All the fanboys who make it a hobby to trash this show need to chill out. Like it or not, there were plenty of episodes on the first series that were cheesier than this, plus the last episode "Return of Starbuck" was better than any episode of either series. I will take Galactica 1980 over most of the new tripe that gets turned out as sci-fi these days.
I agree. I just got it for christmas and am finally getting around to watching it..and it isn't that bad. This is better than a lot of other sci-fi out these days, and as for the new galactica...well done, but too dark for my tatses. My 4 year old girl loves this show. She sure couldn't watch the new BSG. Heck and Larson produced show is more fun than anything on tv these days. Actually the only thing on tv I watch is smallville and the new dr.who. I'll take my old BSG and other classic series...including BSG1980.
shareI agree. I'd take this over the new BSG any day. I don't know why they have trash everything up nowadays. What ever happened to just simple entertainment? Galactica 1980 offers just that, nothing more, nothing less.
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No it's not,the original was cancelled,they tried to save face with this.Not saying that i didn;t like the old BSG,I did,but,everybody trashing the new one is so annoying.If you don't like it,don't watch it.TNS is better than 90% of stuff on tv right now.
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It wasn't that bad. It had its moments and it was what it was.
shareLike HELL it is! Look, I watched the original BSG when I was in high school. My first fan fiction was written about Galactica. I watched all the entertainment news--such that it was in those days . . . mostly PM Magazine . . . and I can tell you that this was not ever viewed as a second season of BSG. BSG got CANCELLED after the cost/value problems. It was the most expensive series ever produced, the Wrecked Starship set was the most expensive ever built, and the FX and set demands were collossal. The Show wasn't bringing in enough revenue to justify it. so it got axed.
And was gone for over a year. Second seasons come back the next year. This didn't. But after some legal wrangling, arm twisting, and a desperate need to fill a family hour timeslot with something that might distract kids from Disney on another network, The potentates at ABC decided to get a little bit of a gain off the money they were still obligated to pay out to Larson's group, and asked for a new series based on BSG, but which was more family-friendly (read: has more kids) and had fewer cost requirements (read: no new and expensive sets). The result was the debacle called Galactica 1980.
Personally, I think Glen Larson had a lack of enthusiasm for the project, as it wasn't the story he wanted to tell with the Galactica characters, and he was probably having more fun with the successful Buck Rogers series.
I couldn't stand this series at the time. I always wondered--in The Hand of God, Apollo picked up transmissions of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Those signals had been travelling at the speed of light--which is slower than the Fleet moved--for an unknown period of time. But taking the Fleet's speed out of the equation, the minimum amount of time between receiving that signal and the arrival at Earth would be 11 years. Add ANY movement of the Fleet, and the amount of time could only shorten. Troy was too old to be Boxey! and Dr. Zee was an abomination. Having Adama come to him for every decision like a puppy looking for scraps sickened me. In BSG, Adama was the leader of the Fleet!
I considered it the second season of "battlestar Galactica" (albeit revamped). At the time "BG" left the ABC schedule, it was with the understanding it would return in a new format. The box set lists the show as the final season of "Battlestar Galactica" & so, for me, that's the arbitrator. Season 2 it is.
"There's my buttercup!"
But it wasn't billed that way at the time, and it wasn't sold that way, and it wasn't really presented that way. The DVDs have altered the opening sequence. When they aired, the title was Galactica 1980, but the DVDs say Battlestar Galactica and feature scenes from BSG.
Hey--I watched both shows when they aired, and I'm telling you that G1980 was never presented as the second season, no matter how it seems "to you." Your feelings ain't the facts. When BSG left the air, it was cancelled--not pulled for revamping. Cancelled. It was gone for over a year. THEN along comes G1980. Don't try to tell me that this was always the second season of BSG. I was there, and that's bull.
The dvds aren't presented with "Battlestar Galactica" titles. Certainly, "Galactica 1980" has been broadcast with "Battlestar Galactica" because (oh yeah) it IS a continuation of the series. Lots of shows get pulled from the shedule & get revamped."Battlestar Galactica" left the ABC schedule in Aug 1979 and returned FIVE MONTHS later as "Galactica 1980". Were you there for that? The definative encyclopedia of network prime-time tv series correctly lists both "Battlestar Galactica" & "Galactica 1980" as the same series (the latter being the revamped season 2) and the dvd box set certainly clarifies any recollections you may have to the contrary. It says; "The Final Season of the Original Battlestar Galactica". As I said, when "BSG" left the air, the intent was for it to return in its' new format as a mid season replacement. And I'd also point out that Glen Larsons' own novelization of the 3 part season opener was published under the "Battlestar Galactica" banner as book 5 in the series.
"There's my buttercup!"
When I was a kid back in the late 80's, the syndicated reruns I saw were only of the 1st season. They never showed Galactica 1980 episodes. That to me suggests Galactica 1980 was not considered a 2nd season of the original show.
shareI've never seen the syndicated reruns separated. Guess it depends on which station you watched.
