"Galactica 1980" (1980) TV series

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Creator:

Glen A. Larson
(more)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

27 January 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot:

When the Battlestar Galactica finally arrives at the planet Earth, they find they must subtly raise its tech level & protect it from the Cylons.

Plot Keywords:

Cult Favorite | Motorcycle | Space | Aircraft Carrier | Space Carrier

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Lorne Greene	...	Commander Adama (10 episodes, 1980)
Kent McCord	...	Capt. Troy (10 episodes, 1980)
Barry Van Dyke	...	Lt. Dillon (10 episodes, 1980)
Robyn Douglass	...	Jamie Hamilton (10 episodes, 1980)
James Patrick Stuart	...	Dr. Zee (7 episodes, 1980)
Herb Jefferson Jr.	...	Colonel Boomer (6 episodes, 1980)
Fred Holliday	...	Brooks / ... (5 episodes, 1980)

(more)

Series Directed by
Sidney Hayers		(3 episodes, 1980)
Vince Edwards		(2 episodes, 1980)
Sigmund Neufeld Jr.		(2 episodes, 1980)

Series Writing credits
Glen A. Larson		(10 episodes, 1980)

Series Produced by
Jeff Freilich	....	producer (10 episodes, 1980)
Glen A. Larson	....	executive producer (10 episodes, 1980)
Ben Kadish	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Frank Lupo	....	producer (unknown episodes)
David J. O'Connell	....	supervising producer (unknown episodes)
Gary Winter	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Dean Zanetos	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Stu Phillips		(unknown episodes)
John Andrew Tartaglia		(unknown episodes)

Series Cinematography by
Frank Beascoechea		(unknown episodes)
Ben Colman		(unknown episodes)
Mario DiLeo		(unknown episodes)

Series Film Editing by
Michael Berman		(unknown episodes)
Buford F. Hayes		(unknown episodes)
David Howe		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Direction by
Sherman Loudermilk		(unknown episodes)
David L. Snyder		(unknown episodes)

Series Set Decoration by
Morris Hoffman		(unknown episodes)

Series Costume Design by
Jean-Pierre Dorléac		(7 episodes, 1980)
Al Lehman		(3 episodes, 1980)

Series Production Management
Harker Wade	....	unit production manager (unknown episodes)
Charles E. Walker	....	unit production manager (unknown episodes)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bob Bender	....	first assistant director (unknown episodes)
Patrick A. Duffy	....	first assistant director (unknown episodes)
Dick Erickson	....	second assistant director (unknown episodes)
Gary Grillo	....	first assistant director (unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
Jim Zemansky	....	property master (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Barney Cabral	....	adr editor (unknown episodes)
James F. Rogers	....	sound (unknown episodes)

Series Special Effects by
John Dykstra	....	special effects (unknown episodes, 1980)
Greg C. Jensen	....	special effects coordinator (unknown episodes)
William H. Schirmer	....	special effects supervisor (unknown episodes)

Series Visual Effects by
David Stipes	....	visual effects (unknown episodes)

Series Stunts
Richard Epper	....	stunts (1 episode, 1980)
Bob Bralver	....	stunt coordinator (unknown episodes)
Hubie Kerns Jr.	....	stunts (unknown episodes)

Series Music Department
Glen A. Larson	....	composer: theme music (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Allan Cole	....	story editor (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Glen A. Larson Productions
• Universal TV

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1980) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Studios USA Television
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Apogee Productions

Also Known As:

"Battlestar Galactica" (USA) (syndication title)

Runtime:

60 min (10 episodes) | UK:60 min (7 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Glen A. Larson Productions

Trivia:

For a sequence that showed the Cylons attacking Earth, the producers used footage from Earthquake (1974) and superimposed Cylon fighters firing and causing the destruction in the sequence. Thus they managed to create a spectacular sequence on a tiny budget.

Quotes:

Captain Troy: [after taking off in a Viper from the Galactica] Well, how did you like that?
Jamie Hamilton: Don't bother me, I'm praying.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Earthquake (1974)

Laugh out loud bad

After Battlestar Galactica was canceled, the network decided to try and wring some more dollars out of the series by giving us this low budget thing. It was incredibly childish, featuring a bunch of little kids who could jump really high, like up into trees. I think they could turn invisible as well. They used these powers to throw apples at bumbling cops and stuff like that. The cops would look around, all confused, like "Where are the apples coming from?! I can't figure it out!". You get the idea. Then there were the two main characters who gave comically bad performances. When they first got to earth, they couldn't figure out what a phone booth was, and had trouble with our vocabulary. It could have been done in such a way as to make it realistic, or perhaps even funny, but the way it was done just came off as these two guys being idiots. And yes, they were the stars.

Plots were very much like a Saturday morning cartoon of the '70s, like Isis or Shazam. Packed full of "educational" material (did you know that cars have internal combustion engines?) and environmentalist schlock - the same guys who didn't know what a phone was got upset that people didn't like environmentalists.

Then there was Dr. Zee, the little kid who was supposed to be really smart. But because he was so smart, he spent a lot of time staring off into space, almost as if in a coma, and spoke his lines as if reciting from a cue card. Definitely in the top 10 most laughably bad character I can remember in any TV show right now.

I have to say this thing rates extremely high on the "so bad it's good" scale. I mean, you just can't help but laugh at it.