Galactica 1980 DVD Petition Started.

[kingfish]

http://www.petitiononline.com/pp22/petition.html

[Sept17th]

Can't do it. It hurts to watch and I wouldn't spend a dollar to buy it.

[Eric Paddon]

On the hurt scale G80 is a lot less than the miniseries for me, and since we have to see the miniseries on DVD, we might as well make G80 available (if only for a better version of "Return Of Starbuck")

[CommanderTaggart]

I'd probably buy the DVD of the three-hour pilot... for no more than the price of a regular DVD... but I wouldn't cough up even $35.00 for the whole series.

[BST]

I suppose one could buy this as a birthday or Christmas present for Peter Noble!

[ernie90125]

I'd buy it if it were cheap(ish)

What I WOULD buy is an (official, I know this is on ebay as a pirate) version of 'The Return of Starbuck' on DVD on its own. This is begging deleted scenes, a really detailed commentary from Dirk and others etc.

As I have mentioned before, I regard this as canon.... After all, where else can you hear a civilisation destroying robot ask "What is a woooooman ?"

[Eric Paddon]

With Universal though, there are a lot more worthy TV series in their vaults that need to get out on DVD first before G80 should be made available as a throw-in for completists like most of us. I'm pleased that Season 1 of "Night Gallery" (which includes the "Lone Survivor" episode starring John Colicos) is now a definite go, and then I want them to take care of "Columbo".

[peter noble]

Originally Posted by BST

I suppose one could buy this as a birthday or Christmas present for Peter Noble!

Stevew and I, we're so there for this one if they ever release it!

Mind you, I'd much prefer the Logan's Run TV series on DVD to the *cough* ones I have to watch now.

Peter

[BST]

Originally Posted by peter noble

Stevew and I, we're so there for this one if they ever release it!

Mind you, I'd much prefer the Logan's Run TV series on DVD to the *cough* ones I have to watch now.

Peter

OOPS!!

Steve,

Sorry I left you out! Senility is creeping up on me, slow but sure!! :laugh:

BST

[Westy]

I signed the petition and I'd buy it for the pilot and especially for TROS. My favorite line in it is by Cyrus: "I'm being rapidly surrounded" after the baby was born. The rest of the series was aweful, but those 2 weren't bad at all. This is a good thing, any fan driven initiatives for TOS/1980 is a good thing, if for nothing else than to show ongoing and continued interest in things TOS to TPTB.

[kingfish]

Originally Posted by Eric Paddon

With Universal though, there are a lot more worthy TV series in their vaults that need to get out on DVD first before G80 should be made available as a throw-in for completists like most of us. I'm pleased that Season 1 of "Night Gallery" (which includes the "Lone Survivor" episode starring John Colicos) is now a definite go, and then I want them to take care of "Columbo".

Black Sheep Squadron.

[Eric Paddon]

When you stop and think about it, we as Galactica fans are very lucky and privileged that it's the *only* 70s Universal show to get released in full and with loads of care and class. The track record for additional Universal shows of that era reveals only:

Baretta-Season 1 (put out solely to exploit the Robert Blake murder trial)
Incredible Hulk-Pilot Movie and "Married" episode
Incredible Hulk-17 episode "Best Of" compilation done to cash in on the movie. If the movie couldn't make them do season sets of that, then chances are they won't do anything else for that show and leave a lot of better episodes in the vault.

[thomas7g]

I recent;y rewatched the whole thing and though the plots are about as deep as a puddle, I enjoyed the light hearted fun of it. Its not great fun. But I enjoyed it.

I think The Return of Starbuck episode was the best one. Then the pilot. And I liked seeing the dogfight with the new advanced cylon fighter.

hmmm... I just remembered....I had the whole damn series digitized on my hard drive....the one that the sasser virus killed.

[kingfish]

Cool avatar Thomas. The G-1980 pilot wasn't that bad, the novelization ( Battlestar Galactica # 5, Galactica Discovers Earth ) was even better. There is a chapter in the book where Troy is actually a prisoner of the Nazi's who are torturing him and even threaten to burn his eye out with a cigarette until Dillon comes along and rescues him.

[BST]

G-80 did not live up to the grandeur of TOS. To me, it was a quick slap-together, just to get something on the air. The sad thing about the show is that it could have been so much better if TOS had just been renewed for a 2nd season. I still haven't figured out the logic of cancelling TOS and then, in essence, "renewing" it with G-80. But, then I forget about the TV execs who undoubtedly know much more than I.

