Battlestar Galactica [Pilot - Episodes 1 & 2 & 3]
Saga of a Star World
shown 17th Sept 1978
Reviewed January 2000
This TV series was very popular in the post-Star Wars SF boom. Lorne Greene (Bonanza) and John Colicos ( Star Trek: TOS ) are the only big names in it. Richard Hatch played the central character, Apollo - he has not done much work since the series was cancelled, and has spent the last twenty years trying to get the show back on the air again.
Dirk Benedict, on the other hand, went on to star in The A-Team and was last seen in Official Denial . Here he is excellent as the Han Solo-style cigar-smoking gambler, Starbuck. This reviewer's favourite scene is when the two women Starbuck had seduced meet face-to-face - and just as they start to cat-fight over him, he ditches them both in favour of a poker game!
The villains are Cylons, stormtrooper-like robots that wish to destroy the entire human race. They almost succeed - they annihilate the twelve colony worlds. The few human survivors board a ragtag fleet of space vessels and follow their sole surviving warship (the Battlestar Galactica itself) in a quest for the mythical human homeworld ... Earth.
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 4]
Lost Planet of the Gods [Part I]
shown 24th Sept 1978
Reviewed May 2000
Finally this series is being repeated, for the first time since Winter 1997. Boomer and the other pilots (including Ed Begley Jnr!) are taken down by an unknown virus contracted near a Cylon base. They have to be replaced - by female shuttle pilots and trainee cadets like Apollo's fiance, Jane Seymour. Starbuck's socialator, Cassie ( Laurette Spang ) pops up as the receptionist in med-bay!
Baltar (John Colicos - Star Trek: TOS ) is back from the dead - he got his head chopped off in some versions of the pilot episode, but he has now been put in charge of the Cylon pursuit.
The Galactica is stuck between the Cylons and a magnetic void where no starlight can be seen - an idea seemingly stolen by ST: VGR twenty years later.
Starbuck (Dirk Benedict - Official Denial ) and Apollo (Richard Hatch - Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983) ) are the only fighter pilots fit to fly; they train up the women and lead them in an attack on the Cylon base so the medics can get samples of the purestrain virus and create a cure. This leads to a mildly humorous scene where the female warriors make macho chat about who was the best pilot, while Apollo and Starbuck discuss plans to redecorate their quarters.
Apollo is sensitive enough to avoid giving Lord Flasheart's advice of
Treat your fighter like you treat your woman -
get in the cockpit five times a day
and take her to heaven and back!
However, Starbuck mentions that
The controls are as sensitive as a schoolgirl's ...
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 5]
Lost Planet of the Gods [Part II]
shown 1st October 1978
Reviewed June 2000
The fleet discovers the lost world of Kobol, which looks a bit like the ruins of Ancient Egypt. Starbuck (Dirk Benedict - Official Denial ) is captured by the Cylons, and Baltar (John Colicos - Star Trek: TOS ) offers Peace to the humans. Jane Seymour and Apollo (Richard Hatch - Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983) ) get married - and since she is only a Special Guest Star instead of a regular cast member, her life expectancy is significantly lowered.
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 6]
The Lost Warrior
shown 8th October 1978
Reviewed June 2000
Apollo (Richard Hatch - Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983) ) crash-lands on a planet that looks suspiciously like the Wild West. The local gang boss has a Cylon bodyguard whose armour can withstand the locals' handguns - only Apollo's blaster-pistol is powerful enough. Apollo must pretend to be a harmless farmer until he discovers the Cylon's origins, in case there are more of them.
Lance DeGault pops up as the brother of the woman who hides Apollo. He also appears in other episodes of the show as a religious cultist aboard the Galactica's fleet.
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 7]
The Long Patrol
shown 15th October 1978
Reviewed June 2000
Starbuck (Dirk Benedict - Official Denial ) takes a starfighter prototype on a test-flight. This ship has a voice-activated computer named CORA, a precursor to KITT in Glen Larson's next show Knight Rider .
Unfortunately, Starbuck's ship is stolen and he is thrown in prison. The other prisoners are descendants of the original prisoners, sentenced there over 700 years previously. The prisoners make Ambrosia all day - Starbuck realises that the liquor will make him rich, but the viewers will all realise that the reset button will be pressed by the end of the episode!
