The Lost Battlestar Galactica TV Movies!

[@diggingattycho7908]

They didn't destroy all the sets right away. They were scattered around the lot, just outside of the soundstages. I saw them on the Universal tour, most of the pieces were covered up. except for a tattered tarp blowing up to reveal a corner of the Galactica starchart. That was somewhere back in 79 or 80. As a kid my mind was blown. That was the fun thing about the old Universal tour, Universal was a working studio back then. Backlot and all, there was so much most of us who grew up on 70's-80's TV, would recognized on those tours. It really is shame Universal went the way of theme park. There was something much more exotic about moviemaking of that era. It really was removed from our daily reality. Unlike today, "Oh yay, movie magic. I got a bunch of computers at home and work too."

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

You make some good points. What’s interesting is that the original shows practical Cylons look more convincing than the cgi Cylons of the reimagined series. They have aged very badly!!

[@williammitchell4417]

​@@battlestarcollectica7106I vaguely remember the VHS tapes being released. Maybe it was where I lived at the time.

[@dalethelander3781]

Universal is still a working studio; there's still soundstages there. Stage 28, though, the Phantom of the Opera stage, was demolished in favor of a new office tower.

[@douglasw.7864]

My local UHF station (Channel 39 in Houston) started airing these in October of 1980. Once a week on Friday. Personally I was thrilled, as it gave me a chance to revisit BG once again.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

I agree but they there is nothing like the real thing!

[@london19657]

Nice videos. Just got the "blockbuster rewind cylon" and a Hallmark Galactica tree ornament. ($30) Keep 'em coming. Ho Ho Ho. P.S. I'm 61 and used to buy Starlog back then. Wish I'd kept them all.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Thanks for watching! I miss the days of Starlog (and the 1980s!) What a fun mag and time too be a sci-fi fan!!

[@Poizenne]

I still have the few Starlogs I bought plus the blueprints for the Galactica sets I bought thru Starlog. I've always wondered if the blueprints were worth anything. Maybe a group of fans who wanted to make a web series( ala Star Trek Continues) would want them.

[@dalethelander3781]

​@@PoizenneThe blueprints aren't rare.

[@rickytoddbotelho9555]

Great job. Original stuff is the best 👌 👍 😍 🥰

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Thank you 🤗

[@stephenspangler2790]

I remember when my parents finally broke down and got cable TV, HBO was airing Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack. I watched that movie every time it came on. Did a good job of melding together the episodes "The Living Legend" and "Fire in Space".

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

That was a fun movie that actually worked very well! Big hit in theaters around the world as well. Thanks for watching!

[@jerobriggs6861]

Most of it is was edited very well together. Some scenes at the beginning were even better edited together than in the TV version of The Living Legend. However, the final scene was more than a bit rough. Trying to edit both the endings of The Living Legend and Fire in Space didn't go so well. But with the exception of that final scene, the rest was pretty well done. I have a soft spot for Mission Galactica. Have it on both VHS and the region 2 DVD.

[@JediHangout]

I remember the TV movies. I saw both the original series and these movies all through the 80s. I didn't care that they were the rehash of the original series as it was the only way to watch Battlestar Galactica. I was always hoping for more with the original cast and I truly love these and still watch them to this very day.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Thanks for sharing your great memories! BSG is classic in any format!

[@DaleLongGoldCylon]

The original bridge stood until late 1979 when ABC asked Glen Larson to reboot the series aka Galactica 1980. Glen and his team went to Universal to take a look at studio 27 (The Bridge location) most of the bridge was still in tact except the Tektronix (loaned) equipment had been removed. Glen told Universal he needed the stage back but forgot one major thing. When production geared up soon after the production team went back to Stage 27 and the building was empty. He went to the Studio heads to find out what happened and they explained you asked for the Stage and nothing was mentioned about leaving the set the it was so we cleared it out for your new production.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

I never heard that story before! Just amazing that the bridge was basically destroyed by mistake. Thanks for sharing that info!

