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Lizbeth Rewatches Battlestar Galactica — 1978: Saga of a Star World
As some of you may (or may not) know, I decided to cut back on the Netflixing and rewatch the DVDs I actually own (as well as rewatch other people's DVDs).
At any rate, I had just finished rewatching Battlestar Galactica the new series up until 'Lay Down Your Burdens' (as a sidenote, if you re-watch the first two seasons back-to-back without a break, Season 3, especially 'Crossroads,' makes a whole fuckload of sense...but I'm getting away from the subject...)
Once I finished up the new Battlestar Galactica, I cast my eye around to find out which new series I was going to watch. Lo and behold, my eye fell upon the next series I owned. It just so happened to look like this:
Oh, Lordy me. What's a girl to do?
Could I dive back into the the 1970s, cold war paranoia, Mormon recruitment tool that was, in fact, the original Battlestar Galactica with its reach-for-the-Emmy moments, lines that go *thunk* in the night, men with pretty-pretty hair, questionable physics, and plots that make no sense whatsoever?
Rest assured, good people, I resisted. I resisted hard. But, no! I had made up my mind. I would grit my teeth and march boldly backwards into my childhood when Battlestar Galactica was the one fandom that ruled my heart.
And so, I started right at the beginning, with 'Saga of a Star World.' I should note that the title for the original 2-hour and 15-minute mini-series that kicked off the regular ABC extravaganza (which was broadcast over 3 nights) was not at all evocative of Star Wars. Really.
What can I say about 'Saga of a Star World?'
So, it's time to keep score, peoples. In 'Saga of a Star World' we see:
"The military rools and the civilian government drools."
Read it, memorize it, love it, and live it, because you're going to get this lesson pounded into your head for the rest of the series.
I give 'Saga' a big Three Minutes of 1978 Baltar chewing the scenery while 2003 Baltar complains about how the other Baltar keeps blocking his close-up.
At any rate, I had just finished rewatching Battlestar Galactica the new series up until 'Lay Down Your Burdens' (as a sidenote, if you re-watch the first two seasons back-to-back without a break, Season 3, especially 'Crossroads,' makes a whole fuckload of sense...but I'm getting away from the subject...)
Once I finished up the new Battlestar Galactica, I cast my eye around to find out which new series I was going to watch. Lo and behold, my eye fell upon the next series I owned. It just so happened to look like this:
Oh, Lordy me. What's a girl to do?
Could I dive back into the the 1970s, cold war paranoia, Mormon recruitment tool that was, in fact, the original Battlestar Galactica with its reach-for-the-Emmy moments, lines that go *thunk* in the night, men with pretty-pretty hair, questionable physics, and plots that make no sense whatsoever?
Rest assured, good people, I resisted. I resisted hard. But, no! I had made up my mind. I would grit my teeth and march boldly backwards into my childhood when Battlestar Galactica was the one fandom that ruled my heart.
And so, I started right at the beginning, with 'Saga of a Star World.' I should note that the title for the original 2-hour and 15-minute mini-series that kicked off the regular ABC extravaganza (which was broadcast over 3 nights) was not at all evocative of Star Wars. Really.
What can I say about 'Saga of a Star World?'
Well, good people, it's a hell of a lot better than a remembered. It wasn't good, Lords of Kobol know, but definitely not quite as deeply cheesy as I thought it would be. Even so, to quote the great Bruce Campbell on the subject, I remembered why people of a certain age had their brains short-circuit when the words "Battlestar Galactica" and "Peabody Award" were mentioned not just in the same breath, but with the word "won" located right in the middle of those phrases.
As for the casting, ummmm. Not to get all wanky about race, but let me put it this way: According to the original series, the Twelve Colonies were lily white, with a smattering of black faces. No Latinos. No Asians. No one from the Indian subcontinent. No one looking like they hailed from the Mediterranean, even.
The fact that I even noticed this says something about the casting of the new series. I should note that Ron Moore is quick to point out that most of his cast — with several notable exceptions — is drawn from the local Canadian talent pool. I'm not sure how it affected the casting of the new series, but I suspect that it might have played something of a role.
As for the plot of 'Saga of a Star World?' Well, I want you to combine the following from the 2003 Battlestar Galactica:
To give you an idea of how telescoped the timeline is in the 1978 Battlestar, Commander Adama leaves the the Colonial Fleet, flees his ass to Caprica, witnesses the massive attack, and is down on Caprica announcing the big ol' evacuation within the first 40 minutes. (Bwhuh?) The Fleet getting together under the aegis of the ol' Galactica is done with a handwave. The Council is also somehow elected off-screen and already sworn in within that same handwave.
Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to think about this. The 1978 Battlesar managed to sum up the entire mini-series and the first half of Season One of the 2003 Battlestar in 40 minutes by not mentioning it at all. Awesome!
There are some striking parallels between the old and the new series, too. For a start, it's interesting to note that both Battlestars started life as mini-series (Trufax!). The difference is that in the case of the 1978 Battlestar, ABC ordered it into a series right away, which meant the everyone involved in production scrambled like hell to fill the order. Budgets were blown, scripts were constantly behind deadline, production was pure chaos for the entire season, and actors they wanted to keep either ended up jumping ship because they did not sign on for a series (Jane Seymour) or couldn't rejoin the cast right away because they weren't under contract (Lorette Spang).
At least SciFi let Moore & Co. get their shit together before going into a series. The wait paid off in a big way for the new series.
Another striking resemblance can be found in the scenes the 1978 Battlestar cut: the infamous "cancer storyline" for Serena (Jane Seymour).
What? You didn't think the 1978 Battlestar dealt with such a sensitive subject?
Au contraire!
In fact, the 1978 series did, it's just that it never made it to screen because of the ABC order to go to a full series. As a result, Larson's production team felt compelled to slice it out because, well, let's be honest. No one thought a 1978 audience was gonna accept this storyline. End result? The editors went to town so much, that you can't even tell it was there. However, the storyline lives on, thanks to the magic of DVD. All those scenes have been restored and are now in the "cut scenes" portion of the collection.
To sum up: Serena, a reporter who was broadcasting from Caprica City at the time of the attack, got radiation poisoning. She's informed that she's got cancer and has months to live. From there on out, Serina does everything in her power to get Apollo (Richard Hatch) to emotionally connect with her son so he'll adopt him. In fact, at the very end of what would've been the mini-series, she abandons her son, flees the Galactica for the anonymity of the Fleet, leaving this 6-year-old kid in the care of this guy she just met.
Holy shit, Batman! That's fucking dark.
Weep, people. Weep for what could have been.
On the character front, there were other surprising parallels, as well.
It appears that no matter what the incarnation, Zac is a sucky pilot and Starbuck is ultimately the reason why he's dead. In 2003, it's because flight instructor Kara gave Zac a pass when he should've failed because she let her emotions rule her head. In 1978, it was because Zac (a very, very young Rick Springfield) pouted until Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) let him take his place on what was supposed to be a routine patrol. It helped that Starbuck didn't want to go out anyway and wanted play cards instead. Wheeeeee!
There's another character parallel, too, but it's one that I had been aware of for awhile. Let's just say that whenever fans of the 2003 Battlestar complain that this guy...
...can be a self-righteous, holier-than-thou prick who's way too much into his manpain, it is blindingly obvious to me that they never met this guy...
I mean, c'mon. The running joke in the 1978 fandom was that Apollo had a deathwish, and he was gonna take Starbuck out with him (probably as revenge over Zac) when he finally self-destructed in that spectacular way we all knew was coming.
