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Battlestar Galactica (Original)
1978 Episode Guide
Battlestar Galactica
(Original) 1978
Battlestar
Galactica is set in a distant part of the galaxy in an age described as
"the seventh millennium of time." Twelve colonies (planets) of
humans have been fighting a thousand-year war against the android race of
Cylons, who seek to exterminate all of humanity. The Cylons unexpectedly sue for peace, through the diplomatic channel
of human councilor Count Baltar. The human leaders and commanders of the
military fleets are lulled into complacency by the Cylon's offer of peace.
All of the human military vessels, including the twelve carrier vessels
called "battlestars", are supposed to meet at the armistice talks
for the final actions sealing the peace. This is a trick: Baltar has betrayed
humanity for personal power and glory, and the Cylons have no true plans for
peace. Adama, commander of the Battlestar Galactica, had been suspicious of
the Cylons' motives. He ordered a regular patrol consisting of his two best
pilots; Adama's eldest son, Apollo, and another pilot. Adama's son Zac convinced the second pilot to let him go in his
stead. This patrol discovers many squadrons of Cylon fighter craft in hiding
just as they are discovered by the Cylons. The Cylons jam communications of
the patrol most of the way back to the Galactica. Zac's
fighter is hit, reducing his speed, forcing Apollo to leave him behind so
that the fleet can be warned. Zac is killed by the
Cylons just short of the fleet before Apollo can return to help him. Despite the orders of the President for restraint, Adama is able to
prepare the Galactica before the Cylon fighter fleet attacks, but all of the
remaining battlestars are unprepared. The result is that almost the entire
fleet is caught off guard and annihilated. During the battle, Apollo tells
Adama that the fighter fleet was found with tankers. Adama realized that they
had done this to extend the range of the fighters from the Cylon carrier
ships, basestars. He orders the Galactica to withdraw in order to protect its
home planet, Caprica, but he is too late; upon arriving home he finds the
devastation that the basestars have left. Adama soon learns that all twelve
colonies have met the same fate. And after devastating the colonies of man,
the basestars were sent to finish off the battlestars at the "armistice
talks". With the colonial civilization in ruins, and the Cylons likely to
continue their extermination of humanity, Adama sends out a call for every
craft that can make it to space to flee the Cylons. The hope is that the
Galactica can protect this fleet long enough to find a legendary thirteenth
human colony, known only as Earth which could have sufficient technology to
be able to defeat the Cylons. Legends and myths say that this colony is known
only to the last lord of Kobol, the planet abandoned thousands of years
earlier during humanity's mass exodus to explore the galaxy. Helping Adama in the quest for Earth are Colonel Tigh, the second in
command of the Galactica, as well as a squadron of viper (fighter) pilots
led by Apollo (Adama's remaining son), Starbuck, and Boomer. The Cylon
Imperious Leader, disdainful of harboring even a temporarily useful traitor,
orders Baltar's execution. In the movie, Baltar was beheaded. But in the
television series, the execution is halted just short of Baltar's neck so
that he could help the Cylons hunt down the remaining humans. The Galactica and her "ragtag fleet of fugitive
vessels" find brief respite on the resort planet of Carillon. But the Ovions, Carillon's indigenous inhabitants, are to delay
the human fleet while the Cylons gather forces to destroy the human fleet.
The Ovions take advantage of the situation and have
been kidnapping and consuming crew and passengers of the refugee fleet.
Apollo and Starbuck are investigating the disappearance of some of their
comrades when they discover the conspiracy. After rescuing some of their
imprisoned comrades, Apollo and Starbuck, in a firefight with Cylons, set
fire to the subterranean tylium mined on the
planet. Meanwhile, the new ruling council, believing that the Cylons have
fallen far behind insist that the humans take time to celebrate. The ruling
council have arranged a party and award banquet that is mandatory for all
fighter pilots in which an outspoken councilor would call for a unilateral
disarmament despite the threat of the Cylons. The Cylons, believing that all
of the fighter pilots are at the award banquet on Carillon, launch a fighter
attack against the Galactica in orbit. But Adama and Tigh had suspected a
trap and had arranged for support crew to impersonate most of the fighter
pilots. The actual pilots were standing by for trouble and soundly defeated
the Cylon fighters. Again, Apollo knows that the Cylon fighters couldn't have gone far
without support ships. Apollo and Starbuck go hunting for these additional
vessels and find a Cylon basestar on the far side of Carillon. In defiance of
Commander Adama's recall order, Apollo and Starbuck decide to attempt to
destroy the ship to enable the refugee fleet to elude pursuit. They fool the
Cylon base star into thinking that it was going to be attacked by multiple
viper squadrons. The base star descends into Carillon's atmosphere to avoid
detection, and is destroyed when the planet explodes due to the spreading
fire. Despite their victory, the humans realize that the Cylons will still be
pursuing them, and thus they begin their "lonely quest: a shining planet
known as Earth." Season 1 (1978-79)
“Saga of a Star World” The story of how the 12
colonies of man are destroyed after a 1000 year war with the evil Cylon
Empire. Through deceit, the Cylons are able to destroy the Colonies' entire
fleet, except for the Battlestar Galactica, captained by Commander Adama.
