Glen A. Larson

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Glen A. Larson
Born January 3, 1937 (1937-01-03) (age 72)
Los Angeles, California
Nationality American Flag of the United States
Occupation Television producer, screenwriter
Religious beliefs Mormon

Glen A. Larson (born January 3, 1937 in Los Angeles, California) is an American television producer and writer best known as creator of the series Battlestar Galactica and Knight Rider in their original 1970s and 1980s incarnations, respectively.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Larson began his career in the entertainment industry in 1956 as a member of the singing group The Four Preps (with whom he appeared in one of the Gidget films). The Four Preps ultimately produced three gold records for Capitol, all of which Larson wrote and/or composed: "26 Miles (Santa Catalina)", "Big Man" and "Down By The Station". A later member of the Four Preps, David Somerville, and a session singer he knew, Gail Jensen, later collaborated with Larson to write and compose "The Unknown Stuntman", the theme from The Fall Guy.

After working for Quinn Martin Sr. on productions like The Fugitive, Larson signed a production deal with Universal Studios. His first hit series was Alias Smith and Jones.

Larson was involved in the development of The Six Million Dollar Man, based on Martin Caidin's novel Cyborg, and was one of the program's executive producers.

Larson later secured a then-unprecedented $1 million per episode budget for Battlestar Galactica. Originally, the series was intended to be called Adama's Ark, and the show incorporated many themes from Mormon theology, such as marriage for "time and eternity" and a "council of twelve". Larson is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[1] Larson had been working on it since 1968, and Gene L. Coon had been providing guidance and mentoring to him through the writing of its earliest incarnations. Larson is credited with coining the word "battlestar", a contraction of the phrase "line-of-battle starship", after being convinced to rename Adama's Ark to include the word "star" in the title in some way. He is also credited with creating the faux curse word "frak". [2]

Even with its generous budget, the series was marred by substandard scripts and recycled effects shots, and it was cancelled after only one season. The pilot episode of Galactica, entitled "Saga of a Star World" in the program continuity, was refashioned as a theatrical release in North America and Europe, and in some European markets it was the top grossing film of 1979. After the series was cancelled, Larson went on to create a low-budget sequel to the series entitled Galactica 1980 which was set many years later when the Galactica had reached Earth. However, this series was even less successful than the original and was cancelled after only 10 episodes.

Larson re-used sets, props, costumes, and effects work from Galactica to create the light-hearted sci-fi series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979). The feature-length pilot episode was released as a theatrical film in March 1979 and grossed $21 million at the North American box office.[3]

In the 1980s, Larson garnered further success as one of the creators of Magnum, P.I., which ran from 1980-88. Additionally, Larson created The Fall Guy, starring Lee Majors, which made much use of stock footage and ran from 1981-86. Larson's next prominent series was Knight Rider, which starred David Hasselhoff and featured science-fiction elements with a light-hearted action-adventure scenario and limited violence. These basic elements characterised much of Larson's output throughout the 1980s with Automan, Manimal, and The Highwayman, though all of these series were unsuccessful and did not last more than a single season. Larson's popularity declined, though he made a brief comeback in the 1990s with an adaptation of the Ultraverse comic Night Man, which lasted two seasons.

In February 2009, internet media sources reported that Larson is currently in talks with Universal Pictures to bring Battlestar Galactica to the big screen, though any potential feature film will not be based on the recent Sci Fi Channel series remake, but may possibly be based on the original series which starred Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict and the late Lorne Greene.[4] However, to date, Universal Pictures have not confirmed any such negotiation is taking place.

[edit] Honors

Larson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television industry.

[edit] Criticism

Much criticism has been aimed at Larson for his general lack of originality, arising from the fact that many of his television series are seen as small screen "knock-offs" of feature films (Battlestar Galactica from Star Wars, BJ & The Bear from Any Which Way But Loose, Automan from Tron, The Fall Guy from Hooper, and Buck Rogers was simply a remake of the original 1930's serial).

[edit] Awards

[edit] Producer filmography

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Religious Affiliation of Glen A. Larson
  2. ^ The curse word 'Battlestar Galactica' created
  3. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=buckrogersinthe25thcentury.htm
  4. ^ Is a "Battlestar Galactica" Movie in the Works?, Zap2It.com, February 20, 2009

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Battlestar Galactica
Universe
Original
Reimagined
Ships
Original
Reimagined
Characters
Original
Reimagined
v • d • e
Knight Rider
Series
Knight Rider (1982-1986) · Team Knight Rider (1997-1998) · Knight Rider (2008-2009)
TV Movies
Knight Rider 2000 (1991) · Knight Rider 2010 (1994) · Knight Rider (2008)
Video games
Spin-off
Code of Vengeance (1985-1986)
Characters
See also
David Hasselhoff · Glen A. Larson
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_A._Larson"
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