And that joke wasn't a fanwank, either. The 1978 Battlestar actually came out and said it. On Screen. The writers wanted to make sure everyone knew, just in case someone in the audience failed to get brained by the rain of anvils.
I mean, dude, in the space of four episodes, this guy saw his entire world get shot to hell, left his dead duck of brother behind so he could run ahead and warn the Galactica of the sneak attack, watched his wife get killed, and ended up the permanent guardian of a 6-year-old kid and his annoying mechanical daggit (read: dog).
Sheeet man, I'd be looking for an handy Alamo to make my heroic last stand myself, if only to get away from the damn daggit.
What truly surprised me, though, is just how close the parallels between the two Apollos actually are. Granted, the 1978 Apollo actually respects and loves his father, whereas the 2003 Apollo's relationship with his father is problematic at best. However, both Apollos have a nasty tendency to get up in their fathers' grills if they think the Old Man is being an ass. I counted several fights between Apollo and Adama in 'Saga of a Star World.' Apollo even went so far as to berate the Old Man for playing politics while lives were on the line.
My jaw. She droppeth on the floor. Holy shit! How the hell did I forget that?
One thing, though, that 1978 Apollo has over 2003 Apollo in spades (at least in 'Saga') is that he is a snarky son-of-a-bitch. Hatch plays those digs with such straight-faced glee that I was completely floored. Could I have been that blinded by the character of Starbuck ('cause Lord knows it wasn't Bennedict's straight-from-the-school-of-Shatner acting), that I totally missed this? Holy cow! Apollo the character got off some terrific shots at various people, and Hatch played it so deliciously well that I finally could see why Moore and company cast him as Zarek.
Hell, I could even see why Hatch got increasingly frustrated as the writers and the series increasingly focused on Starbuck while Apollo turned into the pull-string doll of moral up-tightness (a fact that Hatch has readily admitted in numerous forums). What I once (as a fan) put off as an actor whining, suddenly looks like a legitimate complaint.
[Side note: I adore Hatch's portrayal of Tom Zarek. The fact that I like not just the character, but Hatch's work in that role, took me by surprise. Granted, the writing for that character helps tremendously, but Hatch's acting is solid. Stupid me. I had forgotten that the 1978 Battlestar writers had pretty much abandoned development of Apollo beyond a few limited parameters. Hatch had a hard time with the role in large part because he had nothing to work with. Meanwhile, Benedict gets the praise and his Starbuck gets iconic status because the writing staff was, in essence, writing for him and the character. After seeing 'Saga,' I declare my mysterious love for Zarek officially solved.]
In other parallels, one of my favorite mental games to play while watching 'Saga of a Star World' was to play "spot where this character ended up." It's no secret that this guy...
And can I just say that it is a very wise move? Seeing the 1978 Adama be all he can be as President of the Council of Twelve, military commander of the fleet, the person who comes up with the plan to head away from the Colonies and have humanity make a stand somewhere else, and the religious lunatic who really, really believes that earth exists based on scripture hurts my brain.
However, it's pretty fraking obvious that the brain-hurty part of it is deliberate. You get the very real sense that military power is the political power. Every member of the Council commands their own battlestar, which means (I would assume) they're all military commanders (although Adama is the only one who's wearing a uniform). Not only that, the President of the Council of the Twelve — who's name is Adar — (which would assume that he's a civilian leader), is actually the military commander of the fleet (as opposed to the commander-in-chief).
Yet, the members of the Council of the Twelve are supposedly elected by their various colonies. Either the colonies were limiting the pool of candidates to only those who were active military above a certain rank, or those elections where nowhere near as free as the 1978 series would like us to believe.
This theory, by the way, gets shot to hell in later episodes of the 1978 Battlestar, which I'll get into when I re-watch those episodes.
In either case, at least 2003 Battlestar has laid out the responsibilities of the military vs. the civilian government in a surprisingly clear manner, right on down to how Bill Adama and Laura Roslin have negotiated their spheres of responsibility.
Other character parallels come into play, too. For example:
For example: When Apollo and Adama land on post-attack Caprica at night, they're confronted by an angry and hysterical mob who a running down a hill to get to them. In fact, several people physically and verbally attack Apollo, demanding to know what the hell happened. It's more the staging than anything else, complete with the surprise recognition between two characters, although in this case, it's Adama recognizing Serena instead of Helo recognizing Baltar.
Another striking example: The set up of Adama announcing in front of a gathering of survivors and military that the Fleet is going to run off and find the Thirteenth Tribe on earth. The staging is somewhat the same, the way Adama announces it is somewhat the same, right on down to "I know where it is," although in the 1978 version Adama admits that he doesn't know precisely where it is, just that he's got a general direction they can head off into.
The third striking example: Settlement on what appears to be a suitable planet, only to find out that such a decision was a huge mistake. In the 2003 version, that played out through the end of Season 2 and the beginning of Season 3.
In the 1978 version, it's telescoped to a great degree, but a lot of the same elements are there. Fleet finds a planet (okay, it's a resort planet run by insects, but you get the idea) where they can settle down. The Council thinks it's a dandy idea and decide to make the "shore leave" permanent. The President (in this case, Adama) strongly objects because he just knows that the Cylons are gonna find them and squish them like bugs if the Fleet is found.
The Council, naturally, says pshaw to all this and overrules him. End result, almost everyone who asks for one gets a pass to "visit" the planet. The essential personnel, mostly military and the skeleton crews needed to keep the ships running, are left behind and morale on the ships sinks fast.
The stories do diverge a little bit, because the Council decides to campaign for permanent settlement. They do that by throwing a big ol' fest so they can put the permanent settlement proposal in front of the people, cause a big ol' popular uprising in support of it, and then take the final vote. Naturally, in the middle of making their case to the people, the Cylons attack, so the Fleet never got to make the permanent settlement.
But there was a mass evacuation of the population off the planet, complete with people being under fire, and a bunch of military assets that had been sneakily placed there by Adama. That's something at least.
Really, it kind of made me go, "Whoa!"
There was also another dark bit (and one that has not made it into the 2003 series — yet). There's a scene where 1978 Adama is describing to Athena (Maren Jensen) his time on Caprica where he had to pick and choose who'd get to board ships that would ultimately join the Fleet. Naturally, he picked only those people he thought could 1) survive and; 2) make a contribution to survival. He then goes on to say that while he was handing out tickets, one woman with a child in her arms grabbed his arm and begged him to take her and her child. Then he watched while soldiers shoved her away and forced her to go back into the crowd. He concludes this charming little tale by stating that he has no idea if that woman got on a ship, or got left behind.
Yikes! How the hell did I forget that scene? What makes it truly memorable is the Lorne Greene sells that puppy for all it's worth, not by overplaying the scene, but by underplaying it.
That said, there's plenty of WtFery to go around, not to mention that some bleedover from the 2003 Battlestar did happen in my brain.
One clear case of bleedover from 2003 was a one-line joke from Adama. After it comes to light that they've been hiding military assets (read: colonial warriors) in reserve despite orders from the Council (again, the Council has military authority?), the following exchange happens:
Adama: Tigh, it appears we're going to have to discuss the importance of military discipline on this ship.
Tigh: Yes, sir.
Me: Military discipline on the Galactica? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA......oh, wait. Wrong Galactica. Nevermind!
There are also mysteries galore! I'm still mystified how Serena and Adama are on friendly terms, despite the fact that Apollo has no idea who the hell she is. Want to know how friendly they are? They great each other personally when they see each other on post-bombing Caprica.