[@jgrab1]

I'm reading more as being an intentional a**hole than doing it by mistake. @@battlestarcollectica7106

[@AvengerII]

They showed a few of these films in TV syndication in the US. I remember seeing 3 or 4 of these movies shown in syndication off a TV station broadcasting from Detroit, MI(?) -- or was it WUAB Ch 43, Lorain, OH? The big one most people aware of was the re-edited theatrical release of the 3-part Galactica pilot. I've seen both versions enough times and in this case prefer the TV version. I did see the theatrical pilot edit in theaters, too. Marvelous film to a little kid at the time. Sure, the script has issues AND it's a bit cheesy to an adult but the effects are as good as Star Wars for the most part which it should be since the same SFX producer worked on Star Wars and Galactica! LOL I wasn't aware of "added scenes" to the episodes re-edited as movies to be shown theatrically overseas. I think a few of these did make their way onto VHS tape. I owned most of the American VHS tapes until DVD became the big thing. I sold most of my VHS tapes by 2004/2005 timeframe. I'm sad to see Universal didn't care enough to include the deleted scenes or re-edits in the recent Galactica Blu ray sets. I bought the Blu ray set with the original broadcast and widescreen reformatted episodes around 4-5 years ago. Unfortunately, they gave us ALL of Galactica 1980 in that BD set! LOL

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Universal should issue an Ultimate BSG box set with EVERYTHING! Thanks for watching!

[@Bishop37]

The telemovies didn't get any play in the UK. I had that VHS set at one point!

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Nice! It’s a rare set!

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Yes, just search BSG TV movies and you will be able to find them.

[@mahatmarandy5977]

*SOME* of the Galactica sets were moved over to the Universal Studios Tour, and stayed there for a bunch of years until they started falling apart. Basically your tram car would be going along, and cylons would pretend to ambush you and force you into a cave or whatever, where a colonial warrior would get in a fight with them and you’d go through the control room (And I think part of an ovion corridor) and then get ‘free’ to continue the rest of the tour. Some of the Galactica-1980 scenes involving the Control Room were allegedly filmed *on* that part of the studio tour at night, after hours, when the tour was closed. . It’s my understanding that some of the sets were repurposed for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, too. For instance, that weirdly-angled hallway in the Draconia (And later the Searcher) was the hallway the trams carrying the viper pilots rode down in the early episodes. And some of the landing bay ended up in that 2nd season episode with Mark Leonard as an alien who could take his head off (GOD that show was stupid!) I didn’t realize they trashed the bulk of the sets so quickly! I hadn’t heard that before!

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Thanks for sharing what you saw! Very interesting stuff!!

[@Sidewalkstvshow]

I remember these 12 movies. They aired in primetime on KBHK-TV44 in the San Francisco market. During the week they were first airing, I was in the hospital and watch them on a small TV. KBHK did repeat the movies again at another time. I recorded them on VHS, and a BG friend was excited to see the special version of "Experiment in Terra" with the new log book, astronaut scenes combined with portions of "Galactica 1980's" "The Return of Starbuck" (the film dropped all mention of Angela and Starbuck made it back to the Galactica in the ship that he and Cy designed). Off hand, the regular hour long BG was syndicated weekly on KBHK. It aired on a Saturday night, so Universal did do some off-network rebroadcast.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Thanks for sharing your great memories with the community! That astronaut scene was cool!!

[@the_flyattractor8656]

Never heard of the "Movies" Heck I didn't even learn about Galactica 1980 (The Series We don't talk about) until walking thru a Blockbuster Video and seeing a VHS on a shelf.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Lol! Thanks for watching (and forget you ever saw G80!). 😉

[@webstersempire]

The "Experiment in Terra" had the best "new" footage- a history of the Cylon War, natrated by Lorne Greene, over paintings/production art, imcluding the Lizard Cylons. I had all 12 movies recorded off of tv in the '80's. Virtually all the "new dialog" were voiceover bits- Apollo not quite sounding like Richard Hatch😅 Also, "The Return of Starbuck" was included- except the Angela storyline is edited out & Starbuck leaves.the planet on the ship he and CY made, thereby rendering "Galactica 1980" non-canon.👍

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Very interesting! Thanks for that info!!

[@CasualHoarder-ny9sd]

One of the sets (props) sold on eBay in the mid 90’s.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Very rare today! I wish that Universal would issue an ultimate box set with everything ever issued for BSG!

[@dalethelander3781]

Yes, the 12 telefilms were run in Chicago on WFLD 32 on staggered Friday evenings around 1982.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Nice! Thanks for sharing that memory and detail!!

