by Susan J. Paxton
When John
Kenneth Muirs book An Analytical Guide to Televisions Battlestar Galactica
appeared in 1999, many fans were excited to finally see a book on the series. But the
relative success of Muirs book turned out to be a case of long-starved fans
accepting third-rate material not on its merits but due to a dearth of anything better.
Muir freely admits in his book that he
is not a fan of Battlestar Galactica; in fact he refers to the series as a
guilty pleasure and as the most fascistic American science fiction
program of all time. The question that must then follow is why he wrote the book;
another question, why he did such a poor job on it is, I suspect, pretty much answered by
his comments quoted above.
It is obvious that Muirs entire
research for this book consisted of watching video tapes, glancing back through old
magazines, and checking a few BG web sites. He did not trouble himself to
interview anyone involved with the series, attend any conventions, or talk to any more
knowledgeable fans. The result of his intellectual lazinessthere is no kinder
wordis a book that is rife with easily avoidable errors of fact and insupportable
opinions.
Muir begins by discussing Glen Larson
and his role as creator of the series. All of Muirs information here is
lifted from magazine articles; he never troubled to contact Larson personally and
interview him. If I were to write a scholarly book on a TV series or film, the first thing
I would do is interview the creator, if he was still alive, and if he was not available,
then his surviving associates. Muir failed to do any of this. He quotes, from a magazine
article, Larsons claim that the origin of BG could be found in his idea for
a series called Adams Ark. What Muir fails to detect is that Larsons
story about Adams Ark changed dramatically over the years. Originally
Larson claimed it was set out in space, moving towards Earth, so that the Biblical stories
would turn out to be distorted memories of the epic travels of the protagonists; later
Larson claimed that Adams Ark was about a Howard Hughes-like
billionaire named Adam who realized Earth was doomed and launched hundreds of unsuspecting
people out into space to continue humanity, which is the story Muir repeats. Muir had a
chance to discover the discrepancy and make an important and original contribution to BG
scholarship. By failing to interview Larson and, more importantly, others who worked on
the series, he missed the chance to discover that BGs origins are more
shadowedthat in fact Leslie Stevens (who was still alive at the time Muir was
writing his book) had the original idea, not Glen Larson.
Muirs superficial approach leads
not only to error but also to omission. It is absolutely impossible to understand BG
without knowing that it originally was intended to be a 3 hour TV movie followed by two 2
hour specials, a fact widely known in fandom but which Muir completely and totally
ignores. We never hear about the struggles between Larson and ABC, struggles largely
responsible for the eventual form and the eventual failure of the series. Muir notes
briefly, for example, that Dirk Benedict was cast as Starbuck, without ever mentioning
that his casting was a major bone of contention between Larson and ABC, something Dirk has
discussed extensively in his book Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy and which
Larson has also mentioned in interviews.
Muirs critical faculties also
appear to be in the same kind of abeyance as his work ethic on this project. He refers to
only six BG episodes that might be termed good, in the same class as a
solid episode of Star Trek or Space: 1999 (his putting Space: 1999
on the same level as Star Trek also says a lot about his critical faculties, but
I digress). Muirs chosen six are the premiere, Living Legend, War
of the Gods, Man With Nine Lives, (episodes most BG fans would
agree are among the top ten, by the way) and Greetings From Earth. I hate to
point this out to a respected BG expert like John Kenneth, but out of 100 BG
fans, 98 or 99 would assure him that Greetings From Earth is a piece of crap.
When fans rate the episodes, Greetings From Earth inevitably joins Fire in
Space near the bottom of the barrel. Muir then picks some episodes as second-raters,
classifying Lost Planet, Long Patrol, Baltars Escape, and
Take the Celestra as perhaps marginally better than the average hour of
science fiction TVassuming the average is The Fantastic Journey, Star
Trek: The Next Generation or the first season of Babylon 5. The rest
of the episodes get completely trashed.
Muir does make a good point when he
mentions that part of the problem with many of the episodes is that no one actually
familiar with science fiction was involved in the production. But he fails to realize that
his ratings of the episodes are greatly at variance with how real fans of the series feel
and that even episodes that are widely dislikedFire in Space is the prime
exampleinevitably have redeeming factors fans cherish. Fire in Space
features good characterization and showcases Herb Jefferson and Terry Carter (to such an
extent that it was nominated for an NAACP Image Award), Lost Warrior, in spite of
its Wild West overtones, is a wonderful showcase for Richard Hatch, just as Long
Patrol is for Dirk Benedict, while Gun on Ice Planet Zero is underrated and
a good look at the early, pre-ABC tinkering version of the series. He also, due to his
sketchy research, doesnt realize that a lot of the early episodes with their stock
plots and cheap sets were the result of having to suddenly take a show intended as a
series of specials and put it on every week.
