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76-498: Glen Albert Larson (January 3, 1937 – November 14, 2014) was an American television producer, writer, and composer. He created many series, including Alias Smith and Jones , Battlestar Galactica , Buck Rogers in the 25th Century , The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo , Quincy, M.E. , The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries , B. J. and the Bear , The Fall Guy , Magnum, P.I. , and Knight Rider . Active on television until

152-470: A "council of twelve". Larson, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in real life, had been working on the concept since 1968 with former Star Trek producer Gene L. Coon mentoring him in its early development. Although, he originally wanted to name the series Adam's Ark , he instead opted for Galactica . He was later convinced to include the word "star" in the title to capitalize on

228-461: A golden opportunity for the Cylons to launch an attack on their fleet, and orders Colonel Tigh to hold back their pilots from attending the party while outfitting noncombat personnel with fighter uniforms. On Carillon, Apollo and Starbuck discover something is amiss when they see strangers walking around clad in the uniforms of their squadron, and after some investigation they discover the truth behind

304-582: A group of robbers called the Devil's Hole Gang, loosely based on the Hole in the Wall Gang from which Cassidy recruited most of his outlaws. To lend them an element of audience sympathy, Heyes and Curry were presented as men who avoided bloodshed (though Curry did once kill in self-defense) and always were attempting to reform and seek redemption for their "prior ways". The names "Smith" and "Jones" originated from

380-611: A line in the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , when before one of their final hold-ups, the characters are outside a bank in Bolivia and Sundance turns to Butch and says: "I'm Smith and you're Jones ." Parts of the television series were filmed at Castle Valley and Professor Valley in Utah . The series continued for another 17 episodes after the recasting of Hannibal Heyes, but never regained its popularity after

456-463: A little help from friends on both sides of the law. Heyes was deemed "cunning," with Curry "gunning." Heyes/Smith was considered the brains of the duo and an excellent poker player. Curry/Jones was the master gun hand and the brawn. Usually, Heyes figured out ways to make money and save the twosome from precarious situations. Starting with "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Red Gap" (season two, episode 16),

532-525: A party on the planet Carillon, and the Cylons are about to attack the fighter pilotless fleet. In a surprise ending we find out that non-pilots have been dressed as pilots, and most of the real pilots are on the Galactica prepped for a counter attack. In the TV version they destroy this dramatic tension by giving away the surprise ending ahead of time with a conversation between Commander Adama and Colonel Tigh, and

608-401: A production deal with Universal Studios . His first hit series was Alias Smith and Jones , a 1971–1973 Western which described the activities of Hannibal Heyes and Jedediah "Kid" Curry, concentrating on their efforts to go straight. ( George Roy Hill 's film , scripted by William Goldman , about Butch Cassidy and the "Sundance Kid" , is commonly believed to have been the inspiration for

684-418: A scene of Tigh stealing uniforms from pilots' lockers. Another difference was related to TV censorship. In the TV version Starbuck and Cassiopia are sitting beside each other fully clothed in the launch tube, not nude and having sex as they were in the theater version, when Athena sees them on the monitor. (In the 35th Anniversary Blu-ray of the theatrical release, they are fully clothed.) The theatrical release

760-462: A second to instruct us to stay in production. We were already a little bit behind the eight ball on airdates. So, we contacted everybody, including Ben (Murphy), and told them to come back in. The entire company was reassembled and back in production by one o'clock that day shooting scenes that did not involve Peter — only 12 hours after his death. Series writer, director, and producer Roy Huggins contacted actor Roger Davis (who provided narration for

836-439: A share of the profits owed from the television shows he produced while working with them. Larson's involvement with Universal had begun in the 1970s, and his contractual agreement had secured him net profits from the revenues generated by the shows he worked on as a producer, including The Six Million Dollar Man , Quincy, M.E. , Battlestar Galactica , Buck Rogers in the 25th Century , Magnum, P.I. and Knight Rider . The dispute

