Sources:RetroZest - Interview with Maren Jensen

"RetroZest - Maren Jensen Interview" Podcast
[[File:|200px|RetroZest - Maren Jensen Interview]]
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Posted on:	2023-09-22
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Length of Podcast:	1:41:06
Speaker(s)
Ronald D. Moore	Ronald D. Moore
	Terry Dresbach
	Curtis Lanclos
	Maren Jensen
Comedy Elements
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Summary

Host Curtis Lanclos kicks off a celebration of the 45th anniversary of Battlestar Galactica, which premiered in September 1978. This episode features an in-depth interview with actress Maren Jensen, known for her role as Lieutenant Athena, the daughter of Commander Adama and sister to Captain Apollo.

Maren discusses her early life, her journey into acting and modeling, and landing her iconic role on Battlestar Galactica. She shares her memories of working with the cast, including Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, and guest stars like Rick Springfield. The conversation covers the ambitious production, the challenges of filming, and the cultural impact of the series. Jensen also talks about her post-Galactica career, including her role in the Wes Craven film Deadly Blessing and her eventual transition into entrepreneurship with her company, Glow Beauty Fuel.

Notes

• This episode is part of RetroZest's celebration of the 45th anniversary of Battlestar Galactica.

• Maren Jensen discusses being "discovered" by producer Mike Medavoy, which led her to pursue modeling and acting to support herself through college.

• Her first acting credit was in an episode of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries titled "Death Surf," which was filmed in Hawaii.

• Jensen shares that she was intimidated by Lorne Greene (Commander Adama) on set but remembers him as a gracious gentleman.

• She reflects on the "Me Too" issues she faced with a studio executive during the show's production, which she believes affected her character's screen time.

• The host, Curtis Lanclos, recounts a personal story of meeting Rick Springfield (Lieutenant Zac) and discussing his role on Galactica.

• The podcast touches upon the show's unique expletives, "frack" and "Felgercarb."

• Jensen's final acting project was the 1981 film Deadly Blessing, where she contracted an illness that led to her stepping away from acting due to chronic fatigue.

• She later co-founded a cosmetic company that was acquired by Estée Lauder and is currently running a new company called Glow Beauty Fuel.

External Links

• RetroZest Website

• RetroZest Episode 139 Page

Transcript

[00:00:00] Curtis Lanclos: Hey Jeff, it's time to start the podcast.

[00:00:01] Jeff: Get out of here, Curtis. I don't hear you unless you knock.

[00:00:05] Jeff: That's better. Entry.

[00:00:09] Announcer: Welcome to the RetroZest podcast with your host, Curtis Lanclos.

[00:00:23] Curtis Lanclos: Greetings, RetroNation. Welcome to the RetroZest podcast.

[00:00:29] Curtis Lanclos: I'm Curtis Lanclos, and I am your faithful host.

[00:00:33] Curtis Lanclos: And by the way, this morning I couldn't get my fracking toaster to work, so please bear with me.

[00:00:38] Curtis Lanclos: On our last two episodes, Retro Zest number 137 and 138,

[00:00:45] Curtis Lanclos: we participated in the celebration of two great science fiction television series aimed at kids,

[00:00:52] Curtis Lanclos: Jason of Star Command and Battle of the Planets.

[00:00:57] Curtis Lanclos: Both of these shows premiered in September of 1978, 45 years ago this month.

[00:01:04] Curtis Lanclos: This is episode number 139 of our show, and on this installment, we are beginning a celebration of the 45th anniversary of another legendary sci-fi space adventure television series.

[00:01:16] Curtis Lanclos: But this one was not marketed strictly to children.

[00:01:21] Curtis Lanclos: This show aired on Sundays at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on the ABC television network.

[00:01:28] Curtis Lanclos: It capitalized on the success of Star Wars, which was released just over a year prior to its release.

[00:01:36] Curtis Lanclos: It, too, occurs in a galaxy far, far away, but not as much of a long time ago as The Adventures of Luke Skywalker.

[00:01:45] Curtis Lanclos: This wonderful 1978 TV show is Battlestar Galactica.

[00:01:51] Announcer: The ABC Sunday Night Movie presents the most spectacular space adventure ever filmed.

[00:01:57] Announcer: Transport yourself in time.

[00:02:00] Announcer: To a star system far beyond our own galaxy.

[00:02:05] Bridge Officer: Core systems transferring control to probe plant. Launch when ready.

