BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

Dirk Benedict who starred in the 1973 movie, 'Sssssss', played Starbuck in the 1978 TV series, 'Battlestar Galactica'. "Everywhere in the world I go," he said on reflection, "I'm recognized, yet I haven't had as big career as many actors, being in as many films and TV series. Some actors just go on and on doing show after show. I'm really only known for 2....'Battlestar Galactica' and 'The A-Team.'"

"'Battlestar Galactica,'" producer Glen A. Larson insisted from the outset, "is probably the biggest science fiction project ever mounted for television."

"At the time," Richard Hatch recalled in 1993, "we were the highest-rated science fiction show in the history of network television."

Battlestar Galactica was a space city populated by people from the planet Kobol who were searching for Earth after 12 of the exisiting 13 planets had been destroyed by war. "It ties in with Genesis," Glen believed. "It’s Exodus."

"These people could be our ancestors," Lorne Greene expressed. He played the Chief of the "Quorum of 12" which represented the 12 colonies of man in space. "So much science fiction is the opposite," Glen pointed out. "people leaving a devastated Earth searching for other homes."

Richard remarked, "'Battlestar' had a unique vision. Everybody has always wondered where mankind came from. Are there ancestors that evolved here and left to seed other galaxies? Were we seeded, or did we hail from other places in space? 'Battlestar' raised a lot of those issues and I think, touched a very deep nerve in the public mind, just like 'Star Wars': Who are we, what are we and why are we?"

Thirty years before 'Battlestar Galactica' began, the Biblical "Promised Land" of Israel in Palestine was reclaimed by the Jewish people, marking their return from the wilderness after close to 2000 years in exile.

Ancient Israel life was said revolved around the great Temple in Jerusalem - the capital city of Palestine which was seven miles north from where Christ was born and home to the world's 3 faiths: Jewish, Christian and Moslem.

In 68A.D, the ancient State of Israel fell to the Roman Empire. The fall of the Temple in Jerusalem marked the end of the ancient Jewish State. The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 had been described as "the struggle for the fulfilment of the dream of generations."

In Biblical times, the ancient Holy Land was fought for by Assyrians, Babylonians and the Roman Empire. T.E. Lawrence (also known as Lawrence of Arabia) wrote in 1909, "It is such a comfort to know that (Palestine) was not a bit like this in the time of Our Lord."

Sir George Adams Smith argued, "The Holy Land has never belonged to one nation and probably never will.”

Sir Winston Churchill initiated the Balfour Declaration after World War I which had the backing of the League of Nations to set up the Jewish nation. The State of Israel was finally realized after World War II.

Dirk Benedict described his character on 'Battlestar Galactica', "Starbuck lives for today....Starbuck is real to me since he's scared like everybody else. Yet he's a hero because he refuses to be intimidated no matter how bad things get."

Of 'Battlestar Galactica', Glen maintained, "...It's an interesting concept to talk about those frontiers of space in terms of the people and not just philosophical concepts. I think there should be interesting probes into all kinds of philosophies but I also believe interesting people stories could be wonderful, too."

Anne Lockhart played the part of Lieutenant Sheba. She recounted in 1998, "....She was such an interesting and complex person. I would love to explore where she's been in the ensuing 20 years....

"I think they were moving towards expanding the relationship between Sheba and Apollo when we were canceled; I don't know how permanent it would have become because we never got anywhere beyond the kiss in the last episode."

Anne also made the observation, "The relationship with Apollo was so funny because we were instantly like oil and water and that conflict was the over-layer to the attraction underneath, which was great fun to play. I liked her directness, yet I also liked the fact that she was awkward with her emotions - she had great strong emotions, but it was hard for her to express them."

1972

Saturday, January 22, 1972: KTLA Channel 5 - the first local commercial independent television station in Los Angeles celebrated its 25th anniversary on the air.

Also in 1972, the series 'The Streets Of San Francisco' began its 5-season run; the Virginia Slims Championships of women's tennis was first played and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (also known as the Bill of Rights) enacted since 1789 went under the microscope.

1970 marked the start of the Virginia Slims pro tour. "Britain," Billie Jean King believed, "has the right idea. We should all be called players, not professionals and amateurs."

Billie Jean won her 100th singles match at Wimbledon in 1982. "I didn't realize until yesterday that this was going to be my 100th singles match," she later confessed. Billie Jean played her first Wimbledon match in 1961. "In my first year at Wimbledon," she recounted in 1975, "I had to share a room for $1.20 a night, including breakfast. All we ate were hamburgers and French fries. When I left I'd put on so much weight I couldn't button up my skirt."