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912-580: A slightly revamped introduction partially explained why the renowned duo did not split to evade capture—they were cousins. Roger Davis' original theme voiceover referred to the characters as "latter-day Robin Hoods." The new introduction replaced that description with the phrase "Kansas cousins." It remained so after Ralph Story reworked the introduction, once Davis assumed the Heyes role. After Davis took over as Heyes, his distinctive voice could no longer be used in

988-526: A subsequent fight with Cylon Centurions, the laser fire from both parties sets the tylium mines on fire, threatening to destroy the planet. Adama's ruse works; the Cylons, believing that all of the pilots are at the banquet, launch a fighter attack against the Galactica , but Adama is ready to spring his trap. Once the Cylon fighter contingent is fully engaged with the Galactica , Adama recalls his Vipers from

1064-418: A vast Cylon armada waiting in ambush behind a moon named Cimtar, but the Cylons jam their communications. Cylon fighters pursue the two Vipers, and Zac's fighter is hit. This forces Apollo to leave him behind, so that the fleet can be warned. Zac's Viper is destroyed by the Cylons just before he reaches the fleet. Baltar manipulates President Adar into prohibiting the launch of fighters as the Cylons close in on

1140-467: The Galactica . They hope that the Galactica can protect this ragtag fleet long enough to find the legendary thirteenth human colony. It is called Earth , but the location of this lost colony is known only to the last lord of Kobol , the planet which was the original home of Man, but which was abandoned thousands of years earlier, when the Thirteen Tribes migrated to the stars. Helping Adama in

1216-477: The Rockford set, he put his arm around Garner and said: "I hope there are no hard feelings, Jim." After Larson ignored a warning by Garner to take his arm off him, Garner reportedly punched Larson so hard that Larson "flew across the curb, into a motor home, and out the other side." In July 2011, Larson began a lawsuit against Universal Studios, alleging a decades-long fraud and claimed the studio had not paid him

1292-434: The original series . The project stalled for some time; in 2011 a re-announced version was now no longer a continuation of the original series but rather a complete remake. Despite his success, much criticism has been aimed at Larson for his perceived general lack of originality as many of his television series are seen as small screen "knock-offs" of feature films. Harlan Ellison once referred to him as "Glen Larceny " for

1368-525: The "Sensurround" track in Dolby Digital 1.1 Mono. In 2013, Koch Media released this version in a three-film DVD set with Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack and Conquest of the Earth . This DVD release uses HD masters supplied by Universal and all films are presented in 1.37:1 full frame as they were shot in, as opposed to the "matted" widescreen 1.85:1 ratio seen theatrically. Koch Media released

1444-524: The 1990s with an adaptation of the Ultraverse comic Night Man , which lasted two seasons. In 2003, Battlestar Galactica was remade for the Sci-Fi Channel as a miniseries ; it was followed by a 2004 series , that, unlike the original, lasted multiple seasons. Larson was not involved in any capacity with the new series, though he did receive a screen credit as "Consulting Producer". After

1520-491: The Colonies at the very same time the attack on the battlestars has commenced. The Cylon Imperious Leader, determined to destroy the human race, orders Baltar's execution after his usefulness is over, but he is spared at the last moment in order to help the Cylons hunt down the human fleet. With the Colonies in ruins, Adama collects as many survivors as possible, and orders every intact civilian ship to take survivors and follow

1596-430: The Cylon assault. Apollo informs Adama that the Cylons were accompanied by refueling tankers, and Adama realizes that this would allow the fighters to operate far from their base ships (known as "basestars"), which must be operating somewhere else. He orders the Galactica to withdraw and protect the planet Caprica, Adama's homeworld, but they are too late, as the Cylon fleet has launched simultaneous massive assaults on all

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1672-455: The Cylons, whereas, in the television version, he is held for public execution before later being shown mercy by the Cylons, and going on to be a major character on the television series. The made for TV version included a scene of Starbuck & Athena in her quarters, which more significantly established their relationship early in the story. The Cylons in the theater release versions were living creatures in armor suits, not robots (rumor has it

