Galactica 80 Actors

Darrell Lawrence · July 31st, 2005, 06:32 AM

Ya know... I've seen some recent posts in the nuBG forum regarding how the actors are doing a good job even though the scripts/stories haven't been that good.

I feel the same way about the main actors in G-80 as well.

The Troy, Dillon and Jamie characters were portrayed rather well by the actors even though much of the scripts sucked major apples.

They did good with what they were given.

Thoughts on that?

mikedx · July 31st, 2005, 06:43 AM

I feel the same way. I think Robyn Douglass did a great job as Jamie. Kent McCord and Barry Van Dyke did a good job with what they were given. They weren't as good as Richard Hatch or Dirk Benedict, but they did fine. I really enjoyed how they played dumb to the Earth customs and slang.

But imagine how they would have done with some good writing...

kingfish · July 31st, 2005, 06:57 AM

Richard and Dirk turned down 1980 because in those days actors were given one year contracts. Looking back Galactica 1980 is still beter than that unnamed show scifi calls BG.

gpdesigner · July 31st, 2005, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warrior

They did good with what they were given.

Thoughts on that?

That's a point, . . I think a good actor/performer, is going to give 100% in front of the camera, it is the material they work with and they director that shapes the outcome of the preformance.
But also I know that the times we live in also reflect in the writing. The 80's were . . . well the 80's were the 80's and we struggled throught it. But I think now a days we expect more from scripts than we did in those days.
I am not saying this of all writings, Shakespeare wrote timeless classics, but T.V. writing is more era consciously driven. People expect to be stimulated by relavent current events and not ideas and concepts from the past.

Anyway just my opinion
T

Darrell Lawrence · July 31st, 2005, 08:20 AM

I don't want to watch "current events" in a show.

I watch TV to escape the real world for a while. If I want "current events", I'll turn on the news

Dawg · July 31st, 2005, 08:23 AM

And it's a good opinion, T. But it seems to be a very narrow one.

Yes, a tremendous percentage of TV is geared toward today - Desperate Housewives is set now, so are the CSI and Law and Order shows, Lost, GINO....

And yet there is always a market for period pieces - Ben Hur, Cleopatra, Passion of the Christ - which certainly are not set today or driven by current events.

And even the storys set in today's day and age and inspired by today's events can easily have roots in classic literature and times - Romeo & Juliet or The Tempest, biblical allegories, the Greek tragedies.

But, overall, in whatever era, a bad actor can pull down a stellar script with top-notch direction. But there is little a good actor can do to elevate bad writing and direction. In the case of G80, the terms and conditions of the show were dictated by ABC and the hour it was aired - hence the Super Scouts. *shudder*

ABC shoulders much of the blame for all of BSG's woes - TOS & G80 - in fact.

I am
Dawg

gpdesigner · July 31st, 2005, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warrior

I don't want to watch "current events" in a show.
I watch TV to escape the real world for a while. If I want "current events", I'll turn on the news

Totaly I am with you 100% on that no doubt, but the truth is writers can't help but be in the moment of the decade, it is what's going on around them. obviously in the 80's they couldn't write about what the culture has turned into after let's say "911" because it hadn't happened yet.
What I was refering to was that now a days we expect more from a script than we did back then. And the reason we do is because we have experienced more in our lives than what we did in time up until the 80's. In the 80's BSG was good I thought, I don't remember it much but I do remember I liked what the stories were about.
I may be wrong here but I bet if you took anyone of those scripts from those days and remade it word for word, action for action today . . . it may not be as entertaining.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dawg

And it's a good opinion, T. But it seems to be a very narrow one.

And yet there is always a market for period pieces - Ben Hur, Cleopatra, Passion of the Christ - which certainly are not set today or driven by current events.

And even the storys set in today's day and age and inspired by today's events can easily have roots in classic literature and times - Romeo & Juliet or The Tempest, biblical allegories, the Greek tragedies.

But, overall, in whatever era, a bad actor can pull down a stellar script with top-notch direction. But there is little a good actor can do to elevate bad writing and direction. In the case of G80, the terms and conditions of the show were dictated by ABC and the hour it was aired - hence the Super Scouts. *shudder*

ABC shoulders much of the blame for all of BSG's woes - TOS & G80 - in fact.

