Editing Chris Bunch
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Neither Bunch nor Cole had prior involvement with the original ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' series.<ref group="commentary" name="vanhise_sftv5_no_involvement_original_series_p43">{{cite magazine|title=Galactica scripters Chris Bunch and Allan Cole reveal the practical side of television writing|author=Van Hise, James|magazine=SFTV|issue=5|date=April 1985|page=43}}</ref> Cole and Bunch's involvement with ''[[Galactica 1980]]'' began when they sold a freelance script, "[[Earthquake]]," to producer [[Jeff Freilich]] shortly after the pilot was produced. A Universal Television executive subsequently pressured them into accepting positions as two of three story editors on the series, threatening to blacklist them from future Universal projects if they refused.<ref group="commentary" name="alpha_control_bunch_cole_blackmailed_thompson">{{cite web|url=https://en.battlestarwiki.org/Sources:Interview_with_Allan_Cole_and_Chris_Bunch#:~:text=blackmailed%20by%20Peter%20Thompson%2C%20the%20honcho%20at%20Universal%20into%20becoming%20story%20editors%20on%20the%20show|title=Interview with Allan Cole and Chris Bunch|work=Galactic Sci-Fi Television Series Revisited|publisher=Alpha Control Press|date=1995|accessdate=16 June 2026}}</ref> Their agent negotiated an initial ten-week contract paying $3,000 per week, with studio options to extend the arrangement for a year and then for three years.<ref group="commentary" name="vanhise_sftv5_contract_terms_p46">{{cite magazine|title=Galactica scripters Chris Bunch and Allan Cole reveal the practical side of television writing|author=Van Hise, James|magazine=SFTV|issue=5|date=April 1985|page=46}}</ref> | Neither Bunch nor Cole had prior involvement with the original ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' series.<ref group="commentary" name="vanhise_sftv5_no_involvement_original_series_p43">{{cite magazine|title=Galactica scripters Chris Bunch and Allan Cole reveal the practical side of television writing|author=Van Hise, James|magazine=SFTV|issue=5|date=April 1985|page=43}}</ref> Cole and Bunch's involvement with ''[[Galactica 1980]]'' began when they sold a freelance script, "[[Earthquake]]," to producer [[Jeff Freilich]] shortly after the pilot was produced. A Universal Television executive subsequently pressured them into accepting positions as two of three story editors on the series, threatening to blacklist them from future Universal projects if they refused.<ref group="commentary" name="alpha_control_bunch_cole_blackmailed_thompson">{{cite web|url=https://en.battlestarwiki.org/Sources:Interview_with_Allan_Cole_and_Chris_Bunch#:~:text=blackmailed%20by%20Peter%20Thompson%2C%20the%20honcho%20at%20Universal%20into%20becoming%20story%20editors%20on%20the%20show|title=Interview with Allan Cole and Chris Bunch|work=Galactic Sci-Fi Television Series Revisited|publisher=Alpha Control Press|date=1995|accessdate=16 June 2026}}</ref> Their agent negotiated an initial ten-week contract paying $3,000 per week, with studio options to extend the arrangement for a year and then for three years.<ref group="commentary" name="vanhise_sftv5_contract_terms_p46">{{cite magazine|title=Galactica scripters Chris Bunch and Allan Cole reveal the practical side of television writing|author=Van Hise, James|magazine=SFTV|issue=5|date=April 1985|page=46}}</ref> | ||
In practice, the role carried almost no creative authority. Series creator Glen Larson wrote nearly every produced episode himself from his homes in Hawaii and Malibu, the sole exception being | In practice, the role carried almost no creative authority. Series creator Glen Larson wrote nearly every produced episode himself from his homes in Hawaii and Malibu, the sole exception being "[[Harvest Home]]," written by [[Robert L. McCullough]], was the only one Bunch and Cole were not asked to police for studio-mandated content.<ref group="commentary" name="vanhise_sftv6_larson_wrote_all_but_one_p26">{{cite magazine|title=The story editors for Galactica 1980 describe the death rattle of the series|author=Van Hise, James|magazine=SFTV|issue=6|date=June 1985|page=26}}</ref><ref group="commentary" name="paxton_bzone_bunch_larson_hawaii_malibu">{{cite web|url=https://www.geocities.ws/sjpaxton/bunch.html#:~:text=Glen%20Larson%20wrote%20every%20single%20episode%20either%20from%20his%20place%20in%20Hawaii%20or%20from%20his%20place%20in%20Malibu|title=Battlestar Zone Interview: Chris Bunch|author=Paxton, Susan J.|publisher=Battlestar Zone|accessdate=16 June 2026}}</ref> Their principal assigned task was inserting the mandatory "educational beats" that ABC's Broadcast Standards & Practices department, overseen by [[Susan Futterman]], required for the Sunday 7 p.m. timeslot.