1748-598: The Earth (from "Galactica Discovers Earth" and "The Night the Cylons Landed"). However, the Koch set does contain the original theatrical trailers for all three films including the Super 8mm versions, along with other extras and fan convention material exclusive to that release. In May 2015, Universal released the complete series on Blu-ray in enhanced widescreen and 4:3 versions. The Universal Blu-ray sets carry over most of

1824-539: The Station ". A later member of the Four Preps , David Somerville , and a session singer he knew, Gail Jensen, later collaborated with Larson to write and compose " The Unknown Stuntman ", the theme from The Fall Guy ; series lead Lee Majors performed this song over the opening titles. After working for Quinn Martin on productions including The Fugitive (where he had his first writing credit), Larson signed

1900-578: The additional titles. Each book is a standalone novel and they can be read in any order. Following, however, is the order of publication. Saga of a Star World " Saga of a Star World " (aka “ Battlestar Galactica ”) is the pilot for the American science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica which was produced in 1978 by Glen A. Larson . A re-edit of the episode was released theatrically as Battlestar Galactica in Canada before

1976-478: The age of 31. He was reportedly suffering from depression and had been drinking heavily when he shot himself. Upon learning of Duel's death, executive producer Jo Swerling Jr. initially wanted to end the series, but ABC refused. Swerling later stated: ABC said, "No way!" They said, "You have a contract to deliver this show to us, and you will continue to deliver the show as best you can on schedule or we will sue you." Hearing those words, Universal didn't hesitate for

2052-443: The basestar into thinking it is under attack by multiple Viper squadrons. The basestar descends into Carillon's atmosphere to avoid detection, and is destroyed when the planet erupts in a massive tylium explosion. Despite their victory, the humans realize their enemies will still be pursuing them, and they set out to Earth, their last hope for survival. The pilot cost $ 8 million, one of the most expensive made-for-television movies at

2128-478: The censors allowed them to blow up more Cylon ships on TV if they were robots ). There were more aliens in the casino on the planet Carillon in the theater version (the motivation to replace some of the aliens with humans might have been to make it less like the cantina scene in Star Wars). In the theater version there is significant dramatic tension when the audience realizes that all the pilots have been invited to

2204-611: The complete first season of Alias Smith and Jones in Region 2 on June 11, 2007. American Western author Todhunter Ballard , better known as W.T. Ballard, wrote six original novels based on the series, under his tie-in pseudonym "Brian Fox." Only the first two were published in the United States, by Award Books , between 1971 and 1972. The television series, however, was so popular in the UK that after first run episodes were exhausted,

2280-470: The decision to continue production so soon after Duel's death was heavily criticized in the press at the time. Alias Smith and Jones began with a made-for-TV movie of the previous year called The Young Country about con artists in the Old West . It was produced, written, and directed by Roy Huggins , who served as executive producer of the show. Under the pseudonym John Thomas James, Huggins shared

2356-586: The diplomatic agency of a human, Lord Baltar . The human leaders, called the Council of the Twelve (with one representative from each colony), and the commanders of their military fleet are all too pleased by the Cylon offer of peace, which ends so many years of warfare. The powerful "Battlestars" are assembled for armistice talks with Humanity's age-old robotic enemy. But it's a deception: the Cylons have no intention of making peace, and Baltar has betrayed humanity for

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2432-488: The early 2010s, he was also a member of the folk revival / satire group The Four Preps . Larson began his career in the entertainment industry in 1956 as a member of the vocal group The Four Preps , with whom he appeared in one of the Gidget films. The Four Preps ultimately produced three gold records for Capitol , all of which Larson himself wrote and/or composed: " 26 Miles (Santa Catalina) ", " Big Man ", and " Down by

2508-644: The entire series in Germany on a Blu-ray set in January 2014. This set contains all the episodes of the series (including Galactica 1980 ), utilizing the masters Universal used for their DVD releases, in 1080p with English 5.1 Surround and German mono. This set only contains the full-length TV versions of "Saga of a Star World" and the other episodes used to make the films Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack (from "The Living Legend" and "Fire in Space"), and Conquest of