Sorry, Peter and Steve. Compared to TOS, G-80 couldn't hold a candle to it.

[thomas7g]

Thanks King!

I don't get it either, BST. Maybe they wanted to get away from a space based show and use a smaller, aka cheaper, cast.

[kingfish]

Originally Posted by BST

G-80 did not live up to the grandeur of TOS. To me, it was a quick slap-together, just to get something on the air. The sad thing about the show is that it could have been so much better if TOS had just been renewed for a 2nd season. I still haven't figured out the logic of cancelling TOS and then, in essence, "renewing" it with G-80. But, then I forget about the TV execs who undoubtedly know much more than I.

Sorry, Peter and Steve. Compared to TOS, G-80 couldn't hold a candle to it.

I can understand your feelings BST. I always dreamed of a second season for tos. However seeing what they had in store for the characters made me shudder, Cain an android, Starbuck becomes Apollo, and so on and so forth.

[ernie90125]

I have a question that I have always wondered about Galactica1980....

Why weren't Richard and Dirk(as a regular) in it ? I have a feeling that if would have been accepted a lot more if they had been ?

Also, why was Baltar's role so small ?

I don't have the Companion book that came out a while ago, perhaps these questions were answered in that.... These are things I have always wondered....

Thanks all,

Ernie90125

[kingfish]

Originally Posted by ernie90125

I have a question that I have always wondered about Galactica1980....

Why weren't Richard and Dirk(as a regular) in it ? I have a feeling that if would have been accepted a lot more if they had been ?

Also, why was Baltar's role so small ?

I don't have the Companion book that came out a while ago, perhaps these questions were answered in that.... These are things I have always wondered....

Thanks all,

Ernie90125

Baltar was never in Galactica 1980. Baltar was in a telemovie titled Conquest of Earth wich is hybrid of tos and 1980. Richard and Dirk turned down the initial offer to star in 1980. Originally Dr Zee was going to be Dr Zero.

[kingfish]

An unfilmed G-1980 Pilot script.

Repost from:

http://www.blast.net/hart/GalacticaDisc.htm

On the planet Earth, on the outskirts of a small California town, Jamie Hamilton and her boyfriend Walter are parked in a convertible looking up at the stars. Jamie is upset because she didn't get the newscaster job that she felt she deserved. Walter tries to cheer her up by reminding her of their upcoming wedding, but she puts a damper on his enthusiasm by announcing that she is moving to Los Angele to try to get a job as a TV reporter. As they argue, a flash of blue light streaks past them and lands behind a nearby hill. At the hill, a winded Apollo and Starbuck climb out of their vipers. They pick up military jets on their scanners and ask themselves why they volunteered to be the first Colonials to land on the planet Earth.

Flashback to hours earlier aboard the Galactica: Dr. Zero, a 14-year-old mutant genius, informs a stunned Adama that they have finally reached Earth. Adama's first reaction is to tell the fleet of the joyous news, but Dr. Zero dashes his hopes when he shows him transmissions from Earth. She is a primitive, warring planet that is not scientifically advanced enough to help them in their war with the Cylons. Dr. Zero summons the council and the warriors to the projection room. Starbuck and Dr. Zero meet for the first time, and the young genius maintains that his proclivity for isolation has not deprived him of the pleasure of knowing each member of the fleet from their records and behavior patterns. When Adama announces that they have found Earth, a cheer goes up. Dr. Zero puts a damper on the celebration when he projects an image of what would happen if they told the Earth of their presence.

The screen shows Starbuck and Apollo in Hollywood. They have become celebrities and are surrounded by the media. Just as they put their bootprints in the cement foyer of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a wave of Cylon raiders descends from the skies and begins to destroy the city. The people of Earth turn against the Colonial warriors, and Starbuck and Apollo realize that they have led the Cylons to Earth and doomed it to destruction. The duo race to their vipers but are cut down by Cylon fire. The simulation ends and Dr. Zero suggests that instead of revealing themselves to Earth's population, the fleet should head to the next galaxy and dispatch teams of specialists to Earth to gradually advance the planet's technology. Apollo and Starbuck are assigned to make contact with Dr. Donald Mortinson, one of Earth's foremost nuclear physicists, at the California Institute of Technology.