[@epaddon]

This was a practice Universal frequently engaged in with shows of theirs that only lasted one season. Since they felt a one season show could never be sold into daily strip syndication, the solution was to syndicate compilations of episodes and have them available for 90 or two hour movie slots. A similar practice befell "Night Gallery" which was re-edited as a half hour show for syndication and then episodes of another show "The Sixth Sense" were re-edited with new intros by Rod Serling to become part of the "Night Gallery" syndication package. Other examples were the 60 minute episodes of the first season of "McCloud" being combined into 90 minute versions so they could be syndicated with the 90 minute and 2 hour versions from the later NBC Mystery Movie run. This would mean using voiceover trickery to connect the disparate episodes and the end results, needless to say were always jarring and confusing. Only with the episodes that originally aired in two parts was the story left alone and in those cases we got to see additional scenes that had not aired in the original ABC broadcasts. But it was in keeping with a standard practice at Universal. Ultimately, these bizarre re-edits became unnecessary when Galactica was able to go into daily strip syndication a couple years later packaged with "Buck Rogers" (the general rule being Galactica would air their episodes then Buck's episodes and then go back to Galactica). Today, the mater videos for those re-edited versions may not exist any longer because of the 2008 Universal fire.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Wow! Thank you for all of that incredible information!!

[@timfankell4242]

Actually, it was always offered both ways (telefilms or series), starting in the fall of 1980. Most markets originally opted for the telefilms, since the series only consisted of 24 episodes, which made striping the less desirable option at the time.

[@epaddon]

@@timfankell4242 Thanks for the correction. Checking old newspaper listings, I've had my memory refreshed that WOR aired it only on weekends starting in early 1981, but eventually they did strip it with Buck Rogers later on. WOR stopped airing it in early 1985.

[@timfankell4242]

@@epaddon I remember watching it on WOR in the early '80s. It was my first time seeing many of the episodes since the show's original network run (including some I'd missed the first time around). As I recall, WOR never aired "Take the Celestra" for some reason.

[@warriorcommando2]

I had no idea till watching this post that those movies existed. I remember vividly watching all those episodes when they first originally aired on television, and in my early 20’s collecting what few VHS TAPES I found of episodes, but I never heard or seen anything about them making several episodes into tv movies.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

They were a cash cow for Universal! Sold in every tv market in the world!

[@thompsonterry4804]

I saw Mission Galactica: Cylon Attack during high school in the early eighties, not knowing anything about this movie series. I watched the original series and Galactica 1980 as they aired the first time. I knew as I watched the movie that it was not as I thought I remembered the show, but I stuck it out because, Galactica! Thanks for your video.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Thanks for sharing your memories and for watching!

[@CasualHoarder-ny9sd]

Mission Galactica. I have it on vhs

[@jerobriggs6861]

I personally would like to see the TV films of Lost Planet of the Gods, Gun on Ice Planet Zero, The Living Legend, War of the Gods, and Experiment in Terra simply for the additional scenes not included in the original TV episodes. Each of those were extended, and I think it would be neat to see extended feature-length cuts of those ones.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

I agree. I’m hoping that a company like Shout Factory issued a definitive BSG collection that would include everything. Just think how amazing that would be!!

[@carlosallende2595]

​@battlestarcollectica7106 Keep Us Posted on that!

[@olympicnut]

My local TV station bought the 24 episodes & aired them that way. (The sets were not scrapped right away)

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

From what I understand the bridge was dismantled immediately because most of the hardware was leased (and had to be returned). They only held onto the small communications section which was used in G80.

[@Bill23799]

Do you remember that Mad Magazine had a Parody issue based on Battlestar Galactica? It was called " Cattlecar Galactica " .

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Yes, very funny!!

[@brendanhaley3668]

Never heard of these products?!?! I only recall the original hr long episodes as a kid Down Under, so wonder if these made it here

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

I’m sure they did as BSG was big in Australia. Thanks for watching!

[@carlosallende2595]

I know that my brother and I saw three BSG movies here in Australia, two at our local Drive-In, and one at the cinema. We both picked up on the Viper computer monitor having Made In USA come on at the top right hand corner of the screen (see "Coming In Hot" chapter of the wide-screen DVD movie, "Battlestar Galactica ") We were impressed that the Vipers computers were "Made In USA!😂

[@mahatmarandy5977]

I enjoyed them. I was only like 13/14 when they started airing, and I was aware of how cheap they were, and how painfully obvious some of the forced transition scenes were, but no one was going to syndicate a show with only 24 episodes, so it was the only way to see it for several years. There’s probably a couple I never saw, but I saw the bulk of the movies and, yeah, they were fine. There were a couple FX shots (Such as the landing bay door opening up on a base ship) that never made it into the original series proper, so it was nice coming across a few things like that when it aired. I really wish I had the collection. I taped some of them, but my Betamax died 40 years ago.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Maybe they will be released in some sort of BSG ULTIMATE Box Set! We can dream! 😀

[@Ashworth6]

OMG! I never knew that the 12 telemovies were ever released in the UK (although I'd been aware of them for decades from the Starlog article). I wonder how that got under my radar. I would have have snapped those up at the time had I known, they probably cost a fortune now. I only saw 9 of them for the first time a few weeks ago on the internet. Still haven't found the other three (Living Legend, Greetings from Earth, and Experiment Terra). Crudely made but interesting, they play somewhat like fanedits.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

I’m hoping that Universal releases the ultimate box set with everything ever filmed for BSG. How cool would that be!