On reflection she acknowledged, "I'm happy I came along when I did. It makes me feel good to know other women will have the opportunity to pursue their careers the way they want to from now on."

On the Saturday and Sunday of January 19 and 20 in 1974, 6500 tennis fans each night packed the San Francisco Civic Auditorium to watch Billie Jean played Chris Evert in the opening tennis event of the women's pro tour.

"I've waited 20 years to see crowds like this," Billie Jean enthused afterward. Tennis enthusiasts waited 6 hours before tickets went on sale. Some 2,000 plus fans
had to be turned away because there were no seats left. "It was the most enthusiastic crowd I've ever played before," Chris remembered.

That year California was chosen as the venue to host the Virginia Slims Championships. "When we played at San Francisco," Billie Jean explained of their decision, "people began queuing up for tickets at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. We had to turn hundreds away."

In 1988, Chris Evert won her second last singles title at the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles. "The name Billie Jean," she conceded, "and what she has done in tennis is intimidating."

Quinn Martin produced 'The Streets Of San Francisco'. "The first show I ever produced," he reminisced, "was 'The Jane Wyman Show.'"

'The Streets Of San Francisco' was shot on location. Quinn emphasized, "I can make a show looks 5 times better on location. A show is successful because of the stars and the scripts. I think location shooting adds about 20% to the intrinsic value of a show."

The 1950s, star Karl Malden remarked, "was the Golden Age when everything was live but it also was the age when many mistakes were being made and panic reigned."

Co-star Michael Douglas shared, "Back in my father's (Kirk Douglas) day, there was a normal progression for an actor's career. He could get his start on Broadway, then a studio would take him over and mold his career. But when I went to New York in 1968, there was no theater. I did a little off-Broadway, then I made 2 or 3 pictures that didn't go. The studios don't put actors under contract anymore, so I figured the best way to move my career along was to get into a TV series."

Lawrence Welk made his TV debut on KTLA Channel 5 in 1951. He voiced in 1974, "I have the reputation of being a square...I learned that if I'm going to be...a successful musician, I have to learn and evolve a style the people like...I am, basically deep in my heart, a jazz musician. Dixieland jazz."

Quinn Martin believed, "I think television in general has to renovate itself....We can't keep giving the public the same thing. We tend to drive people away from television."

The First Amendment rights offered protection of free speech amongst other freedoms in American society. In 1972, freedom of speech became the talking point in the media.

"Because (broadcast journalism's) technology depends on the use of frequencies rather than printing presses," Julian Goodman, the chief at NBC, pointed out at the time, "the government decided long ago to administer the system by federal licensing. And the federal license for using a frequency can become federal control over how it is used – control growing out of administrative and judicial interpretations of the public interest standard."

Reuven Frank who was in charge of 'NBC News', expressed about the First Amendment, "If you do not believe it ought to apply to news on television, you do not believe that it is an absolute need that news be free...That is not the way you express your belief but that is what you believe. This belief, to go back, is said to be based on the physical difference between print and broadcasting, between wood pulp and radio waves, not between what they carry."

"We must look ahead to where journalism itself is going. Today," Julian stated in 1972, "we have 2 worlds of the press – the world of the printed press and the world of electronic news. In the the former, constitutional guarantees of the press freedom are recognized and respected. In the latter they are being weakened."

"What of the future?" Julian asked. "We are facing an explosive growth in electronic communications...Is it a newspaper entitled to a strict First Amendment protection, or is it a licensed frequency subject to government control? Is the technology of news presentation to be the basis for determining how much or how little press freedom the American public should have?...But if we continue the restrictions on a freedom of broadcast journalism, they are likely to carry over to the expanded forms of electronic news."

In a freedom of the press debate, 'Washington Post' editor Benjamin Bradlee maintained, "If a government has a right to tell a newspaper what not to print, it inherits automatically the right to tell a newspaper what to print."

"The freedom of speech the First Amendment is involved with," a Harvard Law School professor made known, "is that basically the press should never have to go to the government in advance and get permission. They should rely on the criminal process then."

Freedom of the press, Mr. Justice Murphy declared in 1947, "Those guarantees are not for the benefit of the press so much as the benefit of all of us. A free press lies at the heart of our democracy and its preservation is essential to the survival of liberty."

