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"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century"
Theatrical Film (1979) and TV Series
(1979-81)
Articles
Glen A. Larson interview from The
New York Times, May 13, 1979
By Karen Stabiner
HOLLYWOOD - An experienced
Universal Studio employee shakes his head in bewilderment: "That Buck Rogers
of ours is bringing in just piles of money. I don't know why--there are good films
around that aren't making a dime. And the studio is expecting Battlestar Galactica
to do as well as Buck Rogers."
Adding to the staffer's perturbation is
that Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which since its March premiere has grossed a
reported $20 million, and Battlestar Galactica, which opens at some 400 theaters
across the country on Friday, both started out as projects designed for television.
Indeed, though the Battlestar coming to theaters is spiced up with a Sensurround
aural track, it is basically a condensed version of the three-hour science-fiction pilot
telecast by ABC last September; the series has just been scrubbed from the network's fall
schedule, but who can predict the vagaries of movie-goers' tastes?
Glen A. Larson, the 40-year-old producer
responsible for these two films and a string of TV series (such as McCloud, The
Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and the current Quincy and B.J. and the Bear),
thinks that "Battlestar" will do just fine at the box office because science
fiction is still potent in its appeal.
Sitting in his office under the shadow of
"The Black Tower," as the Universal headquarters building is known, Mr. Larson
says the studio test-marketed the film version of Battlestar Galactica and found
that "people who like this stuff really like it. "An overseas release has
done well; in London, Battlestar Galactica broke a house record recently set by Grease.
In addition, while conceding no new footage was created for the film, he promises American
audiences will see a "dynamically and esthetically" different product than the
TV version, in part because of "third generation" sound equipment that Mr.
Larson thinks will make all the blastoffs and landings more exciting. As he says, without
even a trace of wryness, "It will be much more fulfilling and satisfying to watch the
end of a civilization in a theater, in Sensurround, than in your living room."
If he is right -- if Battlestar
even approaches the box-office orbit of Buck Rogers -- Mr. Larson will have notched
up a unique industry achievement: he will have broken the old rule that says a property
will not translate from the small home screen to the neighborhood theater or drive-in.
What does Mr. Larson offer, in his film
and TV productions, that is such an audience draw? Laughter, he says. Looking past the
glass jar on his desk that is labeled "cyanide" but contains candy, he says the
common denominator of such projects as McCloud, Quincy and his campy
science-fiction films is "dark humor."
But beyond the confines of his darkwood,
Muzak-filled office, some industry observers are less kind.
It is said that most of Mr. Larson's
projects can be traced back to another source: the short-lived TV series Alias Smith
and Jones to the Newman-Redford film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; McCloud
to Clint Eastwood's Coogan's Bluff; The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew to
the kid's books; Buck Rogers to the original comic strip; the NBC series B.J.
and the Bear, about a truck driver and his chimpanzee pal, to Clint Eastwood's 1978 Every
Which Way But Loose, about a truck driver and his chimpanzee pal; and Battlestar
Galactica to Star Wars.
The accusation has followed Mr. Larson
around for years and has made him, he admits, "kind of sensitive."
He quickly points out that he became
involved with McCloud as a writer after the pilot had been filmed, and was
not, therefore, responsible for whatever similarities it displayed to an earlier film. He
says that B.J. and the Bear was completed a year before it aired -- before Mr.
Eastwood's film was underway. And he will not discuss Battlestar Galactica
vis-à-vis Star Wars because George Lucas, creator of the most potent box-office
hit ever, is suing over the similarities between Battlestar and his film, and the
legions of lawyers working on the case have advised Mr. Larson to remain silent.
But Mr. Larson dismisses the critics who
claim it is just the latest example of his unoriginal thinking: "It's a compliment,
actually, because it means you're thinking in the mainstream. The actual incidence of
coincidence is so high that you'd have to sit on the side of the desk, to listen to how
nine out of 10 writers have the same idea, to believe how bad it gets."
Instead, he prefers to fret about whether
Universal is marketing his two films correctly. Buck Rogers, made as an NBC
mini-series but sold back to Universal as a consolation prize after the network, under new
head Fred Silverman, canceled several of the studio's novels-for-TV, was given a
"saturation release"--it opened in more theaters than Jaws and The
Sting. But Mr. Larson thinks the film's advertising campaign was "too
narrow." The brass underestimated the potential of Buck Rogers as an adult
piece; they aimed the TV ads at a young television buy. Saturday Mornings and all that.
They wanted to get in and out of the theaters quick.
"And since it was originally
targeted for TV, they thought they wouldn't get good critical response. To our annoyance
and the studio's surprise, they were wrong. We got exceptional reviews. We got what you'd
call 'money reviews.' Had Buck Rogers been sold like Superman was sold, they
could have quadrupled their grosses."
That last bit of multiplication may be
open to debate, but Universal has clearly changed its plans for marking the film version
of Battlestar Galactica. The initial thought, several months back, was to release
it only in Canada and overseas. But the film's performance there, combined with the
showing of Buck Rogers in the US, convinced Universal to spring for such
advertisements as a mammoth billboard on Sunset Boulevard and in Los Angeles, posters on
the rumps of many of the city's buses.
Mr. Larson has had what appears to be
easy success in several fields -- on stage (before entering TV, he was for 10 years a
member of The Four Preps singing group), in television and now in films. And he
fully intends to make matters even worse in the future for those who envy him: Mr. Larson
is currently working on:
- A second year of B.J. and the Bear,
as well as a spin-off series from it titled The Misadventures of Lobo;
- A Buck Rogers TV series for NBC's
fall schedule;
- A second Battlestar Galactica
feature film for the European market [Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack], using
"what we've already shot for TV and some new footage. And though the TV
"Battlestar" series has been canceled, ABC recently asked Mr. Larson for a
two-hour TV movie "in which Battlestar Galactica discovers the planet
Earth." The producer will not deny the possibility that this could serve as a pilot
for a reborn TV series, especially since at least one ABC affiliate has been picketed by
youngsters demanding that the show be reinstated.
At the moment, Mr. Larson has no original
feature film planned. But once his current projects either dry up or begin functioning on
automatic pilot, he wants to concentrate more on comedy -- leading, perhaps, to the
legitimate stage.
"I'd love to do a musical comedy on
Broadway someday," says Mr. Larson, who in addition to his singing career helped
create the theme music for both B.J. and the Bear and Battlestar. "I
know how to work a crowd. I just came back from New York, where I saw a couple of shows I
loved. But I saw some others that make me think I might be up to the challenge."
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