Galactica 1980

[Galileo7]

What in the Hell was up with the disclaimer at the end of the second episode about the US government discontinuing searching for UFO's?

Going back to this, didn't pretty much every episode end with that? I could never figure it out either, but it's pretty amusing.

I think it was there to tap into the '70s era interest in UFOs and the then series Project:UFO about the U.S. Air Force Blue book investigations. The Colonials are aliens flying unidentified flying objects[Vipers and Shuttles] into Earth's atmosphere.

 

[DWF]

The real question should be whether or not Dr. Zee and Xavier were Time Lords? Richard Lynch became Jeremy Brett and Robbie Rist turned into Patrick Staurt. And of course the scarest ep. was the Halloween two parter with Woflman Jack and William Daniels.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Galactica says "Hi" to he White House.



Dr Zee orders the Invasion of Earth.



The Cylons arrive an hour later.



Earth gets the #### kicked out of it.



The Capricans and the Earthers team up finally.

 

[Christopher]

What in the Hell was up with the disclaimer at the end of the second episode about the US government discontinuing searching for UFO's?

Going back to this, didn't pretty much every episode end with that? I could never figure it out either, but it's pretty amusing.

I think it was there to tap into the '70s era interest in UFOs and the then series Project:UFO about the U.S. Air Force Blue book investigations. The Colonials are aliens flying unidentified flying objects[Vipers and Shuttles] into Earth's atmosphere.

Since it was a disclaimer saying the government wasn't doing this anymore, that doesn't seem like something the show added to tap into the interest. I think it has more to do with the network's hamfisted insistence that the show have educational merit. "Oh no, we don't want the little kiddies to believe that this obviously fictional show represents anything real, so let's make sure they know UFOs are just imaginary."

 

[The Old Mixer]

There was a ICBM under the lawns at the white House, so when the Galactica tries to land at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in an effort to be completely transparent, Ronald Reagan gives the order to nuke the space Bastards coming to take his woman.

Galactica says "Hi" to he White House.

I think that's supposed to be Carter...it sure as hell ain't Reagan.

And nuBSG had a better idea about what would happen to a battlestar if it jumped into a planet's atmosphere....

 

[StalwartUK]

I watched Galactica 1980 a few years ago and I thought it was terrible. Ridiculous plots and the low budget nature of it is readily apparent. Doctor Zee is a character so awful that Wesley Crusher will seem like a breath of fresh air in comparison. Also the old Adama looks silly with that fake beard.

It's no wonder it got cancelled after 10 episodes and basically killed the franchise for the next 20+ years or so till it got rebooted.

"The Return of Starbuck" is just about the only thing that makes this show worth watching. Too bad it still has Doctor Zee in it.

 

[urbandefault]

There was a ICBM under the lawns at the white House, so when the Galactica tries to land at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in an effort to be completely transparent, Ronald Reagan gives the order to nuke the space Bastards coming to take his woman.

Galactica says "Hi" to he White House.

I think that's supposed to be Carter...it sure as hell ain't Reagan.

And nuBSG had a better idea about what would happen to a battlestar if it jumped into a planet's atmosphere....

Yup, it's supposed to be Jimmy Carter. Good thing his brother Billy wasn't in the Oval. He woulda chucked a real football.

 

[Relayer1]

Is it true that the only way it got funded was through an educational broadcast budget ? I heard this was why it was done so cheaply and had some sort of tenuous scientific point to some episodes...

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

And nuBSG had a better idea about what would happen to a battlestar if it jumped into a planet's atmosphere....

True, but battlestars in the TOS universe apparently don't "jump".

And what was that comic, anyway? I've never heard of it...

 

[Christopher]

Is it true that the only way it got funded was through an educational broadcast budget ? I heard this was why it was done so cheaply and had some sort of tenuous scientific point to some episodes...

