Batttlestar Gallactica - The Original Series (1 Viewer)

[Blimpoy06]

Just seeing the guy in the gestapo hat in the background reminds me this episode was a good one

The guy in the hat is Lloyd Bochner.

There is a bit of a "mini arc" at play in the last part of the season. The captured crew from the previous episode that you recall and some warlord nomad types who were arrested in an even earlier episode all escape from the brig with Baltar.

They are allowed to escape and the Galactica follows them to their home world in the following episode. Which brings back the celestial beings from "War Of The Gods."

Is that enough plot points yet?

 

[BobO'Link]

As I mentioned earlier, I appreciate it far more now than during its original airing. Back then I'd given up on it after a half dozen or so episodes and had never seen it through to the conclusion. I then watched the updated version during its original airings and, other than a few minor issues, really enjoyed it. It, too, had ups and downs, but I liked the more seriousness of that one over the light hearted episodes I'd seen of the original. Watching the reimagined series is what prompted me to pick up the original on DVD and give it another try. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the original touched on many of the same topics/events as the reimagined version with them actually reaching Earth by the end of that first season. When I got the BR edition I also found the BSG:1980 series wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I still prefer the new version but will watch the original if someone asks.

One thing that still annoys me is that, during the original run, ABC interrupted this highly promoted and anticipated production with the announcement of the signing of the Egyptian–Israeli Camp David Accords. This "Special Report" went on for roughly an hour with mostly reporter talking heads and file footage of Camp David. While it was a somewhat important event, there was nothing in that "Special Report" that couldn't have waited until the late news, which would have aired in less than an hour without the interruption. At least they stopped the tape on BSG and picked up where they interrupted the program, but it was a totally unnecessary interruption and killed the momentum of the BSG broadcast. If you were on the West coast you didn't get this interruption.

 

[Jack P]

Every network did an interruption that night because it was really big news at the time to learn that a breakthrough had been reached between the two nations. If you didn't live through the wars of 1967 and 1973 (and I was too young for those) it's a little hard to grasp just how significant that was that finally two nations that had basically been at war for 30 years were suddenly this close to peace. NBC I know resumed "King Kong" from where it left off and they were off I think just as long as ABC was before they resumed.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Wow, Battlestar Galactica and Frank Frazetta - what a combination! Gotta love Frazetta and his voluptuous women, what a great artist he was.

Count me in as another who loved this show as a kid but find it harder to take nowadays. I do think the 3-part series opener "Saga of a Star World" still holds up pretty well (in fact, wasn't this released on a stand-alone Blu-Ray someplace?) I do remember thinking it took a big nosedive in quality after that, although a few 2-parters stand out in my memory.

One thing I found amusing is the episode with Apollo stranded on a planet and protecting a widow and her son from a Cylon was not only reminiscent of countless TV westerns, but was virtually copied for a later, season two Buck Rogers episode.

I still think the original recipe Cylons are a wonderful creation, and the spaceship designs for both the Galactica fleet and the Cylons are iconic. I should probably give this show another try and see if it holds up better than my memory of it.

Question for you fellas - which of these two Glen A. Larson sci-fi shows - Galactica or Buck Rogers - do you prefer? I think I know the answer already, but am curious to hear your thoughts.

 

[Ron1973]

Wow, Battlestar Galactica and Frank Frazetta - what a combination! Gotta love Frazetta and his voluptuous women, what a great artist he was.

Count me in as another who loved this show as a kid but find it harder to take nowadays. I do think the 3-part series opener "Saga of a Star World" still holds up pretty well (in fact, wasn't this released on a stand-alone Blu-Ray someplace?) I do remember thinking it took a big nosedive in quality after that, although a few 2-parters stand out in my memory.

One thing I found amusing is the episode with Apollo stranded on a planet and protecting a widow and her son from a Cylon was not only reminiscent of countless TV westerns, but was virtually copied for a later, season two Buck Rogers episode.

I still think the original recipe Cylons are a wonderful creation, and the spaceship designs for both the Galactica fleet and the Cylons are iconic. I should probably give this show another try and see if it holds up better than my memory of it.

Question for you fellas - which of these two Glen A. Larson sci-fi shows - Galactica or Buck Rogers - do you prefer? I think I know the answer already, but am curious to hear your thoughts.

Must I be made to choose? I like them both. Both of them had format changes the second season. Buck Rogers was in outer space while the Galactica people made Earth.

 

[BobO'Link]

Every network did an interruption that night because it was really big news at the time to learn that a breakthrough had been reached between the two nations. If you didn't live through the wars of 1967 and 1973 (and I was too young for those) it's a little hard to grasp just how significant that was that finally two nations that had basically been at war for 30 years were suddenly this close to peace. NBC I know resumed "King Kong" from where it left off and they were off I think just as long as ABC was before they resumed.

