My Favorite Science Fiction Television Series






Wade’s Ranking SF Series Wade’s Ranking SF Series Wade’s Ranking SF Series Wade’s Ranking SF Series
#1 Star Trek: TOS #14 The Invisible Man (1975) #27 The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr #40
#2 The Six Million Dollar Man #15 Planet of the Apes (1974) #28 Space Academy #41
#3 Battlestar Galactica (1978)/Galactica 1980 #16 Space: 1999 #29 Ark II #42
#4 Star Trek: The Next Generation #17 Mission: Impossible #30 Quantum Leap #43
#5 Mork & Mindy #18 The Man from Atlantis #31 V #44
#6 Star Trek: Enterprise #19 The Land of the Lost (1974) #32 Time Trax #45
#7 My Favorite Martian #20 The Land of the Giants #33 Lost in Space #46
#8 The Bionic Woman (1976-1978) #21 The Wild, Wild West #34 Bionic Woman (2007) #47
#9 Star Trek: Deep Space 9 #22 Quark #35 The X-Files #48
#10 Battlestar Galactica (2003) #23 The Outer Limits #36 Voyagers #49
#11 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century #24 Firefly #37 Knight Rider #50
#12 Star Trek: Voyager #25 Jason of Star Command #38
#13 Fantastic Journey #26 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea #39


#1

Star Trek: TOS



#2

The Six Million Dollar Man



#3

Battlestar Galactica (1978)/Galactica 1980

Battlestar Galactica aired on ABC from September, 1978 to April, 1979. The series was produced by Universal Studios & created by Glen A Larson (who also created Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Fall Guy, Magnum, PI, & Knight Rider). The Battlestar Galactica pilot (retroactively named “Saga of a Star World”) was actually a three-part mini-series with an unprecedented $7 million production budget. The mini-series met with phenomenal ratings success, & the show was rushed to series. This relatively short teleplay development time is probably one of the more intangible factors, which led to Battlestar Galactica’s untimely demise, two of the more quantifiable factors being the show’s low ratings by the end of the season & its relatively high cost per episode. Nevertheless, Battlestar Galactica has a place in television history due to its groundbreaking special effects for television of the time.

Battlestar Galactica premiered just 16 months after Star Wars & shared some significant similarities with that film, not the least of which is a strong resemblance in special effects, attributable to John Dykstra, a founding member of Industrial Light & Magic, having created many of the effects on both projects. In fact, Twentieth Century Fox saw so many convergences that it sued Universal for copyright infringement. Universal counter-sued, claiming that Star Wars plagiarized ideas from its 1939 Buck Rogers serial. Both suits were eventually dropped. Dykstra went on to supervise the special effects for Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Spider-Man, & Spider-Man 2.

Battlestar Galactica stars Lorne Greene (Bonanza), Richard Hatch (who replaced Michael Douglas on the final season of The Streets of San Francisco), & Dirk Benedict (The A-Team). Interestingly, two relatively unknown actors—Jane Seymour & Rick Springfield—had small roles early in the show. Both Seymour & Springfield would arguably go on to attain greater fame & popularity than either of the principal stars, Hatch & Benedict.

The Battlestar Galactica pilot also benefitted from the presence of three older, well-known actors in supporting roles. These were Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend, Dial M for Murder, & The Ray Milland Show), Lew Ayres (who portrayed Dr Kildare in several films of the 1930s & 40s), & Wilfrid Hyde-White (My Fair Lady & Buck Rogers in the 25th Century). The voices of Patrick Macnee & Jonathan Harris were an additional bonus.

I also find it intriguing that John Colicos played the main villain of Battlestar Galactica, while Michael Ansara portrayed the heavy in Larson’s next SF series, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which aired just a year later. Colicos & Ansara both played Klingon commanders (Kor & Kang, respectively) encountered by the Enterprise crew in Star Trek: TOS.

Battlestar Galactica is unusual for a Hollywood production in its markedly conservative political philosophy. Battlestar Galactica aired at a time in the late 70s when disarmament talks often dominated political current events. After the destruction of the Twelve Colonies & the Battle of Cimtar, the crewmembers of the Galactica frequently express their disdain of unilateral or even bilateral disarmament. This is a thinly veiled reference to the SALT talks & other disarmament dialogues, which occurred in the 1970s. Furthermore, on Battlestar Galactica as in the modern United States, the military is ordinarily subordinate to the civil authority. However, after the disastrous Armistice & the destruction of the civil authority, martial law under Commander Adama becomes the norm. In the pilot & in other episodes of Battlestar Galactica, however, tentative attempts at re-establishing the civil authority (the Quorum of the Twelve) occur, & the civil authority sometimes attempts to wrest power back from Adama. The Council’s attempted coup always fails, & its response to delicate situations always resolves itself as less appropriate than Adama’s reaction. Thus, Battlestar Galactica paints the civil authority as naive, foolish, & politically motivated as opposed to the military authority, which is savvy & motivated by the common good. This contradistinction between civil & military authority is, however, obscured in Battlestar Galactica by the President of the Council of the Twelve (President Adar) being portrayed as the commander of the Battlestar Atlantia & in subsequent episodes by Adama’s membership in the Quorum.

