Battlestar Galactica (1978-1979)

Battlestar Galactica (TV 1978-1979)

Directed By: Richard A. Colla & Alan J. Levi

Written By: Glen A. Larson

Cast:

Richard Hatch as Captain Apollo

Dirk Benedict as Lt. Starbuck

Lorne Greene as Comander Adama

Herb Jefferson Jr. as Lt. Boomer

Maren Jensen as Athena

Tony Swartz as Sgt. Jolly

Noah Hathaway as Boxey

Terry Carter as Col. Tigh

Lew Ayres as President Adar

Wilfred Hyde-White as Sire Anton

John Colicos as Count Baltar

Laurette Spang as Cassiopeia

John Fink as Dr. Paye

Jane Seymour as Serina

Ray Milland as Sire Uri

Anne Lockhart as Sheba

Ed Begly Jr. as Ens. Greenbean

Patrick Macnee as Imperious Leader (Voice)

Jonathan Harris as Lucifer (Voice)

Janet Julian as Lt. Brie

Sarah Rush as Flight Cpl. Rigel

No TV series that lasted only one season can boast a bigger fan base than Battlestar Galactica. The series that Newsweek Magazine dubbed "Son of Star Wars" still, 25 years later, hosts hoards of loyal die hard fans. What is the appeal for the series so many years after it left the airwaves in 1979? A series so popular that it was revived this year by the Sci Fi Channel as a new mini-series. This fleet on the run story based loosely on Mormonism may actually be more popular today then it was then. As a fan of the show from it's original airing I can tell you that the series left a lasting effect. I can still remember being that eleven year old boy that tuned in every Sunday night with joy for a new episode of Galactica. Star Wars had come to TV. Or at least the next best thing. Remember there were no DVD's or VCR in the late 1970's. Galactica was intentionally designed to capture the momentum of the hugely popular George Lucas epic. It did the trick. The show was a huge hit with my generation. But this show was no clone. The series itself stood on its own. Great special effects, good acting, and stories that sparked imagination made the show unique for it's time. What did in Galactica? Simple. Money. Each episode was heavy on the special effects side. Each episode ran around the million dollar mark to produce. Today that may not be much but back then it was unheard of. No amount of ratings could equal the cost. The show was popular, but not that popular. Yet despite this the fans have stayed loyal to the show throughout the decades.

The story itself focused on the last remaining refuges from a once great intergalactic society running for their lives from the Cylon Empire. The Cylons may be Science Fictions most inept villains ever. They can hardly walk above a shuffle and could never hit anything they aimed at. In comparison Stormtroopers (Star Wars) look like Special Forces. Regardless the Cylon Empire did manage to destroy almost all of humanity in a "Pearl Harbor" like sneak attack on a day that was bring peace between the two races. Survivors of the Holocaust boarded what ships they could find and formed a fleet behind the last surviving Battlestar. The Galactica. The only hope for these survivors was to reach a lost tribe of mankind that existed in myth. Their home world known only as Earth and it's exact location a mystery. The fleet plotted the best course they could with the limited information available and began a journey to save mankind.

Episode List:

1. Saga of a Star World (Part 1)

2. Saga of a Star World (Part 2)

3. Saga of a Star World (Part 3)

4. The Lost Planet of the Gods (Part 1)

5. The Lost Planet of the Gods (Part 2)

6. The Lost Warrior

7. The Long Patrol

8. The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (Part 1)

9. The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (Part 2)

10. The Magnificent War

11. The Young Lords

12. The Living Legend (Part 1)

13. The Living Legend (Part 2)

14. Fire in Space

15. War of the Gods (Part 1)

16. War of the Gods (Part 2)

17. The Man with Nine Lives

18. Murder on the Rising Star

19. Greetings from Earth (Part 1)

20. Greetings from Earth (Part 2)

21. Baltar's Escape

22. Experiment in Terra

23. Take the Celestra

24. The Hand of God.

Galactica 1980
Directed by: Barry Crane & Vince Edwards

Written By: Allan Cole & Jeff Freilich

Cast:

Lorne Greene as Commander Adama

Kent McCord as Captain Troy

Barry Van Dyke as Lieutenant Dillon

Robyn Douglass as Jamie Hamilton

James Patrick Stuart as Dr. Zee

Allan Miller as Colonel Sydell

Richard Lynch as Xavier

Herb Jefferson Jr. as Boomer

Robbie Rist as Dr. Zee

It was the fan base that convinced the network, ABC, to give the show one more try with the ill-fated Galactica 1980. Most of the main cast was replaced and the storyline just plain sucked. Gone were the flashy special effects. It was much cheaper to produce a show that is based here on Earth rather than in space. Lets face it "V" did this whole thing a lot better. I remember as a youth the series held my attention for about five seconds. Where were Starbuck and Apollo? Alas the viewing public shared my view and the series lasted ten episodes. This did surprise me because I could have sworn it lasted three or four tops. The potential for a series where the Galactica finds Earth could have been awesome....it wasn't.