www.knowitalljoe.com Confidence!' Fighting hostile rays, evil aliens- and complex lawsuits ... 'Battlestar Galactica' revs up for a turbulent blastoff By Bill O'Hallaren The might}' battlestar Galactica, her the Galacti~a into subatomic splinters. pods alone bigger ~han any aircraft And the Cylons aren't alone. In carrier, sweeps majestically through Hollywood, dark-suited warriors from space, laser cannon blazing, her fight­ the sphere known as 20th Century-Fox ers flashing to the attack-leading the would also like to pulverize the Galac­ last of the human race in a gallant, tica into astral rubbish and teach her perilous dash for a homeland. rulers in the Universal tower not to The unimaginably evil, human-hating venture into the celestial. --+ Cylons, masters of space warfare, are in terrifying pursuit, determined to blast John Dykstra with his batt/estar Ga/aclica. l to work. ·continued The Universals, in turn, are confident CURRIER lIVES Treattby that their beloved battlestar will forge on, triumphant over disintegrating rays, atomic hurricanes and multipronged PJY.!noulh lawsuits. (Fox is seeking to restrain network presentation on the grounds of copyright infringement and unfair well. competition and trade practices, but it 'freat your Plymouth to Champions appears ttiat the case won't be heard -the spark·plug it came With until next spring.) originally. The plug that's the best Battlestar Galactica is probably the seller around the world. The plug most expensive show ever created for · that wins more big races. The next TV, with an estimated tab of $7 million for the first seven hours. But science time your Plymouth needs plugs, fiction is supposed to be the genre specify Champions. Be good to whose time has arrived, and that could your Plymouth and it will be good make it a bargain at almost any price. to thee. Look at "Star Wars," which cost only $9 million and had, by August of '78, made more than $258 million. lcHAf loNJ And looking at "Star Wars," accord­ ing to Fox, is just what Universal has You can't been doing: looking and borrowing. To which Universal replies: our battlesiars aren't like yours and neither are our =:..plug. good. and bad guys and we don't even have a cute robot. A cute mechanical creature that looks like a dog, maybe, but no robot. What Universal does have is John Dykstra and his staff. the crew respon­ sible for the special effects in "Star Entire set of 4 only 5998! Wars"-a dazzling display that won Collectors love the distinctive color of rieh Copeqbaoen Dykstra an Oscar and enhanced his Blue! Others hunt through antique stores in hopes of dis­ covering and buying a real Currier & lves llthograpb de­ already hefty reputation as a cinema picting America's all-but-vanished way of life in tbe list magician. Dykstra was hired by Uni­ century! Still others hunt for shaving mugs from grand­ versal producer Glen Larson shortly pa's day. after "Star Wars" had been completed Now we proudly offer a true rarity - genuine Cumec- & lves scenes on genuine Porcelain mugs ... in CopenllagN and he has been working on Galactica Blue and trilnmed with gleaming 22 karat gold! since the winter of '77 as special­ Think how just one mug will brighten your kitchen - bow effects coordinator and producer. the entire set of 4 will add charm and wamrth to your dis­ Dykstra, a bearded, jolly, 31-year-old play shelves or hutch! The distinctive Copenhagen Blur color. accented with white, goes beautifully with any dealr' . giant, laughs at mention of the fussing So hurry, order TODAY. Save over $2 when you buy tbe between the two huge studios, but entire set - save even MORE when you purchase an extD then he laughs at a great many things, set as a gift! Return within 14 days for refund (~ as befits a fellow who has found peo­ postage and handling) if you're not delighted when I!Jey ple will pay him a lot of money just arrive! Mail coupon now to avoid delay. © 1978 American Consumer, Inc., Caroline Rd .. Phila .. PA 19 ~ for playing with toys. In his case, the Canadian Customers please send orders to: toys are the ships and guns and crea­ Mail Store LTD .. Dept CIM. 170 BrockOOrt Drlw. tures that whoosh and zap and yowl Rexdale, Ontario M9W sea (Ontario & Quebec residents add sales tax) Champion Spark Plua Complllly through a universe of his own devis- ~ 'Jbledo, OH 431161 TV GUIDE SEPTEMBER 16, 1978 continued ing, to his unending delight. Of Galactica, What they all have in common, he says, "It is without doubt cashing Dykstra believes, "is a youthful ap­ in on the . genre. OK. It has become a proach and the technical ability to ex­ successful genre. When