Totaly agree with you as well, just saying that I don't think that the scripts were as bad as people are making them out to be. in the 80's we didn't expect as much from a story as we do now. Tho some scripts are truely bad for the most part I think they are well done, . .
I mean what do we expect, it's science fiction, what do they really have to draw on? The best a writer can do is to pick an situation from their experiences and project it in a future aspect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dawg

But, overall, in whatever era, a bad actor can pull down a stellar script with top-notch direction. But there is little a good actor can do to elevate bad writing and direction. In the case of G80, the terms and conditions of the show were dictated by ABC and the hour it was aired - hence the Super Scouts. *shudder*

* side track *
I was thinking of the movie "5th Eliment" here with Bruce Willis . . . .
A lot of people hated that movie, said the acting sucked and the script was bad, maybe so . . .
I personally loved the movie, but I loved it for the idea . . something as simple as the 5th Eliment being a Human . . Anyway that's me I'm wired differently
T

Charybdis · August 1st, 2005, 09:03 AM

Not sure what you meant by "we struggled throughout" the 1980s...I thought the 80s were really cool. I entered and spent my entire teenage years in the 80s and they were fantastic!!!

Think of it, bright colorful clothes, women in tight jeans with designs embroidered all over their derreire's, poofy hair and tons of makeup!! What's not to like? And then there was the music. I still hum tons of 80s songs to this day.

In fact, I just told my wife the other day to wear heaps of lipstick and eyeshadow so she could look like she did in the 80s! No lie...

Anway, those were simpler times and they were great. Not too sure who struggled during those times...and the tv was awesome too. Shows where the whole family could plop down in front of the tube and watch together. Now, even for "family" shows, you have to cover the ears of the little ones because there's "a" and "b" words every scene...

What have we become...

Long Live the 1980s!!!

gpdesigner · August 1st, 2005, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charybdis

Not sure what you meant by "we struggled throughout" the 1980s...I thought the 80s were really cool. I entered and spent my entire teenage years in the 80s and they were fantastic!!!

Anway, those were simpler times and they were great. Not too sure who struggled during those times..

What have we become...

Long Live the 1980s!!!

Ok this may not be fair to you but surely you can't think that the 80's were all that great. . . . .

Let's start off with this:
in 1983, 220 United States Marines died in the Barracks Bombing in Beirut,
15 of those people were close friends of mine. . . .

Then there was this:
Pope John Paul II shot twice
Martial law in Poland
Anwar Sadat Assasinated
John Lennon is assassinated by Mark David Chapman.
Richard Pryor gets badly burned trying to freebase cocaine.
Saddam Hussein launches war against Iran for close to a decade over oil rights.
Bill Gates licenses MS-DOS, makes next to nothing on the deal.
Israel invades Lebanon
Falkland Islands War
Lebanese Phalange Massacre Palestinians at Sabre and Shatila
Korean airliner shot down
US peacekeepers killed in Lebanon
US invades Grenada
AIDS breaks out
US becomes a debtor nation
Reagan tax reform
The Shuttle Challenger
The assassination of Ghandi
Chernobyl
The Iran-Contra Scandal?
Baby Jessica

Just a few items out of the 80's . . .
sure I will agree with you a lot of cool stuff happened in the 80's no doubt.
But that was just to answer your statement about

Quote:

Not too sure who struggled during those times..

There were a few people I think
T

Darrell Lawrence · August 1st, 2005, 03:56 PM

Well... I graduated High School in 82, got married in 82, and my oldest child was born in 83.

I also joined the military in 82 and got out in 89.

The 80's were fairly eventful for me personally, and in the entertainment arena, many great movies and TV shows were done during that era.

On the flip side, I truly belive the 80's were the starting point of the mess the world is in today (just take a look at the list Santee made... much of that type of stuff is still happening today, and is "ramped up" to worse proportions, BUT the 80's experiences kinda made us jaded to those problems).

Senmut · August 1st, 2005, 11:07 PM

Richard Burton once said that if you are going to be in rubbish, be the best rubbish in it.

Lara · August 2nd, 2005, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Santee

* side track *
I was thinking of the movie "5th Eliment" here with Bruce Willis . . . .
A lot of people hated that movie, said the acting sucked and the script was bad, maybe so . . .
I personally loved the movie, but I loved it for the idea . . something as simple as the 5th Eliment being a Human . . Anyway that's me I'm wired differently
T

I love the 5th Element. I think it gets better with multiple watchings. I seem to find yet another thing in it that they are parodying or mimicing!
I can see how it wouldn't be to everyones taste, tho..

Back to topic..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warrior

They did good with what they were given.

Thoughts on that?

I 'll agree they did their best, but I think McCord in particular was mis cast. Now he was spot on in Farscape as Creighton's Dad, or as his earlier incarnation as a LA patrol man, (so I think he is a very good actor) but I found him too 'wooden' in G80. (and it made me miss Apollo even more..)
And the locker scene with Apollos picture and the 'your Dad was a great warrior.' plot exposition just sucked in every way. Even he looked acutely embarrassed..