IVAN LENDL

Ivan Lendl won the inaugural invitational European Community Championships (ECC) in 1982. Played in Antwerp Belgium, it was described as the world's richest indoor tennis event. Any players who won the title 3 times in any 5-year span would be awarded the 13.2 pounds gold and 1,350 diamonds (100 carats) encrusted trophy.

Ivan won the gold and diamond Cup in 1985. "The trophy will be on view to the public," Ivan announced, "and afterwards I will try to ship it to the U.S."

Of his home in Greenwich Connecticut, Ivan shared in 1986, "That's where I lived for the past 5 years. When I was a junior I came here when I was 15-and-a-half for 4 weeks. Then I was supposed to go to Costa Rica and the tournament was cancelled. I was happy. It was the first time I spent Christmas away from my family. A year later, I was away for 6 weeks and I got over (the homesickness). By 1977, I didn't have that problem anymore. And then I was a pro and I didn't have any home. Now, I get homesick when I go to Europe. That's why I come back here between the French and Wimbledon."

Ivan won his first grand slam championship in 1984 and in 1985 won his first U.S Open championship. "I can’t just describe how happy I am winning the championship of this country," Ivan said of the U.S Open. "I was trying for a long time."

"I realised," he made known in 1986, "after the French Open and Wimbledon that if I am to become a better player the difference will come not from hitting more tennis balls. It will come from becoming a better athlete."

Jimmy Connors turned 30 in 1982. "I don’t have too many years left to win what I want to win," he conceded at the time. At the 1985 U.S. Open, Jimmy Connors - then 33 defeated Stefan Edberg who was 19. "If I'm still beating people out here when I'm 48, then something is definitely wrong. Age is part of tennis. People get older and there comes a time in life when you move on to other things." he reasoned.

Of John McEnroe, Ivan expressed in 1987, "I think he will always be remembered for 2 things - his genius and his behaviour."

John made the comment in 1984, "The problem with me is that I never like to do things easily. If I’m winning easily, I bring my game down to the level of the other person. Or I let myself get angry with a linesmen. Anything to make it tougher for me. It’s really me fighting myself more than anything."

60 MINUTES

'60 Minutes' went on the air in 1968. That year Richard Nixon was elected the 37th President of the United States. In Czechoslovakia, Alexander Dubček failed to liberalize the Communist Party government with his Prague Spring reform which was described as "socialism with a human face."

Consistently the most watched news program on television, '60 Minutes' "not only covers but helps make the news." Don Hewitt believed, "We have become America's ombudsman!"

Lesley Stahl joined '60 Minutes' in March 1991. She began her broadcast career in 1972. That year 62 million American households had access to television making the small screen the most powerful medium any civilization ever had.

In 1972, Richard Nixon won re-election in a landslide victory. He told reporters at Camp David, "I find that up here on top of a mountain it is easier to get on top of the job." To help ease Cold War tensions, President Nixon managed to break the ice with China and Russia when he visited Beijing and Moscow in early 1972.

Back in October 1971, invited guests from around the world arrived in the ancient city of Persepolis in Iran to help Mohammad Reza Pahlavi - the Shah of Iran (Light of the Aryans) and Empress Farah celebrated 25 centuries of the Persian Empire which was founded by Cyrus the Great – 600 years before the birth of Christ.

King Constantine II of Greece was heard telling Mrs. Imelda Marcos he would like to meet President Nixon to discuss about democracy in his country. Other guests at the 2-day festival included President Tito of Yugoslavia, President Ludvik Svoboda of Czechoslovakia and General Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan of Pakistan.

Guests attending the festival caught sight of the ruined stone palaces Darius and other Kings built which Alexander the Great destroyed in 390 B.C. It was noted Ghengis Khan and Marco Polo had also stopped by Persepolis during their lifetime.

In 1984, Diane Sawyer became the 5th reporter on '60 Minutes' and the first woman on the show. She previously worked as a press aide during the Nixon White House and stayed with Mr. Nixon to assist him with his memoirs.

She recalled, "(Watergate) was something I watched him go through...and watched the country go through. We didn't know what he knew. It wasn't like a trip to the Soviet Union or the opening of China. What a considerable Presidency it would have been without Watergate. But when it became clear what had happened, it was too late to be mad. It was over. His world had collapsed."

