Battlestar Galactica & The Wonderful World of Disney's 25th Anniversary!

Forty years ago this month, the science fiction television show, Battlestar Galactica debuted. The following summer, "Battle for Galactica" opened at Universal Studios in California.

Battle for Galactica was an "experience" that was part of the Universal Studios Tram Tour, from 1979 through 1992. The "Glamour Trams" would suddenly come upon a vehicle on the side of the road with two "Cylons" at the controls and they would warn the trams to "Halt!" In the middle of the road was a large spaceship and as the doors to the ship opened, the Cylons would order the trams to drive aboard.

(Incidentally, the Battle for Galactica show replaced the "Rockslide" special effect that had been a part of the tram tour since 1974.)

I took this pic of the Cylon vehicle back in 1979. Their spaceship can be seen in the background.

My dad took these next two shots inside the spaceship/show building.

That's the "Imperious Leader" sitting up there above the Cylon. The Cylons and the Imperious Leader were all animatronic figures.

An actor dressed as a Colonial Warrior would suddenly appear to rescue the "captured" guests, by engaging in a battle with the Cylons. Lasers beams would shoot out of the Cylon's and the Colonial Warrior's guns. At least one of the Cylons would fall apart by splitting right down the middle, as if he had been cut in half by a laser.

Universal even had a walk-around "Cylon" character.

Unfortunately, the medieval tower (from the 1965 movie, The War Lord) in the background of this next pic, was torn down in 2001.

And now, let's take a look at the TV Guide listing, for the Fall 1978 debut of the original Battlestar Galactica series.

The premiere was three hours long!

Also on TV that night; the World of Disney, which was showing Dumbo, as part of Disney's 25th anniversary on television.

There was an article about Disney's anniversary in that issue.

There was also an article about the making of Battlestar Galactica. I guess 20th Century Fox was concerned that the TV show, was going to borrow too much from their recent mega-blockbuster film, Star Wars.

Let's see what else was on TV that week. It was the "First Time On TV!" for Airport '77. Universal Studios' Screen Test Theater show was actually themed to Airport '77 in the late seventies and early eighties.

Charlie's Angels was starting it's third season. Farrah Fawcett was returning to the show for her first of six "forced" guest appearances, following the breaking of her contract after season one.

Wonder Woman and The Incredible Hulk were having their season premieres that week.

Disco fever was at an all-time high! Billboard was hosting it's own "Disco Party" on KCOP's Channel 13.

Jon and Ponch were delivering a baby at a discotheque on CHiPs.

And Rerun was entering a disco contest on What's Happening! HEY! HEY! HEY!

Here are some of the faces that were appearing at the Emmy Awards that year.

And the nominees are.....uh, were:

Just in case anyone is interested, here's footage of the "Battle for Galactica" attraction as seen during the Universal Studios Tram Tour back in 1984:





And here is the 25th Anniversary of the Wonderful World of Disney television special that was mentioned in the Disney article above. (It had actually aired the previous week.) Just a warning here....this might very well be THE WORST television special, out of all Disney TV specials....EVER!

Knott's Berry Farm - Roaring 20's Airfield

This is a follow-up to my last post. After posting about Tokyo's parachute attraction and comparing it to Knott's Sky Jump, I remembered that I had this mini-poster from 1976 that Knott's Guest Relations sent me years ago. As a kid, I used to write to both Disneyland and Knott's and ask about "future attractions" and they would usually send me some really neat stuff.

I love the artwork on this poster. It's sad though, to look at it and realize just how much of this is now gone. Actually, everything here might now be gone except for the Sky Cabin that travels up and down the former Sky Jump tower. The Sky Jump itself closed shortly after Knott's opened Supreme Scream (personally, I would rather ride the old Sky Jump attraction.) The Cycle Chase was converted into the Wacky Soap Box Racers, which was then replaced (along with the Gasoline Alley cars) with a roller coaster called Windjammer, which has now been replaced with Xcelerator. The Flying Machine (Loop Trainer) was replaced by XK-1, which was later replaced by Supreme Scream. I really liked XK-1....to me it was kind of like riding the Rocket Jets at Disneyland, but on the Knott's version, the joy stick allowed you to do "barrel rolls" and go completely upside down....though none of the cars appear to be doing that in the photo below. Note the "round house" for the Ghost Town Calico Railroad in the background.

Knott's Berry Farm's "XK-1" - 1995

Well, I'll continue on with the Airfield attractions history, just in case anyone is interested.....The Propeller Spin was replaced by Whirlpool (an indoor "scrambler" attraction) which itself, was relocated to make room for Perilous Plunge. The Airfield Eatery was a "buffeteria" style restaurant inside of a building that resembled a huge airplane hangar. While I was working there, it was renamed Captain Kelly's....I never understood why. It was probably just to keep someone in a job (the job of "name changing" and "poor decision making.") That building has now been torn down and replaced by Coasters Diner. I believe the Cloud Nine Ballroom building is still there. The last time I was at the park, it was called the Boardwalk Ballroom but I don't think it has been used for dancing for many years.

Below, is a Disco Fever Club card that gave various discounts, including reduced admission to the park after 7 p.m. on select nights. This was offered back in the day when the Cloud Nine Ballroom was THE place to go dancing at Knott's (way before there was ever a Studio "K".) You could get this card at the grocery store by purchasing Pepsi products. Remember Aspen soft drink? It was apple flavored!

In the eighties, Knott's put a 3-D movie in the Cloud Nine Ballroom called "Sea Dream." This was to try and compete with Disneyland which was currently showing EPCOT's 3-D film "Magic Journeys" on their Space Stage at night. When I worked at Knott's, we would have to go every year to employee "summer kick-off" meetings. At every single one of those meetings, the general manager would try to tell us how great the new attractions were going to be that summer and how they were going to be so incredibly better than what Disneyland was doing that year. The example that really stands out in my mind is in 1983, when he tried to convince us that DL's "New Fantasyland" wasn't going to be able to compete with the newly opening Campy Snoopy. I remember always thinking that they should just be themselves and stop comparing everything they do to Disney and just accept that they will never be able to compete with them on the same level. This was back when the Knott family still owned the park. Marion Knott would also speak at those meetings. I wonder if the new management has stopped trying to compare themselves to Disney?

Well, this really is my last post before I leave on my trip. I should be posting again in about a week and a half.

Happy Easter to everyone!