This week’s Galactica installment is a two-parter with a teleplay by Glen A. Larson, based on a story crafted by Larson and Ken Pettus, and sees the appearance of a Battlestar thought lost two yahren ago… the Pegasus, commanded by the legendary military leader, Commander Cain (Lloyd Bridges). As the 220+ fleet is brought to a standstill…
Category: Bellisario & Cannell
The Rockford Files (1974) – Tall Woman In Red Wagon
This week’s episode was originally aired October 11, 1974 with a teleplay by Cannell based on a story by Roy Huggins, and is a bit of a fun romp, despite the fact that Jim Rockford (James Garner) is left in right after the phone gag, which this time features Laurie calling from the trailer…
Battlestar Galactica (1978) – The Magnificent Warriors and The Young Lords
On this week’s Galactica double feature, we have another space-western, and a kids fighting the cylons tale. In the first, The Magnificent Warriors, written by Glen A. Larson, a couple of agro-ships (footage of the spaceships in Silent Running) are destroyed in a cylon attack, with a third seriously compromised. Happily, there is a human…
The Rockford Files (1974) – The Countess and Exit Prentiss Carr
This entry on the Bellisario and Cannell revisit has private eye Jim Rockford (James Garner) dealing with cases of blackmail and murder!! The Countess, with a teleplay by Cannell, based on a story by Roy Huggins (under the name of John Thomas James) originally aired the 27th of September, 1974. Jim has been hired…
Battlestar Galactica (1978) – The Gun On Ice Planet Zero
This week’s installment of my look back at Battlestar Galactica features the two-parter, The Gun On Ice Planet Zero written by Bellisario, Michael Sloan and Leslie Stevens, from a story idea by John Ireland, Jr. The first episode aired on October 22, 1978, with its conclusion airing the following week on the 29th. The fleet appears to be in trouble…
The Rockford Files (1974) – The Kirkoff Case & The Dark and Bloody Ground
In this installment of Bellisario & Cannell we talk about the first two episodes of Season 1 of James Garner’s The Rockford Files. First off we have The Kirkoff Case, penned by series creators Cannell and Roy Huggins which aired September 13, 1974 and features James Woods. The answering machine gag this week is…
Battlestar Galactica (1978) – The Lost Warrior & The Long Patrol
This week’s Battlestar Galactica sees two stand alone episodes before we plunge into another two parter. The art used to illustrate this installment of the Bellasrio & Cannell comes from Ralph McQuarrie’s preproduction art and book cover art from the episode’s novel adaption by David Shleinkofer. First up is The Lost Warrior, which aired October 8,…
The Rockford Files (1974) – Backlash of the Hunter
James Garner brings the enduring, funny, occasionally cowardly ex-con (having served 5 years for armed robbery, though he’s always maintained his innocence, and was pardoned) turned private investigator Jim Rockford, in this pilot episode for the much-loved series, The Rockford Files, which aired March 27, 1974. Lindsay Wagner stars as Sarah Butler, a young…
Battlestar Galactica (1978) – Lost Planet of the Gods
This week’s look at Galactica, in the Bellisario & Cannell files, sees the two-parter which aired part one on September 24, 1978, and part two on October 1, 1978. Written By Glen A. Larson and Bellisario the series continues its space opera sense of storytelling, alongside some outdated thoughts on women. The episode opens…
Battlestar Galactica (1978) – Saga of a Star World
It struck me that I wanted to revisit some television shows, and while I thought about it, I realized there were a couple more names that could stand alongside Spielberg, Lucas and Roddenberry as entertaining me and shaping me as I grew up… Donald P. Bellisario and Stephen J. Cannell. The tv series that…
The Mind Reels 