The ship-thief broadcasts a message in a strange code - Galactica picks it up, and sends Apollo (Richard Hatch - Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983) ) and Boomer out to destroy the prototype so it does not fall into enemy hands. Athena (Starbuck's GF) explains the situation to Cassie ( Laurette Spang ) - Starbuck's other GF. Galactica only compared the strange code to all known MILITARY codes - Cassie recognises it as a CIVILIAN code (as all viewers can guess!).
The irony is that in the previous episode, Apollo got stuck on an M-Class world that looked like a movie back-lot. Now it is Starbuck's turn to have the same thing happen. And as we all know, Battlestar Galactica [Season 2, Episode 10] The Return of Starbuck had the same concept ...
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 8]
The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (1)
shown 22 Oct 78
Starbuck (Dirk Benedict - Official Denial ) and a rookie are on viper patrol, doing recon work along the fleet's path. They are shot at ... by a planetary weapons system! The rookie crash-lands, and is captured. However, Starbuck escapes and brings word of the danger.
The superweapon must be taken out on the ground, in a commando raid. So to destroy the Guns of Navarone, Apollo (Richard Hatch - Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983) ) recruits the Dirty (half-) Dozen. These prison barge inmates include the Colonel (Roy Thinnes - The Invaders ) and Wolfe (Richard Lynch - ).
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 9]
The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (2)
shown 29 Oct 78
The Colonials are helped by local resistance - clones who are used as slave labour by the Cylons. The females are played by Britt Eckland , and their creator is a mad genius (Dan O'Herlihy - Halloween 3: Season Of The Witch ).
Apollo takes the main team up the side of the mountain, to attack the super-gun emplacement from the outside. He takes Wolfe (Richard Lynch - ) and the other convicts with him, unaware they are planning to steal a cylon ship and escape.
Starbuck is left with one of the Britt Eckland clones, who becomes his love interest. She is the second Bond girl to become a love interest, since Apollo was once paired with Jane Seymour.
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 10]
The Magnificent Warriors
shown 12 Nov 78
The Cylons attack the fleet, and hit the three agricultural ships (which resemble those in Deep Running ). The fleet needs grain, or the population will starve ...
Luckily, there is an M-Class world nearby. It has a Wild West settlement, besieged by rowdy natives. Starbuck (Dirk Benedict - Official Denial ) tries to con the locals into helping, but he ends up with more than he bargained for.
The undercover nature of the mission is all well and good, but Adama goes along - as well as a middle-aged seductress who has her eyes on him. Plus Boxy and his robo-dagget, Muffet!
While Adama's lack of brains and backbone (especially compared to his treatment of Ray Milland in the pilot episodes) is shocking, the real genius of the story is ... Starbuck, of course!
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 11]
The Young Lords
shown 19 Nov 78
This ep was written and directed by Donald Bellisario - the brains behind Quantum Leap and Airwolf. He is ex-US Navy, and his most recent series is J.A.G. - which is often set aboard USN aircraft carriers!
Starbuck (Dirk Benedict - Official Denial ) and Boomer are on patrol. Starbuck's viper gets shot up, so yet again he crash-lands on an M-class world. It is garrisoned by Cylons, commanded by an android named Specter.
Starbuck is rescued by a horde of children, who have their very own unicorn. They want their father (Bruce Glover - Diamonds are Forever ) back after he was taken by the Cylons. The kids memorise their mission plans in a rhyme, like in The Dirty Dozen.
There is some delightful interplay between Baltar (John Colicos - Star Trek: TOS ) and his sidekick, Lucifer (Johnathan Harris - Lost In Space ) who is jealous of the success of his counterpart, Specter.
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 12]
The Living Legend [Part 1]
shown 26th November 1978
Reviewed April 2001
The crew of the Galactica discover there is another Battlestar still operational - the Pegasus, under the legendary Commander Kane (Lloyd Bridges).
It turns out that Kane's ex is Starbuck's GF, Cassie ( Laurette Spang ) the Socialator. Worse, Kane's aggressive command style clashes with Adama's.
Baltar (John Colicos - Star Trek: TOS ) leads the Cylons in an all-out attack on the humans.
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 13]
The Living Legend [Part 2]
shown 3rd December 1978
Reviewed April 2001
Baltar (John Colicos - Star Trek: TOS ) and his cylons close in on the fleet. Kane forces Adama into helping in a full frontal attack on a Cylon world. Apollo (Richard Hatch - Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983) ) and Starbuck (Dirk Benedict - Official Denial ) lead a commando raid on the target, along with Kane's daughter Sheba ( Anne Lockhart ), her sidekick rookie Bojay and Cassie ( Laurette Spang ) the socialator (now the team medic!).