In his comments about the early
space Western episodes of the series, Muir displays a massive lack of
knowledge about the premise of the series. Why, he wants to know, is the technology on
these planets so primitive? Why do the Colonials keep finding human civilizations as they
move away from the Colonies? The answer is obviousthese planets were cut off during
the Thousand Yahren Warbut Muir is apparently unable to figure out what any
half-aware viewer must have immediately realized.
Later, Muir claims, On the
morality issue, Battlestar Galactica simply has very little to say, a
comment fit to leave any reasonably intelligent viewer of the series wondering if Muir
watched the show at all. BG has a very well developed streak of morality running
through it. Apollo could have waited for rescue and done nothing, but chose instead to
face down Red-Eye on Equellus. Using the Galacticas computers, Starbuck
included himself on the deadly dangerous mission to Arkta out of his feelings of
obligation and love for his friends Apollo and Boomer and his responsibility for Cadet
Cree. Living Legend finds Cain and Adama arguing the morality of their differing
approaches to solving the fleets fuel problem. War of the Gods is an
episode heavily involved with problems of morals, as Iblis tries to seduce the people of
the fleet to follow him down the happy path to perdition previously trod by the original
reptilian Cylons. Evidently, in spite of the fact that Muir claims elsewhere that War
of the Gods is one of the best BG episodes, he slept through most of it.
After briefly covering the history of
the series and its bastard offspring Galactica 1980, Muir continues with a series
of detailed synopses/critiques of the episodes, giving him plenty of chances to display
his pathetic lack of research and critical failings.
Discussing the premiere, Muir comments
that director Richard Colla was apparently replaced by Alan J. Levi. Muir
adds, According to rumors and industry gossip, the change was made because Colla
fell behind schedule. Well, Colla was not apparently replaced, he was
replaced, and he was replaced because he and Glen Larson did not see eye to eye, not
because he fell behind schedule. How do I know this? Because, unlike John Kenneth, I asked
Alan J. Levi. No rumors, no industry gossip, just good old-fashioned research.
A few paragraphs later, Muir, obviously
a liberal of the brain-dead school, whines, Battlestar Galactica seems to
think that martial law is mankinds best hope for survival, a stark contrast to Star
Trek, which stresses democracy and individual freedom above all else. What Muir
appears to be saying here is that the situations depicted in Star Trek and Battlestar
Galactica are similar, which they are not. Star Trek depicts a settled,
organized Federation, while BG portrays a crisis, the flight of a few pathetic
survivors from their ravaged planets. If Muir wants to try democracy and individual
freedom under those circumstances, hes welcome to try, but the result would be
no survivors at all, just a pile of individualistic democratic corpses. Muirs
liberal disdain of the military comes into full flower later in the book.
In his critique of Long Patrol,
Muir professes himself confused that Maren Jensens Athena character gradually faded
in importance as the series continued. Evidently he never noticed that she wouldnt
act her way out of a paper bag, and, of course, he never bothered to ask anyone actually
involved with the series what had happened.
Muir obviously doesnt like Gun
on Ice Planet Zero, so we cant expect him to do justice to the episode in his
critique. But Muir might have been better prepared to discuss this episode if he had been
aware of the very early script, Crossfire, it was based on, and if he knew that
it was in fact the second episode shot.
According to Muir, Living Legend
is without a doubt the strongest episode of the Battlestar Galactica
collection, an opinion even the most fervent fans of this episode might disagree
with. Lloyd Bridges portrayal of Commander Cain is so overwhelming and magnificent
that on first viewing it tends to paper over the cracks running through the episode. I
personally would have loved for Omega or someone to raise a hand after one of Cains
Pattonesque harangues about his military prowess and ask, Yes, sir, but what about Molecay?