Adama gathers up the few remaining humans left on all the twelve worlds and
embarks on a journey to find the mythical planet Earth, the supposed
thirteenth colony of Mankind, lost ages ago when humans first left the motherworld, Kobol. With food and fuel running out, the
fleet heads for an ore planet, Carillon, hoping to get what it needs. The Ovions, who populate the planet, are being controlled by
the Cylons, who set a trap for the Galactica. The fleet gets food and fuel,
and escapes, destroying Carillon and a Cylon Base Star. “Lost Planet of the Gods” Part 1 - Part 2 - Apollo proposes to Serina, who he met in the pilot episode. She is the
mother of Boxey. Meanwhile, Boomer and Jolly,
returning from an advanced patrol, contract a disease and spread it to all
the Viper pilots except Starbuck and Apollo. They discover a void in space,
which Adama determines to be the way to Kobol. Apollo and Serina
are married, a group of female shuttle pilots (Serina
included) fly a Viper expedition to get help for the males, and the Galactica
reaches Kobol. The Cylons, lead by Baltar, find the planet and destroy the
pyramids of Kobol before Adama can find the whereabouts of Earth. Serina is killed, but the Galactica and fleet escape. “The Lost Warrior” Apollo is marooned on a Western
Frontier-like planet, where he meets a woman and her son. He discovers that a
damaged Cylon, known as Red Eye has become the gun-slinger for the evil Lacerta, who runs the town. The woman's husband, a
colonial warrior who also had been marooned had been killed by Red Eye, who
thinks that Lacerta is Imperious Leader. Apollo
challenges Red Eye to an Old West shootout. Apollo wins, and is rescued by
the Galactica, leaving woman and son behind. “The Long Patrol” Starbuck is assigned to test a
new ultra-fast Viper with a talking computer named CORA and devoid of laser
turrets. While testing it, he meets a bootlegger named Robber who steals the
Viper. Starbuck is then arrested by Enforcers of the prison asteroid Proteus.
All the prisoners are the descendants of the original prisoners, who stay in
jail and make ambrosia. Starbuck escapes and Apollo and Boomer fly by to
fight off attacking Cylon fighters. “Gun on Ice Planet Zero” Part 1 - Part 2 - Baltar attempts to lure the
Galactica into range of a gigantic pulsar cannon, which Adama becomes aware
of. Apollo and Starbuck lead a group of convicts on a possible suicide
mission to destroy the cannon, located on an icy planet. They join forces
with a society of clones enslaved by the Cylons and destroy the cannon. “The Magnificent Warriors” A Cylon attack destroys most of
the fleet's food supply. The Galactica finds a rural planet to trade for
grain, but Adama must put up with a lovesick old acquaintance (Siress Belloby) who has the
equipment. However, the people of the town they go to (Serenity) are being
plagued by the Borays, a group of pig-like
marauders. Starbuck is conned into being their sheriff, an occupation which
has a short life span. The Borays kidnap Belloby, and the Galacticans
rescue her, making a deal with the Borays. (Their
leader becomes the new sheriff.) “The Young Lords” Starbuck crashes on the planet
Trillion where the Cylons have destroyed all the humans except for a band of
children who have become warriors to save their enslaved father. At first,
the oldest boy, their leader, wants to trade Starbuck for their father. But
Starbuck convinces them to go along with a scheme of his, and they rescue the
children's father. Then Apollo and Boomer come to rescue Starbuck. “The Living Legend” Part 1 - Part 2 - Apollo and Starbuck, while on patrol,
encounter the supposedly lost Battlestar Pegasus, commanded by the living
legend, Commander Cain. Cain insists that the two battlestars join forces to
crush the Cylon Empire, or more notably, the planet Gamoray
to begin with. Adama, however, fears that the Cylons may attack the
unprotected fleet while the battlestars are away. Cain takes steps to assure
his plans, and is relieved of duty. The Cylons do attack the fleet (with 3
Base Stars), and the Pegasus is pulled out to surprise the Cylons. This works,
and the fleet is saved. Then they launch a surprise attack on Gamoray while the Pegasus takes on the three Base Stars.