2584-555: The extras from the previous "Complete Epic Series" DVD set with a few new ones included. In February 2013, Universal Home Entertainment released the theatrical version for the first time on Blu-ray in North America with a new, remastered HD transfer in widescreen 1080p, the "Sensurround" track in DTS-MA 1.1 Mono, and a preview for Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome . In October 2015, Koch Media released their own Blu-ray of

2660-639: The film was shown overseas, including in Australia, and some countries in Europe and Latin America. While the series was still on air, the film was shown in theaters in San Antonio, Texas ; Memphis, Tennessee ; and Phoenix, Arizona on November 17, 1978. On May 18, 1979, following the broadcast of the final episode of the regular series, the theatrical version was released in 400 U.S. theaters. In 1980,

2736-456: The first episode with Davis, "The Biggest Game in the West" (season two, episode 19), Heyes shouts to Curry: "Yes sir! Cousin, you're all right!" In the episode "Don't Get Mad, Get Even," Curry and Heyes both make reference to their Irish grandfather Curry. Recurring characters include: In the early morning hours of December 31, 1971, series star Pete Duel died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at

2812-438: The first two novels were reprinted and distributed by London -based publisher Tandem Books , who also released the four additional titles, all in 1976. Since Award and Tandem were affiliated publishers, it's unclear if Award commissioned all six books and dropped the book series as the show's American popularity waned, unwittingly leaving the then-unpublished manuscripts to be rejuvenated later, or if Tandem returned to Ballard for

2888-439: The fleet's food supplies were contaminated by pluton bombs during the Cylon attack, the fleet is in desperate straits, and must find a food source soon or face starvation. It quickly becomes apparent that there is more to Carillon than meets the eye. The fact that Carillon has more than enough food and fuel for the fleet's needs makes Adama wary. It is also apparently the largest tylium (fighter fuel) mining facility in that part of

2964-426: The fleet. Frustrated, Adama orders the Galactica ' s Viper squadrons be placed on full alert, disguised as "Battlestations Drill," with their fighters ready to launch. As the Cylons attack, the Galactica is able to launch its fighters first, while the other battlestars are caught off-guard. The Atlantia , with President Adar aboard, is destroyed, as are apparently the other battlestars; Galactica alone survives

3040-478: The fugitives to move against Adama, whose strict but selflessly benign intentions hinder his own ambitions. The Council of the Twelve, led by Uri to believe the Cylons have been left far behind, propose that the humans pause to celebrate their escape and dismantle their military and weapons to prove to the Cylons that humans are no longer a threat to them. The Council arranges a banquet on Carillon, and orders all fighter pilots to attend. Adama suspects that this might be

3116-402: The galaxy, as well as a popular gamblers' den, but nobody has ever heard of the place. Adama discovers that Baltar was responsible for performing the initial Carillon survey, and reported that tylium was too minimal for mining, and he immediately smells a Cylon trap. Sire Uri, Adama's self-serving nemesis on the new Council of the Twelve, uses the opportunity the planet presents for the morale of

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3192-662: The governor decides that they deserve full clemency. The cousins reluctantly accept the deal, but find life as law-abiding citizens to be more difficult than expected. Now calling themselves Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones, they find themselves tangling with lawmen, bounty hunters , operatives of the Bannerman Detective Agency (a fictional alias for the Pinkerton Detective Agency), and other nefarious figures. They are forced to rely on Heyes' silver tongue, Curry's fast draw, and occasionally

3268-428: The humor has been lost, and so has the sense of fun." In June 1978, 20th Century Fox sued Universal Studios (producers of Battlestar Galactica ) for plagiarism , copyright infringement , unfair competition , and Lanham Act claims, claiming it had stolen 34 distinct ideas from Star Wars . Universal promptly countersued, claiming Star Wars had stolen ideas from their 1972 film Silent Running , notably

