MovieChat Forums > Battlestar Galactica (1979) Discussion > The opening credits--politics?

The opening credits--politics?

posted 15 years ago by matthew_91_2000
5 replies | jump to latest

I just started rewatching the original series for the first time in years and years.

I'm kind of curious about the sequence and format of the opening credits:

First is Richard Hatch (top billing? Was he "somebody" by this time in 1977), followed by Dirk Benedict (not alphabetical order obviously).

Then misc. others including interestingly "Lorne Greene-AS ADAMA" and the other "senior" gentleman whose name I don't recall "as Colonel Tigh"...no one but the two "senior" actors had their role identified in the opening credits.

Does anyone have any insight into what the politics of the billing were?

An amusing aside by the way, I can clearly recall my father going up on the roof of our small central IL town to adjust the antennae until we managed to pick up an ABC affiliate to watch this in the beginning....I was 6 or 7 at the time.

M912k

Just because I don't like violence doesn't mean I'm not good at it.

[–] jtkirkfan2002 15 years ago

Credits are negotiated as part of the actors' contracts. Apollo and Starbuck were the principal "heroes" of the show, despite beging "outranked" by Adama and Tigh.

The best diplomat I know is a fully activated phaser bank.

[–] matthew_91_2000 15 years ago

I didn't mean their portrayed military ranks, but general status as an actor......Lorne Greene was definitely "someone" at that time---although yes, the younger players were more central....doing it the other way around would have seemed odd as well........maybe they acknowledged his status by NAMING his and Terry Carter's parts after showing "Richard Hatch", "Dirk benedict" et. all......

M912k

Just because I don't like violence doesn't mean I'm not good at it.

[–] MuMu2525 10 years ago

Lorne Greene was an established character actor by this point after his years on Bonanza, but he wasn't playing the main character of Galactica, he was just one of three leads. The series focused on Apollo, Starbuck and Adama who tend to have the most prominence in the storylines. The rest of the characters were supporting cast. Hatch was a rising star at the time, having done a season of The Streets of San Francisco and various other bits of television and was being hailed as the latest TV pin-up heartthrob. Same with Benedict (though he certainly became the bigger star after Galactica due to The A Team). Having "and Lorne Greene as Adama" in the credits recognises Greene's status as an actor, but not as the main lead (which was Apollo).

You'll notice Alec Guinness receives this kind of billing in Star Wars. Even though he was probably the most established actor in the film, he was only playing a supporting role in comparison to the three leads.

[–] Fluke_Skywalker 8 years ago

Yeah, when you have an established "seasoned" actor in a supporting role it's common to save their name for last and add "And" before it. It helps to single them out a bit.

----
A journey into the realm of the obscure: http://saturdayshowcase.blogspot.com/

[–] 8 years ago

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