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Larson, Glen A

Entry updated 18 February 2023. Tagged: Film, TV, People.

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(1937-2014) US singer/songwriter, beginning in 1956 with The Four Preps; and Television producer, perhaps best known as producer of Battlestar Galactica (1978-1979), the eponymous dreadnought having some characteristics of an extremely small World Ship in Mormon dress. However, Larson had been long involved with television previously, being responsible for Quincy, McCloud, BJ and the Bear and other non-sf programmes before he turned to sf. All the sf television series that Larson produced tended to the formulaic, and were generally contemptuous of science; in interviews he adopted a cavalier attitude about the various Scientific Errors pointed out to him. However, he remained loyal to sf/fantasy programming on television for a number of years.

Subsequent series of this kind for which he received the "Created by" credit include: the Battlestar Galactica sequel-series Galactica: 1980 (1980); Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979-1981); his most successful series, Knight Rider (1982-1986), starring David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight, a former police officer almost killed in an accident who is given a new identity and groovy futuristic car controlled by a Computer/AI called KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand), to help him catch bad people as a kind of licensed vigilante; Manimal (1983), about a Shapeshifting crimefighter, Jonathan Case (Simon MacCorkindale), who catches bad people by adopting the guise of panther, eagle, etc; Automan (1983-1984; eleven episodes), starring Desi Arnaz Jr as the computer expert who creates Automan (Chuck Wagner), the world's first living holographic image, to catch bad people; and The Highwayman (1987-1988), another road-movie series, starring Sam Jones, in which future law enforcers or Highwaymen use futuristic vehicles (eighteen-wheeler heavy trucks this time) to catch bad people.

Larson was given cover credit for writing, always in collaboration, the Battlestar Galactica series of Ties, beginning with Battlestar Galactica (1978) with Robert Thurston and ending with Battlestar Galactica #14: Surrender the Galactica! (1987), also with Thurston. Battlestar Galactica: The Photostory (graph 1979) with Richard J Anobile is a photonovel based on the film. Larson was also given cover credit for a series of Knight Rider Ties, beginning with Knight Rider (1983) with Roger Hill and ending with Knight Rider #5: Mirror Image (1985), also with Hill. [PN/JC/DRL]

Glen Albert Larson

born Los Angeles, California: 3 January 1937

died Santa Monica, California: 14 November 2014

works

series

Battlestar Galactica

Knight Rider

miscellaneous ties

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