And, IMHO, every network over reacted. It was an hour of network talking heads with little from the actual participants. Yes, it was significant (and yes, I lived through the wars and was of draft age in 1973), but I also worked in television at the time and know, first hand, how news departments overreact on things. That broadcast amounted to little more than a network anchor telling the country "the accord has been signed" taking almost an hour to do so.

 

[Blimpoy06]

One thing I found amusing is the episode with Apollo stranded on a planet and protecting a widow and her son from a Cylon was not only reminiscent of countless TV westerns, but was virtually copied for a later, season two Buck Rogers episode.

"The Lost Warrior" It's basically the story from "Shane".

 

[Jack P]

And, IMHO, every network over reacted. It was an hour of network talking heads with little from the actual participants. Yes, it was significant (and yes, I lived through the wars and was of draft age in 1973), but I also worked in television at the time and know, first hand, how news departments overreact on things. That broadcast amounted to little more than a network anchor telling the country "the accord has been signed" taking almost an hour to do so.

That's not my memory of the coverage. We heard a very lengthy speech from Carter and comments from Begin and Sadat and the anchors would not have spent an hour plus afterwards. When you have the President wanting to speak from the White House the networks were always obligated to carry it back then, because this is before the days of 24 hour cable news channels.

 

[Ron1973]

And, IMHO, every network over reacted. It was an hour of network talking heads with little from the actual participants. Yes, it was significant (and yes, I lived through the wars and was of draft age in 1973), but I also worked in television at the time and know, first hand, how news departments overreact on things. That broadcast amounted to little more than a network anchor telling the country "the accord has been signed" taking almost an hour to do so.

And a couple of years later, The Return of The Beverly Hillbillies got preempted by the assassination of Sadat. I was 7 years old and hotter than a firecracker!

 

[Sam Favate]

Count me in as another who loved this show as a kid but find it harder to take nowadays. I do think the 3-part series opener "Saga of a Star World" still holds up pretty well (in fact, wasn't this released on a stand-alone Blu-Ray someplace?) I do remember thinking it took a big nosedive in quality after that, although a few 2-parters stand out in my memory.
....
Question for you fellas - which of these two Glen A. Larson sci-fi shows - Galactica or Buck Rogers - do you prefer? I think I know the answer already, but am curious to hear your thoughts.

The pilot was edited into a theatrical release in 1979, many months after the show premiered (in fact, it may have been after the last episode was aired). It's missing many scenes from the TV version. (It was presented in "Sensurround" - a sound system that was supposed to make you feel the vibrations of the effects. I don't recall that it did.) I prefer the TV version to the theatrical release.

Both BG and Buck have their merits, but I think the 70s TV formula worked better for Buck, which never pretended to be anything but an adventure show without a story arc. Ron Moore's BG (one of the best sci-fi shows ever, IMO) really showed the darkness inherent in the original BG premise, and in the original show that premise was constantly at odds with the TV formula of the era and with trying to make it appeal to kids so they could sell toys that would grab some of that Star Wars-type merchandising.

 

[Worth]

In Canada anyway, the movie was released in the summer of '78, before the show premiered.

 

[TJPC]

It also had make out scenes with Starbuck and — what was the name of the dumb blond character(?) that were unsuitable for television. They were seen making out before being blasted with steam. On television they were only kissing. I remember watching both with friends and laughing.

 

[Jack P]

The character was Cassiopeia and she was hardly a "dumb blonde" in the series. (of course I'm used to hearing all kinds of things about the original series that isn't true, especially from Ron Moore and all others involved with that other property)

 

[Jack P]

Was watching "Gun On Ice Planet Zero" this past week, which was actually the second episode produced but was aired much later due to some changes that came up as a result of some late decisions with the pilot.

1-Originally, Saga Of A Star World ends with Serina dying of radiation sickness and Apollo adopting her son. This was changed later so that all scenes of Serina being ill were cut and allowed for her to be brought back for "Lost Planet of The Gods". In GOIPZ, there is a cut scene where Apollo mentions to Adama the losses they've gone through and mentions his younger brother and mother who were killed in the pilot but no mention of Serina's death.

2-Cassiopeia in early drafts of Saga was supposed to die at the hands of the Ovions but in the end survives. Long-term this was going to alter the original conception of the show where Starbuck and Athena have a romance and eventually Cassiopeia filled that role. But even when the decision was made to keep her, she was still being seen as a "socialator" (space hooker basically) and not as a med-tech. This is why in "Gun On Ice Planet Zero" her character is not tagging along as a med-tech because production wise they hadn't arrived at that decision yet.

3-Also, when this episode was first shot, the decision had not yet been made to bring John Colicos as Baltar back after he'd seemingly been executed in Saga by the Imperious Leader. If you read the novelization of GOIPZ which was the second Galactica novel to come out (further revealing how early it was produced), Baltar doesn't appear at all. It's the Cylon Imperious Leader calling the shots. By the time the show aired, Baltar had been retained and if you study his scenes carefully, you can tell they were shot later. In one scene, Baltar is shown limping (apparently in reference to the fact that he was injured at the end of "Lost Planet Of The Gods") and in the final scene where Lucifer reports the Galactica has gotten away, it's clear that this scene was hastily edited together from previously shot footage because we never see a close-up of Baltar with his lips moving. All the dialogue has been dubbed in over old footage to more effectively "connect" things.