a police show ecute ideas. Anyone can come up with is a success, there are more police weird ideas for space, but only a few shows. It's the nature of the business." can actually realize them for the cam­ Dykstra's studio is in North Holly­ era" As an illustration of how close wood, and a visitor's first impression the operation is to youthful fantasy, one is that a bunch of kids are standing room is stacked to the ceiling with around giggling whil~ the bosses are. model sets, the kind sold in hobby gone. But these young men, and some stores. Designers are constantly as­ women, in jeans, shorts and granny sembling toy trucks, planes, tanks, dresses, are the bosses, busily creating tractors, etc., and asking themselves and executing their visions of creatures how could this, slightly modified, or and things that might exist in Dykstra's this plus that, be just what a Cyton space world. would order. Dykstra, wearing a floppy shirt and The Galactica herself, looking larger cutoffs, is asked if anyone over 30 could on the screen than any moving object function in his organization, and he ever created by man, turns out to be grins and says, yes, there have been exactly 72 inches long. But there is so a couple, including himself. But ba­ much intricate detail, including hun­ sically his crew is so young because dreds of fragments from the model kits. "most established film workers aren't that, when seen through a camera, the familiar with our techniques. We're not effect is that of an immense vehicle a conventional film business." He has passing by. somehow attracted a stable of young­ Special effects, according to Dykstra, EASY WAY TO RAISE MONEY sters with the absolutely. latest knowl­ also owes much to breakthroughs in edge in "electronics, photography, aerospace, medicine, the military and You, yow club or organization make lenses, optics, design and visual com­ plastics. For example, there are some $1.00 profit on each etching sold. Earn position." Some are movie buffs from four-armed creatures in Ga/actica. Nat­ extra money fast. Sell it and many the USC and UCLA film schools, but urally. "But these won't look hokey be­ other enchanting gift products. one of his key model makers ran a cause the actors will be wearing pros­ Only hospital laboratory, and another was a thetic devices created for amputees and social worker. you won't be able to tell a real arm $1.75 from a prop." Dykstra says all film craft unions are repre­ sented in his shop. "Say ------------ we want a special ve­ hicle. The Carpenters 1113 Wdshington Ave. P.O. Box 530 build it. A Teamster drives it. When its laser 0 I enclose 25¢ for my Crystal Etching canon fires, that's Spe­ and information on other easy ways to earn cial Effects. An actor I enclose $1.75 for my year-round inside has a jacket with 0 a breakiway sleeve. NAME--------------------------~ That's Wardrobe. The ADORES$ ________________________~ sleeve is shot off and the arm glows. That's CITY STAJ Props. When the actor Also send Fund Raising Plan for Organization! gets out, he's wearing NAME OF OAGANIZATIQN _____________4 Richard Hatch {1.), Dirk Benedict in a culinary moment. · electric shoes. From ~ 36 continued Wardrobe. When he turns them on, it's the Cylons personify evil. They don't Special Effects." At Dykstra's, the donate to the Community Chest, they wonders never cease, nN the put-ons. don't give candy to kids, they don't do Shooting special effects is painstak­ anything nice. They would subjugate ingly slow and precise "and there's no the whole human race. They need to way you can hurry it." Universal set 27 be zapped." days of filming for the initial three-hour Dykstra is almost painfully aware of show, but it took 50. "There was a lot the high expectations for Gaiactica. of political hassle, a lot of money prob­ "The actors are already talking spinoff lems," Dykstra recalls, "but they never and lining up spinoffs from the spinoffs said stop. It's been first class all the because they think they'll get their way." wives in a spinoff and then she'll Dykstra is quick to concede that spe­ spinoff .. ." cial effects, no matter how flamboyant, Executive producer Glen Larson. don't make a show. "All that zooming whose credits include The Six Million around gets boring. It always gets back · Dollar Man, Switch, McCloud and to the people. Even a robot has to have Quincy, believes "Our problem is to personality." As producer, he spends ·make Middle America comfortable with half his time on the Universal lot where space. We're not going to let this be­ the live aGtion is, working with actors come the Monster of the Week Show.