The Galactica obtains fuel from Gamoray, but the
Pegasus disappears after destroying two of the Cylon ships. Baltar, on board
the third, narrowly escapes, and no one is sure whether the Pegasus is
destroyed, or has headed back out to the stars. “Fire in Space” A Cylon kamikazee
attack leaves the Galactica burning in space, with no way to extinguish the
blaze. Furthermore, Adama is gravely injured. Boomer, Athena, and Boxey are also trapped inside the Rec
Room. Apollo and Starbuck extinguish the fire by blowing holes in the ship,
and Adama is saved. The people in the Recreation Room are saved by Muffy the Daggit. “War of the Gods” Part 1 - Part 2 - The fleet is plagued by a group
of glowing lights that constantly fly past them too fast to be followed.
Also, Vipers keep disappearing whenever they follow the lights. On a mission
to find the men, Apollo, Starbuck, and “The Man with Nine Lives” An old con man, Chameleon, is
running from a trio of bloodthirsty Borellians when
he meets Starbuck. To gain refuge on the Galactica, he convinces Starbuck
that he is his long-lost father. He is brought on board to confirm the story,
and the Borellians get on board by joining the
Viper pilot training program. The Borellians are
captured and put on board the Prison Barge, and Chameleon admits to his con
and leaves. Cassiopea tells him that he really is
Starbuck's father, but no one ever tells. “Murder on the Rising Star” Ortega, Starbuck's rival in the
popular sport Triad is murdered, and all the evidence points to Starbuck.
Apollo is about the only one who believes Starbuck, and sets out to find the
real killer. With Baltar's help, it is discovered that Ortega was
blackmailing a man who had taken bribes to let people on board his ship
during the exodus from the Colonies. This man killed Ortega, and is captured
when he attempts to kill Baltar, the only other man who can identify him. “Greetings from Earth” Apollo and Starbuck find a
primitive sleeper ship carrying a man, a woman, and four children. It is
taken aboard, and is believed to be from Earth. The council wants to open the
ship, even though it might kill the inhabitants. Adama will not allow this.
Dr. Wilker and Dr. Salik
discover that the inhabitants cannot survive in their atmosphere. Apollo,
Starbuck, and Cassiopea steal the ship, and
continue with it to it's destination, Paradeen. The
male, Michael, informs the Galacticans that they
are originally from Terra, but have fled the war with the “Baltar's Escape” Adama is besieged by the
troublesome Siress Tinia,
who is appointed by the Council of Twelve to watch over him. Meanwhile,
Baltar plans his escape with the help of the three Borellians
and the Alliance Enforcers. Thanks to the Council's interference, hostages
are taken, and Adama is forced to give in. Baltar is to escape in his fighter,
along with his Centaurians, while the rest go in
the “Experiment in Terra” Apollo and Starbuck follow the
escaped “Take the Celestra” Starbuck runs in to his
long-lost love, “The Hand of God” Tired of running from the
Cylons, Adama decides to have it out for the last time. Using Baltar's ship,
Apollo and Starbuck sneak on board the following Base Star, and sabotage its
scanners. The Galactica then destroys the Base Star, and Apollo and Starbuck
are barely saved. Cast Richard Hatch as Captain Apollo Dirk Benedict as Lieutenant Starbuck Lorne Greene as Commander Adama Terry Carter as Colonel Tigh John Colicos
as Count Baltar Noah Hathaway as Boxey Herbert Jefferson, Jr. as Lieutenant
Boomer Maren Jensen as
Lieutenant Athena Anne Lockhart as Lieutenant Laurette Spang as Cassiopeia Tony Swartz as Flight Sergeant Jolly Lew Ayres as
President Adar Ray Milland
as Sire Uri Rick Springfield as Lieutenant Zac Ana Alicia as Melody Fred Astaire
as Chameleon/Captain Dmitri Ina Balin as
Siress Tinia Ed Begley, Jr. as Greenbean Ray Bolger as Vector Lloyd Bridges as Commander Cain John de Lancie
as Officer John Dullaghan
as Doctor Wilker Britt Ekland
as Tenna John Fink as Doctor Paye Jonathan Harris as Lucifer (voice) Audrey Landers as Miri Patrick Macnee
as Count Iblis, and as voice of Imperious Leader Edward Mulhare
as John George Murdock as Doctor Salik Dan O'Herlihy