I'm also mystified how Serena has managed to so quickly wrap Apollo around her finger so fast. Seriously. It made Dualla/Lee look like it moved at a snail's pace by comparison.
How wrapped around her finger was Apollo?
Lemme put it this way: The military are down on the resort planet (which they don't know is a resort planet because it looks like a barren piece of rock) looking for the abandoned tylinium mine so they can mine ore for the ships (an idea that Moore says that he shamelessly stole for his version because he liked the idea of the Fleet contending with a finite fuel source instead of Star Trek's endless supply of matter-antimatter). It's a military operation. The chatter is all military, too.
So why the hell is Serena, Boxy, and the stupid daggit hanging out with Apollo in a military transport while they're looking for the supposedly abandoned mine? No, seriously. What the hell? Serena does not have a military background (obvious close personal friendship with Adama aside), the kid sure as hell isn't military, and the daggit...
I mean, hunh?
I can only conclude that Serena is a Humolon. It's the only thing that makes sense. In fact, every time Serena appeared on screen, I kept yelling, "Look out! Humolon! Run, Apollo! Run like the wind!"
However, right in the middle of me what-the-fucking, there's actually a very nice scene where Apollo explains to Boxey the whole deal with the Cylons:
Which leads me to a completely new WtFery. You've been at war with these dudes for 1,000 years, right? The other side decides they want to change tactics, hold hands, and sing 'Kumbaya.' And your people...go for it. Except Adama. Because he's the only one in all of the Twelve Colonies who doesn't trust those metal bastards.
Okay, in an odd way, there's a parallel to Bill Adama. Bill wouldn't allow any computers to be networked on his ship for as long as he was in command, unlike all those other stupid commanding officers who went ahead and signed up for the upgrade, despite the fact the Colonies just 40 years before got their asses kicked by AI robots who were awfully good at downloading viruses into the Colonies collective PCs and Apples. Then again, the Galactica was getting decommissioned anyway, which was probably why Bill's bosses let him get away with it.
Let's now get to entire families serving on one battlestar. Adama, daughter Athena, and sons Apollo and Zac. (Bwhuh?) No hint that they were "visiting" (as in the case of 2003 Apollo), which is why they were all aboard the same ship. No hint that being the superior officer of your sibs or your offspring was considered a damned bad idea. No raised eyebrows. No issues. No nothing. It's just perfectly okay. Right.
Then there's the fact that somehow, don't ask me how, the writers confused the ocean with space. No, seriously. Planets are just these islands in space, y'know? And all those islands — I mean planets — have native lifeforms. The lifeforms in question aren't necessarily human. In fact, they can be giant bugs, as we clearly see in 'Saga'. To get from planet to planet you have to...I dunno, navigate hazards in the waterway. There are corridors that don't seem to allow anyone to travel a straight line to anywhere because of...prevailing winds? Currents? That part's not entirely clear. The only way to travel in a straight line is to blow shit up.
Okay, then!
I would also beg all of you to imagine this:
You come across a planet that seems to have an active tylinium mine. The nice bug people who seem to own it are more than happy to give you all the ore you want for free. However, when they ship the ore up to you for processing, it's in miniscule amounts. Remember! Active mine! That ore's going somewhere and being used for something, right? You find out that the company that did the original survey of the planet and declared it a waste of time was owned by Baltar, the rat-bastard who sold you out. While this is never shown on screen, I suspect that when you ask for the bug people's client list, they decline to share it with you. Client confidentiality, they say. After all, you don't want someone to find out that you're parked on their doorstep sucking up free ore, do you?
Golly-gee-willickers Adama, do you think it's a trap? And do you have to say: "It looks like a trap, it smells like a trap, it walks like trap..." We get it! It's a frakking trap! So how come you're the only one who knows it's a trap?
And does Tigh really need to go, "Really? You think it's a trap? What if you're wrong? Uri will hang you by your balls if you're wrong, you crazy motherfrakker. I mean, are you totally sure it's a trap? Because I'm so much less sure that it's a trap. Do you have more evidence or something? I mean, I'll follow orders and all since this is the Galactica where everyone knows the definition of 'military discipline,' opposed to the other Galactica where just saying it causes people's heads to spin while vomiting pea soup like they all want a role in the remake of The Exorcist, so are you rilly, rilly sure? Because, dude, I like my job and I'm not all that thrilled with the idea that I could end this in the brig."
Okay, Tigh doesn't say that exactly. It's just a general approximation of what he said.
And by the way, does it really matter that there's no apparent connection between the resort-o-ramma on the surface and the mining operations? Who cares? The fact that there's a version of Las Vegas where the customer always wins and the house always loses sitting on top of this mysterious mine is utterly immaterial to the equation. Stop worrying about it and haul ass out of there!
The really big WtFery for me was, well, how they measure distance. In microns. Bwhuh? So, like, when you say the Cylons are 10 microns away, they're not standing on your toes and poking your eyes out like they're Moe and you're Shemp? Oh. They're more like a light year away. Okay!
Time elements are screwy, too. Years are used interchangeably with yahren. Centons are some vague unit of time that's not entirely clear (in 'Saga' I think it means 'months,' although later in the series it seems to mean 'minutes'). And microns (again, in 'Saga' I think it means minutes, and later in the series it seems to mean 'seconds').
But the big WtF moment comes in the penultimate "victory" for our rag-tag Fleet. See, apparently, the entire planet of the bug people was made of tylinium. In fact, it's so packed with tylinium, that a few laser shots from Starbuck and Apollo can set the whole planet on fire! Not just on fire, but it cause it to explode and take out a Cylon basestar with it!
Wow. *shakes head* Kara never blew up a whole planet. And people say she's got no sense of discipline.
And before I forget, there's also:
Our gal Cassiopea plays her part like she's a living Barbie doll, until the time comes to start calling ol' Starbuck on his womanizing bullshit. She doesn't seem to really care about the womanizing, per se, she just hates being made to look like a fool. *sigh* The path of true love is never easy. But can our favorite socialator (read: prostitute) conquer all? Hey! She conned her way onto a permanent spot on the Galactica by just batting her eyes and Barbie-dolling her way on board (it helps that those nasty religious fanatics from Gemon were so mean to her). She's on the right path, but can she march up the hillside?
Tune in for the next installment of Liz Rewatches Battlestar Galactica — 1978 to find out.
Yes, indeed. For some people, it was all about Apollo. For some people, it was all about Starbuck.
Count on me to dig the prostitute chick who got split between Caprica Six and Anders.
As for the casting, ummmm. Not to get all wanky about race, but let me put it this way: According to the original series, the Twelve Colonies were lily white, with a smattering of black faces. No Latinos. No Asians. No one from the Indian subcontinent. No one looking like they hailed from the Mediterranean, even.
The fact that I even noticed this says something about the casting of the new series. I should note that Ron Moore is quick to point out that most of his cast — with several notable exceptions — is drawn from the local Canadian talent pool. I'm not sure how it affected the casting of the new series, but I suspect that it might have played something of a role.
As for the plot of 'Saga of a Star World?' Well, I want you to combine the following from the 2003 Battlestar Galactica:
- The Mini-Series (all of it)
- The last 10 minutes of Black Market (from S2)
- The last 10 minutes of 'Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2' (from S2)
- A touch of 'Exodus, Part 2' (from S3)
To give you an idea of how telescoped the timeline is in the 1978 Battlestar, Commander Adama leaves the the Colonial Fleet, flees his ass to Caprica, witnesses the massive attack, and is down on Caprica announcing the big ol' evacuation within the first 40 minutes. (Bwhuh?) The Fleet getting together under the aegis of the ol' Galactica is done with a handwave. The Council is also somehow elected off-screen and already sworn in within that same handwave.
Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to think about this. The 1978 Battlesar managed to sum up the entire mini-series and the first half of Season One of the 2003 Battlestar in 40 minutes by not mentioning it at all. Awesome!
There are some striking parallels between the old and the new series, too. For a start, it's interesting to note that both Battlestars started life as mini-series (Trufax!). The difference is that in the case of the 1978 Battlestar, ABC ordered it into a series right away, which meant the everyone involved in production scrambled like hell to fill the order. Budgets were blown, scripts were constantly behind deadline, production was pure chaos for the entire season, and actors they wanted to keep either ended up jumping ship because they did not sign on for a series (Jane Seymour) or couldn't rejoin the cast right away because they weren't under contract (Lorette Spang).
At least SciFi let Moore & Co. get their shit together before going into a series. The wait paid off in a big way for the new series.
Another striking resemblance can be found in the scenes the 1978 Battlestar cut: the infamous "cancer storyline" for Serena (Jane Seymour).
What? You didn't think the 1978 Battlestar dealt with such a sensitive subject?
Au contraire!
In fact, the 1978 series did, it's just that it never made it to screen because of the ABC order to go to a full series. As a result, Larson's production team felt compelled to slice it out because, well, let's be honest. No one thought a 1978 audience was gonna accept this storyline. End result? The editors went to town so much, that you can't even tell it was there. However, the storyline lives on, thanks to the magic of DVD. All those scenes have been restored and are now in the "cut scenes" portion of the collection.
To sum up: Serena, a reporter who was broadcasting from Caprica City at the time of the attack, got radiation poisoning. She's informed that she's got cancer and has months to live. From there on out, Serina does everything in her power to get Apollo (Richard Hatch) to emotionally connect with her son so he'll adopt him. In fact, at the very end of what would've been the mini-series, she abandons her son, flees the Galactica for the anonymity of the Fleet, leaving this 6-year-old kid in the care of this guy she just met.
Holy shit, Batman! That's fucking dark.
Weep, people. Weep for what could have been.
On the character front, there were other surprising parallels, as well.
It appears that no matter what the incarnation, Zac is a sucky pilot and Starbuck is ultimately the reason why he's dead. In 2003, it's because flight instructor Kara gave Zac a pass when he should've failed because she let her emotions rule her head. In 1978, it was because Zac (a very, very young Rick Springfield) pouted until Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) let him take his place on what was supposed to be a routine patrol. It helped that Starbuck didn't want to go out anyway and wanted play cards instead. Wheeeeee!
There's another character parallel, too, but it's one that I had been aware of for awhile. Let's just say that whenever fans of the 2003 Battlestar complain that this guy...
...can be a self-righteous, holier-than-thou prick who's way too much into his manpain, it is blindingly obvious to me that they never met this guy...
I mean, c'mon. The running joke in the 1978 fandom was that Apollo had a deathwish, and he was gonna take Starbuck out with him (probably as revenge over Zac) when he finally self-destructed in that spectacular way we all knew was coming.
And that joke wasn't a fanwank, either. The 1978 Battlestar actually came out and said it. On Screen. The writers wanted to make sure everyone knew, just in case someone in the audience failed to get brained by the rain of anvils.
I mean, dude, in the space of four episodes, this guy saw his entire world get shot to hell, left his dead duck of brother behind so he could run ahead and warn the Galactica of the sneak attack, watched his wife get killed, and ended up the permanent guardian of a 6-year-old kid and his annoying mechanical daggit (read: dog).
Sheeet man, I'd be looking for an handy Alamo to make my heroic last stand myself, if only to get away from the damn daggit.
What truly surprised me, though, is just how close the parallels between the two Apollos actually are. Granted, the 1978 Apollo actually respects and loves his father, whereas the 2003 Apollo's relationship with his father is problematic at best. However, both Apollos have a nasty tendency to get up in their fathers' grills if they think the Old Man is being an ass. I counted several fights between Apollo and Adama in 'Saga of a Star World.' Apollo even went so far as to berate the Old Man for playing politics while lives were on the line.
My jaw. She droppeth on the floor. Holy shit! How the hell did I forget that?
One thing, though, that 1978 Apollo has over 2003 Apollo in spades (at least in 'Saga') is that he is a snarky son-of-a-bitch. Hatch plays those digs with such straight-faced glee that I was completely floored. Could I have been that blinded by the character of Starbuck ('cause Lord knows it wasn't Bennedict's straight-from-the-school-of-Shatner acting), that I totally missed this? Holy cow! Apollo the character got off some terrific shots at various people, and Hatch played it so deliciously well that I finally could see why Moore and company cast him as Zarek.
Hell, I could even see why Hatch got increasingly frustrated as the writers and the series increasingly focused on Starbuck while Apollo turned into the pull-string doll of moral up-tightness (a fact that Hatch has readily admitted in numerous forums). What I once (as a fan) put off as an actor whining, suddenly looks like a legitimate complaint.
[Side note: I adore Hatch's portrayal of Tom Zarek. The fact that I like not just the character, but Hatch's work in that role, took me by surprise. Granted, the writing for that character helps tremendously, but Hatch's acting is solid. Stupid me. I had forgotten that the 1978 Battlestar writers had pretty much abandoned development of Apollo beyond a few limited parameters. Hatch had a hard time with the role in large part because he had nothing to work with. Meanwhile, Benedict gets the praise and his Starbuck gets iconic status because the writing staff was, in essence, writing for him and the character. After seeing 'Saga,' I declare my mysterious love for Zarek officially solved.]
In other parallels, one of my favorite mental games to play while watching 'Saga of a Star World' was to play "spot where this character ended up." It's no secret that this guy...
...got split into these two...
And can I just say that it is a very wise move? Seeing the 1978 Adama be all he can be as President of the Council of Twelve, military commander of the fleet, the person who comes up with the plan to head away from the Colonies and have humanity make a stand somewhere else, and the religious lunatic who really, really believes that earth exists based on scripture hurts my brain.
However, it's pretty fraking obvious that the brain-hurty part of it is deliberate. You get the very real sense that military power is the political power. Every member of the Council commands their own battlestar, which means (I would assume) they're all military commanders (although Adama is the only one who's wearing a uniform). Not only that, the President of the Council of the Twelve — who's name is Adar — (which would assume that he's a civilian leader), is actually the military commander of the fleet (as opposed to the commander-in-chief).
Yet, the members of the Council of the Twelve are supposedly elected by their various colonies. Either the colonies were limiting the pool of candidates to only those who were active military above a certain rank, or those elections where nowhere near as free as the 1978 series would like us to believe.
This theory, by the way, gets shot to hell in later episodes of the 1978 Battlestar, which I'll get into when I re-watch those episodes.
In either case, at least 2003 Battlestar has laid out the responsibilities of the military vs. the civilian government in a surprisingly clear manner, right on down to how Bill Adama and Laura Roslin have negotiated their spheres of responsibility.
