Galáctica 1980

Galactica 1980 may not have had what the original series had, but it DID bring closure to the series by bringing them to their final destination. The scenes on Earth weren't that great, but the segment on whatever happened to Starbuck was great.

I have great childhood memories of this series. SciFi channel just started running it again and I'm watching it more for nostalgia than as any kind of groundbreaking series. And for that, I guess I'll always love it.

After Battlestar Galactica was canceled, the network decided to try and wring some more dollars out of the series by giving us this low budget thing. It was incredibly childish, featuring a bunch of little kids who could jump really high, like up into trees. I think they could turn invisible as well. They used these powers to throw apples at bumbling cops and stuff like that. The cops would look around, all confused, like "Where are the apples coming from?! I can't figure it out!". You get the idea. Then there were the two main characters who gave comically bad performances. When they first got to earth, they couldn't figure out what a phone booth was, and had trouble with our vocabulary. It could have been done in such a way as to make it realistic, or perhaps even funny, but the way it was done just came off as these two guys being idiots. And yes, they were the stars.

Plots were very much like a Saturday morning cartoon of the '70s, like Isis or Shazam. Packed full of "educational" material (did you know that cars have internal combustion engines?) and environmentalist schlock - the same guys who didn't know what a phone was got upset that people didn't like environmentalists.

Then there was Dr. Zee, the little kid who was supposed to be really smart. But because he was so smart, he spent a lot of time staring off into space, almost as if in a coma, and spoke his lines as if reciting from a cue card. Definitely in the top 10 most laughably bad character I can remember in any TV show right now.

I have to say this thing rates extremely high on the "so bad it's good" scale. I mean, you just can't help but laugh at it.

I have no problem at all admitting I like "Galactica 1980". I deliberately avoided buying any bootlegs of the show because I figured the new (and bad) Galactica show would eventually see this released.

Sure it's flawed, but it was a fun show. It actually started off with a really good three-parter, when Troy and Dillon first come to Earth to check things out for the Galactica. I liked that Apollo did appear in a photograph and that one of the main adult characters was a grown-up Boxey. And seeing Boomer again was also great.

I remember as a kid being disappointed that the Cylon attack on Los Angeles was "fake" (a "computer simulation" to see what would happen if the Cylons found Earth) because it was done so clever and well, using the "Earthquake" movie footage. The subplot with Robert Reed as the doctor who makes friends with Troy and Dillon starts off good but Reed's character is simply forgotten about after a few episodes unfortunately. Instead, an Earth woman befriends the Galactica guys and the focal point eventually becomes a bunch of bratty kids, which is where the show starts to get a bit annoying.

The plots are cool, but frankly there just were not enough Cylons in the series. Finally towards the end of the series they start to appear, but in a goofy Halloween setting.

The last episode is generally regarded as the best because it shows the return of Starbuck, who actually makes friends with a Cylon after being stranded from the fleet in flashback. It was very cool seeing Boomer behind the controls of a Viper again. Even this episode has a few problems, such as the Cylon's voice, and where DID he find that girl? The ending is downright sad. Also, there was no Troy and Dillon for this final episode (the actors must have loved that).

So yeah, it has tons of stock footage, goofy kids and thin plots. But it is a fun show, and definitely a fun watch. I for one and very glad it is on DVD, although no extras is a disappointment.

Galactica 1980 is the very, very different series to Battlestar Galactica. So, the Galactica reaches Earth where Troy and Dillon (replacing Apollo and Starbuck) get into various scrapes on the planet. Hence, rather than battles with Cylons (although they do show up now and then), we get time travelling antics in which our heroes battle with Nazis, helped out by the intrepid journalist, Jamie, in addition to scout troop action, a lot of educational speeches about Earth history and technology, and even a top hat and tails dance routine featuring Dillon and Troy. However, the highlight is when our heroes take flight on their futuristic motorbikes, which involves some of the most hilariously bad back projection seen on terrestrial screens! So, it lacks the scope, drama, quality and budget of Battlestar Galactica, but it has an undeniable charm (usually derived from the unintentional comedy that pervades many episodes, but the onscreen chemistry between Kent McCord and Barry Van Dyke is very engaging) and Richard Lynch is good, as always. However, while Lorne Greene tries to maintain his air of gravitas as Adama, he mainly just looks bemused as he constantly is forced to consult the all-knowing child prodigy, Dr. Zee, on every issue facing the Galactica. So, it isn't great, but for all of its limitations (and frustrations), Galactica 1980 is watchable, and no episode is as tiresome as the original series episodes based on Terra/Lunar Seven/the Eastern Alliance. So that's something, I guess. However, if you find it tough going it is worth prevailing until the final episode, The Return of Starbuck, which is rather excellent.

At least this attempt at trying to revive BG still retained the FUN of the original series. I saw this series when it first came out, boy was I excited! My disappointment at the time was the lack of ninety some percent of the original cast. Other than that, as an eight year old kid, I didn't care.

Then through the years I read about the crap that it contained. I read that BG fans the world over don't consider it canon and that it's a conspiracy. I can agree with them on that, too!

(I've said this before, I'll say it again, poor Barry Van Dyke has the dismal honor of being cast in two failed revival shows, the other being Airwolf. Both shoes were on the premise of some revival, though the 1987 Airwolf was done mostly to get the show on the syndication market, and both had writing problems, continuity errors, and very limited budgets.)

Fast forward to 2008 when IMDb started having viewable episodes on site. Despite the cheesiness, corniness and continuity errors, the show is STILL FUN TO WATCH! While I still agree the G1980 was utter crap, at least it's still watchable in my humble opinion. Other than comedy, so called "serious" shows today (whether they be SciFi or Drama) lack the fun of both BG and G1980.

This was a poor execution of the right idea: meaning that we BG fans wanted it back on the air, but got less than stellar results. Too bad bickering over the years and other factors got in the way of making it "right." It's a shame the new incarnation wasn't a continuation (I enjoy it by the way. They really put their effort into the stories and characters, even if the fun is gone and it is a dark series.) While it is a superb series in its own right, the fans were just completely ignored IMHO. It didn't really have to retain the fun, but continuation would have been nice, even if it's darker. But that's another story.

Galactica 1980, crap fest? Sure. But I give it credit for retaining the fun of the original. Makes it watchable if you don't pay too much attention to all the things against it.