Galactica 1980: The Return of Starbuck

"The Return of Starbuck" is the tenth and final episode of the science fiction/action series Galactica 1980. It was directed by Ron Satlof and written by series creator Glen A. Larson. It first aired on ABC on Sunday, May 14th, 1980 at 7:00 pm EST.

Notes & Trivia

 * This episode is included on disc two of the Galactica 1980: The Final Season DVD collection.


 * Production code number: 55118.


 * Final episode of the series; final appearance of all characters. Final appearance of the original iteration of the Galactica.


 * This is the only episode of Galactica 1980 directed by Ron Satlof.


 * Glen A. Larson last wrote "The Night the Cylons Landed (Part 2)".


 * Lorne Greene is the only billed cast member to appear in this episode. James Patrick Stewart also appears as Doctor Zee.


 * The G1 Cylons do make an appearance in season three of the 2004 Battlestar Galactica revival series, but that series takes place in an alternate continuity and the Cylons are presented as computer generated images with mild cosmetic differences.


 * Actor Gary Owens is uncredited for providing the voice of the Cylon, Cy, in this episode.
 * Ron Satlof has also directed five episodes of The A-Team, which stars Dirk Benedict.


 * The majority of this episode takes place in flashback, presumably to a point in time shortly after "The Hand of God" judging by the relative ages of both Starbuck and Boomer.


 * Lieutenant Starbuck appeared last in "The Hand of God" episode of Battlestar Galactica.


 * Colonel Boomer appeared last in "Space Croppers".


 * Fans of Saturday morning cartoon fare may recognize the voice of Cy. He is voiced by Gary Owens, who is also known for voicing the character of Space Ghost on his own titular animated serial, and the superhero Blue Falcon from Dynomutt, Dog Wonder as well as voices from many more animated projects.


 * This episode establishes that Cylons are at least partially sentient and are capable of independent thought, problem-solving skills and even sarcasm and a sense of self sacrifice. This goes against everything that has ever been presented about them before and shows that Cylons are capable of evolving beyond their initial programming.


 * Many of the space battle fights in the beginning of the episode are taken from "The Young Lords" episode of Battlestar Galactica.


 * This is the only episode of Galactica 1980 in which the expletive "Frak" is used.


 * The final fate of Starbuck following the events of this episode are unknown. Presumably he dies alone on Planet Starbuck.

Bloopers

 * The wreckage from both the Colonial Viper and the Cylon Raider are clearly pieces of painted plastic.


 * For a guy who hasn't bathed in two weeks, Starbuck cuts a rather impressive appearance. His uniform is clean and freshly pressed, he is clean shaven and his hair, though windswept, does not appear dirty at all. In some scenes, Dirk Benedict's makeup is quite prominent in fact.