The guys get to run around firing with a blaster in each hand, but the direction is nowhere near as good as that of John Woo or the directors of Farscape . No surprise there, of course, it merely shows how much potential this episode had.
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 14]
Fire in Space
shown 17 Dec 78
Reviewed 16th January 2007
The Cylons launch kamikaze attacks on the Galactica. They cripple the bridge, and put Adama into the ICU.
This is a bottle show, focusing on the crew under stress rather than exploring another M-Class world. Boomer, Athena ( Maren Jansen ) and Boxy are trapped together, in a storage compartment with no way out ...
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 15]
War Of The Gods [Part 1]
shown 14th January 1979
Reviewed April 2001
Sheba ( Anne Lockhart ) and Bojay are still among the Galactica's crew. Bojay and his patrol disappear without trace, abducted by a UFO. Sheba goes out to search for him, along with Starbuck (Dirk Benedict - Official Denial ) and Apollo (Richard Hatch - Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983) ).
They go to a planet where everything is filmed through fancy lenses (like in BSG (2003) ), where they discover the remains of a crashed ship. They also encounter the mysterious Count Iblis (Patrick MacNee - The Avengers ). They take him back to the fleet, where he promises to guide them to Earth if he is given Adama's role as commander.
This episode involves with a two-a-side basketball contest. Apollo and Starbuck prove that white men can jump, and they do not even break a sweat doing it.
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 16]
War Of The Gods [Part 2]
shown 21st January 1979
Reviewed April 2001
Iblis (Patrick MacNee - The Avengers ) tricks Baltar (John Colicos - Star Trek: TOS ) into declaring a truce, which allows the cowardly Colonials to double-cross him. Adama is still suspicious of Iblis, and realises that Baltar knows the truth about him.
Apollo (Richard Hatch - Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983) ) and Starbuck (Dirk Benedict - Official Denial ) discover the truth about Iblis, and end up in a showdown with him. Hell, MacNee also provides the voice of the Cylons' Imperious Leader!
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 17]
The Man With Nine Lives
shown 28th January 1979
Reviewed April 2001
Starbuck (Dirk Benedict - Official Denial ) meets up with a con-man called Chameleon (Fred Astair - Ghost Story ) who claims that he might be Starbuck's father. They get DNA tests, courtesy of Cassie ( Laurette Spang ). She is Starbuck's only love interest this episode - Athena ( Maren Jansen ) is nowhere in sight. As for the DNA tests: when this was written over twenty years ago, it must have seemed a completely SF idea!
However, Chameleon's real motive is to hide from a couple of Cultists. Their leader is played by Lance DeGault, and his sidekick is Anthony DeLongis ( Star Trek: Voyager ). In what seems a nod to Star Trek , the Cultists have lots of non-human make-up such as huge eyebrows and really thick ridges on their foreheads.
Another notable cameo is Alex Hyde-White ( Biggles ), here unrecognisable as a long-haired pilot.
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 18]
Murder on the Rising Star
shown 18 Feb 79
Apollo (Richard Hatch - Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983) ) and Starbuck (Dirk Benedict - Official Denial ) play another match of the two-a-side basketball game. The three female characters - Cassie ( Laurette Spang ), Athena ( Maren Jansen ) and Sheba ( Anne Lockhart ), sit together while watching the game. Unfortunately this episode fails the Bechdel test, because they are talking about Starbuck. This functions purely as exposition for the main storyline.
It turns out that Starbuck has a rival, Ortega (Frank Ashmore - V: The Series ). Yes, a Latino name combined with the blondest hair you have ever seen. Anyway, the two have been rivals for many years - even though Ortega is never mentioned before or after this episode.
Ortega turns up dead, and Starbuck is the obvious suspect. The head Opposer, basically the prosecutor, is Brock Peters ( Star Trek: DS9 ). He is willing to plead the case down to self-defence, but Starbuck refuses to make a plea deal. Ironically, Starbuck actually tries to escape custody - which would leave him in permanent exile, a fate even worse than a suspended sentence and dismissal from the military. He would probably have ended up crash-landing on a desert planet ...