3344-468: The loss of Duel. This, as well as the fact that the long-prominent Western genre was giving way to police dramas, brought the show to an end on January 13, 1973. On January 16, 1973, Bonanza aired its final episode, leaving the 18-year-old Gunsmoke , the syndicated comedy western Dusty's Trail , and Kung Fu as the only Westerns scheduled for Fall 1973. The entire series has been released on DVD . Universal Studios Home Entertainment released

3420-471: The notorious similarities between Larson's shows and cinema blockbusters. In his autobiography, The Garner Files , James Garner stated that Larson stole a number of plots of The Rockford Files (which Garner's production company co-produced), then used them for his own shows, simply changing the dialogue minimally and using different character names. Garner's group complained to the Writer's Guild ; Larson

3496-407: The personal lives of the people they meet. The major difference was that Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry were guilty of the crimes for which they were accused, but were trying to begin a noncriminal life. The series was modeled on the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford . (Universal contract player Ben Murphy was offered to the producers because he

3572-410: The pilot was edited again and syndicated as part of a series of reedited Battlestar Galactica telemovies . Later episodes of the regular Battlestar Galactica series were also re-edited and released in cinemas internationally . Although there are many minor differences between the broadcast pilot and the cinema release, the most notable is the fact that, in the film version, Baltar is executed by

3648-418: The planet's prosperity. The natives of Carillon, the insectoid Ovions, have set up the gambling resort to lure humans to them to serve as living food for their hatching larvae in their underground chambers. They are also secretly in league with the Cylons and mine the tylium solely for their purposes in exchange for their freedom; they are cooperating in the Cylons' efforts to eradicate the human fugitives. During

3724-589: The promise that his colony would be spared from extermination (a promise that goes unfulfilled). Only Commander Adama , of the battlestar Galactica , suspects that the Cylons are planning a trap, and orders a recon patrol, consisting of his two best pilots: his eldest son, Captain Apollo , commander of the Galactica ' s strike wing, and Lieutenant Starbuck , the Galactica ' s best fighter pilot and Apollo's best friend. Adama's younger son, Zac, convinces Starbuck to let him go in his place. The patrol discovers

3800-463: The quest for Earth are Apollo, Starbuck, Lieutenant Boomer, another fighter pilot, and Colonel Tigh, Adama's second-in-command. The Galactica and the fugitive fleet escape the Cylons by crossing the Nova of Madagon, a massive, extremely hot starfield, which the Cylons have mined , and find brief respite on the resort planet of Carillon, where they hope to find food and fuel for their journey. As much of

3876-440: The recently released film Star Wars , eventually morphing the title into Battlestar Galactica . Larson was similarly convinced to deviate from his plan to produce the property as a series of TV movies to a weekly hour-long series, which caught his crew by surprise with a production schedule more demanding than originally expected in terms of writing while it overwhelmed the series' budgetary limits. Even with its generous budget,

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3952-595: The robot "drones", and the Buck Rogers serials of the 1930s. 20th Century Fox's copyright claims were initially dismissed by the trial court in 1980, then the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit remanded the case for trial in 1983. It was later "resolved without trial". Both the theatrical version and the television version have been released on DVD. The television version

4028-580: The series "could be a fine shot at a corner of the Star Wars market." On July 8, 1978, two months before its U.S. television debut, the film was released in Canada on 75 screens. The film had its US premiere on September 11, 1978 at the Philadelphia International Film Festival and Exhibition. The television version was first broadcast in the United States on September 17, 1978. This original three-hour broadcast

4104-468: The series ended in 2009, a short-lived prequel series, Caprica , followed in 2010. Larson was again not involved, but he was given a screen credit for the creation of certain characters. In February 2009, media sources reported that Larson was in talks with Universal Pictures to bring Battlestar Galactica to the big screen, though any potential feature film would not be based on the recent Sci-Fi Channel series remake , but would possibly be based on

