In honor of the new episodes airing on SciFi Channel, we’re diving back into the rusted golden age of scifi television to talk about as much Galactica as we can squeeze into one evening.
We’re going to focus on the original series first, but true Galactica geeks can only go so far without veering off into discussions about the new show, and perhaps even comparisons between the old and the new. It may be a long evening, since all of us want to gush about the new series, and we may have a guest geek chatting with us.
I may even get to geek about all the old school Galactica collectibles I used to have and still have.
Not dead. Resting? I’ve...
Will there be any mention of the masterpiece “Battlestar Galactica 1980?”
“Battlestar Galactica 1980″? I am not aware of this thing that you speak of. I have no recollection of it, and there is no record of it in my universe.
Please explain more.
Galactica 1980 was an unusual series that had only one episode, in which our hero Starbuck, stranded on a planet, befriends a Cylon.
This was quite a good episode and it is very strange that more episodes were not made.
Sounds like Enemy Mine (a great movie).
I really enjoyed everyting about the original BG. Even the little boy and his robot dog boxy (or what ever its name was). But then I also adored Buck Rogers with Twiggy and ‘the doctor’.
To be honest, unless I went back and watched a bunch of these again, the plots escape me. I say here trying to think of something witty to say, but I’m at a loss. Drat.
Come Summer…. You MUST remember Galactica 1980.
I’ve tried to forget it. Yet I keep seeing flying motor bikes… and super scouts.
They DID introduce human type cylons. Pity the episode was otherwise… (what’s the word?)…. crap.
Philip
Sorry, Philip… I’m trying to remember, but there are no images available in conscious memory.
But there are bad dreams with flying motorcycles and force fields that make vipers invisible being used as pratfall comedy. Fuzzy yet painful recollections of Wolfman Jack chatting up a Cylon on Halloween, and time travel to WWII scenarios that made me want to chew nails and … well, damn.
I think we managed to undo years of therapy by bringing up that show.
Galactica 1980 had more than one episode. But the Starbuck/Enemy Mine episode was the only one that had any semblance of quality in it. Hey, don’t forget the episode where the Little League team was held hostage!
I loved this about the original Galactica – the ragtag fleet of human survivors are searching for the lost colony of Earth. Every week, they’d run into a small enclave of humans. They’d do, you know, whatever, and then keep on going. Ever wonder what happened to those people our heroes found? My guess – the Cylons just followed along and wiped ‘em out. Good going, Adama.
I was 17 when Galactica first aired. My favorite episode at the time was the one where all the Viper pilots got sick, and all the women had to take over wearing only lingerie. Whoops- acceleration harnesses.
But it was SF on TV, and even better, it was new – as opposed to endless Star Trek reruns (TOS, for all you youngsters). That alone made it worth watching.
My favorite old Galatica is a toss up between the one where the Cylons had the planet-side super cannon. Even liked the book based on that episode, which I still may have. And the one where there was a prison break involving Balitar and the warrior types who could fake being dead.
I remember they had a genius kid on the show in the later episodes but can’t remember how he came about being on the ship.
Fred, the origin of the super genius kid was explained in the Starbuck episode we’ve brought up
The deal was, Starbuck crashed on a planet and found both a lone Cylon warrior and an ill pregnant woman. Over time, Starbuck befriends the Cylon. The woman delivers the baby but dies in childbirth. From wreckage, Starbuck and the Cylon construct a spacecraft just big enough to carry the child to the ragtag fleet.
Cool, thanks Tim.
I’m also reminded of an episode where a cylon was called deadeye or one eye, and was basicaly a gunfighter. Those wacky cylon-human realationships.
Yeah, that was the one where Apollo got stranded on the cowboy planet, where the alien horses looked like real horses except they’d been painted with some stripes. Naturally, there was a cowboy showdown between Apollo and the Cylon. Good stuff.
I have spent years trying to forget Galactica 1980.
I liked the orginal show though. It still has some of the best intro music on TV.
The Galactica 1980 episode that they had Wolfman Jack was a absolute classic
Best “Hey, waitaminnit!” moment of 2005:
I was walking through the outdoor area of a nearby mall, headed for an Atomic Comics. Right outside of their doors is one of those choreographed fountain arrays, and as I was walking by them towards the comics shop, a familiar orchestral arrangement stopped me dead in my tracks.
I stood there a full 5+ minutes while they played the long version of the original series main theme. And I noticed I wasn’t the only one who snapped to attentiveness upon hearing that theme.
I felt the same swell of giddy nostalgia when I heard the theme being used in the new series episode “Final Cut”.
I have fond memories of watching the original BSG with my dad when it first aired. In fact, I think the 3-hour premiere was on past my bedtime and I got to stay up to watch it.
I picked up the season set on DVD for a good price and I’ve had fun going down memory lane on these episodes.
Does anyone else remember the toy controversy? They had the ships that would shoot the rocket missiles…that is until some kid ate one or choked on it and then there was a massive recall. If you sent back your launching rocket laser things, you got a Hot Wheels car in return. Of course, I had already managed to lose mine at this point…
Yes, I remember the toy snafu.
I actually used to have both the Viper and Cylon Raider that shot the missiles (I sold those on eBay 5-6 years ago, with missiles).
I do still have one of each that don’t shoot, just for nostalgia reasons
Man having one of those toys now (given the recall) would make it worth a bit I think.
Hi guys. I was just doing a search on msn for blogs about the hit tv show “Lost� and I found this blog. I have had a read through some of the posts and it seems fun so I have bookmarked it.
Keep up the good work,
William
I am a huge fan of the fox tv show Prison Break. I started watching it a few weeks ago and I am now totally addicted. I have heard that the new series starts in March, is this true? and do you know the exact date?
Many thanks and all the best with your blog