Obit: Glen A. Larson, R.I.P.

Television producer Glen A. Larson, who created the original Battlestar Galactica and developed Buck Rogers for the small screen, passed away Friday night of esophageal cancer at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica. Larson was 77.

An extremely successful producer - although not always a respected one - Larson was responsible for a ton of Seventies and Eighties television, including such hits as Knight Rider, Magnum P.I., B.J. And The Bear, The Fall Guy, Switch, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Alias Smith And Jones, Manimal, Quincy M.E., and more. He produced the second and third Six Million Dollar Man telefilms, and brought the 90's comic book hero NightMan to television.

But for Star Kids, it was Galactica that stands as his shining achievement, an epic-scaled space opera with groundbreaking, theatrical-quality special effects and production design, and themes inspired by Larson's Mormon faith. It debuted in the Fall of 1978 as a Top Ten show, and finished the season as the 25th most popular show on television, only failing to get renewed because of its extravagant million dollar (plus) weekly budget. Despite its abbreviated run, it lived on in novels, comic books and a brief 1980 revival series, eventually being retooled and resurrected in 2004 for the Sci-Fi Channel.

He also worked with Leslie Stevens (The Outer Limits) to update the classic comic strip hero Buck Rogers for Universal and NBC in 1979. The pilot film so pleased the studio that it received a theatrical release in the Summer of 1979, before going on to a two-season run on television.

Although Larson was notorious for ripping off popular movies with his shows (he was even sued by 20th Century Fox and George Lucas over Galactica's similarities to Star Wars), his programs were undeniably entertaining, filled with action, humor and glamor, aimed solidly at family audiences.

I count more than a few of Larson's shows (Magnum P.I., The Fall Guy, Knight Rider) among my all-time favorites, and would rather watch most of them even now than much of what currently airs on TV. If Glen Larson was a hack (as his detractors insist), he was a successful one, and he'll  be missed.

Obit: Simon MacCorkindale, RIP

Simon MacCorkindale, star of the 1983 fantasy series Manimal (which just barely falls under the purview of this site) has died at age 58, after a battle with cancer.

The actor died Thursday night surrounded by his family in a private Harley Street clinic. He had been diagnosed with bowel cancer four years ago, which had later spread to his liver. His wife, the actress Susan George, said he had fought valiantly against the ravages of the disease.

"He fought it with such strength, courage and belief. Last night, he lost this battle, and he died peacefully in my arms..to me, he was simply the best of everything, and I loved him with all my heart."

I don't believe I ever actually saw an episode of the short-lived and much-maligned fantasy-adventure series Manimal (which co-starred Flash Gordon's Melody Anderson), but I know it had quite a cult following. Producer Glen Larson (Battlestar Galactica) even brought MacCorkindale's character back in the 90s to guest star on an episode of his syndicated superhero series, Night Man.

MacCorkindale didn't have many other notable genre roles, but I always enjoyed seeing him when he popped up in guest shots on TV.