Hatch, Benedict And Jefferson Remember Galactica

Source SciFiPulse

20 October 2005

By Ian M. Cullen

It has its fans and it certainly has 3 generations worth of a fan base both in America and around the world, and in spite of the Ron Moore produced re-imagining the original show from which his show is based on still remains as popular as ever. In a recent article celebrating the classic series SFX caught up with actors Dirk Benedict [the real Lt. Starbuck], Herb Jefferson Jr [the Real Boomer] and Richard Hatch [the real Captain Apollo and of course Tom Zarek in the new series]. All actors still share a unifying love of the original show and were more than happy to share their collective memories.

In this day and age where Galactica only needs between 2 and 3 million viewers in order to survive on a small cable network, there is a little more time for writers to develop plots, subplots and story lines, which also leaves a little more time for the actors to learn their roles. In fact according to Dirk Benedict the makers of the new show have it a tad easier than they did when making the original show, especially due the Networks complete trust in Ron Moore and a distinct lack of interference, which is something that truly clogged up the works on the classic series. Also in comparison to the new show, the original was a far, far bigger deal then and would be if done in today’s day and age.

“The old show was a big show. We had a big soundstage, all those sets, all that production value, all those extras. So the amount of money that was spent…. If you put it into 2005 dollars, it would be huge!”

“It was the most expensive show in history,” Adds Richard Hatch. “And most challenging, because we were attempting to mount a theatrical – style production on a week – to – week basis. And the technology at the time really couldn’t support it.”

Of course being the most expensive and most talked about TV show of the 1978 fall television season had one major set back, the show was plagued by network interference, constant request for re – writes and constant political ramblings behind the scenes which interfered with many of the shows episodes and often prolonged the overall process of making the show as Richard Hatch and Herb Jefferson Jr relate.

“It was 14 – 18 hour days,” recalls Richard Hatch. “And it turned out to always be seven days a week, and we were living on the back lot. It was a really tough shoot – everybody was exhausted! I think it took about 16, 17 months to do the whole season. It was the longest shoot in history!”

Network request for re-writes for certain scripts also caused its fair share of chaos as Herb Jefferson points out.

“They’d show up with rewrites the day after we shot things – y’know, ‘Too late guys, this is already in the can!”

In spite of these difficulties, which plagued the original show, the actors also have some fond memories from that period in time. Dirk Benedict has a fondness for his brief acting gig along side the Iconic song and dance man Fred Astaire whom he worked with on the episode ‘The Man With Nine Lives’.

“He did the show because his grandchildren wanted him to,” revealed Benedict. “They loved the show – but he also did. He liked the production values: the size and the style of it, the elegance of it.”

Of course working with such a legendary figure from the movies would make an impression on almost anyone; this is something that was not lost on Dirk Benedict who admired the older statesman’s work ethic.

“I learnt a lot working with him. He’d rehearse like a dancer! Like, he has a scene, and he would want to do all the blocking, all the choreography.”

If you ever doubt how Iconic the original Galactica was, the show which brought forth Cylons, and coined the phrase’s frack and felgarcarb as alternative cuss words then Herb Jefferson can attest to the shows longevity and the power of it’s fan base. The actor shares a story about one of his more recent encounters with fans of the original series.

“A man in his thirties came with his mother and his son. His mother had gotten him a little Galactica outfit when he was a little boy, and he’d passed that Jacket on to his son. So Galactica’s gone three generations!”

You can read more of what the actors shared which includes comments from Anne Lockhart and Noah Hathaway in the new issue of SFX out now in all good UK News agencies priced £3.75.

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