BV TBANK TtIUECE

IKE AN enlightened versionof The Empire, "Star Wars"has conquered the knownuniverse. The movies, mer-chandise, comic books,games and string of best-sell-ing continuation novels havemade the "Star Wars" sagainto the premier piece ofpop-culture mytholory.

So how come it has had almost zilcheffect on TV? lI

vive a surprise :rttackby the mcchanoid Oy-lons. lJent on destroy-ing all humanoid liftr,the Cylons pursued theGalactica and its lleetof 22O smaller space-craft as the convoyheaded for refuge onthe little-known planetEarth. CommanderAdama (Lorne Greene)captained the battles-tar; his son, Capt.l1*-*Ll*l-fl .i ,. L ,r -,1

Nll(l I'hoto

"Galacllca"crew, at lell:Maren Jen$on,Richard Halch,

Dirk Benedicl

and LorneGreene. Above,

Gil Gerard as

Buck Rogers,

with Vera

Miles, Kelley

Miles and FelixSilla as Twiki.

BY TBANK L0UEGE tl I f r I E I viveasurpriseattack "Gatactica"by the mechanoid Cy- crew, at lell:lons. Bent on destroy- Maren Jensen,IKEAI{enlightenedversion.ingallhumarroid-life,RichardHatch,

ofTheEmpire,'..Star.Wars,,..-.^-.theCylonspursuedtheDirkBenedict

l 0DDlTl[S ffiffiil"It's very clear that when 'Star Hit"tJ, led-a ngiit", squadron; Lt.

Wars' came out [on May 25,19771that , tA t _rr Starbuck (Dirk B-enedict)-was the lov-

;1:t?#:ffi#;1;*;;ffi.$:l: 'Star Wars'spawned a couple ;'yjiruru{tto;;mi,ar,nell, editor of the science-fiction media "Battlestar Galactica" prompted "Star

iltrtrH:.i,1,11|;';,tlfr;ii'""rffi,,i;; of tube knockoffs, but it wasnlt as potent S*;*"1":ii*"1;;m"tg:fiil,'4TH',H'ffi:i,"i:ff":'iT1',ii a FORCE as vou miEht think ::?L$#in',*:t1'*l*:*r:t:Wars' wasn't that your plot should be a - ----c'-- ments ur u b* populated 6y unearthlytrioofadventurersfightingtheevilem- n rr rr ,)..ma n. r rr r? t t (.dt a 1,, /tn'o\ looking alien iaces and also reusedpire: It was, 'How do *e take these in- S_ix Million Dollar Man," "The Bionic and the syndicated "Starlost" (1973) ,,St"" Wars,' special effects. And in-credible special effects and apply it to a 'Woman," and the robocop sitcom and "Space: 1999" (1975'77) were a""A ,;St* W,story?, ,,

:rects and apply rt -- -- "Holmes and yo-yo." And the follow- space opera. "The six Million Dollar deed' "star w€rs" special-effects ma-

some would argue Hollywood is still i1s TV season, post-"star wars," in- Man"? Not space opera. ven John Dyk$ra' who hadn't received

trying ro learn. Neverthet"rr, ,,5iu, cniaed the two bionic shows plus "Lo- But "Battlestar Galactica" surely 3::*i:ij[""f*i'#a:*:t":tfi*t$Wars" - which is being re-released gan's Run" and "Man From Atlantis" was. Premiering on ABC Sept. L7, the producers of ,,Battlestar Galac-this week in a restored anldshghtly re- : bol} already in the works before 1978, it was the most hiShlV hypeq tica.,, Universal countersued, sayingvamped 20th-anniversary edition, with 'Star Wars' was released. show of that TV season. Its reported ..Star'Wars,, had ripped offelem"rrt, o?its two seqrrels to follow in February But these were all earthbound, and budge! of $1 million per one-hour e,pi- its Ig72 film ,,Silent Running.,, As forand March - inevitably influenced TV - exc.gnt-.{or "Logan's Run," based on sode was the most ever for a regular the series itself, it was put 6n hiatusin the short term. Its legacy? Two ex- a movie, like the earlier "Planet of the series - far outstripping the previous and relaunched as ,,Galactica 1980,"pensive examples ofjust not getting the Apes" (48C, L974) -- were set in the $300,000-per-episode record set by set B0 years iater in the future and withpgint and falling back on sci-fi clich6s: present day. What "Star Wars" did was "Space: 1999" and its much-lauded a completely new cast except for"Battlestar Galactica" and "Buck Rog- reilvlsorate the science-fiction forT special effects. Gr""ttul It enied its journey in August,ers in the 25th Century.' called "space operal': Intergalactic ad- And "Battlestar Galactica" certainly 1980.