as Doctor Ravishol Brock Peters as Solon Jane Seymour as Serina Brett Somers as Siress
Belloby Bobby Van as Hector The opening narration is as follows:
"There are those who believe that life here began out there, far across
the universe, with tribes of human who may have been the forefathers of the
Egyptians, or the Toltecs, or the Mayans. They may
have been the architects of the great pyramids, or the lost civilizations of Lemuria or Atlantis. Some believe that there may yet be
brothers of man who even now fight to survive far, far away, amongst the
stars." The pilot to this series, the biggest budgeted ($7 million) at the
time, was originally released theatrically in Canada, Western Europe, and
Japan in July, 1978 in an edited 125-minute version. On In 1978, 20th Century Fox sued Universal Studios (the producers of Battlestar
Galactica) for plagiarism, claiming it had stolen 34 distinct ideas from Star
Wars. Universal promptly countersued, claiming Star Wars had
stolen ideas from the 1972 film Silent Running and the Buck Rogers
serials of the 1940's. The lawsuit would be eventually dismissed in 1980 as having
no merit. As the series progressed, the ratings began to slide, even though the
show still consistently won its coveted Sunday evening timeslot. Although
each episode had a budget of about $1 million, the show reused so many
special effects shots due to budgetary constraints that many critics derided
it as "overplayed into tedium." In mid-April 1979, Battlestar Galactica contains obvious references to Greek
and Roman mythology. Several of the characters in the
series have names corresponding to significant characters in Greek mythology,
including Apollo and Cassiopeia. The twelve colonies are named after
the astrological signs of the Greek zodiac: Aerelon - Aries Tauron - Taurus Gemoni - Gemini Cancera - Cancer Leonon - Leo Virgon - Virgo Libron - Libra Scorpia - Scorpio Sagitara -
Sagittarius Caprica - Capricornus Aquaria - Aquarius Picon - Pisces.
Home colony of Count Baltar. The Cylon armor is also clearly derived from Roman designs, while the
Colonial pilots wear helmets derived from Egyptian designs. The birthplace of
humanity is a distant planet named Kobol, external shots for which were taken
in Egypt around the pyramids. It is meant to hint that this really was the
origin of Earth and the Earth refered to in the
series is definitively us for better or worse. Probably less noticed are references to the theology of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (more commonly known as the Mormon church).
Producer Glen Larson is a member of this church. Some parallels between the series and the religion include: The race of humanity is led by
Commander Adama, whose name bears similarity to that of Adam, the first
human. Central to the plot of the series is a
legendary thirteenth colony, somewhere far distant from the twelve that are
known. In Mormonism, there is no doctrinal or cultural references to a
'Thirteenth Tribe'. But there are some parallels that may have inspired this
'Thirteenth Tribe' idea: In the Old Testament, In The Book of Mormon is the
teaching that during the reign of king Zedekiah (about 600 BC), two separate
groups left Jerusalem and ended up in the Americas; a remnant (or 'thirteenth
tribe') of the twelve tribes of Israel. A Council of Twelve, headed by a
president, governs the colonies. A president who is assisted by two
counselors and a Quorum of the Twelve Apostles preside over the Mormon
Church. Marriages in the Battlestar Galactica
mythos as well as in the Mormon religion are sealed for eternity. The beings on the Ship of Light say,
"as you are, we once were; as we are, you may one day be", a
parallel to the Mormon belief that even God was once a human being. The system which is believed to be the
original home of the human race is Kobol. In Mormon theology, the star
closest to the Throne of God is called Kolob. These parallels are explored in more detail at Battlestar Galactica and
Mormonism.
Set a generation after the original series, the Galactica and
its fleet of 220 civilian ships have finally discovered Earth, only to find that
the planet cannot defend itself against the Cylons as originally planned.