I don't know about the source of its budget, but the only reason it got made at all was because ABC wanted to amortize the cost of the original show's effects, sets, costumes, and props by recycling them to make more episodes. It was Earthbound and cheap because its only purpose was to minimize the network's financial loss. Although Glen Larson still ran hugely over budget on the production, because he apparently wasn't a very fiscally responsible producer.

I figure the reason it was geared toward children is because most SFTV at the time was stereotyped as being kid stuff, even when it wasn't. G80 existed purely by network fiat, with no creative investment from its producers, so it was shaped entirely by network expectations and goals. And networks at the time were under pressure from family groups and the FCC to feature a certain amount of educational programming.

 

[DWF]

Galactica 1980 was aired at the seven o'clock hout instead of the original's eight o'clock timeslot, so the series was aimed at a younger audience. However it had all the probems of any other series that was rushed into production and Glen Larson spent of his time in Hawaii aparently after the three part series opener.

 

[Green Shirt]

The reporter they hang out with is super hot.

Robyn Douglass sued Hustler Mag over photos they ran without her "permission".

 

[Christopher]

^Why did you put "permission" in quotes, as if being sarcastic or figurative? It's quite straightforwardly literal. A magazine needs a model's written consent to publish photos of the model.

 

[Zaku]

And what was that comic, anyway? I've never heard of it...

It's a dark and gritty reboot of Galatica 1980 . There is a disturbing scene where Adam is considering suicide. And
Doctor Zee is a true psycopath.

But I quite liked it

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

There is a disturbing scene where Adam is considering suicide.

You mean Adama, right?

I don't know about the source of its budget, but the only reason it got made at all was because ABC wanted to amortize the cost of the original show's effects, sets, costumes, and props by recycling them to make more episodes.

Apparently they didn't choose to recycle the biggest effect of all (the Galactica's bridge) which was, IIRC, never used on G1980. Not even as stock footage!

 

[Zaku]

There is a disturbing scene where Adam is considering suicide.

You mean Adama, right?

Oh yes, sorry. In the Italian dubbing the character is called "Adam", so sometimes I get confused

 

[Green Shirt]

^Why did you put "permission" in quotes, as if being sarcastic or figurative?

"I felt like it"

 

[Marc]

Apparently they didn't choose to recycle the biggest effect of all (the Galactica's bridge) which was, IIRC, never used on G1980. Not even as stock footage!

I don' tthink there was really any footage they could use from the bridge that would count as "stock" - not even Rigel doing her viper launch bit.

Plus given there was probably nothing left of it after the sets were struck when the first series was cancelled, they wouldn't have been keen to rebuild it or pay the actor/extras to fill it.

Plus as the aim was to keep the costs down by having most of the action taking place on Earth, the bridge was probably not really needed.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Apparently they didn't choose to recycle the biggest effect of all (the Galactica's bridge) which was, IIRC, never used on G1980. Not even as stock footage!

I don' tthink there was really any footage they could use from the bridge that would count as "stock" - not even Rigel doing her viper launch bit.

Perhaps they could have put in a line of dialogue about Rigel having a daughter that looks just like her?

Really though, if the network really had such a weed up its ass about "amortizing" and all that, one would think that they'd make use of whatever sets they had left. If they were always intent on doing another series, wouldn't they have wanted to keep the bridge set so they could use it?

About the only thing I can think of is that since it was intended from the get-go to be an Earth-based show, G1980 wouldn't have any need for a bridge because there'd be few scenes actually set on the Galactica. I guess I can buy that. So did they take the studio space used for the bridge set and reuse it as other sets? I can buy that too. If not, it'd seem like a waste...you can't "amortize" a set that no longer exists, amirite?

 

[Christopher]

Plus given there was probably nothing left of it after the sets were struck when the first series was cancelled, they wouldn't have been keen to rebuild it or pay the actor/extras to fill it.

Right. They rebuilt some of the sets, but the bridge was a huge, elaborate set that was far too expensive to reconstruct or reuse, so they replaced it with a tinier, cheaper bridge set -- which was only occasionally used, since now all the decisions were being made by Doctor Zee in his temple of TVs.