<ref group="commentary" name="alpha_control_bunch_cole_educational_beats_task">{{cite web|url=https://en.battlestarwiki.org/Sources:Interview_with_Allan_Cole_and_Chris_Bunch#:~:text=given%20the%20job%20of%20putting%20in%20the%20educational%20beats%20in%20each%20script|title=Interview with Allan Cole and Chris Bunch|work=Galactic Sci-Fi Television Series Revisited|publisher=Alpha Control Press|date=1995|accessdate=16 June 2026}}</ref> Specific disputes with the censor included a line about an "internal combustion engine" she deemed insufficiently substantiated, a comic line using the word "[[Arnie's meatballs|meatball]]" that she suspected of being indecent, and a sequence in which child characters examined a security guard's holstered handgun, which she ordered cut on the stated grounds that a child fascinated by a firearm would grow up to use one.<ref group="commentary" name="vanhise_sftv5_censor_meatball_p46">{{cite magazine|title=Galactica scripters Chris Bunch and Allan Cole reveal the practical side of television writing|author=Van Hise, James|magazine=SFTV|issue=5|date=April 1985|page=46}}</ref><ref group="commentary" name="vanhise_sftv6_gun_censorship_p29">{{cite magazine|title=The story editors for Galactica 1980 describe the death rattle of the series|author=Van Hise, James|magazine=SFTV|issue=6|date=June 1985|page=29}}</ref> Despite working for Larson throughout the production, Bunch and Cole said they never met him in person.<ref group="commentary" name="paxton_bzone_bunch_never_met_larson">{{cite web|url=https://www.geocities.ws/sjpaxton/bunch.html#:~:text=worked%20for%20him%20for%20twenty%20weeks%2C%20and%20to%20this%20day%20HAVE%20NEVER%20MET%20HIM|title=Battlestar Zone Interview: Chris Bunch|author=Paxton, Susan J.|publisher=Battlestar Zone|accessdate=16 June 2026}}</ref><ref group="footnotes" name="footnote_duration_discrepancy">The total length of Bunch and Cole's engagement on ''Galactica 1980'' is reported inconsistently across sources. Both the Alpha Control Press interview and a 1985 ''SFTV'' interview describe a ten-week initial contract negotiated by their agent. However, Bunch told interviewer Susan J. Paxton in a separate account that the two worked for Larson for twenty weeks. The discrepancy is unresolved; it may reflect additional time worked under the studio's contractual options.</ref> The studio's per-episode license fee from ABC was approximately $800,000, with Universal Television absorbing further costs as overruns.<ref group="commentary" name="vanhise_sftv6_budget_license_fee_p28">{{cite magazine|title=The story editors for Galactica 1980 describe the death rattle of the series|author=Van Hise, James|magazine=SFTV|issue=6|date=June 1985|page=28}}</ref> | ||
Before being hired as story editors, Bunch and Cole had already written a first-draft script titled "Earthquake" built around the recurring villain [[Xaviar|Xavier]] using artificially triggered tectonic activity; the character was written out of the series before the draft was filmed, and the broadcast episode was substantially rewritten without him.<ref group="commentary" name="vanhise_sftv6_unproduced_scripts_p30">{{cite magazine|title=The story editors for Galactica 1980 describe the death rattle of the series|author=Van Hise, James|magazine=SFTV|issue=6|date=June 1985|page=30}}</ref> Other material that went unproduced included "[[The Money Machine]]," a comedic script by [[Alan S. Godfrey]].<ref group="commentary" name="vanhise_sftv6_money_machine_p30">{{cite magazine|title=The story editors for Galactica 1980 describe the death rattle of the series|author=Van Hise, James|magazine=SFTV|issue=6|date=June 1985|page=30}}</ref> During production of "[[The Super Scouts, Part I]]," director [[Vince Edwards]], best known for starring in ''[[w:Ben Casey|Ben Casey]]'', staged a fire-and-explosion sequence in which a falling I-beam narrowly missed him on camera after a stunt cue was delayed.<ref group="commentary" name="vanhise_sftv6_vince_edwards_schoolship_p27">{{cite magazine|title=The story editors for Galactica 1980 describe the death rattle of the series|author=Van Hise, James|magazine=SFTV|issue=6|date=June 1985|page=27}}</ref> | Before being hired as story editors, Bunch and Cole had already written a first-draft script titled "Earthquake" built around the recurring villain [[Xaviar|Xavier]] using artificially triggered tectonic activity; the character was written out of the series before the draft was filmed, and the broadcast episode was substantially rewritten without him.<ref group="commentary" name="vanhise_sftv6_unproduced_scripts_p30">{{cite magazine|title=The story editors for Galactica 1980 describe the death rattle of the series|author=Van Hise, James|magazine=SFTV|issue=6|date=June 1985|page=30}}</ref> Other material that went unproduced included "[[The Money Machine]]," a comedic script by [[Alan S. Godfrey]].<ref group="commentary" name="vanhise_sftv6_money_machine_p30">{{cite magazine|title=The story editors for Galactica 1980 describe the death rattle of the series|author=Van Hise, James|magazine=SFTV|issue=6|date=June 1985|page=30}}</ref> During production of "[[The Super Scouts, Part I]]," director [[Vince Edwards]], best known for starring in ''[[w:Ben Casey|Ben Casey]]'', staged a fire-and-explosion sequence in which a falling I-beam narrowly missed him on camera after a stunt cue was delayed.<ref group="commentary" name="vanhise_sftv6_vince_edwards_schoolship_p27">{{cite magazine|title=The story editors for Galactica 1980 describe the death rattle of the series|author=Van Hise, James|magazine=SFTV|issue=6|date=June 1985|page=27}}</ref> | ||