War of the Gods
Original Airdate Part 1: January 14, 1979
Writer: Glen A. Larson.
Director: Dan Haller.
Guest Cast: Patrick Macnee (Count Iblis), Kirk Alyn (Old Man), Bruce Wright (Guard), Paul Coufos (Pilot), John Williams (Statesman).
A Viper patrol vanishes after encountering a mysterious Light Ship. Apollo, Starbuck and Sheba are sent out to investigate and discover the wreckage of a vessel on a nearby planet. There, they meet Count Iblis, an elusive stranger, who returns with them to the Galactica. Iblis quickly rises to prominence by performing powerful miracles, such as delivering Baltar to the Council of Twelve for justice. Adama questions his motives as Iblis comes closer to gaining control of the fleet.
In retrospect, the most unique aspect of War of the Gods was that it was every broadcast at all. "I think I started to lose the network executives," Larson recalls. "I don't think they knew what to make of the series at that point. They had been trying to overlay all of these basic soap opera principles on us but at that point we were writing faster than they could keep up with us. They didn’t know what to do with us at that point and I think some of them had written us off."
Lockhart recalls one humorous incident between her and Patrick McNee during filming. Iblis, in an effort to comfort Sheba, leans forward and says, “Oh Sheba, nothing can harm you as long as I am inside you. I would just lose it every time he said this to me,” laughs Lockhart. “We got a bad case of the giggles.”
After repeated attempts to get the scene, the actors called Larson to the set. “I said to Glen you can’t have this man say this to me,” says Lockhart, “and Glen said there was nothing naughty about it. It’s just the intent of Iblis taking your spirit and he’s possessing you and all this stuff. Glen insisted on it and we finally pulled ourselves together and actually shot him saying the line, my reaction and the kiss. They edited the show and sent it to ABC and Standards and Practices cut it.”