Other character parallels come into play, too. For example:
- Omega (1978) = Gaeta (2003) — It's scary how much Gaeta resembles fannon Omega
- Rigel (1978) / Athena (1978) = Dualla (2003) — It's scary how much Dualla resembles the fannon version of both of these women
- Cassiopea (1978) = Caprica Six (2003)/Anders (2003) — A character who started as a sex object who mutated into something else, crossed with...well, let's just say I knew there was a reason why I loved Sam
- Apollo (1978) = Lee (2003)/Helo (2003) — Lee gets the manpain deathwish part and Helo gets the morally upright occasionally annoying self-righteous part
- Serena (1978) = D'Anna (2003) — Only without Serena being a Humolon...I think
- Sire Uri (1978) = Tom Zarek (2003) — started out as an idealist, is now a scoundrel, and involved in the black market
For example: When Apollo and Adama land on post-attack Caprica at night, they're confronted by an angry and hysterical mob who a running down a hill to get to them. In fact, several people physically and verbally attack Apollo, demanding to know what the hell happened. It's more the staging than anything else, complete with the surprise recognition between two characters, although in this case, it's Adama recognizing Serena instead of Helo recognizing Baltar.
Another striking example: The set up of Adama announcing in front of a gathering of survivors and military that the Fleet is going to run off and find the Thirteenth Tribe on earth. The staging is somewhat the same, the way Adama announces it is somewhat the same, right on down to "I know where it is," although in the 1978 version Adama admits that he doesn't know precisely where it is, just that he's got a general direction they can head off into.
The third striking example: Settlement on what appears to be a suitable planet, only to find out that such a decision was a huge mistake. In the 2003 version, that played out through the end of Season 2 and the beginning of Season 3.
In the 1978 version, it's telescoped to a great degree, but a lot of the same elements are there. Fleet finds a planet (okay, it's a resort planet run by insects, but you get the idea) where they can settle down. The Council thinks it's a dandy idea and decide to make the "shore leave" permanent. The President (in this case, Adama) strongly objects because he just knows that the Cylons are gonna find them and squish them like bugs if the Fleet is found.
The Council, naturally, says pshaw to all this and overrules him. End result, almost everyone who asks for one gets a pass to "visit" the planet. The essential personnel, mostly military and the skeleton crews needed to keep the ships running, are left behind and morale on the ships sinks fast.
The stories do diverge a little bit, because the Council decides to campaign for permanent settlement. They do that by throwing a big ol' fest so they can put the permanent settlement proposal in front of the people, cause a big ol' popular uprising in support of it, and then take the final vote. Naturally, in the middle of making their case to the people, the Cylons attack, so the Fleet never got to make the permanent settlement.
But there was a mass evacuation of the population off the planet, complete with people being under fire, and a bunch of military assets that had been sneakily placed there by Adama. That's something at least.
Really, it kind of made me go, "Whoa!"
There was also another dark bit (and one that has not made it into the 2003 series — yet). There's a scene where 1978 Adama is describing to Athena (Maren Jensen) his time on Caprica where he had to pick and choose who'd get to board ships that would ultimately join the Fleet. Naturally, he picked only those people he thought could 1) survive and; 2) make a contribution to survival. He then goes on to say that while he was handing out tickets, one woman with a child in her arms grabbed his arm and begged him to take her and her child. Then he watched while soldiers shoved her away and forced her to go back into the crowd. He concludes this charming little tale by stating that he has no idea if that woman got on a ship, or got left behind.
Yikes! How the hell did I forget that scene? What makes it truly memorable is the Lorne Greene sells that puppy for all it's worth, not by overplaying the scene, but by underplaying it.
That said, there's plenty of WtFery to go around, not to mention that some bleedover from the 2003 Battlestar did happen in my brain.
One clear case of bleedover from 2003 was a one-line joke from Adama. After it comes to light that they've been hiding military assets (read: colonial warriors) in reserve despite orders from the Council (again, the Council has military authority?), the following exchange happens:
Adama: Tigh, it appears we're going to have to discuss the importance of military discipline on this ship.
Tigh: Yes, sir.
Me: Military discipline on the Galactica? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA......oh, wait. Wrong Galactica. Nevermind!
There are also mysteries galore! I'm still mystified how Serena and Adama are on friendly terms, despite the fact that Apollo has no idea who the hell she is. Want to know how friendly they are? They great each other personally when they see each other on post-bombing Caprica.
I'm also mystified how Serena has managed to so quickly wrap Apollo around her finger so fast. Seriously. It made Dualla/Lee look like it moved at a snail's pace by comparison.
How wrapped around her finger was Apollo?
Lemme put it this way: The military are down on the resort planet (which they don't know is a resort planet because it looks like a barren piece of rock) looking for the abandoned tylinium mine so they can mine ore for the ships (an idea that Moore says that he shamelessly stole for his version because he liked the idea of the Fleet contending with a finite fuel source instead of Star Trek's endless supply of matter-antimatter). It's a military operation. The chatter is all military, too.
So why the hell is Serena, Boxy, and the stupid daggit hanging out with Apollo in a military transport while they're looking for the supposedly abandoned mine? No, seriously. What the hell? Serena does not have a military background (obvious close personal friendship with Adama aside), the kid sure as hell isn't military, and the daggit...
I mean, hunh?
I can only conclude that Serena is a Humolon. It's the only thing that makes sense. In fact, every time Serena appeared on screen, I kept yelling, "Look out! Humolon! Run, Apollo! Run like the wind!"
However, right in the middle of me what-the-fucking, there's actually a very nice scene where Apollo explains to Boxey the whole deal with the Cylons:
- They were created by a lizard race
- Lizard race died out 4,000 years ago leaving behind their super-race of machines
- Super-race of machines are on some mysterious mission to do — well that part's not entirely clear, so really no changes between 1978 and 2003 on that front
- Humans and mechanical Cylons clash (we find out that it's because the Colonies intervened when the Cylons tried to subjugate a nearby alien race from Adama)
- Cylons have some clear advantages they're faster (they are?), smarter (you sure about that?), and they're immortal because they can exchange parts (Say it with me: Whoa! This looks familiar.)
- Humans decide that creating AI is a bad idea and never develop the tech for it
- Humans and Cylons war non-stop for 1,000 years
Which leads me to a completely new WtFery. You've been at war with these dudes for 1,000 years, right? The other side decides they want to change tactics, hold hands, and sing 'Kumbaya.' And your people...go for it. Except Adama. Because he's the only one in all of the Twelve Colonies who doesn't trust those metal bastards.
Okay, in an odd way, there's a parallel to Bill Adama. Bill wouldn't allow any computers to be networked on his ship for as long as he was in command, unlike all those other stupid commanding officers who went ahead and signed up for the upgrade, despite the fact the Colonies just 40 years before got their asses kicked by AI robots who were awfully good at downloading viruses into the Colonies collective PCs and Apples. Then again, the Galactica was getting decommissioned anyway, which was probably why Bill's bosses let him get away with it.
Let's now get to entire families serving on one battlestar. Adama, daughter Athena, and sons Apollo and Zac. (Bwhuh?) No hint that they were "visiting" (as in the case of 2003 Apollo), which is why they were all aboard the same ship. No hint that being the superior officer of your sibs or your offspring was considered a damned bad idea. No raised eyebrows. No issues. No nothing. It's just perfectly okay. Right.
Then there's the fact that somehow, don't ask me how, the writers confused the ocean with space. No, seriously. Planets are just these islands in space, y'know? And all those islands — I mean planets — have native lifeforms. The lifeforms in question aren't necessarily human. In fact, they can be giant bugs, as we clearly see in 'Saga'. To get from planet to planet you have to...I dunno, navigate hazards in the waterway. There are corridors that don't seem to allow anyone to travel a straight line to anywhere because of...prevailing winds? Currents? That part's not entirely clear. The only way to travel in a straight line is to blow shit up.
Okay, then!