Cheers,
Lara

gpdesigner · August 2nd, 2005, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lara

I love the 5th Element. I think it gets better with multiple watchings. I seem to find yet another thing in it that they are parodying or mimicing!
I can see how it wouldn't be to everyones taste, tho..

I haven't seen it in a long time, I think it is due for a showing at my house . .

T

Fragmentary · August 2nd, 2005, 02:46 PM

G80 was a case of doing the best with what you had for the actors involved. I don't think they were particularly bad playing the characters that they played, but at the same time for the later episodes it was pretty clear that they were uninspired by scripts they were given. It doesn't help that none of them really stood out or rose above the material. TOS has some weak scripts in its run, but due to the ablility of the cast and the passion of everyone involved, none of those episodes bring down the overall quality of the series.

I re-watched G80 not too long ago looking for something to like about the series. And while their isn't much to hate (Dr. Zee) there really isn't much to like either. For the most part, I'm pretty happy that the world at large has forgotten that the show even exists. Even with my nostalgia lense cranked up to 11, I was ready for there to not be any more episodes to sit through.

But, because I'm such a big fan of TOS, I'll probably watch G80 again years from now out of some sense of... I don't know what. That's got to be a sickness right?

Darrell Lawrence · August 2nd, 2005, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lara

I 'll agree they did their best, but I think McCord in particular was mis cast. Now he was spot on in Farscape as Creighton's Dad, or as his earlier incarnation as a LA patrol man, (so I think he is a very good actor) but I found him too 'wooden' in G80. (and it made me miss Apollo even more..)
And the locker scene with Apollos picture and the 'your Dad was a great warrior.' plot exposition just sucked in every way. Even he looked acutely embarrassed..

Cheers,
Lara

I agree about the Apollo photo thing, but his "woodeness" was perfect for the fish out of water I think.

Here is the stoic, top notch by-the-book Colonial Warrior put in situations that he was unfamiliar with.

I thought some of his reactions were perfect.

Lara · August 3rd, 2005, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warrior

I agree about the Apollo photo thing, but his "woodeness" was perfect for the fish out of water I think.

Here is the stoic, top notch by-the-book Colonial Warrior put in situations that he was unfamiliar with.

I thought some of his reactions were perfect.

We'll agree to disagree..

Boxey was never a serious studious kid, but very outgoing and mischeivious.
Since Troy was clearly meant to be grown up Boxey I can't see how he would have grown up so po-faced and wooden, having hung around with Starbuck and Boomer and the other warriors, with Adama as his Grand'Dad, met all those aliens and got shot at, rescued, etc etc. It didn't seem like a logical progression.

But then I might be projecting my profound disappointment in the mincer job done on the show I was hanging out to see the next series of so utterly and desperately..

Cheers,
Lara

Darrell Lawrence · August 3rd, 2005, 04:07 PM

That'd be faults of the writers/developers, not the actor

kingfish · August 4th, 2005, 01:24 PM

If anybody wants to see McCord at his best I would suggest that they watch an episode[Presumed Dead] of Black Sheep Squadron which is out on dvd. McCord plays a pilot who is brainwashed by the Japanese.

Jayworld · August 5th, 2005, 09:58 AM

I met with McCord at a local show here in Dallas several years ago, and spent almost 30 minutes with him discussing his career and Galactica 1980. He was very gracious and cordial, and really enjoyed talking about Galactica 1980, and the unfilmed episodes that he alluded to, such as going back to Egypt in time and tying in the Egypian motif to the uniforms, especially the viper helmets, was interesting. He said that the show would have been more "time-travel" in scope as the series progressed.

I remember when Galactica 1980 came out, I was thrilled that Galactica was "back" (certainly more Back than Richard Hatch's recent statement that it is back in the form of Gino

), but I quickly missed Dirk and Richard in parts that were obviously written for them as Starbuck and Apollo, but then re-written for McCord and Van Dyke....

You know, that reminds me, I need to get Barry and Robin for my Galactica autograph collection.... I have had some e-mail conversation with Robin; I believe her prices were $15 to $20, but I'd have to recheck that....

As for the 1980s, sure a lot of big events happened, but then, they do in every decade (70s had Watergate, gas lines, President Carter, etc., etc.) Good things happen every decade too, you know. I noticed in some amusement that Reagan's failed assassination by John Hinkley didn't make the list above....hmmmm

Hmmm, I too, graduated from high school in the mid-1980s and college in the late 1980s, and to this day, I still think that the 80s were the best decade of my life, so far. The television was far better, movies were generally better (Amadeus, Passage to India, Indiana Jones films, two of the Star Wars films, some of the better Star Trek films), and IMHO, the culture was better. Of course, that is my perspective, being a huge Ronald Reagan fan and very conservative in nature....