[00:02:09] Announcer: Battlestar Galactica, a "Saga of a Star World."

[00:02:15] Starbuck: I got him on the left.

[00:02:17] Starbuck: I got him on the right.

[00:02:21] Apollo: That is precision flying.

[00:02:24] Announcer: For a thousand years, a race of alien machines has been bent on destruction of the human race.

[00:02:29] Adama: They hate us with every fiber of their existence.

[00:02:31] Adama: And now their evil plans may become reality.

[00:02:34] Boxey: It's dangerous around here.

[00:02:37] Boxey: Why does people want to hurt us?

[00:02:40] Boxey: What do we do to them?

[00:02:42] Apollo: It's not what we did to them.

[00:02:44] Apollo: It's what they fear we could do.

[00:02:46] Announcer: Join the last remnants of the human race in a quest for a new world.

[00:02:50] Adama: 13th colony.

[00:02:51] Serina: This other world.

[00:02:52] Serina: Where is it? What's it called?

[00:02:55] Adama: Earth.

[00:02:55] Announcer: And be there for the ultimate confrontation.

[00:02:59] Rigel: Enemy closing. 30 microns.

[00:03:02] Tigh: But if you're wrong...

[00:03:04] Rigel: 25 microns.

[00:03:05] Adama: What is wrong? I'm not wrong.

[00:03:07] Rigel: 15 microns.

[00:03:08] Adama: The Cylons lured me into their deception once.

[00:03:11] Rigel: Closing in. 5 microns.

[00:03:13] Adama: Never again.

[00:03:21] Announcer: Prepare yourself for Battlestar Galactica, a "Saga of a Star World."

[00:03:30] Curtis Lanclos: Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series created by Glen A. Larson,

[00:03:36] Curtis Lanclos: which aired on the ABC television network from September the 17th, 1978, to April the 29th, 1979.

[00:03:48] Curtis Lanclos: It centers on a group of human survivors who escape the destruction of their home worlds

[00:03:53] Curtis Lanclos: aboard the titular spaceship while being hunted by a race of machines known as the Cylons.

[00:04:00] Curtis Lanclos: It stars an ensemble cast led by Lorne Greeneof Bonanza fame,

[00:04:06] Curtis Lanclos: Richard Hatch, who previously starred on the streets of San Francisco,

[00:04:11] Curtis Lanclos: and Dirk Benedict, who had a handful of TV guest appearances and films under his belt at that point.

[00:04:19] Curtis Lanclos: Battlestar Galactica started production as a miniseries, but was then quickly revised to be an episodic serial.

[00:04:28] Curtis Lanclos: ABC ordered a full 1978 through 1979 season of the show.

[00:04:35] Curtis Lanclos: However, after only 24 episodes, the series was canceled due to excessive production costs and dwindling viewership.

[00:04:44] Curtis Lanclos: Galactica 1980, a lower budget offshoot that ABC tried to resurrect the series as, did even more poorly and was canceled after 10 episodes.

[00:04:57] Curtis Lanclos: Nonetheless, Battlestar Galactica had a cult and pop culture following in America, despite initially failing to attract a large audience.

[00:05:08] Curtis Lanclos: A media franchise that includes games, comic books, theme parks, and a reboot series was also created by the show.

[00:05:17] Curtis Lanclos: On the show, Lorne Greene portrays Commander Adama, and in the pilot film, Adama has two sons, Captain Apollo, played by Richard Hatch, and Lieutenant Zack, played by Rick Springfield.

[00:05:30] Curtis Lanclos: Adama also has a daughter, Lieutenant Athena, an officer stationed on the bridge of the Galactica.

[00:05:38] Curtis Lanclos: Now, I'm very pleased to say that joining me today to assist with the celebration of 45 years of Battlestar Galactica

[00:05:47] Curtis Lanclos: is the actress who portrayed Lieutenant Athena, the lovely and talented Maren Jensen.

[00:05:53] Curtis Lanclos: In addition to Galactica, Maren also made guest appearances in several U.S. television series,

[00:06:01] Curtis Lanclos: such as The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and The Hardy Boys' Nancy Drew Mysteries.

[00:06:08] Curtis Lanclos: She also had the lead in the 1981 Wes Craven slasher film Deadly Blessing,

[00:06:14] Curtis Lanclos: which also stars Doug Barr of the Fall Guy fame,

[00:06:18] Curtis Lanclos: whom your humble host interviewed back on episode number 82 of the Retro Zest podcast.

