What a contrast between the 1st & 2nd stories. With the same premise, cast & people in charge, "LOST PLANET OF THE GODS" stands out as the BEST of the early BG stories. I credit a lot of that to Christian Nyby, who in the 80's & 90's did the BULK of the PERRY MASON TV-movies. This guy is GOOD! There's none of the painful scenes of characters standing around silently looking dim this time. And a shocking example of the difference between this and the pilot (presumably filmed at least 6 MONTHS earlier) is Boxey. He was so terribly annoying in the 1st story, concerned with nothing but his stupid DOG while people were getting killed all around him. Here, Noah Hathaway actually looks noticeably older, Boxey has developed a real personality, and he's likable! He's no Will Robinson, but it's a relief to see a young boy in any kind of story who I can actually stand to watch.
But as before, Terry Carter gets the best lines, especially when he dresses down a subordinate for the way a party has been stocked with liquor. "There's only one thing worse than stealing from the Officers' Mess. That's getting CAUGHT-- stealing from the Officers' Mess. Am I making myself CLEAR, Corporel?" (This actually sounds like a line from an episode of SGT. BILKO. I wouldn't be surprised...)
My best friend used to refer to "old-fashioned 2-parters" as those stories from the 60's where each half of a 2-hour story almost could stand on its own, as opposed to those where you feel like they just took a 1-hour story and stretched it to fit 2. "LOST PLANET" was no doubt intended as a 2-hour TV-movie, but it really works as 2 separate episodes.
The 1st focuses on the upcoming wedding of Apollo & Serena, his bachelor party, and the way Boomer (Herb Jefferson) & Jolly (Tony Schwartz) carelessly skipped decontamination, and so managed to get almost every pilot in the entire fleet infected with an unknown, potentially LETHAL disease. (How stupid can you get?) The schizo writing continues here as the plot is split between desperately trying to save lives and find a cure, and the training of replacement pilots-- ALL WOMEN.
The scenes with the women pilots is played far too cutesy and for laughs, in the middle of what should be a terrible, desperate situation. Oh well, at least it's watchable. Meanwhile, George Murdock, who's made a career out of playing sleaze-balls and the kind of cops you love to hate, has probably the best role of his career as Dr. Salik, BG's answer to DeForest Kelly. He is so INTENSE and SERIOUS, he seems to have walked in from some other TV series, and he gives the situation the respect it deserves, as when he tells Adama, "It's not a question of how soon they can return to duty, it's how soon THEY WILL DIE."
Meanwhile, we find that the NEW Imperious Leader (who has the same voice as the old one) has decided to spare Baltar's life, and puts him in charge of his own Base Ship in order to hunt down the Galactica. To make sure things stay on track, he's given a sidekick-- Lucifer, an advanced model of Cylon who actually has a personality. It's hilarious that Baltar (who is almost BG's version of "Dr. Smith") is saddled with a robot who is voiced by none other than Jonathan Harris-- "Dr. Smith" himself! To this day, I rank Lucifer as possibly Harris' BEST acting job, EVER. He's "so wonderfully devious", completely evil and enjoys learning more from Baltar. What a contrast between and Adama-Tigh and Baltar-Lucifer. The first pair are loyal friends; the 2nd pair are constantly trying to stab each other in the back.
I guess I've got too much to say about this, so I'll split it up over 2 episodes... just like ABC did.
But as before, Terry Carter gets the best lines, especially when he dresses down a subordinate for the way a party has been stocked with liquor. "There's only one thing worse than stealing from the Officers' Mess. That's getting CAUGHT-- stealing from the Officers' Mess. Am I making myself CLEAR, Corporel?" (This actually sounds like a line from an episode of SGT. BILKO. I wouldn't be surprised...)
My best friend used to refer to "old-fashioned 2-parters" as those stories from the 60's where each half of a 2-hour story almost could stand on its own, as opposed to those where you feel like they just took a 1-hour story and stretched it to fit 2. "LOST PLANET" was no doubt intended as a 2-hour TV-movie, but it really works as 2 separate episodes.
The 1st focuses on the upcoming wedding of Apollo & Serena, his bachelor party, and the way Boomer (Herb Jefferson) & Jolly (Tony Schwartz) carelessly skipped decontamination, and so managed to get almost every pilot in the entire fleet infected with an unknown, potentially LETHAL disease. (How stupid can you get?) The schizo writing continues here as the plot is split between desperately trying to save lives and find a cure, and the training of replacement pilots-- ALL WOMEN.
The scenes with the women pilots is played far too cutesy and for laughs, in the middle of what should be a terrible, desperate situation. Oh well, at least it's watchable. Meanwhile, George Murdock, who's made a career out of playing sleaze-balls and the kind of cops you love to hate, has probably the best role of his career as Dr. Salik, BG's answer to DeForest Kelly. He is so INTENSE and SERIOUS, he seems to have walked in from some other TV series, and he gives the situation the respect it deserves, as when he tells Adama, "It's not a question of how soon they can return to duty, it's how soon THEY WILL DIE."
Meanwhile, we find that the NEW Imperious Leader (who has the same voice as the old one) has decided to spare Baltar's life, and puts him in charge of his own Base Ship in order to hunt down the Galactica. To make sure things stay on track, he's given a sidekick-- Lucifer, an advanced model of Cylon who actually has a personality. It's hilarious that Baltar (who is almost BG's version of "Dr. Smith") is saddled with a robot who is voiced by none other than Jonathan Harris-- "Dr. Smith" himself! To this day, I rank Lucifer as possibly Harris' BEST acting job, EVER. He's "so wonderfully devious", completely evil and enjoys learning more from Baltar. What a contrast between and Adama-Tigh and Baltar-Lucifer. The first pair are loyal friends; the 2nd pair are constantly trying to stab each other in the back.
I guess I've got too much to say about this, so I'll split it up over 2 episodes... just like ABC did.
