com I found it to be a joy to see Hatch and a couple other familiar faces from the original series again.
To be honest, that new series would not have been possible were it not for what skeptics found to be ABC's ambitious, big budget epic answer to Star Wars on Sunday nights 40 years ago.
So happy “fraking” fortieth anniversary "Battlestar Galactica" as you continue to flee from the Cylon tyranny leading a rag-tag fugitive fleet on your lonely quest for a shining planet known as Earth.
©9/20/18
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