Apollo and Boomer use the ship's computer to access the personnel records. It uses a voice-activated interface, like CORA in the recon viper. Eventually Apollo deduces that the only one who can identify the real killer is Baltar (John Colicos - Star Trek: TOS ). This leads on to a life-or-death climax.
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 19]
Greetings From Earth (1)
shown 25 Feb 79
Adama provides exposition in the form of a Captain's log. This is not a mere audio-recording, but rather a voice-type system that records spoken words as typed input. Since the most advanced computers on the Galactica are also voice-interface, this seems to be a standard technology on the ship. Also of note, the Galactica's bulkheads are riveted together ... the same technology that held the Titanic together, and was replaced with welding during World War Two.
Galactica recovers a relatively primitive starship which only has sub-light engines. It contains six humans in suspended animation. Apparently it is from Terra - is this the big clue to Galactica discovering Earth?
The doctor and a scientist try to find a way to revive the sleepers. However, the civilians (including the Council of Twelve and their security guards) can board the Galactica at will. They even start a riot in the hangar bay!
Athena ( Maren Jansen ) has been reduced to the level of a schoolteacher, providing exposition for Boxy and his playmates. This is her last appearance in the show. When the reboot happened a quarter of a century later, the female warrior trope was placed on the Starbuck character and the name Athena was only revived as an after-thought.
This sets up a conflict between military and civilian authority. Adama orders the seizure of the Terran shuttle, but is uncertain about how to proceed. The inhabitants are his only clue to finding Earth. However, if he tries to awaken them he risks killing them. Apollo suggests setting the shuttle back on its course. Starbuck wants to open the cryo-pods at any risk, although he soon changes his mind when he discovers that the Council of Twelve (and the civilian population) agree with him. He complains We aren't dealing with reasonable people, we're dealing with Bureau-ticians ... a cross between bureaucrats and politicians.
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 20]
Greetings From Earth (2)
shown 25 Feb 79
The shuttle arrives at Paradeen, a planet with air pressure which is a fifth of Caprica's. The human residence there is run by a couple of robots - Vector (Ray Bolger - Wizard of Oz ) and his son, Hector. Yes, despite having no FTL capability the locals can build humanoid robots. Even better, one of them is the original Tin Man! He puts his song-and-dance skills to good use.
It turns out that Terra has an ongoing civil war. The Eastern Alliance, a scarily Soviet-sounding organisation, has military spaceships patrolling the area and attacking the West's argricultural colonies. The Commandant (Lloyd Bochner - ) orders his Destroyer to attack the ranch.
Starbuck discovers an abandoned city which was depopulated by an Eastern Alliance WMD that killed the people but left the structures intact. He and Hector go off to explore it. Strangely, Starbuck - the infamous hothead - says he wishes the Council of Twelve were as logical as robots because people should not be ruled by their passions.
Cassie came along to monitor the conditions of the cryo-tubes. Apollo tells her to keep an eye on Michael, the Terran man who has been helping them, so she uses her sociolator skills (while stating her job is merely a med-tech).
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 21]
Baltar's Escape
shown 11 Mar 79
In the previous episode, Apollo and Starbuck abandoned their damaged Vipers and hijacked an Eastern Alliance warship - an act of war by most peoples' definition. Now Adama must deal with the political fallout. The Council of Twelve has a new leader, who revokes Adama's privileges as military dictator and places civilian oversight on him.
The villainous fascist military unit from the previous episode are being held in the prison barge. Baltar (John Colicos - Star Trek: TOS ) is the trustee in charge of the food kitchen, and takes the opportunity to recruit a team. The Cultists, Lance DeGault and Anthony DeLongis ( Star Trek: Voyager ), are already planning a breakout. Now they have a destination to flee towards.
Boomer and Sheba ( Anne Lockhart ) are put in charge of the transfer shuttle. They have some kind of rivalry with the security guards, which climaxes with Boomer conducting a weird piloting maneuvre that completely defies the laws of gravity. Of course, Boomer loses his brains and courage when the storyline demands it.
Baltar takes the Council of Twelve as hostages, and promises to release them when he is free. This is the main flaw in his plan. Although he seems earnest in his promise, absolutely nobody is willing to actually believe him! As a result, Adama's side are convinced that violence is the only way.
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 22]
Experiment in Terra
shown 18 Mar 79
Once again, Adama delivers a story so far update in the form of his Captain's Log.