Therefore, teams of Colonial warriors are covertly sent to the planet to work
incognito with various members of the scientific community, hoping to advance
Earth's technology. Commander Adama and Colonel Boomer—now second-in-command in place of
Colonel Tigh—send Captain "Boxey" Troy,
who is the adopted son of Adama's own son Apollo, and Lt. Dillon to North
America, where they become entangled with TV journalist Jamie Hamilton. The
three of them devise ways to help Earth's scientists and outwit the Cylons. Season 1 (1980) “Galactica Discovers Earth” Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - At last, the Galactica finds
the planet Earth! It's the year 1980 A.D., and their hopes are dashed when
they find that the planet does not have the technology to help defeat the
Cylons. In fact, the Earth is bad off as it is. The Galactica leaves Earth,
so that the Cylons following do not find it, but send down Capt. Troy
(formerly Boxey, Adama's grandson) and Lt. Dillon
to contact Prof. Mortinson, a man they feel can
help them to advance Earth's technology quick enough to be of help. There is
trouble, in the form of Xavier, one of the Council of Twelve who feels that
the Galacticans should upgrade Earth by travelling into the past and introducing modern devices
(Dr. Zee has developed a time-travel device and a cloaking device, both
outfitted into Vipers). He goes to Nazi Germany, not caring about the consequences,
and “The Super Scouts” Part 1 - Part 2 - The Cylons launch a surprise
attack on the fleet, doing considerable damage. “Spaceball” Xavier returns, and gets rid of
“The Night The Cylons Landed” Part 1 - Part 2 - The Cylon Empire has built a
new type of Cylon, a humanoid android. One of them, Andromus,
along with a centurian, crashland
on Earth. “Space Croppers” The Cylons again attack the
fleet, taking out the Agroships. With their food
supply destroyed, “The Return Of Starbuck” At last, the fate of Starbuck
is revealed. Prof. Zee was revealed in the premiere to be a mutant and a
child genius. He has a dream about Starbuck, which he relates to Adama, who
knows the story to be true. Fourteen years earlier, while
in a battle, Starbuck's Viper was gravely damaged, and Boomer watched him
wildly fly towards a planet. The fleet could not go back for him, since the
Cylons were on their tail. Starbuck crashed onto the barren planet, his ship
all but destroyed. There he finds the remains of a Cylon fighter, of which
one Cylon he is able to fix. He does this out of loneliness. Cy, as he names
him, first wishes to kill Starbuck, because he is a human, but soon learns
that they need each other, and they become friends (to both of their
surprise). Then a mysterious pregnant woman appears, and Starbuck does his
all to care for her, which makes Cy jealous. However, Cy helps Starbuck build
a tiny ship out of the remains of both their ships, and after the woman gives
birth, launches the baby into space, the mysterious woman is gone. It was
surmised that she was from another dimension. Soon after, a Cylon patrol
lands on the planet, and when they find Starbuck they attempt to kill him.
However, Cy gives his life to save Starbuck, killing two of the Cylons before
the third guns him down. Starbuck finishes off the third Cylon, but Cy is too
far gone to be fixed. Starbuck is left alone again. Adama reveals to Zee that he
had come to the fleet in a small ship, and his identity is revealed. Cast Lorne Greene - Commander Adama Robyn Douglass - Jamie Hamilton Herb Richard Lynch - Xavier Kent McCord - Captain Troy Allan Miller - Colonel Sydell James Patrick Stuart - Dr. Zee Robbie Rist
- Dr. Zee Barry Van Dyke - Lieutenant Dillon Greene (Adama) and Jefferson (Boomer) were the only major cast members
of the original series to return, with Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict both
refusing to return after reading the initial scripts. The series had a promising start with a three-hour adventure that saw
Troy, Dillon and Jamie sent back in time to Nazi Germany to save the future,
but the series could not sustain this momentum; it was unceremoniously
cancelled after only ten episodes, many of which were multi-part stories, or
what would be referred to now as arcs. The final episode featured the return
of Dirk Benedict as Lt. Starbuck from the original series in a flashback
episode, but it wasn't enough to save the series. Many fans do not consider Galactica 1980 to be canonical with
the original series (with the exception the final episode); many cite Galactica
1980 as one of the worst shows in science fiction history. In this 1980 sequel series, the fleet finds Earth and covertly protects
it from the Cylons. This series was a quick failure due to its low budget,
widely-panned writing, and ill-placed time slot (Sundays at |
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A Science Fiction and Fantasy
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