4180-419: The series often recycled effects shots and was canceled after one season. The pilot episode, titled " Saga of a Star World " was edited into a two-hour theatrical film and a re-edit of the other episodes was released as a second theatrical feature film titled Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack . After the series was canceled, Larson went on to create a relatively low-budget sequel titled Galactica 1980 , which

4256-736: The series with Leslie Stevens . The feature-length pilot episode was released as a theatrical film in March 1979 and grossed $ 21 million at the North American box office. The weekly television series began in September 1979, running for two seasons until April 1981. In the 1980s, Larson had further success as one of the creators of Magnum, P.I. , which ran from 1980 to 1988. Around the same time, he left Universal to work for 20th Century-Fox . Additionally, Larson created The Fall Guy , which ran from 1981 to 1986. Larson's next prominent series

4332-422: The series, and who had also appeared in episode 19 "Smiler with a Gun") the day of Duel's death to fill the role of Hannibal Heyes, and actor/voice man Paul Frees came in to loop Duel's unfinished ADR on "The Men That Corrupted Hadleyburg". Davis was fitted for costumes the following day, and began reshooting scenes Duel had previously completed for an unfinished episode the following Monday. According to Swerling,

4408-506: The series.) Larson was involved in the development for television of The Six Million Dollar Man , based on Martin Caidin 's novel Cyborg , into the successful series, and was one of the program's early executive producers . Larson later secured a then-unprecedented $ 1 million per episode budget for Battlestar Galactica . The show incorporated many themes from Mormon theology , such as sealing (marriage) for "time and eternity" and

4484-409: The surface of Carillon, taking the enemy by surprise. Estimating that the Cylon fighters could not have come so far without a basestar, Apollo and Starbuck disengage from the battle and find a Cylon basestar hidden on the far side of Carillon. In defiance of Commander Adama's recall order, they attempt to destroy it, in order to enable the refugee fleet to elude pursuit, and use fake radio chatter to fool

4560-519: The television series aired in the United States, in order to help recoup its high production costs. Later, the standalone film edit was also released in the United States. Battlestar Galactica is set in a distant star system, in an age described as "the seventh millennium of time". Twelve colonies of humans, living on different worlds, have been fighting a 1,000 year war against the robotic race of Cylons , who seek to exterminate all of humanity. The Cylons have unexpectedly sued for peace , through

4636-489: The territorial governor. Through an old acquaintance, Sheriff Lom Trevors ( James Drury in the pilot, alternately Mike Road and John Russell in the series), they contact the governor, who is unsure of how voters will react if he extends leniency to Heyes and Curry. He ultimately strikes a deal to grant them amnesty for their past crimes, with the stipulations that they must not discuss the agreement with anyone and that they will officially still be wanted men until such time as

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4712-470: The theatrical version using Universal's HD transfer in widescreen and unmatted 4:3 full frame formats. Extras include the German trailer and vintage German opening credits from a 16mm print. Director Bryan Singer stated that the planned Battlestar Galactica feature film would be based on this part of the 1978 television series, but would not be a direct adaptation. However, Singer is no longer attached to

4788-590: The theme introduction. Ralph Story was brought in to provide narration for the series (he, rather than Davis, had done so in the pilot). When the cousins were children, all four of their parents were slaughtered during the "border wars" just before the Civil War (q.v. Kansas-Missouri Border War ) ("The Men That Corrupted Hadleyburg", season two, episode 17). In "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Red Gap," Heyes remarks, "My cousin and I are not Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry." Curry also speaks of their "sage old grandfather." In

4864-402: The time. The theatrical version made use of Universal's Sensurround process, and was the last produced film to use it. Although produced for television, originally as part of a planned series of telemovies and eventually as a television series, Universal Studios decided to release a re-edited version theatrically in order to recoup some of the high production costs with producers believing

4940-412: The two most successful outlaws in the history of the West. However, crime-fighting methods are evolving to foil them; safes are becoming harder to crack, trains more difficult to stop, and posses more adept at tracking them down. Heyes, the brains of the Devil's Hole Gang, falls in disfavor with fellow members. Deciding to give up their life of crime, he and Curry learn of an amnesty program founded by