"There's my buttercup!"
Now now you two. Play nice!
share"The Return of Starbuck" was quite good, but it wasn't as good as "Saga of a Star World", "The Living Legend", or "War of the Gods". It was, however, a great continuation of the spiritual aspects introduced in WOTG.
No, Galactica 1980 was doomed by network interference that mandated too many morality plays and kid lessons to amount to anything more than garbage. Larson knew the show was getting canceled, which is the one and only reason he defied the networks and made a true Galactica entry about Starbuck.
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OK, so what's the speed of dark?
I bought the box set and was disappointed at how poorly it was presented...like it was taped off the sci-fi network. Despite it's bad rep & brief run, it did manage to eke out 1 'classic' episode. But I suspect when I get around to watching the new battlestar series this will fade quickly from mind.
"There's my buttercup!"
I JUST BOUGHT IT ON DVD
ITS FANTASTIC
RETRO FUN BACK TO MY CHILD HOOD
I like this show too.
Its so much better than the new series and it is pure entertainment.
I even love the theatrical movie: Conquest of the Earth (the theatrical cut). Its a very fun movie and combines parts from all the TV episodes of this show into one film.
hjl
Star Wars Episode IV.V: The Holiday Special.
People are still so mad over Galactica 1980? I thought we all could enjoy it now that its been so long...
http://galactica1980.blogspot.com/
To be fair with it, what it had of the original was the FUN stories, regardless of the cheesiness. TV and Galactica was still fun even with this failed revival. It's a shame ABC politics dictated what can/cannot be in the content.
The new BG is well written and I enjoy those stories. However, the tone of it is dark as with the majority of TV nowadays. While dark stories can be enjoyable, why can't we still have (a couple of) fun ones like before?
Different times? I don't buy it.
Good initiative, poor results when it came to Galactica 1980. At least the fun still existed despite it being more cheesey and lacking all but two of the original characters.
Too bad the SciFi Channel didn't exist for thirteen more years. Then maybe they would have been more than happy to pick up the series where ABC left off. I'm sure they would have let Mr. Larsen do Galactica the way it was intended.
by Borboletta (Sat Mar 15 2008 11:19:22) Ignore this User | Report Abuse
UPDATED Sat Mar 15 2008 11:19:56
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All the fanboys who make it a hobby to trash this show need to chill out. Like it or not, there were plenty of episodes on the first series that were cheesier than this, plus the last episode "Return of Starbuck" was better than any episode of either series. I will take Galactica 1980 over most of the new tripe that gets turned out as sci-fi these days.
I'm watching The Super Scouts right now, and I'm not sure if I'm watching a sci-fi show, a bad sitcom, or a family show. I guess it's a little bit of everything. "Let's appeal to everyone!" It doesn't work for me. Galactica Discovers Earth was a pretty OK beginning of the show though.
EDIT- Before anyone says anything, yes, the original series also had elements that were meant to appeal to kids, but it was still primarily a sci-fi show. I think it was meant for the older kids, say 10 years old and above, and young adults. With The Boy Scouts, Galactica 1980 tries to widen the appeal for the youngest viewers, while at the same time not losing the older viewers. It doesn't work because the gap between these two groups is too large. The youngest kids are not going to care that much about the background and scenes that are only advancing the plot. They want it simple. At the same time the scenes for the kids will just be boring and cheesy to the young adults. So while trying to appeal to everyone, they end up losing everyone instead.
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"What does it do?"
"It doesn't do anything. That's the beauty of it."
I'm also re-watching it. It's been a while.
For the time, it isn't that bad, but it is bad nonetheless (I'm fighting an urge to skip over most episodes and go straight to Return of Starbuck). As you say, it loses because it tries to appeal to everyone with rather weak stories, and ends up pleasing no one. And fans at the time probably hated it because they felt shortchanged (regardless if it was a second season, it was a continuation of the story of the universe, but targeted to a younger audience with a lower budget).
It is a changing standard. When watching old shows, you have to allow for lower production value, and allow for a wide-eyed sense of wonder, since these shows were trailblazers and encouraged imagination. It was a bit of a slow evolution. It is like the flame wars between Star Trek TOS and TNG: many fans of TNG dismiss TOS because of the production value, but miss that TNG benefited from the raised standards of all the Sci-Fi that came before.
Newer shows have a tougher time, since expectations are high for both story and production value. And the re-imagined BSG raised it quite a bit for Sci-Fi: it was a Sci-Fi show that actually appealed to women! Now they expect any show of this genre to repeat this rare feat, which is making it even harder (and is probably the reason why Caprica failed, they went for the female audience first, and lost the male audience because of the lack of action).
I hate to say it, but G:1980 - which is pretty BAD at times - can be rather better than most "Doctor Who" made between 2005 and 2013... :(
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