The culture of the Twelve Colonies features several elements resembling aspects of ancient civilizations on Earth. For example, the Twelve Colonies themselves are named after the signs of the zodiac. &, although the zodiac was invented by the Babylonians, today we refer to the signs by their Latin names, as do the people of the Twelve Colonies. The crew of Galactica (most of whom hail from Caprica) seem to be named predominantly after characters from Greek myth (Apollo, Athena, Cassiopeia, et cetera), & the flight helmets of Viper pilots strongly resemble the headdress of Egyptian pharaohs. All of these elements suggest that Battlestar Galactica adheres to a view of human history similar to that proposed by Erich von Daniken in his 1968 Chariots of the Gods? This book of pseudoscience was popular in the 70s & maintains that ancient astronauts were responsible for much of the technology & art of ancient human civilization. Battlestar Galactica implies, rather than that our ancestors were recipients of extraterrestrial aid, that we ourselves are the descendents of ancient astronauts. Similar ideas are to be found in many SF works.

Other Battlestars

Battlestar Galactica explicitly mentions or shows onscreen (in such a way that their names are discernible) four Colonial Battlestars besides Galactica. In the pilot, although five Battlestars appear onscreen, the only two named are Galactica & Atlantia. A later episode, “The Gun on Ice Planet Zero,” establishes that the Battlestar Columbia was also present at the Battle of Cimtar. In the two-part episode “The Living Legend,” the Battlestar Pegasus appears numerous times onscreen. Finally, in “Take the Celestra,” Commander Kronus is said in the past to have commanded the Battlestar Rycon.

Additionally, the 1978 novelization of the Battlestar Galactica pilot written by Robert Thurston based on the screenplay written by Glen A Larson, mentions four Battlestars: Galactica, Atlantia, Solaria, & Pacifica. The novel states that the Pacifica, Galactica’s sister ship, was destroyed yahrens prior to the Destruction of the Twelve Colonies. Moreover, the novel names the Solaria, in addition to Galactica & Atlantia, as one of the five Battlestars present at the Battle of Cimtar.

Numerous sources maintain that Battlestars Triton, Pacifica, & Acropolis were present at the Armistice. They base this claim on background communications chatter that can be heard during the pilot, if one listens very closely. I have listened to these clips & have the following view on these three Battlestars. First, the word claimed to be “acropolis” does not sound like “acropolis” to me. Second, the word Battlestar is never audibly used in connection with these “ships;” so the viewer cannot reasonably draw conclusions about what is actually being discussed. They may be talking about smaller vessels or, indeed, planets, stars, meteorites, or just about anything. Third, since “The Gun on Ice Planet Zero,” establishes that the Battlestar Columbia was present at the Battle of Cimtar & since we know that Galactica & Atlantia were there, only two Battlestars are unaccounted for. Therefore, at least one of Triton, Pacifica, & Acropolis must be erroneous. Fourth, last, & perhaps most significantly, I am not convinced that barely audible background dialogue of this sort constitutes a canonical source.

To consider difficult-to-comprehend, background voices a more authoritative source than primary dialogue from an episode of the show or information presented in the official novelization makes very little sense to me, & I am not sure why so many fans have done so...

Colonial Warrior Rank

Battlestar Galactica, unlike most SF media concerning an interstellar military service (eg, Star Trek, et al), uses a rank structure that has more in common with the “US Army-based” rank systems, including the US Air Force, US Marine Corps, & some police forces, rather than that of the US Navy. Battlestar Galactica has lieutenants, captains (junior officers rather than flag officers), & colonels. Battlestar Galactica does not have ensigns or admirals. Battlestar Galactica’s rank system differs from the “US Army-based” rank systems in lacking the rank of major & inclusion of a commander rank. A commander in Battlestar Galactica, however, does not appear to be equivalent to a commander in the US Navy, but instead appears to be equivalent to an admiral or a general.

