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

User Rating:

7.2/10   

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 / ... (11 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 first weekly television series budgeted at over $1,000,000 per episode. Much of this lavish (for the time) sum was consumed by the special effects processes used. This necessitated the frequent, often glaringly obvious, re-use of effects footage throughout the series wherever possible.

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

More Than a Star Trek Wannabe

These are the voyages .... well, not quite, but close enough. This was one of my favorite TV series growing up; one that failed to earn high ratings, but that always had a fervent and dedicated cult following.

Like Star Trek before it, the rating system never reflected the large audience that was watching the show, week after week. Very sad, because I think it is still one of the most interesting and entertaining TV shows of the 1970s. Creator Glen A. Larson always claimed that his Mormon background inspired him to create the show (the series have indeed a strong religious subtext), but this TV show is really a pastiche of all the sci-fi shows that had been created up to that point. Watching the series, one can see plenty of allusions to Star Trek, Star Wars, Flash Gordon, and even a little bit of Wagon Train. What Larson did was to take the best things of all those shows and then adapt those ideas into a cohesive storyline. The end result was pure space opera, in the tradition of Star Wars and Star Trek.

The series deal more or less, with what it looks like the last group of humans in the universe, traveling across the space, looking for the Promised Land, under the tutelage of Moses-like Commander Adama (Lorne Greene in a wonderful performance). The Fxs are surprisingly effective and the whole thing has the stamp of a show that has a clear vision. I love Stu Phillips' memorable music theme, the sets are great (a little too similar to Star Wars' sets, though), and the acting is good. Sure, some areas play like a bad "Peyton Place" episode, and the film's tone is very 1970s. But the show has a real desire to please, and the whole idea behind the concept is interesting and well executed.

This is the original TV pilot that launched the series, which by the way, was reedited and released in movie theaters. I will have to watch the actual episodes in order to see if the series indeed is still as good as I remember it to be, but the pilot alone is good enough to stand close scrutiny. If you are a sci-fi fan, you should try this one.