I would also beg all of you to imagine this:
You come across a planet that seems to have an active tylinium mine. The nice bug people who seem to own it are more than happy to give you all the ore you want for free. However, when they ship the ore up to you for processing, it's in miniscule amounts. Remember! Active mine! That ore's going somewhere and being used for something, right? You find out that the company that did the original survey of the planet and declared it a waste of time was owned by Baltar, the rat-bastard who sold you out. While this is never shown on screen, I suspect that when you ask for the bug people's client list, they decline to share it with you. Client confidentiality, they say. After all, you don't want someone to find out that you're parked on their doorstep sucking up free ore, do you?
Golly-gee-willickers Adama, do you think it's a trap? And do you have to say: "It looks like a trap, it smells like a trap, it walks like trap..." We get it! It's a frakking trap! So how come you're the only one who knows it's a trap?
And does Tigh really need to go, "Really? You think it's a trap? What if you're wrong? Uri will hang you by your balls if you're wrong, you crazy motherfrakker. I mean, are you totally sure it's a trap? Because I'm so much less sure that it's a trap. Do you have more evidence or something? I mean, I'll follow orders and all since this is the Galactica where everyone knows the definition of 'military discipline,' opposed to the other Galactica where just saying it causes people's heads to spin while vomiting pea soup like they all want a role in the remake of The Exorcist, so are you rilly, rilly sure? Because, dude, I like my job and I'm not all that thrilled with the idea that I could end this in the brig."
Okay, Tigh doesn't say that exactly. It's just a general approximation of what he said.
And by the way, does it really matter that there's no apparent connection between the resort-o-ramma on the surface and the mining operations? Who cares? The fact that there's a version of Las Vegas where the customer always wins and the house always loses sitting on top of this mysterious mine is utterly immaterial to the equation. Stop worrying about it and haul ass out of there!
The really big WtFery for me was, well, how they measure distance. In microns. Bwhuh? So, like, when you say the Cylons are 10 microns away, they're not standing on your toes and poking your eyes out like they're Moe and you're Shemp? Oh. They're more like a light year away. Okay!
Time elements are screwy, too. Years are used interchangeably with yahren. Centons are some vague unit of time that's not entirely clear (in 'Saga' I think it means 'months,' although later in the series it seems to mean 'minutes'). And microns (again, in 'Saga' I think it means minutes, and later in the series it seems to mean 'seconds').
But the big WtF moment comes in the penultimate "victory" for our rag-tag Fleet. See, apparently, the entire planet of the bug people was made of tylinium. In fact, it's so packed with tylinium, that a few laser shots from Starbuck and Apollo can set the whole planet on fire! Not just on fire, but it cause it to explode and take out a Cylon basestar with it!
Wow. *shakes head* Kara never blew up a whole planet. And people say she's got no sense of discipline.
And before I forget, there's also:
- No one in the Fleet seems to have a last name. They all only get one name and that's it.
- 70s hair
- Civilian clothes that seem to be made of rayon
Our gal Cassiopea plays her part like she's a living Barbie doll, until the time comes to start calling ol' Starbuck on his womanizing bullshit. She doesn't seem to really care about the womanizing, per se, she just hates being made to look like a fool. *sigh* The path of true love is never easy. But can our favorite socialator (read: prostitute) conquer all? Hey! She conned her way onto a permanent spot on the Galactica by just batting her eyes and Barbie-dolling her way on board (it helps that those nasty religious fanatics from Gemon were so mean to her). She's on the right path, but can she march up the hillside?
Tune in for the next installment of Liz Rewatches Battlestar Galactica — 1978 to find out.
Yes, indeed. For some people, it was all about Apollo. For some people, it was all about Starbuck.
Count on me to dig the prostitute chick who got split between Caprica Six and Anders.
So, it's time to keep score, peoples. In 'Saga of a Star World' we see:
- The first sighting of a Humolon in the wild (Serena)
- Conclusive evidence that Apollo = manpain, regardless of Battlestar incarnation
- Proof that Starbuck always kills Zac. Frakking is optional. I think. I saw the way that "Zac" was checking out "Starbuck," so I'm not 100% on the frakking part.
- The roots of the "throw Boxey and that damned daggit out an airlock" fan movement.
- A big ol' gapping hole where Laura Roslin desperately needs to be
- Cassiopea's significant presence almost making up for no Laura. Almost.
- Ample evidence that humanity's so stupid that it doesn't deserve to live.
- Much more ample evidence that humanity is still alive only because the Cylons are slower and stupider, no matter what the writers keep telling us
- Proof that Dirk Benedict can't emote for shit
"The military rools and the civilian government drools."
Read it, memorize it, love it, and live it, because you're going to get this lesson pounded into your head for the rest of the series.
I give 'Saga' a big Three Minutes of 1978 Baltar chewing the scenery while 2003 Baltar complains about how the other Baltar keeps blocking his close-up.
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~M~
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I do have some residual affection for the 1978 series, so I kid because I love.
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Probably not.
And do not expect great things. Just lie back, shut off the brain, and dig the disco scifi vibe. Really.
Actually, though, the SF effects in 'Saga' are surprisingly good, considering that it was all done using models (computer animation was non-existent at the time). The detail work on the models are a wonder to behold.
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I must admit that i have really bothered with Galactica This year for some insane reason, probably just lack of time.
However yes the old series had problems, and so on, but it had fantastic moments.
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A lot of people forget that U.S. television during the 1970s was a very, very different animal than U.S. television today. Everything had to be pretty contained and story arcs were weak to nonexistent.
That really changed with the introduction of "night time soaps" (i.e., Dallas and Dynasty) where there was proof that people would follow a story arc across multiple episodes. I was not at all a fan of the night time soaps myself, but it translated in some very real ways to higher quality television in the late 80s. Without the night time soaps, and the advent of VCR which changed the way people watched television, you would not have something like 24 or the current Battlestar incarnation today.
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I do remember those scenes on Caprica...I think Serena was supposed to be a reporter, so perhaps that's why Adama recognized her.
I'm going to have to point your review out to a couple of people on my flist who loathe the new BSG because it's not the old BSG. To that I say, thank the lords of Kobol. :)
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But I love it for the animal it is: cheesy, fun, non-angsty (usually), adventure, space opera, SciFi. It's designed for you to shut off your brain and go along for the ride, and really not much more than that. What I think did make it unique is that it did have a "show mythology," which most U.S. television shows in the 1970s didn't have. Certainly, what few U.S. genre shows existed didn't have it, with maybe the exception of Dark Shadows, but Dark Shadows was a 1960s soap opera that showed during the daytime.
As for why Starbuck/Dirk Benedict got the attention, I think it was the confluence of several events:
1) The iconic good guy rogue with a heart of gold was all the rage (see: Han Solo)
2) The writers for the 1978 series have repeatedly admitted that an active character like Starbuck is just easier to write for than a reactive character like Apollo
3) Part of it is Richard Hatch's fault. He wasn't shy at the time and even later on in saying that the original series should have focused less on "the leads" and more on "the fleet." He frequently shared this opinion with the writers and the production staff.
And, to be fair to Hatch, I remember seeing him at a con yeeeeeaaaaaars ago when even the idea of reviving the series was met with derisive laughter (thanks to Galactica: 1980, ptui, letusnotspeakofitagain), he said outright that if he could re-write the original series, it would've been more an anthology series ala The Twilight Zone where you had more stand-alones with different people in the Fleet rather than just an adventure romp focusing on one or two characters. So, he hasn't actually evolved on that opinion at all just because he's got a small role in the new series.
As for the hardcore fans of the original series...
*rolls eyes*
Dude, I was one of the founding members of the original Battlestar Galactica mailing list, wrote fanfiction, and was considered something of a minor BNF (such as they existed way back when) at one point. I actually knew some of the really big BNFs in the fandom.
