…not to be confused with the Backyardigans in any way, shape, or form. These are a pair of actors who took the lead in the short-lived but immensely popular sci-fi television series Battlestar Galactica that ran one season from 1978-1979. Like many things in the entertainment realm from that era, I wasn’t quite old enough to actually be interested in watching the show. But what I do remember is that it was somewhat of a pop culture phenomenon of the late 1970’s, its cast members permeating my copies of 16 Magazine that I bought for the KISS articles. And being a collector of trading cards, there were several from this series that worked their way into my collection.
Who would have thought back then that 35 years later, within a one-year time span I would be meeting the two lead actors from the series? Not me, that’s for sure. But when my first opportunity rolled around at the Chiller Theatre show in Parsippany, New Jersey on April 28, 2012, it made no difference that I’d never actually seen an episode of the show; nostalgia overtook me and Dirk Benedict was placed prominently on my list of must-haves.
Benedict had also been star of the iconic 1980’s TV series The A-Team as well. I had had only slightly more exposure to that show than Battlestar, but nonetheless I fondly recall its pop culture ranking as well. Still I went with the Battlestar Gallactica photo and laid down my $35 for the autographed picture and photo op.
Having not completed my homework before the show, I wasn’t sure of his character’s name, so I just asked him to add his ‘character name’ to the photo. He put the symbol for a star and the dollar sign under his signature as a cipher for his character. Momentarily confused, I guessed that his name was Stardollar, before it hit me that he had been Lieutenant Starbuck. He found it amusing; I didn’t. After paying so much for a signature, I thought it was a rather crummy thing. It didn’t enrage me, but I didn’t quite see the humor. Other than that, he was a very nice guy and told me “thanks for remembering.”
Roughly 51 weeks later on April 20, 2013, I found myself at the Hollywood Show in Los Angeles with Carolyn standing face to face with Richard Hatch, another pin-up king from the teen mags of the ’70’s, and more importantly, the other lead in Battlestar Galactica. His character was Captain Apollo, but he didn’t make me guess it. He did however make me pay $5 more for the pleasure of getting an autograph and photo op with him. But he also posed for an additional photo with Carolyn for free, so that was nice.
Unlike Dirk Benedict, Hatch didn’t have another hit series, but did work very hard to attempt a revival of the series. It never worked out quite the way he plan, but interest was stirred enough that a re-imaged version of the series came into being during the mid-2000’s in which he was eventually offered a recurring role.
One day when I finally find all of the time in the world, I’ll sit down and actually visit this series. I have no doubt that I will enjoy it and appreciate it even more after meeting two of the leads.
Celebrities of the Spring 2012 Chiller Theatre show will continue…
Celebrities of the Spring 2013 Hollywood Show will continue…
Wow. Cant believe that was only on one season.
Aaron
December 12th, 2013
Me too! I thought it ran for a couple of years.
Dave Chasteen
December 14th, 2013
Well, I was there for your Dirk Benedict meeting and I thought he was particularly nice — he had a lot of people clamoring for his attention, and still managed to be friendly and witty and even threw a few friendly comments my way, even though I was just the photographer.
I didn’t know until I read this post that you at first didn’t get his little symbol for a star and the dollar sign reference. That points to the difference in our ages, as that show was a big one for me growing up and Dirk Benedict will always be Lt. Starbuck.
As for Richard Hatch, no doubt he is best known as Capt. Apollo, but I think he did have some success on “The Streets of San Francisco” and he also seemed to do numerous guest appearances on the original “Hawaii Five-O” — in one episode playing a native Hawaiian where his accent is priceless!
Peter
January 3rd, 2014