[@Bungle2010]

I was aware of at least some of these movies. I had Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack on Betamax recorded off the TV.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

That was not part of this package but made as a sequel to Battlestar Galactica. It actually pretty good!

[@DavidDorton]

Probably not as successful in the U.S. because syndicated TV wasn't much of a thing yet, and they got broadcast at off times, in addition to mostly "just" being a repackaging of the series. It's a shame these aren't available somewhere today. "Experiment in Terra" is fascinating not just because of retconning the Starbuck storyline from Galactica 1980 or even for the Cylon War history, but for the packaging with an Earth astronaut finding the Galactica log in space and reading it introduce and frame the stories.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

I agree with you. The new scene is fun but ridiculous! Glen Larson said that he had nothing to do with it!

[@nealcorbett1149]

I was only aware of there being three Galactica movies: The original, Mission Galactica, and the one where Galactica finds Earth.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

The tele-movies (as Universal called them) are mostly forgotten today.

[@manlystranger4973]

Great video!!! I have never heard of these 12 movies, only the first two released overseas. Glen Larson was as inventive in repackaging his product as Colonel Parker and RCA were with Elvis LP's. I have heard of the destruction of the original sets and that being the determination by another network for being the reason not to purchase and continue the series. I heard exactly the same thing about both Batman and Star Trek. Doesn't it seem ridiculous that a TV production company would balk at the cost of sets in these 3 cases? The real cost in a set like these 3 is the design of the set. Surely, the blueprints still existed. With the blueprints and the ability to watch the already produced series, any production executive worth his pay would be able to drastically cut the cost of the build. Did you ever wonder which of the sets in Battlestar were so expensive they could not be reproduced with the plans and material lists in hand? Maybe the bridge? Or is this excuse about the set costs an urban myth, perhaps founded in statements made by executives eager to spread any reason other than the truth, which might cost them their jobs?

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

ABC paid a good part of the start up costs for BSG. If the sets were not destroyed another network would have gotten a great deal on a second season!

[@jezcartner4104]

The experiment in Terra movie has Starbucks escaping his isolation in the cylon ship which was pretty cool

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

That is cool! Thanks for the info!

[@pacmancdi]

I've always been curious about these versions of the episodes. Hope they get a release in some form on streaming or blu ray eventually.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

I have a dream of a massive BSG box set that would feature everything ever issued! Thanks for watching!

[@pacmancdi]

@@battlestarcollectica7106 Thank you for making these awesome videos! Hopefully when the new reboot comes out we'll get a new box set of the classic series.

[@PickleRick65]

Wasn't aware they existed as a set. I was aware that 2/3 TV movies were made. Never gave it much thought. I've got the originals...sooo...

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Maybe Universal will issue a Mega Super Duper Deluxe box set someday of everything ever made for BSG!!

[@chrishill-c1v]

I would like to see these films released on DVD or BLU-RAY for home video viewing. I saw some of these films on WKBD TV 50 out of Detroit in the 1980's. I wish Larson was able to make new movies with the original cast. With Glen Larson. Richard Hatch and Lorne Greene dead, it just wouldn't be the same. without them.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

I know. So sad that OUR BSG could not be revived. Thanks for watching!

[@georgecarrillo6114]

As a Kid I just remember the Two seasons on tv

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Great shows that still holds up well today! Thanks for watching!

[@damagedink1]

I was not aware of these movies. But I have been told by a couple of people that they saw an episode where Commander Adam died as the Galactica reached Earth. Is this part of those movies?

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

I don’t think that was ever filmed?

[@jerobriggs6861]

Adama never "died", but they did reach Earth in the spinoff series Galactica 1980 which was later edited into a feature-length film called Conquest of the Earth that seen theatrical release in foreign theaters and a TV airing in North America. Some countries released it as Galactica III as it was the third film to be released after Battlestar Galactica (Saga of a Star World) and Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack (The Living Legend and Fire in Space). It was also released on VHS in the 1980s. But Conquest of the Earth was not part of the 12 TV movies.