Yet (and this to me remains totally hysterical), I had some snot nose kid wasn't even alive when the original series aired on ABC tell me that I wasn't a "real fan" of Battlestar because I was willing to give the new series a chance, let alone actually liked the series.
Fuck that noise.
I should also add that I hated the original plan proposed by DeSanto (which was essentially Battlestar the next generation using the original cast). The second Moore took over, I decided to give it a chance because 1) Moore's a damn talented writer; 2) I like Moore's work overall; and 3) Moore is a fanboy made good and he never forgets that.
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Or someone has spent a long time preparing this article for today. Or I just need more coffee. I suspect the latter is true regardless of the rest.
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But the scenes I listed above? Yup. They are there. I was shocked they were there and actually backed up the DVD to watch them again because I couldn't believe it.
Now, I've seen TOS about a zillion times, thanks to seeing most of the original run as a wee one and a bazillion repeats thanks to the magic of syndication (it ran in syndication almost non-stop for 10 years in Boston area, believe it or not).
Yet, in watching 'Saga' on DVD with scenes fully restored, I was completely shocked because it was, on some level, like watching a completely different show than the one I remembered. I suspect part of it is because the scenes that were cut for syndication are now back in place, and part of it is because I haven't even seen TOS in something like 10 years. End result, I probably notice things now that I didn't notice when I was a kid.
Oh Dear God
I still can't believe Richard Hatch can now act.
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As for BSG being the worst show ever *shrug* I dunno. I think that crown is debatable. Lord knows it wasn't good, but I wouldn't place it that low.
I'm with you on Firefly, though.
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Some of those elements have carried over to the 2003 series (Kobol as the birthplace of mankind, the Council of the Twelve, the Thirteen Tribes, etc.), but there's another layer on top of it now (Moore says he's agnostic) that further obscures the basis.
Here's a few links:
Battlestar Wiki Mormon Search Page, lots of stuff listed there
Battlestar Galactica and Mormonism
Wikipedia entry on Battlestar Galactica, which gets into the original series and mentions the religious and political background for the 1978 version
Theology of Battlestar Galactica, focuses on the 2003 series, but gets into the background on the 1978 series
Battlestar Mormonica, written from an atheist's point of view and focusing on the 1978 series (2003 series didn't exist at the time this was writte); has some good links for further research
The Correlations between Battlestar Galactica and the LDS church
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Great comparison.
Moore does pay homage to the original regardless of what fan purists think. He also improves upon it in really interesting ways. Wait until you get to the whole Commander Cain bit. I'm half convinced that Kara Thrace is a combination of Starbuck and Sheba.
Regarding the selection of people to get on Galatica bit? Actually they have sort of commented on that in S3, subtley and not nearly as *directly* as they did in the original. But it's sort of in the subtext of a couple of episodes.
A lot of people don't realize how dark the original Battlestar was. It had more in common in some respects with Space 1999 then it did with Star Wars or Star Trek.
Anyhow, reading this brought back all sorts of memories and a crazy urge to go out and buy the original series...which I'm going to resist. Last thing I need right now is another TV series on DVD. LOL!
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I loved both Pegasus arcs, and I was fascinated to see how the 2003 carried it out. What's fascinating is that you still have the same power-play between Cain and Adama, but the difference is that Adam has military authority on his side. Cain is the one who goes into open rebellion in response when Adama asserts his authority.
It's been years since I've seen the 1978 version, which single-handedly blew a ton of stuff that had been laid down in earlier episodes out of the water. It's certainly a fan-fave, and I can't even begin to list the amount of Cain-centered and Pegasus-centered fanfiction that came out over the years.
Has the "survivor selection" been touched on in the 2003 series, really? Certainly you have that scene where Helo and Sharon draw lots on who she's going to evacuate in the mini. (Sidenote: Has everyone forgotten that the only reason why Baltar is in the Fleet is because of Helo channeled his inner Dudley Do-Right?)
But beyond that? I don't seem to recall anything about it. *frowns in thought* I always got the impression that most of the people in the Fleet got there by dumb luck because they were in space traveling from Point A to Point B when the colonies were attacked.
Damn. Now I have to wait until S3 comes out on DVD and look for that.
I got the TOS a few years ago as a prezzie. I think I skimmed through the extras and then put it aside for more in-depth watching at a later date. I haven't even viewed my shiny set yet. It's a well-packaged little bugger, considering that back in the 1970s they weren't filming television with an eye towards any after-market beyond possible syndication.
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And my biggest reason why I don't want the current BSG to find earth is Galactica 1980. I remember that, too. *shudder*
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That is my Mantra and I am sticking to it.
Ah, Wikipedia...
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I'll be on the lookout for more of these reviews.
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I have a very strong feeling that some episodes are better than I remembered, and other episodes are far worse than I remembered. But you are so right, when the 1978 series was on, it was on fire. When it missed, it missed very, very badly.
I think the key problem with the 1978 series is that a lot of those misfires were early on (if I remember right), which meant that it lost audience. A lot of that had to do with production problems. ABC ordered them to series so quickly, that the production team was scrambling very, very hard between 'Gun on Ice Planet Zero' and (I think) the Pegasus arc.
I also get the impression that the TOS was canceled at the last-minute (and this was a case like Angel: canceled for purely financial reasons instead of ratings reasons). They were actually planning out a S2 arc, and had brought in Isaac Asimov to write a show bible (yes, S1 was produced without a show bible).
The writers on the original series several years ago said this is what they were planning for S2 (and it's actually a pretty awesome list):
Those are what I remember off the top of my head. I know I don't have the complete list, but I think I remember hearing some talk about the Pegasus coming back and Sheba being forced to chose between Adama and her father, but I'm not 100% sure on that one.
Considering the amount of research Moore has done with TOS, it wouldn't surprise me if he was aware of this list, especially considering everything he's done in his version.
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As I keep telling people, the key is to shut off your brain and just go with it, because none of it makes a lick of sense. Really, it doesn't. It's 1970s primetime grade space opera.
And that's what makes it truly awesome.
Slower and Stupider
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I love how the Cylons keep obligingly walking/flying into the laster blasts of Our Heroes.
Because...dude...the humans? Really not that much smarter.
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Ah, but we have seen this done. The Pegasus captain did this very thing, grabbing 'useful' people and leaving everyone else to hang. Adama started to show signs of this sort of thinking when Tyrol asked to go down to New Caprica, with the whole, 'no, I need you here, request denied' riff. It was also seen in the recent union episode with the strike on the refinery ship, where any refusal to do useful work is, in Adama's mind, treason and grounds for execution.
This sort of 'you're useful, you work whether you want to or not, you're not, you get left behind' thinking has definitely been shown on the show.
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AKA "In the Pale Moonight" for the win
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~sigh~ I really loved that show. Wrote my first fanfic there. I think it had a combination of quality and chesse that invited you to play with it.
I see the same sort of thing rewatching 'Land of the Lost.' Tremendous cheese, yet there's some really interesting ideas thrown into the mix.
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Could I dive back into the the 1970s, cold war paranoia, Mormon recruitment tool that was, in fact, the original Battlestar Galactica with its reach-for-the-Emmy moments, lines that go *thunk* in the night, men with pretty-pretty hair, questionable physics, and plots that make no sense whatsoever?
