"Battlestar Galactica" (1978) TV series 1978-1979

Creator:

Glen A. Larson

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

17 September 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Action | Adventure

Plot:

The last major Colonial fighter carrier leads a makeshift fleet of human refugees on a desperate search for the legendary planet Earth.

Plot Keywords:

Commander | Space | Fugitive | Refugee | Spaceship Name In Title

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Richard Hatch	...	Capt. Apollo (21 episodes, 1978-1979)
Dirk Benedict	...	Lt. Starbuck (21 episodes, 1978-1979)
Lorne Greene	...	Commander Adama (21 episodes, 1978-1979)
Herb Jefferson Jr.	...	Lt. Boomer (21 episodes, 1978-1979)
Laurette Spang	...	Cassiopeia (21 episodes, 1978-1979)
Terry Carter	...	Col. Tigh (21 episodes, 1978-1979)
John Colicos	...	Baltar (20 episodes, 1978-1979)
Tony Swartz	...	Flight Sgt. Jolly / ... (20 episodes, 1978-1979)
Maren Jensen	...	Athena (19 episodes, 1978-1979)
Noah Hathaway	...	Boxey (19 episodes, 1978-1979)
David Greenan	...	Omega / ... (18 episodes, 1978-1979)
Patrick Macnee	...	Opening Credit Announcer / ... (13 episodes, 1978-1979)
Anne Lockhart	...	Sheba (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Sarah Rush	...	Flight Cpl. Rigel / ... (10 episodes, 1978-1979)
Felix Silla	...	Lucifer (10 episodes, 1978-1979)
Jonathan Harris	...	Lucifer (9 episodes, 1978-1979)

Runtime:

60 min (24 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) (VHS/DVD rating) | Canada:PG (TV rating) | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Red Rock Canyon State Park - Highway 14, Cantil, California, USA

Company:

Glen A. Larson Productions

Trivia:

The Cylons had to be over six feet in height, so Glen A. Larson hired a bunch of out-of-work basketball players.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In Mission Galactica:The Cylon Attack" (a VHS television movie comprised of parts of the "Living Legend I and II” episodes plus parts of the "Fire in Space" episode), Cain sends the Pegasus through a bright starfield after Baltar's Baseship. According to the dialogue, the Pegasus is traveling alone at this point. However, the exterior shots in this sequence show the Battlestar being followed by at least half a dozen other ships. (These shots are actually of the Galactica leading the fleet through the Nova of Madagon, from "Saga of a Star World"). In the "Living Legend" episodes original form (now available on DVD), the sequence is different and doesn't show this supposed goof.

Quotes:

Narrator: There are those who believe that life here began out there, far across the universe with tribes of humans who may have been the forefathers of the Egyptians or the Toltecs or the Mayans. Some believe there may yet be brothers of man who even now fight to survive, somewhere beyond the heavens.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Lonely Guy (1984)

Soundtrack:

It's Love, Love, Love

An Underappreciated Classic

Only in the last five years or so has "Battlestar Galactica" begun to emerge from the unfair stigma that was attached to it for so many years as a "Star Wars ripoff". Although a lot of people don't know this, based on what gets written by BG bashers in their histories of sci-fi TV, George Lucas's lawsuit against Universal was dismissed on all counts and found to be without merit. Indeed, considering how Lucas had "borrowed" from so many other genre stories of the past his lawsuit claiming Galactica stole from Star Wars was the biggest case of hypocrisy ever.

For me, "Galactica" continues to age well and is even better than it was when I first experienced it as a child in 1978. Unlike the Star Wars series, which increasingly came to be about FX at the expense of characters, BG's appeal has always lied in its characters. The characters of Apollo (Richard Hatch), Starbuck (Dirk Benedict), Adama (Lorne Greene), Sheba (Anne Lockhart) and even the wicked Baltar (John Colicos) were fascinating and multi-dimensional. And unlike Star Trek, there was a semblance of continuity and character development whereas the former was entirely self-contained from week to week with no development in the characters.

Was BG flawed? Certainly. But it also attracted a larger audience in its one year on ABC than any Star Trek series ever has in syndication. What can't be forgiven is ABC's quick dismissal of this show and then insulting the intelligence of us all by bringing it back in a bastardized version known as "Galactica 1980".

Hopefully, Galactica fans will one day get the last laugh if there is a successful revival with the original cast. It's a show that deserves another chance even more than Star Trek did.