Hey, one of the best television series for me (thankfully being released on DVD) has been Magnum, P.I., and it ran from 1980-88, a product of the 80s, as was Simon and Simon.....

Jay

Gemini1999 · August 5th, 2005, 10:18 AM

I just saw one of the Galactica 1980 actors last night in a pre-G80 show.... I'm a big Bewitched fan and I found out that they had released the failed ABC sitcom spinoff Tabitha with Lisa Hartman (wife to Clint Black BTW), so I rented the DVD from Netflix.com...

Barry Van Dyke was in the pilot episode as Tabitha's current boyfriend. He didn't have many lines and it was only a couple of years before G80, but it was interesting to see him in his early acting days.

Just thought that I would contribute to the discussion...

Best,
Bryan

peter noble · August 5th, 2005, 01:36 PM

I always liked the cast myself.

Darrell Lawrence · August 5th, 2005, 05:51 PM

Damn it, Peter! Where do you come up with these photos, knowing I'm always searching for new ones?

Yeesh...

That photo in particular is interesting for this tid-bit:

Troy is holding Jamie, but I believe the writers wanted to make DILLON and Jamie a couple as the series progressed.

peter noble · August 6th, 2005, 12:51 AM

It's one for the CF gallery I think.

Fragmentary · August 6th, 2005, 01:46 PM

Hey nice pic indeed. Decent quality G80 photos are real hard to come by.
Thanks Peter

Senmut · August 6th, 2005, 07:55 PM

IMNSHO, GAL80 is a Shakespearean Masterpiece, compared to a certain something else that shall remain nameless.

Centurion Draco · August 11th, 2005, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senmut

IMNSHO, GAL80 is a Shakespearean Masterpiece, compared to a certain something else that shall remain nameless.

*giggle* word!

Cinnamon · August 14th, 2005, 08:12 PM

Speaking as a fan who prefers the classic series to the 'reimagining', I have to say that I'm of two minds on Galactica 80.

On the one hand, I think that the cast was well filled, given who they could bring back from the original series - I think that had the overall concept been better thought out, that McCord and Van Dyke were more than capable of turning in first rate performances - And Ms Douglas as well. It's really a pity that they never got a better shot at it.

On the other hand, the new role for Adama, and the mysterious Dr. Zee were almost literally painful to watch. The original series had presented Adama as a leader - a man who could make the tough decisions, and was sure of himself and his crew. He was a character that I could respect. In 80, to see him reduced to the position of a 'yes' man to a badly dubbed 12 year old supergenius was truly traumatic.

We will not discuss Dr Zee himself - I'm still not sure just what he was supposed to be beyond an attempt to lure in younger viewers - and a bad attempt at that. *I* was a younger viewer at that time, being all of ten years old, and even then it made no sense to me.

So now, we have a new series - one that most either love or hate - but one that I tolerate, I suppose - because the story's not bad, the effects are good, and while it'll never be Battlestar Galactica in my eyes, it's passable entertainment. But for Galactica '80 - as good as it could have been, the writers and the producers failed to deliver on even a fraction of its potential. As a result, I'm filing it with the other utterly forgettable followups that should be left to sink quietly into oblivion:

Galactica 1980
Aliens 3
Highlander 2
Star Trek V
Muppet Babies
And goddess alone knows how many others.

All IMHO, of course.

-jaime

Fragmentary · August 16th, 2005, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinnamon

Galactica 1980
Aliens 3
Highlander 2
Star Trek V
Muppet Babies
And goddess alone knows how many others.

All IMHO, of course.

-jaime

That is one bad list.
Although for me, Alien Ressurection was the worst of that lot. And Highlander 3 didn't do us any favors. Okay, time to stop thinking about bad movies.

susumuimua · September 16th, 2005, 06:46 PM

Anything that had footage of Dr. Z's Antigrav ship,
the saucer looking one. Anyone have a pic? Also when I watched the movie where the old nursing home guys that end up going with the aliens back to their home.......CRAP........the name of the movie escapes me.....you know where the mansion next door to the nursing home has pods in the pool and when they swim in it they feel youthful........ it's on the tip of my tongue FRAK >:- /

anyhoo when the ship leaves at the end I swear it is the same saucer shaped ship in Galactica 1980. Guess I could have started a Thread on this ship but........it was only one question.

susumuimua · September 16th, 2005, 06:51 PM

It was Cocoon

I wonder if the same model was used?