Once again, Apollo gets captured by the Angel starship. Its Captain, John (Edward Mulhare - Knight Rider ), gives him his quest. John also gives Apollo a makeover, so he can magically pass for someone else. This is basically the premise of Quantum Leap ...
Apollo arrives on a planet that looks like Earth, on a continent that looks like North America. Brenda ( Melody Anderson ) picks him up in the desert, thinking that he is her boyfriend Charlie Watts. John pops up as a hologram, providing advice. Yes, it is all incredibly familiar.
It turns out that Terra is on the brink of nuclear war. The Western nationalists, despite being a civilised democracy, have a President who is up to no good. Although he is convinced the Eastern Alliance will make a treaty, they are in fact planning a first strike with nuclear weapons. Their plan is deliberate depopulation, using mutually assured destruction to thin their own herd. Nobody has factored nuclear winter into the equation, although they can always rely on their off-world colonies to supply the survivors with food until the climate reverts to normal.
Starbuck comes looking for Apollo. He lands in the desert near Apollo's viper, but the local Men In Black have caught his approach on radar. Their commanding officer is John DeLancie ( Star Trek: TNG ), whose face may be covered but his voice is unmistakeable.
Apollo tries to talk sense into the Western politicians. Meanwhile, Starbuck tries to shoot down the nukes. He cannot do it with a single viper. However, the Galactica has a rarely-used FTL capability as well as its normal sublight cruising speed. Even better, the Western Nationalists may have a forcefield door but the Galactica can somehow project forcefield shields that can protect an entire planetary continent. A pity they never used these against Cylon raiders!
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 23]
Take the Celestra
shown 1 Apr 79
Adama holds a ceremony to give a medal to his old mentor, Kronos. Starbuck (Dirk Benedict - Official Denial ) recognises an old flame - Aurora ( Ana Alicia ), who he had assumed killed in the Cylon invasion. Naturally, this disrupts his relationship with Cassie ( Laurette Spang ). Athena ( Maren Jansen ) has not been seen in a few episodes, and is never referred to here either.
Unfortunately Aurora is involved in a Space Mutiny against Kronos. It turns out that Kronos has been running his ship like a military dictatorship. Starbuck assures everyone that the rest of the fleet is more lenient. But since there is no real civilian authority in the fleet (Adama got around the Council of Twelve whenever he needed to) then the civilian workers have no hope.
Battlestar Galactica [Season 1, Episode 24]
The Hand of God
shown 29 Apr 79
Apollo (Richard Hatch - Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983) ) has discovered an observation bubble on the Galactica's hull, at the highest point on the ship. It is situated above the main thrusters, and the entry tunnel needs special hearing protection. He takes Starbuck, Sheba ( Anne Lockhart ) and Cassie ( Laurette Spang ) there, and likens sitting in it to sitting in The Hand of God (though the Colonials do not seem to have a god)!
They pick up a strange old-fashioned radio signal, which seems to be from Earth. Boomer, now a tech genius, discovers that the signal comes from the direction of a nearby star system. Starbuck investigates, and discovers a Cylon basestar!
Apollo comes up with a typically insane plan. If he and Starbuck infiltrate the enemy ship, they can sabotage it so that Adama can get the Galactica into range. Boomer and Sheba will lead the entire Viper wing.
Baltar (John Colicos - Star Trek: TOS ) gets dragged out of his cell again, and offered a deal by Adama. In exchange for the internal layout of the Cylon basestar, Adama will maroon Baltar on the nearest M-Class world. Yes, a slow death by starvation when his rations run out and his only hope of rescue will be the Cylons or whatever other villains are hunting the Galactica. Strangely, Baltar accepts. But can he be trusted?
We get to learn a bit about the ships' technical specs. Galactica was launched five hundred yarns ago, and the observation bubble was used for the navigators to confirm their location by taking stellar measurements. This seems oddly steampunk, from an age that far pre-dates Apollo's era of voice-activated computers. When Colonel Tigh reveals that the Cylon basestar contains three hundred fighters, and this will outnumber the Vipers by two to one, we can thus deduce the Galactica has a hundred and fifty fighters. Strange that we never see more than a dozen pilots. Athena ( Maren Jansen ) is listed in the opening credits, but was last seen as Boxy's schoolteacher and does not appear in this episode.
