The Man With Nine Lives
Two strange arrivals coincide almost suspiciously – the arrival of a man claiming to be Starbuck’s father, and a group of Borellians enlist to join the ranks of Galactica’s Viper pilots. What no one suspects is that the man insisting that Starbuck is his son is a con man – and the Borellians are hot on his trail. But will the evidence be uncovered before Starbuck sacrifices his life for someone he believes to be his father?
written by Donald P. Bellisario
directed by Rod Holcomb
music by Stu PhillipsGuest Cast: Fred Astaire (Chameleon), Anne Jeffreys (Siress Blassie), Lance Le Gault (Maga), Robert Feero (Bora), Anthony deLongis (Taba), Bruce Wright (Corporal Lomas), Dan Barton (Crewman), Patricia Stich (Newswoman Zara), Ted Parker (Commentator Zed), Leann Hunley (Warrior), Alex Hyde-White (Warrior), John Holland (Waiter), Lynn Halpern (Pyramid dealer)
LogBook entry by Earl Green
Cast: Steve Lawrence (Mike Post), Char Fontane (Cindy Chappell), Don Stroud (Jack Fisk), Keenan Wynn (Winfield Root), Deborah Benson (Barbara Root), Ron Masak (Fred), Don Meredith (Rick Prince), Vicki Lawrence (Karen Prince), George Hamilton (David Belnik), Stella Stevens (Lucy), Fred Williamson (Al Roberts), Edward Andrews (Harry Flood), Patrick Collins (David Noonan), Harrison Page (George Boone), Robert Alda (Dr. Lewis), Nita Talbot (Rose Casey), Aarika Wells (Gilda), William Nuckols (Wally), Michael DeLano (Lou Atkins), Charlie Brill (Robert), John Karlen (Quinn), Frank R. Christi (Tony Packoe), H.M. Wynant (Fairmont), Anthony Palmer (T.C. Baker), Howard Honig (Sam Howard), Allen Williams (Riley), Parley Baer (Heaton), Sid Conrad (Whittington), Robert Karnes (Martin), Cameron Young (Fenner), Sylvester Words (Porter), Orin Cannon (Stationmaster), Chuck Mitchell (Big Ed), Bert Conway (Workman)
Notes: Intended to be a sort of futuristic version of The Love Boat, Supertrain was a dazzlingly expensive disaster for NBC. It was initially produced, and its pilot directed, by Dan Curtis, producer and director of such TV cult classics as Dark Shadows and the pair of TV movies that led to Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Supertrain’s impressive-for-the-time miniature model work and its matching full-size “futuristic train” standing sets made it the most expensive television series in history to date, but its plunging post-pilot-movie ratings saw NBC pulling the plug after multiple attempts to retool and reschedule. This by itself would’ve simply been expensive, but when paired with the extravagant money that NBC put on the table for the U.S. broadcast rights to the 1980 Summer Olympics (a cost it then had to eat when the United States boycotted the Olympics, held that year in Moscow), it nearly bankrupted the network. 
Had Supertrain run to a full season, the expense involved in the sets and miniatures would have been amortized over the budgets of 20-odd episodes. As it is, the show lasted ten hours, meaning that fully half a million dollars of each episode’s budget was spent on those sets and effects. The custom model footage shows Supertrain running on wider-gauge tracks than a standard railroad, though many of the railroad POV shots were obviously filmed on a normal-gauge railroad. Additionally, though the “running firefight atop the cars of a moving train” is a staple of American TV and cinema, the tornado-speed movement of Supertrain should make such a scenario physically impossible (unless, of course, the script calls for it). Supertrain!
Cast: Edward Andrews (Harry Flood), Patrick Collins (David Noonan), Harrison Page (George Boone), Robert Alda (Dr. Lewis), Nita Talbot (Rose Casey), Aarika Wells (Gilda), William Nuckols (Wally), Michael DeLano (Lou Atkins), Charlie Brill (Robert), Dick Van Dyke (Waldo Chase), Larry Linville (Jack Nordoff), Barbara Rhoades (Myra Nordoff), Keith Mitchell (Rodney), Rachel Jacobs (Daphne), Byron Morrow (Farrell), Lou Krugman (Cabbie), Valorie Armstrong (Airline Employee), Al Hansen (Motor Cop), Anthony Palmer (T.C. Baker), Cameron Young (Fenner), Frank McCarthy (Detective), Jack O’Leary (Salesman), Kenneth White (Tex), Casey Brown (Stewardess), Fritz Reed (The Maitre’d), Lee Stein (Young Man), Bill Smillie (Chicago Cabby), Mary Ellen O’Neill (Cleaning Lady), Don Delaney (Waiter), Alfred Mariorenzi (Desk Sergeant)
Notes: The second episode is a marked improvement over the first, if only for the (guest) star power on display, and the fact that it’s only an hour long. Dick Van Dyke needed no introduction to TV audiences, having starred in his own sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke show, from 1961 through 1966. After several years of steady work, most recently (at the time) a stint on the Carol Burnett Show, he was exploring both comedic and dramatic guest roles in prime time, and this one was distinctly unnerving. Opposite Van Dyke is Larry Linville (1939-2000), one of the founding cast members of the long-running sitcom M*A*S*H, on which he played the uptight Major Frank Burns from 1972 through 1977. The episode’s title comes from the Anglicized lyrics to “Auld Lang Syne”. Supertrain!
Cast: Edward Andrews (Harry Flood), Patrick Collins (David Noonan), Harrison Page (George Boone), Robert Alda (Dr. Lewis), Nita Talbot (Rose Casey), Aarika Wells (Gilda), William Nuckols (Wally), Michael DeLano (Lou Atkins), Charlie Brill (Robert), Paul Sand (Barney Sweet), Mary Louise Weller (Ali), Michael V. Gazzo (Menkton), Nehemiah Persoff (Max), Steven Franken (Flex), Fred Sadoff (Royal Guard), Kenneth Mars (Turley), Alba Francesca (Theresa), Paul Tuerpe (Royal Subject), Shauna Sullivan (Passenger), Annie Starr (Passenger), David Wiley (Passenger)