At least one other episode "The Long Patrol" was also shot before they finally did "Lost Planet Of The Gods" and brought Jane Seymour back for her actual death scenes (following a quick marriage to Apollo). In "The Long Patrol" much is made of the Galactica "leaving a new star system" and when Cassiopeia appears she is still more a socialator and not a med-tech. And the one Baltar scene in the episode, like the one in the close of GOIPZ is also a case of stock footage from another episode with new dubbing (and no close-ups of Colicos) to obscure when it was made but to get the continuity of airdate episodes in proper synch.

Considering all the pressures the show was under when the decision was made by ABC to go with a weekly series than a series of TV movies (which would have resulted in better written shows but may not have been a ratings success given that the era of the "rotating" show on TV as defined by "Columbo" etc. was on the way out in the late 70s), it's amazing that they were able to handle the potential continuity problems created by these late decisions and shooting key episodes out of sequence in the early going as well as they did. It's one reason why I still find the show holding up well in contrast to so many other failed sci-fi shows of the 70s.

 

[TJPC]

As I have said before, the show would have been 100% better if the just put the little boy and his “robot” out into deep space!

 

[Jack P]

Their presence was not as extensive as some imply. Minimal in the second half and not at all in the final four episodes.

Those who prefer the other show have their own thread. This one should be for those who aren't going to look for an excuse to just flippantly run the original series down.

 

[BobO'Link]

As I have said before, the show would have been 100% better if the just put the little boy and his “robot” out into deep space!

Boxey and the robot "dog" are the main reasons I gave up on the show during its original airings. In rewatching it shortly after the BR edition came out I found they were almost as bad as I'd recalled although not as intrusive as the series progressed. Still, I feel they were instrumental in driving away viewers early on.

The extreme reuse/recycling of visual effects (specifically the same shots of ships launching used multiple times per episode as time fillers) and poor writing due to ABC's last minute decision to go weekly rather than as a series of "special event" movies are what I feel contributed significantly to the show's demise. It didn't help that CBS scheduled All in the Family and Alice opposite BSG further eroding its viewership and that it was a very expensive program to produce.

In my rewatching of that BR set I discovered it's a better program than I'd originally given it credit for being and a fairly good series for its time. It's a shame it was treated as it was by ABC as it could have run several seasons with proper management and network support, even as a weekly hour length program.

 

[B-ROLL]

As I have said before, the show would have been 100% better if the just put the little boy and his “robot” out into deep space!

Like V.I.N.C.E.N.T. in "The Black Hole" ... Boxey and his Daggit were designed to appeal to children. Keep in mind this show was on during "Family Viewing Hour." When the whole family was supposed to be sitting in front of the TV (eating a TV Dinner from Mrs. Swanson...) ...

And don't forget the Merch...

 

[Jack P]

I've always felt the ratio of Galactica episodes breaks down pretty much the same for one year as Trek did over three years. One-third good, one-third average, one-third bad. My groupings.

Good
Saga Of A Star World
Lost Planet Of The Gods
Living Legend
War Of The Gods
The Man With Nine Lives
The Hand Of God

Average (Some are slightly better than others but all are middle of the pack)
The Lost Warrior
Gun On Ice Planet Zero
The Long Patrol
Fire In Space
Murder On The Rising Star
Baltar's Escape

Below Average to Bad
The Magnificent Warriors
The Young Lords
Greetings From Earth
Experiment In Terra
Take The Celestra

I will admit even the bad episodes occasionally had a good point or two like the location filming at the ruins of Expo 67 in "Greetings From Earth".

 

[Blimpoy06]

I've always felt the ratio of Galactica episodes breaks down pretty much the same for one year as Trek did over three years. One-third good, one-third average, one-third bad.

I only found one episode to be truly bad, "The Magnificent Warriors". For 1970's televised sci-fi, the rest were brilliant. Particularly for me as a 10 year old when the show aired. The Apollo stranded on a planet and Starbuck stranded on a planet episodes aired too close together, but as mentioned earlier, they were scrambling to make air dates early on.

I think the show hit it's stride around the time Sheba arrived. "War Of the Gods" scared me as a child. The satanic overtones of Count Iblis really hit me hard. Now, I appreciate the love the characters have for each other and the level of self sacrifice they display. It's a bit heavy handed by today's standards, but I still like my heroes to be virtuous.

I rate "Baltar's Escape" very highly as well. This episode retains several characters and story lines from recent episodes and sets up the following story very nicely. But the highlight for me is the power struggle for control of the fleet between civilian and military hands.