5016-542: The writing credit on most episodes of the series that followed. It was broadcast on 17 March 1970 in the ABC Movie of the Week strand. Roger Davis starred as Stephen Foster Moody, and Pete Duel had the secondary but significant role of Honest John Smith. Joan Hackett played a character called Clementine Hale; a character with the same name appeared in two Alias Smith and Jones episodes, played by Sally Field. This pilot

5092-414: Was Knight Rider , which featured science-fiction elements with a light-hearted action-adventure scenario and limited violence. These basic elements characterized many of Larson's series' throughout the 1980s with Automan , Manimal and The Highwayman , though all of these shows were unsuccessful and none lasted more than a single season. Larson's profile declined, though he made a brief comeback in

5168-484: Was a success following an aggressive marketing campaign from Universal and the film grossed $ 471,917 in its first 3 days on release in Canada. The film grossed $ 41.8 million internationally. The Hollywood Reporter referred to it as a "poor man's version of Star Wars and Janet Maslin in The New York Times claimed that the filmmakers had "worked so carefully and expensively aping Star Wars that

5244-402: Was considered a Paul Newman lookalike.) A number of similarities are seen between the film and the TV series: one of the lead characters in the film was called Harvey Logan (played by Ted Cassidy ). In real life, Harvey Logan, also known by the nickname of Kid Curry, was an associate of the real Butch Cassidy , and unlike the TV version, was a cold-blooded killer. The TV series also featured

5320-564: Was fined, and an episode of Larson's series Switch called "Death by Resurrection" had the writing credits revised to give sole credit to the writers of the original Rockford Files episode "This Case Is Closed", as it was very clearly the basis of the Switch episode. Nevertheless, Garner felt that the fine had taught Larson nothing when he persisted in plagiarism and later copied the theme music from The Rockford Files for one of his shows. Garner stated that when Larson subsequently showed up on

5396-511: Was in three U.S. time zones interrupted for more than an hour to televise the signing of the Camp David Peace Accords between Israel 's Menachem Begin and Egypt 's Anwar Sadat, overseen by President Jimmy Carter . Following the coverage, ABC resumed the broadcast, right where it was interrupted. In later years, this version has often been separated into three episodes, each an hour long, for syndication. In October,

5472-437: Was rejected, but Huggins was given a second chance and, with Glen A. Larson , developed Alias Smith and Jones . As with the previously rejected pilot The Young Country , this series pilot proper also aired as an ABC Movie of the Week . It was made in the same spirit as many other American TV series of the time, from Huggins' own The Fugitive to Renegade , about fugitives on the run across America who get involved in

5548-401: Was released on the season 1 DVD set, and as part of "The Complete Epic Series" boxset containing all episodes of the series. The theatrical version was released in 1999 and then again in 2003 as a "flipper" disc with a preview for the then-current Battlestar Galactica revival and a Cylon DVD game. These releases present the theatrical version in 1.85:1 "matted" (non-anamorphic) widescreen, with

5624-407: Was set many years later, when the Galactica had reached Earth. It was less successful than the original and was canceled after 10 episodes. Larson re-used some of the sets, props, costumes, and effects work from Galactica for the light-hearted sci-fi series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century in 1979. Based on the comic-book character created in 1928 by Philip Francis Nowlan , Larson co-developed

5700-678: Was settled four years later in December 2015. This was not the first legal wrangle Larson had with the studio, as there had previously been a disagreement over ownership of rights to the Battlestar Galactica franchise. It was ultimately determined that Larson no longer owned the television rights to the property, but retained feature film rights. Larson died on November 14, 2014, in UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica , California , from esophageal cancer , aged 77 and

5776-538: Was survived by his wife Jeannie and nine children. He is buried at Rose Hill Burial Park (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) . Larson also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television industry. Alias Smith and Jones Operating primarily in Wyoming Territory (1868–1890), cousins Hannibal Heyes and Jedediah "Kid" Curry (whose boyish face spawned the nickname) are

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