BG-10: War Of The Gods

[Eric Paddon]

An addendum to my post from last May identifying Eric Server as the voice of the SOL being in this episode. Since posting that, I've learned that in fact while Server did do Dr. Theophilius throughout the run of Buck Rogers, in the pilot movie, the character was voiced by a very obscure actor named Howard F. Flynn, and *that* is who I believe voiced the SOL being in WOTG and EIT. His voice is much deeper than Server's.

[skippercollecto]

Since the Internet as we know it didn't exist yet in 1978, and there was far less entertainment publicity then than there is now, we the viewers didn't learn for almost 2 1/2 months that Anne had become a regular part of the cast.
I know that, on the DVD set, that Anne is listed as a regular cast member right after Living Legend, but that is incorrect. Living Legend debuted in November 1978, and because of pre-emptions and Christmas the show aired only sporadically that fall and winter. Anne was originally listed in the guest cast for both episodes of Living Legend, Fire in Space, and both parts of War of the Gods. Only once during one of the runs of syndicated repeats were the correct opening credits used for FIS and WOTG.
When I first watched the series in 1978 and 1979, I really liked Sheba, but I thought for sure she would eventually be killed off. I've always suspected that that was the original premise of WOTG. Sheba was supposed to die, but Apollo took her place, so when they went to "heaven," the angel would have the two of them to switch places.
I was quite pleased when she didn't die, and then, when Man With Nine Lives aired, she was shown in the opening credits (which I think was February by then).
Mary

[Eric Paddon]

Actually, the credits for "Fire In Space" have always correctly listed Anne as just part of the "guest cast" but in WOTG she was always pictured with the regular cast (they used a not too good still of her the first few episodes she was a regular, but then changed it starting in GFE).

[Senmut]

What still should they have used, EP?

[Eric Paddon]

No particular one, just that the one they used for several episodes, a shot of her on the planet in WOTG from the right side, tended to be a bit unflattering compared to the ones used for Maren and Laurette. Starting in GFE they used a shot of her from that episode when she's in the OC with Starbuck, Boomer and Apollo discussing the Terrans, that from the other side was an improvement. I wouldn't be surprised if Anne or someone else noticed that the earlier shot they used wasn't particularly flattering, since that was the only time a cast member's picture was changed in that sequence.

[Digger_One]

About the famous "What was inside the wreakage" mystery.

When I first saw this episode, and we see Apollo and Starbuck's reactions to the interior of the wreck, I started to get the impression that maybe it was the wreakage of the Battlestar Pegasus. But, for some reason, I never once thought that Commander Cain's body was in the wreck. I always thought for some reason that it was a large version of the insignia of the Battlestar Pegasus. I was also dissapointed when we never find out what was in that wreakage.

Oh yeah, the endding of part one really, and I mean REALLY creeped me out when I first saw it. I was all focused on Baltar's surrender and the mystery of Count Iblis, then, suddenly, cue the creepy music and a sudden reminder of The Ship of Lights with the dreaded "To Be Continued" title. There was just something about it that creeped me out badly.



EDIT: The scene creeps me out, and yet I use it as my avatar...

[spcglider]

Hey folks,

A while back, somebody posted scans of shooting schedules for WOTG showing the mentin of "cloven hoof props" in response to my yakking about how i thought they didn't ever exist and that they had never existed until Glen Larson wanted to bring the Pegasus back for a return engagement.

But to set me right, somebody produced those documents.

I can't find the thread and i can't locate the posts. Can whoever posted that post them again or send me jpegs of the scans? I'm currently trying to end a long-standing argument about this very subject and they'd be quite helpful.

Thanks for any help!

-Gordon

we know that Iblis and Imperious leader had the same voice(Patrick Macanee of course)as Baltar notes when Iblis came to visit him on the prison barge. So does anyone else see something sinister in the fact that the opening lines, "There are those who believe that life here began out there....." ARE IN THE SAME VOICE?

[skippercollecto]

Remember the first time that Apollo, Starbuck and Sheba land on the planet to find Iblis, that the light is really weird? But when they return, the light looks normal? I know that the technical reason is that whoever was filming that day forgot to put the filter back on the camera to create the weird light. And I am sure someone out there has come up with a fan fiction version as to why the color of the air was so eerie.
I have come up with a completely natural reason for the difference in the light. It happened Monday night around Cincinnati, Ohio, at sunset. The sky was breathtaking--and surreal. I took a photo of it from my apartment balcony, and plenty of people sent in their own shots to the local media. The meteorologists used the term "scattering," a rare but completely normal phenomenon regarding the molecules and ice crystals in the sky being hit by the sinking sun's rays.
Here is a link to the photo that I took.
https://twitpic.com/e7vm7n
Here are the links to the local media.
NBC https://www.wlwt.com/news/26835696#!bbXLCf
ABC https://www.wcpo.com/news/news-photo-...ri-state-skies
https://mic.com/articles/93261/the-sc...-baseball-game
So perhaps when the three warriors landed on the planet, it was near sunset after a storm.

[Senmut]

It was supposed to be different because all the alien plant life, which gave a surrealistic look to the surroundings, were burned off in the area around the crash. Without the alien leaves et al to filter the sunlight, it looked more normal. That at least was the explanation I came up with when I first saw it, back in '78.
And I'm stickin' to it!

[Eric Paddon]

The most significant thing about this episode.....one that more than anything else enhanced the overall mythos of the Galactica saga is the Baltar-Iblis conversation in Pt. 2 and the revelation of Iblis and the Imperious Leader having the same voice, followed by the clear implication that Iblis was the one responsible for the downfall of the original Cylon race.

And after reading the original script for WOTG, it's clear that this important moment was something that wasn't anticipated because the Baltar-Iblis scene is nowhere to be found in the script. As if it was a device to quickly capitalize on once Patrick Macnee was cast in the role and decide to confront the coincidence rather than just ignore it.

It'd be interesting to know from production history when Macnee was cast and when that triggered the script rewrite. If this element of being connected to the rise of the Cylons had not been present in the script to deepen the mythos surrounding Iblis then the episode I think would have come off far less than it did ultimately.

[Senmut]

Well, it was a brilliant piece of scripting, on the run, as it were. It makes the whole BSG universe somehow more realistic, and tied in to things Of Earth.

[Eric Paddon]

There is a deleted scene at the beginning of Part 2 that had it remained, I think would have done a lot to dispel the biggest knock that's often made at the series regarding the military-Council relationship. Critics often point to the way the Council comes off in GFE and especially "Baltar's Escape" to note how stupid and dangerous the Council is. And WOTG also gets cited to note how quick the Council is willing to make Iblis the President following Baltar's capture.

But actually the scene where Adama is able to get a delay from the Council runs much longer in its unedited state (I don't think it was even put back in the telemovie version) and John Williams's Sire Montrose (in his last ever role BTW) proves to be far more thoughtful and intelligent than does Murray Matheson's Geller in GFE or John Hoyt's Domra in BE. He listens thoughtfully to Adama, acknowledges his points and is then willing to agree to the delay. In short, we get to see Adama interacting with the Council in a way that critics of the series say never happened!

I can understand why for timing and pacing this scene was lost because those are the demands and pressures you face (and if the scene had been kept it would have meant losing something else later). It's too bad that Adama's interactions with the Council in the Terra episodes weren't written as well as this one was.

[DrWho42]

the patrick macnee guest role! i loved the avengers