Later, Baltar, who is now a member of the Council of Twelve, argues with Adama about Dr. Zero's plan. He believes that they should use the time warp synthesizer invented by Dr. Zero to go back into Earth's past and introduce scientific tools hundreds of years earlier. Adama refuses to go along with Baltar's proposal. Soon, Starbuck and Apollo cruise into Earth's atmoshphere and are shot down by military jets.

Cut to the present: Starbuck and Apollo activate the invisibility shields on their vipers and head towards the California Institute of Technology on their turbocycles. Meanwhile at the Institute, Dr. Mortinson is in the middle of a controversy; a mob of students who are against nuclear power are demonstrating outside his laboratory. Mortinson is desperately trying to create a formula to neturalize atomic waste material. He rubs his eys tiredly as one of the protestors throws a rock through the window and nearly hits him. Miss Carlyle, his secreteary, calls the police and then takes Mortinson home.

Meanwhile, Starbuck and Apollo are harassed by a motorcycle gang, but they take to the sky to avoid them and land behind a diner/gas station in the desert. They take Earth-style sheepskin jackets out of their packs, change clothes and head to a nearby pnone booth. As they struggle with the unfamiliar telephone, Jamie arrives and gives them a lift to the institute. She is impressed when they tell her they are going to see the Dr. Mortinson. After dropping them off, she tells them that they can reach her at Trans-World Broadcasting if they want to get in touch with her again.

When they discover how bad the demonstration is, the duo stun a security guard and slip into the building. When they enter Mortinson's office and talk about him being "on the right track" with his theories, Miss Carlyle thinks they are part of the mob, and she alerts security. Apollo types information into Dr. Mortinson's computer and tells her that they can be reached through Jamie Hamilton at Trans-World Broadcasting. When they try to leave the building, they are arrested. Mortinson returns to his office and is ecstatic when he sees the changes to his formula. He realizes that the duo must be from another world.

Later, Jamie is at Trans-World about to have her job interview when she gets a call from Starbuck at the police station; he needs her to bail them out of jail. She gets angry and hangs up. Moments later, Dr. Mortinson calls and asks her to arrange a meeting with Starbuck and Apollo. Mr. Brooks, Jamie's would-be boss, overhears the conversation and orders her to arrange the meeting so he can film Dr. Mortinson.

At the police station, Starbuck and Apollo use their invisibility fields to escape. They meet with Mortinson and Jamie. She reveals to them that they are being filmed, so they beat a hasty retreat in Mortinson's car, but Jamie insists on coming along. Mr. Brooks mistakenly believes that Mortinson is being kidnapped.

Back on the Galactica, Adama and Dr. Zero discover that Baltar has taken a viper and headed into Earth's past to conquer the planet. Back on Earth, Apollo, Starbuck, Jamie, and Mortinson are pursued by the media and a dozen police cars. Adama contacts them and orders them to go to Rome in 44 B.C. and bring back Baltar. They drop off the professor and head back to their vipers. Jamie refuses to be left behind and threatens to tell everything she knows. They reluctantly agree to take her with them and the trio clmb into the vipers and blast off into the past. The Galactica's Earth adventures have begun!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Obviously, this very early version of the Galactica 1980 pilot was written when it was believed Dirk Benedict and Richard Hatch would return to reprise their roles as Starbuck and Apollo.

Dr. Zero is an early name for Dr. Zee, Galactica 1980's scientific genius.

Interestingly, Starbuck and Dr. Zero meet for the first time, while in the classic Galactica 1980 episode The Return Of Starbuck, Dr. Zee is Starbuck's spiritual child.

Baltar is a member of the Council of Twelve??? How did Baltar get pardoned??? And who in their right mind would vote for someone who helped cause the destruction of the Colonies???

Copies of this script have been made available to the public. You can sometimes find it at Ebay auctions.

[Eric Paddon]

A few things about G80.

#1-When it was ordered, the Galactica bridge set and most of the other sets essential toward doing a quality show had been destroyed, which meant that no matter who was in it, it was going to be done cheaply.

#2-The first draft Larson script for G80 had the old cast, specifically Apollo, Starbuck and incredibly Baltar in the Xavier role (Baltar was established with no explanation at the outset as being a Council member again!)'

#3-This is where the casting thing got sticky. The contracts for all of the Galactica cast members had expired during the period after the cancellation of Galactica and before G80 was ordered. That meant that none of the cast members were required to come back to do any Galactica project in the way that Pierce Brosnan was forced to go back and do "Remington Steele" after NBC changed their minds about cancelling that series. When Hatch and Benedict saw the script they turned it down right away believing it was low quality and cheap.