[@jerobriggs6861]

Also Adama did almost die in Fire in Space. That episode was edited together with another to make one of these 12 films. Footage from Fire in Space also made it in Mission Galactica.

[@NzLand3r]

I was not aware of twelve movies. Such a shame.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

I wish that Universal would issue an Ultimate Box Set with everything ever issued for BSG. It would be incredible to finally watch all of these rare movies!

[@jasonthewatchmansson8873]

Is there a website where the additional dialogue in the movies is laid out?

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Yes, just search for BSG tv movies and you should be able to find a few that go into great detail about the TV movies.

[@timfankell4242]

The 2-part episodes actually worked okay as telefilms, but stuff like "Space Casanova" (where 2 individual hour-long stories were randomly paired into a single narrative) were pretty awful.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

You’re right about that but the package as a whole sold by Universal was a cash grab! The whole thing was very rushed!

[@captlazer5509]

Had that issue of Starlog !

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Starlog is missed!😞

[@captlazer5509]

@@battlestarcollectica7106 somebody needs to start a Starlog channel!

[@jgrab1]

"Now these short-sighted executives at Universal Studios who even to this day have no understanding of the popularity of Battlestar Galactica..." I'm sure all those Universal executives from 1978 are thoroughly dead now.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Universal is still clueless about the popularity of BSG. They ignored the shows 45th Anniversary and many executives, who were not born when the show aired, consider the ReBoot show the real BSG. Very sad!

[@theBSisreal]

I had no idea about this stuff, just a cheap get over tactic to make a quick buck. I wish they would start a new series that starts where the last episode left off. New sub.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Universal Studios then and now still have no idea what to do with BSG!! Very frustrating! Thanks for subscribing!!

[@theBSisreal]

@@battlestarcollectica7106 These companies are dumb. They have built in life long fans and they don't take advantage of that.

[@Scotty-Z70]

Now, were you a fan of 1980? I was. Most were not. I still want those motorcycles

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Galactica 1980 had some good ideas. I really liked the time travel aspects of the show. Very cool!

[@RTS907]

I actually wanted the BSG Viper, more than a SW X-Wing. IRL that is…

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

My Mattel Starbuck figure used Luke’s Kenner X-Wing for years!! 😂

[@jime6688]

Nope, never heard of these movies. Someone earned a good bonus for coming up with the idea though, I’m sure.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Lol! Your right as these films made the studio millions!!

[@markgraham2312]

Excellent piece. I agree that the Original Episodes are superior to the pasted-together movies.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!

[@Kurtonebay]

I like the ones made form the 2 part episodes.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

They are some of the better stories. Thanks for watching!

[@thomasjoseph5876]

I knew something "weird" was done but didn't realize it was 12 movies of basically 2 episodes edited together. I think I actually watched one of these one time in Germany but it was during Oktoberfest and it was after I got back to the flat I was staying at. I woke up from an "entertaining" night with a lady I found while partying. I was pretty much out of it yet, but it was on German TV and I thought it was just the TV show but it seemed different and I just chalked it up to being drunk and tired LOL.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

Lol! Great memory of a BSG night on the town! 😉lol!!

[@mikeselwa2298]

Galactica, a babe and some brews! What a wonderful night!

[@JamesKingsleyQPatriotOrg]

One of the saddest things I ever saw was in December of 1979 when I was invited to visit the set of Buck Rogers and outside of the old Universal Studios soundstage where B:G was filmed I saw pieces of the old set ripped apart..sad

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

😡😩😞

[@chrishill-c1v]

I don't like the sci-fi channel remake of Galactica as much as I like the 1978 version. The show may have been considered campy but it was about friendship, loyalty, exploration, and ultimately war in the stars. This show might be considered a STAR WARS clone but it developed a life of its own. I enjoyed BATTLESTAR GALACTICA more than I did STAR WARS. The relationships among the characters in Galactica were more developed than STAR WARS. They were more believable in my humble opinion and so was Galactica over STAR WARS. Don't get me wrong I like George Lucas. and his films. Let's face it Lucas is a visionary but so were the men and women who were in the cast or made this show.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

I could not have said it better! Thank you!!!

[@benerval7]

I had seen a few of them but was not overly impressed with the editing or "new" story lines.

[@battlestarcollectica7106]

They are just a curiosity now. Not worth tracking down!