Bwahaha! Dude! I never thought of it like that. Mormon recruitment? Wow. How did I miss out on all of that? I just thought it was a really cool show. It was sci-fi! And there hadn't really been much sci-fi on TV since Star Trek was cancelled. I remember stuff like Three's Company, The Love Boat, Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons - Battlestar Galactica was so different from them that I was overjoyed. I loved Captain Apollo as a character, and Cassiopea, although I did find the dang daggit very annoying. And I do remember thinking that both Starbuck and Balter must have attended the William Shatner School of Acting, but at that point in time, there were a lot of over-the-top performances, including Mr. Shatner's in just about everything he was ever in.
I never got into watching the new series because I couldn't keep the characters straight. As a fan of the original series, it was just too confusing and there was a lot of cognitive dissonence going on in having completely different characters carrying the same names. I've often wondered why the new series didn't just use new names, while still setting it in the Galactica universe. It was like if ST:TNG called the captain 'Kirk' instead of 'Picard' and the first officer 'Spock' rather than 'Riker'. But it looks like the best way to see the new series is on DVD anyway.
So, thanks for the memories and thanks for the fascinating commentary. I believe I'll give the new series another chance, via DVD before rewatching the original. *g*
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I kid, because I still do love TOS, despite it's cheesy, cheesy ways. It kicked off my love for genre television, so for that reason alone, it'll always hold a special place in my DVD collection.
Plus...CYLON HEAD! What's not to love.
I'm working up the commentary for Lost Planet of the Gods, Part I right now. Man there's lots I forgot in that one. BWAH! It has it all.
For some reason, Colicos's scenery chewing doesn't bother me all that much, probably because he's deliberately going for the camp. Benedict's on the other hand grates me greatly in a way that it didn't prior to DVD. I dunno know why that is.
Oh, and thanks for the prezzie! :-)
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"lines that go *thunk* in the night,"
No matter how much of a fan I was, "You're nursing wounds while we're still in the fire!" was never an acceptable line. No no no.
"However, the storyline lives on, thanks to the magic of DVD. All those scenes have been restored and are now in the "cut scenes" portion of the collection."
I need that DVD. Despite my having been an obsessed fan of the original, I still don't have the DVD set, although I did help a guy in online fandom with usually-missing scenes on the tapes back in the 1990s. Must get that thing... if I could stop buying books like a lunatic... which I can't.
"Let's just say that whenever fans of the 2003 Battlestar complain that this guy...
...can be a self-righteous, holier-than-thou prick who's way too much into his manpain, it is blindingly obvious to me that they never met this guy..."
Yes, both the Apollos are insufferably stiff-necked. It's just that the original had a decent relationship with his father (however much they argued, which they did), and Lee takes disrespect to new levels. Or that was my original impression. However much I like Jamie Bamber as an actor, I don't care about Lee at all. *shrug*
"The writers wanted to make sure everyone knew, just in case someone in the audience failed to get brained by the rain of anvils."
Original Galactica: it's anvilicious!
"It's no secret that this guy...
...got split into these two...
And can I just say that it is a very wise move?"
Except that now there's a problem with the fact that the two characters (William Adama and Laura Roslin) who were originally one (Adama) kind of have a relationship of some odd, very controlled sort, and maybe the guys in charge are making it be that subtle because they think "It's fine that these two characters would make a good couple, but they used to be the *same* character. Uh..."
Hell, at least William Adama is allowed to have something resembling a relationship (even if it *is* with his female alter ego), which lasts longer than the one ep the original Adama had to be interested in Siress Tinia.
"Seeing the 1978 Adama be all he can be as President of the Council of Twelve, military commander of the fleet, the person who comes up with the plan to head away from the Colonies and have humanity make a stand somewhere else, and the religious lunatic who really, really believes that earth exists based on scripture hurts my brain."
Oddly, it hurt my brain more to have the new, "improved" William Adama be a completely skeptical disbeliever... but yeah, the original Adama was Moses. Mind you, a Moses who didn't lead the destruction of every human adversary who disbelieved in his God, but Moses nonetheless. (Ignore me, my latest reading project is the Old Testament, which, every time it spoke of Moses, made me think of Adama and get seriously distracted, frack it. Snort.)
(...to be continued in second post...)
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"Yikes! How the hell did I forget that scene? What makes it truly memorable is the Lorne Greene sells that puppy for all it's worth, not by overplaying the scene, but by underplaying it."
You might've forgotten it because it's not a scene that's always included. There's at least one edit I've seen that does include it, but it's probably usually removed because he's, well, drunk at the time, and suffering intense depression. (I think that the original Adama alternated between religious inspiration and depression that's a scary combination in a military commander. I enjoyed him, though. And Lorne Greene actually could act.)
(As said, I don't have the DVDs. I'm talking about all the different edits of SoaSW that I saw over the years -- there were at least five...)
"I'm still mystified how Serena and Adama are on friendly terms, despite the fact that Apollo has no idea who the hell she is."
Serina was apparently the pre-eminent Caprican newscaster. I assumed that Adama knew her because of that, and may have dealt with her before. Apollo *should* have known who Serina was, because, as seen in a usually-removed scene bit, he's seen watching her newscast before the attack.
"Let's now get to entire families serving on one battlestar. Adama, daughter Athena, and sons Apollo and Zac. (Bwhuh?) No hint that they were "visiting" (as in the case of 2003 Apollo), which is why they were all aboard the same ship. No hint that being the superior officer of your sibs or your offspring was considered a damned bad idea. No raised eyebrows. No issues. No nothing. It's just perfectly okay. Right."
Military power = political power, as you said. Obviously, the military could play at nepotism to its heart's content because they had the political power, too, and could do what they wanted re: crewing of battlestars. Although why having entire families aboard the same battlestar would be a good idea... It made weird sense to me before I actually knew about real-life military procedure, so isn't it a good thing I learned about real-life military procedure?!
"Then there's the fact that somehow, don't ask me how, the writers confused the ocean with space. No, seriously."
Literary science fiction has that problem all the time. See David Weber, whom I adore, but still...
"No one in the Fleet seems to have a last name. They all only get one name and that's it."
I never had a problem with that. No one in mythology ever needed a last name all that much.
"70s hair"
I care about this far less than I should. I like men with long hair, if it's clean. Whereas, Lorne Greene's hair always drove me up the wall; even in "Bonanza," it was usually so neatly arranged, I wanted to grab his head and ruffle his hair really hard...
"For some people, it was all about Apollo. For some people, it was all about Starbuck."
For me, it used to be all about Starbuck. As I've gotten older, I prefer Adama and Tigh. *shrug*
"The roots of the "throw Boxey and that damned daggit out an airlock" fan movement."
The one good thing I did in my writing was destroy the daggit. *evil grin*
"Ample evidence that humanity's so stupid that it doesn't deserve to live."
And in this new BSG, these people are so stupid, so hateful, so utterly incapable of rational behavior that I almost wish they *had* been destroyed. It's a decent series, but... these people...
"Much more ample evidence that humanity is still alive only because the Cylons are slower and stupider, no matter what the writers keep telling us"
I actually stated in my writing that the Cylons were fracking pathetic and the only way they won was through surprise. Hellooo, anvil! *evil grin*
"Proof that Dirk Benedict can't emote for shit"
And that Richard Hatch is a better actor than anyone gave him credit for being. And that Lorne Greene actually could act, because I've seen him do it.
"I give 'Saga' a big Three Minutes of 1978 Baltar chewing the scenery while 2003 Baltar complains about how the other Baltar keeps blocking his close-up."
Bwah-hah-hah! ... Odd that the new Baltar can somehow perform excellently in combat his first time ever doing so, despite being a coward. Uh-huh... RDM, how did he do that?!
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