#4-Baltar appears in recycled footage from "The Young Lords" in the dreadful "Conquest Of The Earth" Telemovie that combined the G80 pilot and "The Night The Cylons Landed" episodes. To very bad effect.

[jewels]

I'd buy it, just to have the attack sequence that I haven't seen in 24 years and the Return of Starbuck.

But it shouldn't be a very expensive set. An interview with Larson about what he originally wanted and what he ended up doing would be very interesting, hearing Kent McCord, Jaimie Douglass and Barry Van Dyke talk about the craziness of filming would be good.

Oh, it's a completion thing for me to have it on dvd. The mini I don't feel the same about. Strange how that works.

Jewels

[Eric Paddon]

The "Cylon attack" sequence from the first episode? If you ever rent "Earthquake" you can see the exact same destruction sequences since all of the footage was lifted from there with Cylon fighters matted in.

One supplement that would potentially be intriguing is that G80 was cancelled in the midst of filming an episode about Xavier bringing Cleopatra back to the present through his time traveling. Since the Galactica set gave us a host of deleted scenes etc. it'd be interesting if whatever was shot for this never finished episode is still in the Universal vault.

And a commentary by Benedict for ROS would be great. Commentaries would be a waste of time for all other episodes.

[kingfish]

A better Script: The Wheel of Fire;

Repost from Sheba's galaxy (Link in above post)

A viper squadron led by Troy and Dillon chase Xavier through space. Suddenly, three Cylon fighters attack. During the battle, one viper is destroyed and Dillon's viper is severely damaged. The entire squadron except for Troy is forced to return to the Galactica.

Troy continues after Xavier who is attacked by another Cylon fighter. Then the Ship of Lights appears (from the BG episode War Of The Gods) and its high-pitched whine causes Troy to fall unconscious, and his ship is captured. Meanwhile, Xaviar activates his time-travel device and enters a time warp. The Cylon fighter right behind him is caught in the time warp and is pulled in with him.

On the Galactica, Dr. Zee and Adama see images of what has happened to Xaviar and the Cylon raider. Because Troy's viper is gone, they assume he had been killed. Meanwhile, Troy wakes up on the Ship of Lights. He is welcomed by Lt. Starbuck, who was lost and believed dead fourteen years earlier. Troy is in disbelief.

Dillon lands on the Galactica and is told Troy is dead. He puts his grief aside to work on the problem with Xavier. He goes to Earth to get Jamie and takes her to the Galactica. While mourning the death of their friend, the two kiss. On the Ship Of Lights, Troy is confused. Starbuck says that he's going to help him stop Xaviar. He tells Troy that he didn't die. He merely evolved to another plane of existence. Starbuck says that this is the ship of the Guardians of the Universe, the beings who gave the Colonials the coordinates to Earth many years back (in War of the Gods).

Jamie and Dillon prepare to go 2,600 years into the Earth's past. Troy asks what happened to Apollo, his father, but Starbuck says there is no time to discuss it. Moments later, Troy wakes up on his viper, activates his time-warp synthesizer, and goes into the past.

Xaviar arrives in the Chaldea dessert in 592 B.C. followed by the Cylon raider. Seconds later, Troy arrives and gives pursuit. He and Xaviar agree to team together to destroy the Cylon raider.

In the desert below, the people watch the aerial battle with fascination. The Cylon raider is damaged and plummets toward the earth, giving the appearance of a giant wheel spinning in the sky. Xaviar time-warps into another period. Troy's viper is also damaged and he crashes.

Dillon and Jamie then arrive and investigate the crashed viper, believing it to be Xavier's. They are stunned when they see Troy climb out. Before Troy can explain, a damaged Cylon who survived the crash comes at them firing his laser. Troy and Dillon blast him and he falls. As the three are about to destroy what remains of the Cylon raider, the supposedly dead Cylon rises and fires at his ship, causing an explosion which knocks Dillon senseless. Then the Cylon aims at Troy, who can't fire back because his laser is jammed. Jamie grabs Dillon's laser and shoots the Cylon, exploding it in a shower of sparks. They then set explosive charges on the Cylon raider and completely incinerate it. They board their vipers and vanish into another time-warp, unaware that they were observed by a man on a sandy knoll.

