I hate to admit this, but I haven't yet seen a single episode of the new Battlestar Galactica. That's something that not having cable can do to you. I have only heard good (or great) things about it. A good friend (also without cable) recently got totally sucked into the BSG world via Netflix. I should probably do the same.

Anyway, one thing that sort of makes me feel bad is that everyone these days seems to believe that the original Battlastar Galactica show sucked. I remember watching it as a kid (and am pretty sure I even saw the theatrical re-edited version when it was released). While I was pretty young when the show was first on, I watched it in syndication for years afterward. I even vaguely remember the "Galactica 1980" show too.

The point is that I remeber really liking this show. Yes it was a big rip-off of "Star Wars" (but there were no shortages of those rip-offs in the late 70s) and may have been a bit cheesy at times, but does this mean that it was a "bad" show? I don't know how a TV show produced in the 70s is supposed to be able to compare to a finely produced show made today--or if it is even fair to do so. It seems like a lot of people who love the new show tend to deride the original. It almost seems like some people feel the original is a cheap rip-off of the NEW show! Sometimes it sems like people are even pissed that they actually dared to make Starbuck a man in the original story (as though they were messing with an already revered character or something). I don't have any problems with anyone liking the new show better than the old one, but just don't understand why they have to put down the original at the same time. They are two different shows after all--and there wouldn't be a new version if not for the "vastly inferior" original, right?

Sorry to seem so negative. I know that I haven't even seen the new one, so I can't really compare the two. But if watching the new one is going to make me hate the original, maybe I'm better off not seeing it at all. After all, I still have fond memories of the original--even if it wasn't a "perfect" show.

Any fans of the new show who still have a place in their hearts for the original? Can anyone shed more light on this phenomenon? Perhaps people have always disliked the original (especially people who aren't fans of sci-fi but who ARE fans of the new show because of its political nature and plain old great story telling...), but the topic just never came up until the new show came out and it gave people a chance to say "oh yeah, I remember that really crappy show from the 70s--hated it!". I just don't know.

Please realize that this post is in no way a put down of the new BSG. Like I've said a couple of times, I haven't even seen it yet. There's no need to defend the show against me. From all I've heard, as soon as I do get a chance to see it I'm going to love it. I just never realized that people had such low regard for the original.

Well despite the warm feeling I have for the original, you can see the cheesiness of it. I actually just received Galactica 1980 from Netflix, What a God awful show that was, The only good episode was the final one, 'The Return of Starbuck'

Well, I'm not going to argue about Galactica 1980 (I mean the show actually had Cousin Oliver from The Brady Bunch for cripe's sake!). But did the cheesiness of the original show really bother you that much when it was on? It is probably mostly nostalgia, but the last time I saw the original I still liked it. Cheesiness was never really a reason for me not to like a show or a movie. If it was I probably wouldn't have liked the majority of the movies on CDF. I guess that now that there is a high-quality version of the Battlestar the cheesiness of the original must stand out when the two are compared side by side or something.

It WAS state of the art back then. I just hated the fact they looped the battle scenes in every episode so you always saw the same fights. FYI Cousin Oliver-Robbie Rist-was only in the first two episodes of Galactica 1980, he was quickly replaced (the kid couldn't hold a job I guess)

Alright, now that's a good point. I sort-of noticed the repetitious shots as a kid, but they didn't really bother me as far as I recall. As an adult though, they're quite annoying (even if it was done due to budget restrictions or whatever). I guess my positive feelings for the show are mainly nostalgic. I wonder what I'd think of it if I were to see it for the first time today...

Now, while this may be a bit off-topic, Robbie Rist (while never being able to get much of a real TV show career going) can be found on MySpace. Apparently he's really into music these days and plays in bands rather than acting.

http://www.myspace.com/robbierist

If you happen to check it out, watch the video his buddy Fletch made. It's called "Cousin Oliver's Revenge". Kind of interesting...

He was in an interview on VH1 a few years back and finally declared 'I killed the Brady Bunch show'

That's awesome!

I got to watch the new BSG thanks to friends who have cable and enjoyed it immensely. I also watched the original when it first aired and loved that show as well (Galactica 1980...not so much). I still love it for what it is, much like I love Lost in Space or any show from my childhood that I liked.

RE: Repetitive effects in the original:
They had no choice at the time. It was such a huge show to produce on a weekly basis, they were in danger of not making the air date on more than one occasion. They simply didn't have the time to create enough new shots for every week.

RE: Cancellation
The show ended up canceled after only 1 season because it was so expensive; over $1 million per episode (an ungodly amount at the time). It still had decent ratings, but not at that price. That's why Galactica 1980 with its reduced budget was made. Unfortunately, the timeslot it was placed in (Sundays 7pm AKA children's hour) greatly restricted what could be shown and I think a certain amount of educational material had to be included in each script.
It did have one gem though, the Starbuck episode.

I just finished watching the entire original BG series via Netflix. I still haven't watched a single episode of the new series, although I intend to shortly. Anyway, I hadn't seen the original in years; probably since it first aired and I'd forgotten a lot about it. I'd be warned by friends that it was outdated, campy, cheesy, whatever. I have to admit that yes, in a lot of ways, it doesn't hold up. There's a real naivete about the whole thing that's kind of cloying and yet at the same time, it held my attention. I'm sure there's a nostalgia factor at work and maybe you had to be there in the first place to "get" it. It also helps that Anne Lockhart was supremely cute and still looks great today if the interview section of the last disc is anything to go by! And I really did enjoy seeing guest appearances from the likes of Fred Astaire and Lloyd Bridges as well.

In a way, it's a shame that the series didn't carry on.