Greetings From Earth Filming Location

[Eric Paddon]

Bill Cotter, one of the foremost experts on Worlds Fairs, who has a website selling old pictures from fairs of the past, has a section of his website devoted to how the ruins of the Expo '67 Fair were used as a location shoot for "Greetings From Earth" (suggesting the destroyed city on Paradeen). He provides in his illustrated page some interesting comments on what specific buildings were used for this filming and how they had fallen into this state of ruin a decade after the Fair.

http://www.worldsfairphotos.com/expo67/battlestar-galactica.htm

[evil_genius_180]

Thanks for sharing those. :D I always liked that episode and was curious where they found the buildings to shoot it. Now I know.

[KamikazeAthena]

I am glad you sent this link. I too have always wondered about that place. It is amazing how many Worlds Fair structures were built and then abandoned or distroyed.

[jewels]

thanks Eric, it's cool to see the backstory to the location and especially to know what the buildings once were--which country, etc.

[braxiss]

to cool, thanks

[Charybdis]

Yeah, that is pretty neat!

[captmiloman]

One of those exterior shots was later used on "Buck Rogers In the 25th Century". The exterior for Buck's apartment, IIRC.

[Charybdis]

Kind of funny, but when I looked over those shots and then went to Bill's main website about the Fairs and the Expos, it reminded me that I attended the World Expo of 1988 in Brisbane, Australia and I have several photos of the pavilions.

I contacted Bill and he wants to see my photos and might possibly do a listing for the 88 World Expo!

[oldwardaggit]

cool

OWD

[Eric Paddon]

Kind of funny, but when I looked over those shots and then went to Bill's main website about the Fairs and the Expos, it reminded me that I attended the World Expo of 1988 in Brisbane, Australia and I have several photos of the pavilions.

I contacted Bill and he wants to see my photos and might possibly do a listing for the 88 World Expo!

Nice to know how the Internet can be so symbiotic in bringing people together when least expected! I'll look forward to seeing what he comes up with from your photos.

[skippercollecto]

In the 25-plus years that I have been reading about Galactica, this is the first time I've ever seen this information about where Greetings was filmed. I had read that "the city" was in real life a place that referred to Notre Dame, but the articles never elaborated on that topic. I had no idea it wasn't anywhere near California.
Why, if the rest of the series was filmed at either Universal Studios or the mountains east of LA, did Glen decide to go on location for these shots? How many of the cast and crew went to Montreal, and when? Have any of them ever talked about the filming?
The rest of my questions are related, but aren't about Galactica. This whole post has really intrigued me, and really got me thinking!
I have vague memories of seeing TV commercials for the Montreal Expo, but I was too young to know what they meant. Is this place still in existence, or has it been torn down and redeveloped? Is this a common occurence for these World Fairs? I went to the Expo in Knoxville in 1982--whatever happened to all the buildings and rides there? If so many of these sites are abandoned, what's the point of the fairs?
Mary
P.S. I visited the Space Needle in Seattle in summer 1978, and I know that that landmark is still very much in use. So the fairs aren't entirely a waste.

[Eric Paddon]

World's Fairs have always been temporary in nature. The buildings that get put up are usually not built up to the code standards of a permanent structure which is why most of them get torn down after the Fair or don't endure. The Space Needle in Seattle from their 1962 World's Fair is the rare exception. The New York World's Fair site of 1939 and 1964 has few structures left.

Dirk Benedict and Bobby Van were the only actors who went to Montreal for this shooting and it made sense from an economic standpoint to use these ruins as a more cost-effective stand-in for the devastation of an abandoned city, and they also had the advantage of not being too recognizable to an American audience.

For a more detailed look at Expo 67 in all its glory, check out this site:

http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/expo67/

And if you find you enjoy learning more about World's Fairs, then by all means go to this site on the 1964 New York World's Fair (which introduced many Disney attractions for the first time) where yours truly has contributed several articles. :D

http://www.nywf64.com/

[evil_genius_180]

Once again, thanks for the links. I never realized just how disposeable the World's Fairs' buildings were.

[Charybdis]

Also, don't forget that a second photography unit actually filmed some scenes at the pyramids in Giza, Egypt for Lost Planet of the Gods.

I had read something about the shoot and the "woman" who was supposed to be Serina was actually a boy in a wig standing in because women are not allowed to be warriors!!!

If you look carefully as the actors are walking through the temples and toward the pyramids, you can tell that it's not really Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Jane Seymour...