Happy 40th Galactica 1980!
 

From Wikipedia: Galactica 1980 is an American science fiction television series and a spin-off from the original Battlestar Galactica television series. It was first broadcast on ABC in the United States from January 27 to May 4, 1980, lasting for 10 episodes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactica_1980

Re: Happy 40th Galactica 1980!
 

I remember that day!! Glued to the TV set. And although a bit different, I liked it well enough, until some of later episodes came along!!!

But I did break down and buy the DVD set...man, that was 40 years ago already???

Long Live BSG!

Re: Happy 40th Galactica 1980!
 

I recall being heartbroken as I watched the first episode... :(

Re: Happy 40th Galactica 1980!
 

I was 12 and a half and even at that age realised it was a pale shadow of the original.

Re: Happy 40th Galactica 1980!
 

40th anniversary of my youngest WTF????? reaction.

Re: Happy 40th Galactica 1980!
 

I was glad Galactica was back and watched every episode in 1980. I also followed the published Nielson ratings each week in the local paper, and much to my chagrin, watched the ratings fall for the show each week from respectable in the first 2-3 weeks to bottom out. Yes, I wished for a continuation with the original cast back then but overall enjoyed the show. Was it great? No, but it was Battlestar.

Re: Happy 40th Galactica 1980!
 

They did what they did...

Speaking of the story told - It’s an outcome for the story, just like the Galactica 1980 Dynamite comic gave an outcome (done differently) and Richard’s efforts were another outcome.

Speaking of the production - I wish each episode had been more like “The Return of Starbuck” - one classic character comes back, with a couple of other characters taking part in bookend scenes, in a meaningful episode.

A Cassiopeia episode with Laurette Spang back...A Sheba episode with Anne Lockhart back etc

But that’s a “with the benefit of hindsight” comment - the G80 cast were signed to 7 year contracts as revealed by Robyn Douglass in her recent G80 Memoirs audio book.

Re: Happy 40th Galactica 1980!
 

Oh I admit I managed to overcome my stunned reaction to how I'd been suckered by ABC's misleading promos and kept watching all the way, but if I hadn't been 11 years old I doubt I would have kept doing it.

I have only gone through the series once since on DVD because I just can't force myself to sit through them, though I admit I was motivated at least to do fanfic "fixing" the universe of G80. Ironically, the best G80 script I read was one that didn't get filmed the "Wheel Of Fire" script that had Starbuck return again and firmly established him as a SOL being now.

Re: Happy 40th Galactica 1980!
 

40 Years Ago: ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Returns and Flops With ‘Galactica 1980′

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/galactica-1980/

Re: Happy 40th Galactica 1980!
 

Interesting article - thanks for sharing!

I think, if the network (Re: ABC) had left Larson and production alone without the meddling, we would have had a really good series in Battlestar (original) that would have run perhaps 4-5 years as television movies, as originally intended, with about 3 telemovies a year (similar to the success of the Perry Mason movies, which used most of the original cast and were ultimately true to the original series). We would never have had Galactica 1980 and would have seen perhaps some really fine shows.

Re: Happy 40th Galactica 1980!
 

I'm not convinced that G80 ever would have worked. I went through Larson's first draft script which had Apollo, Starbuck and Baltar in place of Dillon, Troy and Xaviar and it really doesn't read much better than what got on the air (Baltar incredibly has been pardoned and restored to a position of political power!). Much of the lame fish-out-of-water comedy we saw is coming out of the mouths of Apollo and Starbuck and that just doesn't ring true to either of them. If anything, seeing Apollo, Starbuck and Baltar doing this stuff would have probably tainted the legacy of the original more whereas the way G80 was done, it was so easy to dismiss as something that never happened.

The one key difference is that the time travel jaunting with Baltar as the one being pursued was going to be the grabber, and Larson's first draft had them preparing to chase him to 44 BC rather than World War II.

Re: Happy 40th Galactica 1980!
 

I met Kent McCord at a local Collectible/Sci-Fi convention several years ago, and he was very personable and talked at length with me concerning "Galactica 1980." It was funny, but the show (in Dallas) was well attended, and he had a few people come by the table, and I was the only one that wanted to talk Battlestar with him; everyone else (of course) talked "Adam-12."

He talked about the original series and that he had tried out for the role of Apollo that eventually went to Richard Hatch, so he felt it was kind of natural that he got the role of Troy in Galactica 1980. He also joked with me, as he had/has gray hair now, and said, "I could play Adama now, huh?"

He stated that he wished that the show would have lasted several more episodes, as he thought that it could have gone for another season or two at least, as they were going to be exploring more of the Egyptian motifs from the series and re-institute time-travel back to ancient Egypt, etc.

Really nice guy to talk to, and very unpretentious.

Re: Happy 40th Galactica 1980!
 

Always enjoyed Kent's work on "Adam-12". The chemistry he had with Martin Milner was just outstanding.