Discussing Fire in Space, Muir
claims, In the world of Battlestar Galactica, water is apparently called
boraton. I cant speak for other fans, but I personally never
thought that boraton was water; it looked like some kind of fire-fighting foam, more
logical when dealing with fuel fires than using water which will just spread the fuel
around without smothering the flame. Muir also gripes about Tigh writing in English with a
pen instead of using some kind of alien looking hieroglyphics or speaking his message into
a computer to make a printout. He claims, these are not nit-picks, I disagree;
they are nit-picks. Tigh writes in English because the viewers read
English (its worth noting in this context that the various signs we see aboard the Galactica
and other ships in the fleet are written in English). And in an emergency, anyone will
reach for a pen rather than boot up the computer, load Word, and wonder if he should use
Arial or Garamond.
Muirs failure to do adequate
research reaches the nadir in his discussion of War of the Gods. Muir asserts
that the crashed ship on the planet where Iblis is found is in fact the battlestar Pegasus
and quotes reams of evidence to prove his thesis. The problem is, no matter
how much significance Muir attaches to Apollos comment that the crashed ship was
as big a battlestar or his attempts to prevent Sheba from seeing what was
inside the wreckage, the ship is not the Pegasus. It was never intended
to be the Pegasus.
Now I will admit that at the time War
of the Gods first aired, the prevailing theory in fandom was indeed that the
mysterious ship was the battlestar Pegasus and fans used much the same evidence
Muir quotes so plentifully to prove their point. Then the novelization appeared, in which
Apollo and Starbuck find the remains of demons in the ship, and the script drifted out to
fandom, with the identical scene. And lastly, people who worked on the show, from Richard
Hatch to Larson to Terry McDonnell and Jim Carlson, all came forward and said that the
ship was a ship full of demons, and the scene showing the dead demon was cut because ABC
thought it was too frightening to show in the 8 p.m. hour.
Muir even comments on the novelization
version of the scene and then goes on to claim, This is an unacceptable
solution
. Unacceptable? Its the correct solution! Muir
adds, Some fans believe that this footage was actually shot
. Believe?!
It was shot. In my view, John Kenneth Muirs claim to know anything about BG
falls to pieces on this point alone. Here he parades his ignorance and lack of
research for the entire world to view, and claims that any opposing view is wrong, when in
fact those opposing views are the truth. What an ass.
Muir also parades his ignorance when he
comments that Iblis is also known as Mephistopheles, a name symbolic of Satan. Later in
the book he adds, Although the name Iblis itself does not seem indicative of ancient
myth or biblical parable
. Again, if Muir had strained himself slightly, he
would have found out that Iblis is the Muslim name for Satan.
One of Muirs strangest claims
throughout this book is that the Borellian Nomen with their lumpy makeup and chatter about
The Code were the inspiration for the improved Klingons of Star
TrekThe Motion Picture and the STTNG TV series. He expounds on
this theory at great length in his critique of Man With Nine Lives. Of course he
never bothered to take the time to ask anyone involved with the later ST efforts
if they were indeed moved by the example of the nomen or if the Klingons evolved due to
better makeup techniques being available to the later productions of ST and the
Klingons being depicted as beings of honor in various ST novels (most notably
John M. Fords The Final Reflection).
Discussing Murder on the Rising
Star, Muir misspells the names of most of the characters. Again, if he had availed
himself of the ready supply of BG scripts, he could have easily avoided these
errors.
An error that Muir is not alone in
making involves the use in Greetings From Earth of the shuttle from the Buck
Rogers premiere. Muir, like others, claims that the full-size mockup and model were
used later in Buck Rogers, when in fact the Buck Rogers premiere was
shot first and the models reused here (in fact, a marginal note in the Gun on Ice
Planet Zero script describes a set as being a Buck Rogers set.).
Muir also takes the opportunity in his
critique of Greetings to wonder why so many aliens in televised
science fiction are humanoid. Evidently he doesnt understand that the humans of
Terra are supposed to be related to the humans of the Colonies, and in other cases he
apparently forgets that its a lot cheaper to depict a bipedal, two-armed, one-headed
alien than to create a character thats an intelligent gas of some kind.
The less said about Muirs
discussion of Galactica 1980 episodes the better, but I freely admit I am totally
astonished that he compares Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home to Galactica
Discovers Earth and suggests that the ST movie was inspired by G80.
Later, he compares Galactica Discovers Earth to Independence Day
(its worth noting here that Muir, naturally, did not recognize the several obvious BG
tributes that actually were in ID4)!
With his coverage of the episodes
behind him, Muir rolls out the big guns for his major critique of the military focus of
the series. Muir appears to be astonished that a series called Battlestar Galactica
is about the military (WHAT a surprise!) and that the military is portrayed in a favorable
light (WHAT a surprise!).