On the Galactica, Troy and Adama are reunited, and Jamie realizes that the "Wheel of Fire" (the famous vision from the Old Testament prophet Ezekial) described in history books as being seen in 592 B.C. was caused by the Cylon raider's presence in the past.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This fantastic script is the sequel to the classic Galactica 1980 episode The Return Of Starbuck and is far better than most of the produced episodes of Galactica 1980.

It is revealed why Angela from The Return of Starbuck was judging Starbuck. She was testing him to see if he was worthy to become a Guardian of the Universe.

Troy asks Starbuck what happened to Apollo. Apparently, Apollo's death was a mystery.

Romance develops between Dillon and Jamie. They are only friends in the produced episodes of the series.

You can read an actual copy of this script at a fan fiction website called Welcome To The Universe Of Battlestar Galactica. There is a link for the website in my Galactica links section.

[Eric Paddon]

"Wheel Of Fire" is a great script. I think the idea of Starbuck's "tests" in ROS being done to see if he's worthy of becoming a Ship Of Lights being helps deepen ROS itself.

However bad G80 is, it is a universe in which fanfic writers can with a little ingenuity turn out good stories that can ultimately reconcile the two universes of original series and G80 (the key is to just go with the premise of the pilot and ignore the details of all episodes save ROS). On Robert Hanczyk's site, there exists the interesting "New Indepedence" written by Lee Storm, co-moderator of the old BSG-Theme mailing list (now a Yahoo group). Her work inspired me to write my own "Galactica 1984" trilogy of stories (which was also inspired by "Wheel Of Fire" as well), and then there is Sanna Guerin's still unfinished epic masterpiece "The Game Of Life" which all of us on the fanfic list hope and pray will be finished one day.

One doesn't have to like G80 to see and read good stories set in that universe. If anything they represent an interesting challenge for fanfic authors. I imagine that even those of us who so despise the miniseries might one day when we're less ticked off find a way of writing the perfect "parallel universe" story that brings the two together.

[ernie90125]

Thanks to all who responded to my G80 questions....

As I have mentioned before, I accept 'Return of Starbuck' as canon. Even one of the better ones of the whole lot... I accept G80 more than BSG:2003 as it does little to disrespect or contradict the original.

I'd be very interested in seeing the unfinished episode. I wonder if in the future computers can be used to finish the episode ? I wonder in the future (James Cameron is already planning to add characters to films you couldn't tell weren't really filmed) things could be done to completly change aspects of shows we don't like.

We the users, can remix songs, perhaps we can change TV shows in the future ?

I'd like to see a G80 DVD boxset. Perhaps with a very special ROS disc........

[kingfish]

I would love to see a SUPER DELUX set of tos with all of the lost scenes restored, extra footage that was shot and NEVER seen, and so on. I also wonder if any of the telemovies will make it to dvd format. ROS was out on VHS offered by Goodtimes Video. However it was recorded in long play which is one of the worst speeds to buy a prerecorded tape in. The VCR must track it and many can't so the picture is crummy.

[ernie90125]

>extra footage that was shot and NEVER seen

Does anyone know of stuff that exists not on the DVD boxset ? Your phrasing here gives me the impression that this is something special...

Then again, there are a load of deleted scenes I have seen as a lot were left of the PAL version of the DVD boxset, that the NTSC version got.....

Does anyone know what this EXTRA footage contains ?

ernie90125

[kingfish]

Originally Posted by ernie90125

>extra footage that was shot and NEVER seen

Does anyone know of stuff that exists not on the DVD boxset ? Your phrasing here gives me the impression that this is something special...

Then again, there are a load of deleted scenes I have seen as a lot were left of the PAL version of the DVD boxset, that the NTSC version got.....

Does anyone know what this EXTRA footage contains ?

ernie90125

If you own any of the telemovies it is evedent about added footage. Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack contains footage of Sheba and Bojay launching to intercept Apollo and Starbuck before they enter Gammoray. There is also a scene in which we see the inner workings of the Cylon war machine. There is a scene inside the Basestar with Cylons discussing the colonial fleet.

Conquest of Earth:

There is an excellent shot of the A-B raider's cockpit with the Humanoid Cylons discussing the capability of the new design and how it will be effective against the primative Viper.

[kingfish]

Mission galactica synopsis:

http://pp226.proboards25.com/index.c...num=1082577384