Addressing graduates at the Pennsylvania State University in May 1983, Lesley told students, "My earnest wish for each of you is that you do not become a flash in the pan. Beware of easy and early success. In fact, hope that you aren’t discovered for the first 10 years of your career. We talk about meteoric rises. But the word 'meteoric', by definition, also implies a burning out."

AMELIA ISLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 2008 Bausch & Lomb Championship was the last women's professional tennis tournament to be played on the green clay courts at Amelia Island in Florida. Maria Sharapova was the champion.

Martina Navratilova won the inaugural Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Championship in 1980. By winning the Amelia Island tournament at that time, Martina also won back her No. 1 ranking.

"It's a two-horse race" for the No. 1 ranking at the start of 1980. "That's the new, interesting dimension this close battle is giving women's tennis. It's so close, the ranking is literally on the racket," a WTA representative enthused at the time.

Bausch & Lomb began its sponsorship of the Amelia Island Championships in 1987. Steffi Graf was the champion that year. Of Steffi, Martina expressed at the time, "Attitude is everything and that's one thing Steffi has over all of us. Everytime she goes out there she thinks she can win."

Of Martina, Pam Shriver observed in 1984, "She has just set such high standard. In the long run, it’s really going to be great for tennis."

After losing to Martina in 1984, Chris Evert conceded, "With Martina...she gets ahead and really takes the bull by the horns."

"I think the way I've changed the game is the way Chris and (Bjorn) Borg did," Martina remarked.

Although there was a new title sponsor for the 2009 and 2010 championships, the event was played at a different location. Caroline Wozniacki was the champion. After 31 years, the WTA Championships wound up. "The Bausch & Lomb Championships has a rich and vibrant history on Amelia Island," the tournament director readily acknowledged.

Of the 1984 final, Martina mentioned, "I felt bad for Chris...We've been in so many finals together that she's the one person I feel bad for. Of course, she won 2 games which is better than I did the last time." That last time was the 1981 final in which Chris won love and love.

Chris told Sports Illustrated magazine in 1984, "Four or 5 years ago we had a few stars. Now there are only 2 of us."

In 1983, the WTA tour did away with the split format and went back to its year-long format. Virginia Slims also came back as the main sponsor of women's tennis. The World Championship Series at the time comprised of 30 "Formula One" (or major) tournaments. A player would require to play in at least 11 tournaments. "Formula Two" level consisted of another 30 tournaments and about 8 other tournaments were set up for the "Ginny Circuit" which would allow players to win sufficient points to play in the "Formula One" events.

DONNA MILLS

'Knots Landing' ran between 1979 and 1993. The final episode of Knots Landing, shown in May 1993, was watched by 20 million viewers. Donna Mills appeared on the show from 1980 to 1989. Of her character Donna described, "I think she had more depth than the average 'bad woman' on television. I tried to keep her real and the writers helped to make her unpredictable."

Donna also made the point, "In most series you can get away with bad acting because they are written and acted like caricatures. Sometimes that's the only way performers can play their role."

In 1972, Donna co-starred in the TV movie, 'Haunts Of The Very Rich', about a resort called the Portals of Eden.

"...I've been to many places in the world, but there are so many I haven't been to," Donna confessed. "I want to go to India, I want to go to China."

She explained, "I want to go there before it becomes too easy." "Now," she remarked in 1982, "you go there and you don't stay in a luxury hotel, you stay in a hotel that is a Chinese hotel. It's not very luxurious - that's the way it is there. I don't want to go when there is a big Hyatt or a big Holiday Inn that you can stay in. It would look just like the buildings do here. That isn't interesting."

Of the nighttime soap 'Knots Landing', Donna observed, "There are infinitely intricate human conflicts and relationships (on the show) and there is an infinite variety in those conflicts." However "we are the most ignored successful show in the industry. Even with great ratings it's as if we didn't exist."

"The most successful shows on TV all feature families at the core," producer David Jacobs pointed out. "We've never been timely; we've never been trendy. We never cared whether Reagan was President."

Although Donna maintained, "My greatest obligation is to the viewing audience and I'm concerned a great deal about the young women who watch our show. For this reason, I work very hard to see that Abby is vulnerable and not mean all the time."

In 1977, Donna could be seen in the Irwin Allen's movie, 'Fire'. Of the movie, Irwin insisted, "As long as in real life we have floods, storms, fires and other disasters, there's no end in sight. These kinds of pictures will be around as long as we're alive. Every poll we've taken says, 'Give us more.'"

