Two years after the original Battlestar Galactica had launched, then cancelled, ABC & Universal decided to try again.
Galactica 1980 was a troubled production from the go, however, as certain network suits objected to the pitch made by executive producer Glen Larson that this would be a time travel show. They only used time travel in the opener.
In fact, the only regulars back from the previous series were Lorne Greene and Herbert Jefferson, Jr.. Dirk Benedict was to return, but was limited to a guest appearance in the finale due to scheduling conflicts. Richard Hatch turned down the opportunity to return, resulting in two new leads in Kent McCord (ex-Adam-12) and Barry Van Dyke. You also had Robbie Rist (ex-The Brady Bunch, Big John, Little John) as a teenage prodigy, but his part was recast shortly after the season started.
My folks and I tried watching this when it launched in the winter of 1980. I think they gave up after a week or two.
Following is a sample intro, with a voiceover by Lorne Greene.
Rating: C.
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Fun Facts:
- The 1980 series began with a three-part story, establishing that about 20-plus years had elapsed since the end of the previous series.
Kent McCord's character was 'Boxey' as an adult, now known as 'Troy'; Adama (Lorne Greene) now had a beard, to show the passage of time; Herbert Jefferson's 'Boomer' had been aged into Terry Carter's function from the old show.
- Robbie Rist left after the three-parter; his replacement was Patrick Stuart, the young son of Chad Stuart ("Chad & Jeremy" emeritus), who these days is James Patrick Stuart, the less nasty Cassidine on General Hospital (but that's another story ...).
- I thought I had a third one - I guess not ...
Any reason why Rist was replaced? He'd later resurface doing a kids' show (Kidd Video) 5 years later.
I still say that if ABC had completely leaned into the series as a sci-fi retelling of the Book of Exodus, with the Galacticans as the Israelites and the Cylons as the Egyptians, this show would have lasted for at least ten years. But yeah, there was no way ABC was fronting this show for another season with its massive budget and so-so ratings.
If memory serves, the three-parter that started things off here was originally supposed to air as a single three-hour special, to launch a weekly for the following fall.
What happened was that ABC sprung a leak in their schedule, and the network brass decided to fast-track the weekly into production in a hurry.
My best guess is that when the rush order came in, Robbie Rist was simply unavailable (he was in major demand at the time), thus the replacement.
As I recall, Richard Lynch's villain character was also supposed to come back for the weekly, but his high demand scotched that; the bad guy was also recast (but that's another story ...).
These things happened - especially during this panic-driven period.
And, yet, nearly 25 years later, when Galactica was rebooted for cable, it worked better. Go figure.
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