Galactica 1980

A massive fan write-in effort followed Battlestar Galactica’s 1979 cancellation. This was unusual (although it is reminiscent of fan reaction to cancellation of Star Trek: TOS, despite that campaign’s greater success resulting in three uninterrupted seasons of Star Trek); so ABC asked Glen Larson to revamp the show to cut expenses. Larson in collaboration with Donald P Bellisario resurrected Battlestar Galactica as Galactica 1980. They cut several minor characters (Tigh, Athena, Cassiopea, Sheba, Boxey, etc) from the cast, had Galactica find Earth, & devised a basic plot structure consisting of Starbuck & Apollo traveling through Earth’s past to correct acts perpetrated by Baltar in his misguided attempts to improve present-day Earth’s technology. However, John Colicos, Richard Hatch, & Dirk Benedict were all either unavailable or unwilling to return to the series. Therefore, Lorne Greene & Herb Jefferson Jr were the only cast members to return, while the characters of Troy (a grown-up Boxey played by Kent McCord of Adam-12 fame) & Dillon (Barry Van Dyke, Dick Van Dyke’s son) replaced the roles of Starbuck & Apollo. The pilot was decent if it lacked some of the charm & most of the chemistry of the original show. However, the network insisted that the series lose the time travel aspect, the only point of interest that the pilot possessed. (Nine years later, Bellisario developed the time traveler who fixes the past into the much more successful Quantum Leap.) Thus, Galactica 1980 began to focus on plots revolving around the children of the Galactica, who, due to Earth’s lesser gravity & yellow sun, were now endowed with superhuman abilities. So Galactica 1980 devolved into utterly unrecognizable silliness & was mercifully cancelled mid-season.

Galactica 1980 begs the question of why it was necessary for the Galactica to travel so far just to find the real Earth &, indeed, why the 13th Colony would be so far (in another galaxy) from the original Twelve. Galactica encountered several human-inhabited worlds in the original series that were more technologically advanced than 1980 Earth. Why not simply stop at one of those?

My Five Favorite Episodes of Battlestar Galactica & Galactica 1980 in Order

Wade’s Ranking Battlestar Galactica/Galactica 1980 episode
#1 “The Living Legend” (1x09 & 1x10)
#2 “The Return of Starbuck” (1x10) [Galactica 1980]
#3 “The Hand of God” (1x20)
#4 “Baltar’s Escape” (1x17)
#5 “The Young Lords” (1x08)


Notes on favorite episodes

#1

“The Living Legend” (1x09 & 1x10)

#2

“The Return of Starbuck” (1x10)


#3

“The Hand of God” (1x20)

#4

“Baltar’s Escape” (1x17)


#5

“The Young Lords” (1x08)

#11

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century aired for two seasons on NBC from September, 1979 to April, 1981. The series was produced by Universal Studios & created by Glen A Larson (who also created Battlestar Galactica, The Fall Guy, Magnum, PI, & Knight Rider). The pilot was released theatrically in March, 1979 prior to its airing on television. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century recycled some props, effects shots, costumes, & even concepts & conceptual art from the earlier series, Battlestar Galactica.

The regular cast of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century consisted of Gil Gerard as Captain William “Buck” Rogers, Erin Gray as Colonel Wilma Deering, Tim O’Conner as Dr Huer, Mel Blanc as the voice of Twiki, & William Conrad as the narrator (in the pilot & first season). In addition, Pamela Hensley made four appearances (including the pilot) as Buck’s (and Earth’s) main adversary Princess Ardala, while Michael Ansara played her henchman, Kane in the regular series. (Henry Silva portrayed Kane in the pilot.) I find it intriguing that John Colicos played the main villain of Battlestar Galactica, while Michael Ansara portrayed the heavy in Larson’s next SF series, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which aired just a year later. Colicos & Ansara both played Klingon commanders (Kor & Kang, respectively) encountered by the Enterprise crew in Star Trek: TOS.

Rogers debuted in Armageddon 2419 AD, a novel written by Phillip Francis Nowlan & published in the August, 1928 issue of Amazing Stories. In the Nowlan novels, the character is known as Anthony Rogers, rather than Buck. In the novel, Rogers is in suspended animation for 492 years awaking, as the title suggests, in 2419. In the 1979 TV series, Buck is in suspension for 504 years & awakes in 2491 (which is just barely still the 25th Century).

In 1929, Nowlan adapted Armageddon 2419 AD into a daily newspaper comic strip & changed the protagonist’s name from Anthony Rogers to Buck. The Buck Rogers comic strip ran from 1929 to 1967 & was the first science fiction comic strip ever. Buck, Wilma, Dr Huer, Kane, & Ardala all appeared in the comic strip.

In 1939, Universal adapted Buck Rogers into a film serial starring Buster Crabbe who had previously starred in two Flash Gordon serials. Crabbe made a guest appearance in the first regular episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (“Planet of the Slave Girls”) as “Brigadier Gordon,” a nod to Flash Gordon.

My Three Favorite Episodes of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century in production order

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode
“Awakening” (0x01)
“Plot to Kill a City” (1x03)
“Flight of the War Witch” (1x20)


Notes on favorite episodes

“Awakening” (0x01)



#2

“Plot to Kill a City” (1x03)





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