Television Review: Battlestar Galactica (1978 - 1979)

We live in a Golden Age of Television and, consequently, the audience, spoiled by seemingly limitless choices and rising quality, tends to take too many things for granted. How far television has advanced is best seen when popular 21st Century television shows are compared with their counterparts from the past. One such example could be found in the original version of Battlestar Galactica , arguably the most ambitious project of 1970s American television which made a huge impact and created a small but extremely loyal fan base, but nevertheless couldn’t overcome technical, financial, cultural and other limitations of its era.

The basic plot is, more or less, the same as in the better known, 2000s “re-imagined” version. The opening narration in each episode speculates that the Earth’s population might be just one of the branches of humanity scattered throughout space and that, out there, there might be other human civilisations, perhaps even connected to those from Earth’s ancient past. One such civilisation is represented by the Twelve Colonies or, to be more precise, was represented by the Twelve Colonies that were wiped out in a treacherous attack by a reptilian-robotic alien race of Cylons in the opening episode. What is left of humanity has gathered in a fleet of ships led by Battlestar Galactica, the only surviving capital ship of the Colonial Fleet, led by Commander Adama played by Lorne Greene , and begins a long and perilous journey to a long-lost semi-mythical thirteenth colony known as “E…

When it premiered in the autumn of 1978, Battlestar Galactica was savaged by critics as a “cheap imitation” of Star Wars . The word “cheap” is, however, difficult to associate with the series started by a pilot episode which became the most expensive television film produced at that time, with a budget only slightly smaller than George Lucas’ epic space opera. The large budget is quite obvious due to Richard Dykstra’s special effects, which were the most advanced at the time and which look impressive even today. Series creator Glen A. Larson envisioned Battlestar Galactica long before Star Wars , inspired by his own Mormon upbringing as well as the Ancient Aliens hypothesis, which was widely popularised by Erich von Däniken in the 1970s. Large budgets also allowed for these ideas to be reflected in inventive costumes, props and iconography, and creative energy was even invested in the l…

Among the creative talents involved in Battlestar Galactica was composer Stu Phillips, whose soundtrack includes a powerful opening theme which represents one of the most easily recognisable pieces of film and television music, an achievement the producers of the 2000s version failed to make. The series also had a very good cast, most notably television veteran Lorne Greene, whose excellent voice and charismatic presence gave the show the necessary gravitas and helped its plot be taken seriously even in its sillier moments. However, like the 2000s version, this was mostly an ensemble show. Richard Hatch as Captain Apollo, Adama’s son and heroic leader of fighter pilots, created an interesting “buddy buddy” dynamic with Dirk Benedict as his good friend, a cigar-smoking, hard-drinking and adventurous pilot whose womanising antics often provided light-hearted content in what was actually a…

Battlestar Galactica , however, had its share of flaws. One of the most obvious and annoying was the character of Boxey, a six-year-old boy played by Noah Hathaway , who is given a robotic dog named Muffit II actually played by a chimpanzee in a suit ; an attempt to cater to the youngest audience didn’t exactly work, especially in episodes with otherwise serious plots when those two played important roles. But the more important, and in the end fatal, flaw of the series had little to do with its authors. The show was aired on ABC, a broadcast television network with leadership unwilling to think outside the box. Glen A. Larson originally devised Battlestar Galactica as a series of feature-length and high-budget television films, very much like the pilot. What this concept could have led to is best shown in the quality two-part episodes like War of the Gods or Gun on Ice Planet Zero , wh…

Starring: Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, Lorne Greene, John Colicos, Maren Jensen, Noah Hathaway, Herbert Jefferson Jr., Tony Swartz, Laurette Spang, Terry Carter, Anne Lockhart Executive producers: Glen A. Larson Running Time: 24 episodes 21 + 3-part pilot episode, 45 minutes each

Pro : intriguing idea, very good special effects, creative props and iconography, memorable music, very good cast Contra : most of episodes being subpar, annoying childish plots, poor budgets, unfinished . RATING: 7/10

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