Donna started out as a dancer; landed her first part in the Broadway play, 'Don't Drink The Water' by Woody Allen and made her acting debut in 1966 in the daytime drama, 'The Secret Storm'. She followed that role with an appearance in another soap, 'Love Is A Many Splendored Thing'.

On reflection, Donna said in 1986, "80% of the time women are over made-up in daytime because they use incandescent light rather than natural light. Incandescent is for night."

"A lot of actors just do whatever they do and wherever the camera is, it is. They don't pay much attention but I always did," Donna disclosed. "I was always very close to the camera crew. They were my best buddies, no matter what movie or show I was doing.

"The focus puller, the (camera) operator, the DP (director of photography), the lighting guys - they become part of the world you create in front of a camera. I always wanted to know what lens they were on, how close they were. I didn't do it with a plan in mind but I would instinctively gear what I was doing toward what lenses they were using."

In 1985-86, roughly 29% of the black households were counted watching 'Knots Landing'. The show ended that season ranked the 18th highest rated show on television.

"My mail is very positive toward Abby," Donna shared. "Women especially would like to take charge of their lives as she has. They can't, so they live vicariously through Abby who is anything but a victim."

Co-star Joan Van Ark added, "It can be strange when people start talking about Val like she's reality. It's flattering, though. She's obviously made an impression."

"I was very, very particular about the clothes that Abby wore," Donna revealed. "So I would go to Neiman Marcus or Saks and I would just throw whatever piece of clothing I wanted into the cart. I'd never have to look at a price tag. It was heaven."

Her hair at the time was styled by Allen Edwards. "As a hairdresser today it's very difficult to create new looks and hairstyles because it was all done before," Allen acknowledged. "I came from an era where we used to create new things."

1976

The theme song of the 1975 movie 'Mahogany' ('Do You Know Where You're Going To') by Diana Ross topped the Billboard chart in January 1976.

On the big screen, 'Westworld' sequel, 'Futureworld' was shown. In 1973, moviegoers were treated to 3 vacation resorts Westworld, Romanworld and Medievalworld. In 1976 it was 'Futureworld'. Blythe Danner co-starred.

1976 marked the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in United States. It also marked the 100th anniversary of the Bulgarian Horrors and the 60th anniversary of 1916, the last year of old Europe. World War I had, by 1916, it was said became a War Of Attrition which as a result started inflation.

In 1976, the Worldwatch Institute of Washington D.C released its paper predicting the world population would reach 12 billion by the year 2030. In 1975, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) held a conference in Paris to discuss privacy and Big Brother. One delegate who attended the conference told listeners, "It is approximately 10 years before George Orwell's famous (1949) book ‘1984’ comes up on our calendars.

"If we move ahead with vigor and insight in the drafting of regulations in all advanced nations, we should be able to say when 1984 arrives not, with regret, how terribly prophetic Orwell was but to note with satisfaction that Western societies had the wisdom and made the commitment to avoid the abyss."

"Innovations in computers," it was said, "have sharpened public awareness of the human value 'privacy.'"

Also Sunday (holy day), March 21 1976, marked the start of the year 133 BE (Baha'i Era). Originated in Iran in 1844, Baha'i Faith was said practiced in some 300 countries. In Florida, the Naw-Ruz (the Persian name of Baha'i) festival was held. Baha'i Faith was founded by Bahá'u'lláh who was born rich but died in exile in 1892.

In 1976, Princess Margaret was amongst 12,000 tennis fans watching Chris Evert won the Wimbledon championship. Of her win, Chris made known, "I think it was just a battle of the minds, a question of who was going to hang in there longer rather than actual tennis. I've been thinking about this match all year and I just stayed in there and gutted it out. It was a matter of who was going to play the big points the better and I think I played smart tennis on the pressure points."

Back in 1974, Blythe Danner starred with Richard Chamberlain in "F.Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Last of The Belles'". Of the movie, Richard recounted, "I didn’t know a lot about Fitzgerald, except what everyone know. I hadn’t read much of his works, except 'The Great Gatsby' and 'Tender Is The Night'.

"It came up so fast I didn’t have much time to get through as much of his writing as I would have liked. I read his biography and some correspondence. He was a fascinating man. So lucid, so hard to pin down because of all the illusions he seemed to live. I don’t think he could ever cope with not being young any more. He and Zelda engaged in frantic acting to create an illusion of youth."