Continuity errors (1980)

Part of the series on Continuity Errors

Original Series Galactica 1980 Re-imagined Series Caprica

These are continuity errors seen in Galactica 1980.

Dialogue errors

• In his conversation with Doctor Zee in "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I", Adama indicates that they have not encountered any Cylons for a "billion star miles". The term miles is never used in the Original Series.
• Furthermore, the Galacticans tend to vacillate between Earth terms and Galactican terms for time and measurement, occasionally substituting "year" for "yahren" and vice versa, "hour" for "centar".
• In "The Super Scouts, Part II', the sick Super Scouts are identified by Dillon as being Starla, Moonstone and Jason. However, the girl scout is not Starla and Jason is later identified in "Spaceball" as Wellington.
• In "The Super Scouts, Part II", Jay Johnson, the leader of the National Guard detachment from Vandenberg Air Force Base, is identified by three different first names by Sheriff Ellsworth: Jay, John and Joe.

Logic errors

• The signal correctly believed by some Colonials to be from Earth is the Apollo 11 moon landing from 1969, and is received by Galactica in the Original Series finale, "The Hand of God". Eleven years have passed on Earth, since the Fleet finds Earth in 1980; however, thirty years have passed for the Fleet, indicating they should have come across the planet much later than 1980.

An energy bolt goes through an USAF airman.

• At ~40:08 in "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part III", as Xaviar charges his Viper's energizer, the green electrical discharge that hits the Viper also goes through a USAF airman, who is unaffected by it. Logically, the man should be dead.

• In "The Super Scouts, Part I", the Delphi develops engine trouble and stops "dead in space". However, the ship should still have inertia, thus continuing to move in space, until slowed or diverted by a gravitational pull or other outside force.

• In "The Super Scouts, Part II", Sydell opens the back of John Stockton's van, seeing the empty beds. As he points the flashlight in Stockton's face, he asks where the Warriors and children are. On another shot at roughly ~44:08, which is supposed to show his response to this question, Stockton is (somehow) on the left side of the van when he replies to this question.

• In "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I", the second ticket master points out the gate that Troy and Dillon are to go to in order to board the jet with her right hand. In the next scene at ~13:39 she's using her left.

• In "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part II", when Norman Blore looks and sees Andromus on the balcony alone at ~19:56. In the following scenes, Andromus is with Centuri, who is standing to Andromus' right (and within clear view of the door).

• In "Space Croppers", there are three Agro Ships being attacked by Cylons. However, it is previously established that within the first year of their journey for Earth, two of the three surviving Agro Ships are destroyed by a similar attack in "The Magnificent Warriors". To add to the contradiction, Adama refers to the attack as having destroyed one agricultural ship.

• In "Space Croppers" at ~04:22, a Viper pilot jukes to his port, but the next special effects shot shows the Viper juking to starboard.

• In "The Return of Starbuck", some of the close up scenes are taken from "The Magnificent Warriors", a fact which is visually betrayed as the new scenes shot for "The Return of Starbuck" feature the two-seater cockpit.

Prop errors

A cop with two different badge numbers! (The Night the Cylons Landed, Part II).

• In "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part II", the old NYPD cop that pursues Troy and Dillon is wearing badges with two different and conflicting numbers. His hat says 4286 while the badge on his jacket reads 6425. This is also prevalent on many of the NYPD cops that make appearances in this episode.

• In "Space Croppers", the laser pistols used by Troy and Dillon to prepare the ground for planting are the laser pistols of Cylon Centurions, not Colonials.

Reused footage

Due to the alleged substantively reduced budget and production problems in 1980, much of the series reuses footage from the Original Series to a much higher degree than in the original.

Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I

• The scene where Troy and Dillon approach Earth is taken from "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Part I", particularly of note is the brief flash from the mountain top where the Ravashol pulsar when the two Viper's pass by.

Galactica Discovers Earth, Part III

• At ~00:21:04, footage of Troy pressing the switch to activate the flying mode on the turbine is used. However, it can be plainly seen that he is wearing the standard Colonial uniform, instead of the puffy jacket that he's actually wearing when being pursued by the sheriff.
• The computer screen depicting how close Troy and Dillon are near to Xavier's Viper is taken from "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Part I", when the Cylons are readying the Ravashol pulsar to fire.

The Super Scouts, Part I

• Footage depicting the destruction scenes on the Delphi are taken from various sources, primarily "Fire in Space".
• Also at ~00:07:17, an explosion effect is overlaid with a shot of a launch tube with a Viper inside.

The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I

• Immediately after Britton and Kanon's Viper rams into the A-B Raider, the undercarriage of a regular Raider can be seen briefly at ~00:03:22 from inside the Viper's cockpit.
• The scene between Zee and Adama discussing the fact that the Cylons have evolved beyond their greatest fears is the same as the discussion about the attack on the Delphi in "The Super Scouts, Part I". There is an abandoned sub-plot in a previous version of the script for "The Super Scouts, Part I" that would have introduced the android Cylons, and this dialogue is clearly the only surviving descendant of that abandoned plotline.
• The scene of two police cars alleging to be on West 12th Street at ~00:44:22 shows two older police cars, as noted by the different strobe-and-flash rack on the roof, and the car types.
• While A-B Raider has been closing the Earth, Paradeen has been seen to replaced the Earth through the windows

Space Croppers

• The scene where a Centurion talks to the Imperious Leader is extracted from "Saga of a Star World", but the dialogue is redubbed with Dennis Haysbert voicing the Leader.
• The attack on the Agro Ships is lifted from "The Magnificent Warriors".
• The various cuts of Viper pilots pressing the fire button on the pilot stick will note that various ones say "stores", which is from "Saga of a Star World".
• At ~04:47, the Raiders that climb over the ship on Zee's screen is from "Saga of a Star World". Notably the craft they climb over is a Cylon fuel tanker.

The Return of Starbuck

• A majority of the scenes in the first act of this episode, where Starbuck and Boomer fight the Cylons is taken from "The Young Lords".

Special effects

Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I

The black "rods" can be seen from the back of the Raider models in this shot.

• The visual effects depicting two Raiders reveal what appear to be stubs from two rods that hold and rotate the Raider models in "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I" at ~00:09:08. These rods can be seen throughout Dr. Zee's simulated attack scenes.
• At ~00:09:12, at the top of the Capitol Records building is a burning hole, which can be seen through the Raider wing.

The Super Scouts, Part I

• The smoke on the Delphi is overlaid on top of the live-action footage, as one can clearly see when the camera angle moves, yet the smoke remains fixed in place.