Muir begins by pointing out that
science fiction TV is traditionally liberal, noting the examples of Star Trek and
STTNG. Interestingly, while Star Trek displayed liberal social
views, it was still about the military. Captain Kirk and Captain Picard gave orders, and
their underlings obeyedoften to the death. Kirk and Picard also battled enemy ships
and enemy cultures. Muir apparently has forgotten these picky details. He also claims Space:
1999 as a liberal show. Again, while socially liberal, when Commander Koenig gave an
order, it was obeyed.
Muir then sadly points out,
Amazingly, Battlestar Galactica does not at all follow the proud liberal
traditions of science fiction television history. It is not concerned with tolerance,
diversity, integration, or cosmic friendship. Interesting claims for a show that
featured African American actors in very prominent roles, women in combat, Apollos
speech to Boxey in the premiere about cosmic tolerance, and the efforts of the Colonials
to prevent a nuclear holocaust on Terra, to name just a few obvious contradictions to
Muirs thesis. Muir compares BG to Gerry and Sylvia Andersons UFOa
good comparison, by the way, and one not often made, to Muirs credit. BG is
set in the middle of an emergency, the devastating Cylon offensive against the humans, and
UFO too is about an alien threat to humanity. In such situations, the military is
of necessity going to be the focus. Just as UFO was about the adventures of
SHADO, led against the aliens by the resourceful Commander Straker, so BG follows
the efforts of the Colonial military to save humankind, led by the resourceful Commander
Adama.
Muir also feels it necessary to slam
the Colonials for their religious beliefs, comparing Adama to Jerry Falwell and Pat
Robertson and contrasting that to Star Treks stylish atheism. He claims
that the Borellian Nomen are religious dissenters and are persecuted for their
religiona claim that is total and complete claptrap, with no evidence whatsoever in
the series to support it. He adds that there is no acceptance of religious dissent or
disbelief in the Galactica universeagain claptrap, as Colonel Tigh, in Lost
Planet, is obviously agnostic. What is strangest about Muirs treatment of
Colonial religion is that he never mentionsbecause Im sure he never
noticedits obvious connections to Mormonism.
Muir points out that civilian
characters such as President Adar and Sire Uri are rather poorly portrayed in the series.
This is something that even fans find a little irritating. Its not that the military
is always right, its that the writers felt they had to paint the civilian leaders in
unbelievably broad strokes that is the problem here. But Muir uses this not as a sign of
problems with the writing, but as evidence that the writers and producers of BG
were a bunch of raving fascists. He concludes, If a new Battlestar Galactica
is produced, one wonders if it will continue to occupy the paranoid, fascist terrain of
its originator, or tuck tail between its legs and offer a more optimistic, idealistic and
(dare we use the word) liberal view of life in space. Good God, I hope
not.
Going on to discuss fandom and BG
merchandise, Muir comments that the fanzine ANOMALY is from Richmond, Virginia. I hate to
point this out, but ANOMALY was my fanzine, and it was never from Richmond.
Discussing the novels, Muir claims that
Glen Larson was the scribe for many Battlestar Galactica episode
adaptations, when in fact Larson wrote none of them in spite of having his name on
them (Muir also claims that George Lucas wrote the novelization of Star Wars when
in fact it was ghosted by Alan Dean Foster).
Battlestar Galactica has long
deserved to have a scholarly book written about it. Terry McDonnell, one of the story
editors, was actually contracted at one time to write such a book but didnt have
time to do it. Fans thought when Muirs book came out that at last their prayers had
been answered. But thanks to Muirs slipshod approach, the result was a book loaded
with errors of fact, errors that could have easily been avoided with more research and,
most importantly, the interviews with cast and crew members that Muir never troubled to
do. Most irritating is the fact that since the appearance of this book, Muir has gained
acceptance as the Battlestar Galactica expert he clearly is not,
making an appearance on the Sci-Fi Networks Sciography special and writing
articles for BG web sites, most recently a screed on BattlestarGalactica.com
demanding that Bryan Singer and Tom DeSanto change not one jot or tittle of Battlestar
Galactica in their revivalthis in spite of John Kenneths comments above
about a new production perhaps taking a more liberal view. This is a
respectability John Kenneth Muir does not deserve, and one hopes that Bryan Singer and Tom
DeSanto are not taken in by his claims to an expertise he clearly does not possess.
©2001, Susan J. Paxton