Science fiction had, of course, been venture-dramas with spacecraft, rdy had special effects aplenty itself. The .,Buck Rogers in the 2bth Century,'on series TV before, most notably with guns and all sorts of futuristic hard- title referred to the space fortress Ga- premiered on NgC on Sept. 20, 1979, six"Star Trek" (NBe;' ' -':theL976-??seasonalreadyhad"The serialswerespaceopera."starTrek" umA.D.wastheonlybattlestartosur-

- PlnesnTURNT,oPecrc29

U'.czoC-

zcrlt\)-o)

(o(o{nD-nD-h

.il"SPACE ODDITIES

Et monthsafterthepilothadplayedasa "Stargate," with Showtime commit-tr l!:***l rerease. It was ihdsecond tJ-tozi Jpis"d"r u"gr"ri"g i., j;ty;G Buck,Rogers series. on television; the "Battleground EartI,, (syidicateh,

, -Gf- l{:t- $d .run_on ABC in 1950 and scheduled for fall), based bn ur, ,rrr_6.'.?,1$Hi'lg+liffi f;r,",ily"flt$x5::t::#,'jff f *'*fJ*?:"tTi, :.r'l=i comic strip, radib series."a *o"i" ttee"eclru"e;";d";;;.,and,,Time-iii+li serial w_as something of a disco space Cop, ,' basld ti-tfr"--*i" and sched-,, ; op_erq, deliber?lely tongue-in-cheek.

"1"'a f* eec;; id;fif season.

..,^lltj,9ryllWilliam,.Buck"Rogers ip;;; "p*;tir"iln", re-emerged

,.,,.:.,,. (Grl Gerard), an astronaut in sus- without the beneht of a new ,,Siar1;r111i pended- animation since 1982, i! dis- Wa", ; *o"i",i"""lg$. and though..ili.i coveredandawakenedtythevillain- neithe.space-ffiu.i""r.".ies,,Space:I,;+ ous Draconians in 249i. He,s then 41""" .riJ e"ffiJ;;ifo*, 199b_96)r."r.:i p.lur-rSed.jnlo the struggle bltween ,ror ,,Space nlrrj"".,; (CBS, 1gg3);,,i,;,::r their evil Princess ardala (pamela rurt"ai6"g, rv-.p""."operahasbeen

Hensley) and the Earth Defense Di- .fiu"u"aliriui"i.fu" f gSTwiththerectorate. Eventually, much of this ,,Star Trek'-' ;fi;_;if, :.-Cd;"i{;;space opera took place

- on Earth, Generation, " ,,-f""p Spu." 5ine, andwhere Buck made friends with de-

f lJo.vqser,i, ";e ih; Trek_esquefense commander Col. Wilma Deer- ,,nu6yi[rr 6.',ing LErin_Gray), qnd renowned scien- Wrii.h poi"t, to a source far more. tist Dr. Huer (Tim O'Conn!1), who i"flu;iili;;fVtn.":,StarWars,,:gave Buck a tiny {rbor ^si4ekick,

;;St;;i;4.;;Wr,yiif,.riUrvt""u.r.u,Twiki (little person Felix Silla with in gur ,minds, movies are movies,thevoiceofMelBlancand, temporar_ *itf, ilfr""""i'""p"""iJio"s of wide_ily, Bob Elyea)."it,tu;;d;reda*Gatactica',-style;,",Hi''XL"',1:iji"?: j.'d?%tft\.:n"Joverhaul after its first season. Fbl- s_pecial effects, while nice, are secon_lowing a three-month hiatus, ft re- d;t;;;il;;;t"r.,i"'"o*" to knowturned in January, 1981, with Buck * i"ii*"t".,-;L;;th" details ofand Wilma now aboard the Searcher, their;;;;i;;flue. *" *frut interestsan interstellar starship seeking sur- us. We ;;; ;;j";;6ilnt Eastwoodvivors of a long-ago Earth holocaust moviewithoutiaLrriirying*ithDirtyand mass exodus..Among rheir crew- ii;fi;;;;fflJ'i'#t" rri* r,o*umates were an Admiral Asimov_(Jay every week o" ,,6i"ty iiu".y: The Se_Garner), a descendant of writer Isaac ries.;'But with u ,t-fi""..,,, an ,,ER,,,{.tTgv, and Chrichton (voice of Jeff a ;,St*1""f.,;; tfr"

"'fru...ters aren,t

Pavid), a highly intellig.ent a1{.high- larger than life _ thev,re our make_

ltrS:$ri?*r;ffil."Buck" dot i;ri;;"^ffi"ai. r#;{. one reason,

By then, it was all over for .,star '(M*A*S*H" notwithstanditg, Y1ryw.i*,;-n-*o""d ,_p_u"" op""u o. tv. fi:*t*ln:l or:novie-cloned rVScience-fiction TV itself, of course, .,Television doesn,t need to be in_continued as a viable genre through fluenced by ,Star .Wars,, ,, McDon_

1-,-.. : -.-- .suc!superhero seties as,,The Flasf, ,, .

ic itd -igrio_iiil "a"i ".t{ i.'\i.

' :i.E:,, 33Ll..obs.ervgp.- "w_e already have' The

(Fox, 1994-95); escapist adventure X-Files'andtheshowsthithavetak.i""r,'u.;.x,,ightniiei';iryni,ilb::: ji#:r+:Ttffj,;XtiXtjlT,"ry86); such serious sci-fi as the allegori- ur.rorrrrt of shows influenced by thatcal "V" (NBC, two miniseries pi-us a and ,Star'Trek., Television doesn,t1984-85 series) and the darkly

^satiri- :

"ut, .yu"rprnl rv-rr"*s drama need'Starwars."'E"Max Headroom" (ABC, 1g_g'). . Franh Louece, author of ,,The

X_Among^upcoming shows are "star- Files Decrassiiia,; ii i rigurar con-gate SG-1," based on the movie tributortuF;;F;;".-- -