I thought it would be nice to take a look back at one of the landmarks in television history, or rather its bastard stepchild, and that would be Galactica 1980. Now, the original Glen Larson series was cancelled after only one season, even good ratings couldn’t combat the cost of the show and thus couldn’t warrant staying in production, so a greatly reduced budget the spin-off series had a very different feel. On the plus side Galactica 1980 is so damn fun to watch as it is simply one of the goofiest things I’ve ever seen aired on Network television – this from a guy who has watched every episode of Manimal and Automan – and that kind of entertainment value is pure gold in my book.
Below you will find links to my reviews of the short-lived adventures of Commander Adama, Captain Troy, Lieutenant Dillon, and Docter Zee as they finally reach that shining star called…Earth.
In the series pilot “Galactica Discovers Earth” we find our heroes having finally reached Earth only to find it technologically useless in a fight with oncoming Cylons. It’s now up to a group of Colonial fighters to do their best to help advance Earth enough to help fight.
In “The Super Scouts” Cylons attack the fleet’s school ship so a bunch of kids must flee to Earth and hopefully not die from the pollution caused by a corrupt small town.
In “Spaceball” Troy and Dillon are marooned in space while Jamie brings the Super Scouts to a baseball camp. Evil Xaviar tries to take the kids hostage before Colonel Briggs can get in the way. Hijinks ensue.
In “The Night the Cylons Landed” an advanced Cylon ship crash lands on Earth during Halloween. Troy and Dillon must track them down before they can radio the Cylon Empire that they have found Earth.
In “Space Croppers” we see two agro ships destroyed by the Cylons so Troy and Dillon must immediately begin to colonize Earth. Only a racist farmer stands between them and famine.
In “The Return of Starbuck,” the final and best episode of the series, we find Starbuck marooned on a barren planet where he befriends a fellow crashed Cylon.
You can check out all my reviews for the original series here: Battlestar Galactica
Galactica 1980
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Series Rank - 5.5/105.5/10
Summary
With less money and even lesser actors we get a space show that mostly stays Earthbound, but if you embrace the goofiness you could have some real fun watching it.