[00:06:24] Curtis Lanclos: Anyway, Maren has some great behind-the-scenes nuggets to share about Battlestar Galactica

[00:06:31] Curtis Lanclos: as well as the rest of her career.

[00:06:34] Curtis Lanclos: Additionally, she is currently the co-founder of Glow Beauty Fuel, a company which produces beauty protein bars.

[00:06:42] Curtis Lanclos: So we have some discussion about that as well.

[00:06:45] Curtis Lanclos: Now, Maren is someone with whom I've always wanted to speak.

[00:06:50] Curtis Lanclos: So this interview is a treat for me as well as for you, the loyal listener.

[00:06:55] Curtis Lanclos: So we'll continue this celebration of the 45th anniversary of Battlestar Galactica OG

[00:07:02] Curtis Lanclos: with my very special conversation with Maren Jensen right after we do this.

[00:07:09] Announcer: Join us in November for The Sands, a week of music and fun

[00:07:16] Announcer: that's described as the best week ever by many of our guests.

[00:07:20] Announcer: Some of the artists on stage will include Night Ranger, Twisted Sister,

[00:07:25] Announcer: Great White, The Thompson Twins, ABC, Midnight Star, Ready for the World, Hadaway, and many, many more.

[00:07:33] Announcer: This all-inclusive event will take place November 6th to 11th at Planet Hollywood Beach Resort in Cancun, Mexico.

[00:07:41] Announcer: The Sands 2023 in Cancun, Mexico will be the time of your life.

[00:07:47] Unknown Speaker: Visit thesands.rocks for more info.

[00:07:53] Unknown Speaker: That's T-H-E-S-A-N-D-S dot R-O-C-K-S.

[00:07:58] Remy Nessence: Hi there. My name is Remy Nessence and I am the head DJ at WII FM. That stands for What's in it for me. Are you looking for a unique gift for someone's birthday, anniversary or other special occasion? Here's an idea. Send them a great personalized message from one of their favorite celebrities from CelebVM. Choose from actors like Kevin Sorbo, Dean Cain, Barry Williams, and Gary Busey, or musicians like Samantha Fox, Robert Fripp, and William Hung. There are hundreds of celebrities to choose from. And the best part is this, you can support the RetroZest podcast at no extra charge. Simply enter the CelebVM website through RetroZest's portal at store.retrozest.com forward slash celeb vm, and then search away as you normally would. Again, that's store.retrozest.com forward slash C-E-L-E-B-V-M. Thanks so much for supporting the RetroZest podcast. And remember that there's always something in it for you if you do so.

[00:09:03] Chance Bartels: This is Chance Bartels. Are you having trouble sleeping? Are you feeling irritable? Well, have I got the remedy for you. Listen to the nostalgic pod blast overnight, and before you know it, in just a few moments, you'll start to feel so sleepy and relaxed and before you know it, you'll feel like this. All you have to do is listen to the Nostalgic Podblast overnight, every night on fistfulofradio.com and when you wake up in the morning, this is how you'll feel. So be sure to listen to me, Chance Bartels, on the Nostalgic Podblast overnight and on weekends, 2 to 6 p.m. and Monday night at 7 p.m. on FistfulOfRadio.com.

[00:10:01] Announcer: Mattel's Battlestar Galactica Collection. You can imagine the Imperious Leader commands the Cylon Centurion to capture Daggit.

[00:10:10] Imperious Leader: Make Daggett lead us to the humans.

[00:10:13] Announcer: You can imagine Daggett fears Ovion, the enemy with insect arms.

[00:10:17] Starbuck: Lieutenant Starbuck.

[00:10:19] Adama: Yes, Commander Adama. Prepare for secret mission.

[00:10:22] Announcer: Each figure sold separately. Daggett, Imperius leaders Cylon, Centurion, and Ovion. Each figure sold separately. Not for use with other Battlestar Galactica toys. New from Mattel.

[00:10:31] Garrick Hagen: Hi, I'm Garrick Hagen. You might remember me as Luke Skywalker's best friend on Tatooine, or the ill-fated X-Wing pilot, Biggs Darklighter, Red 3, in Star Wars: A New Hope, the original. You are listening to the RetroZest Podcast. Tune in. The Force is strong with this one.

[00:11:00] Curtis Lanclos: Okay, Colonial Warrior trainees,

[00:11:02] Curtis Lanclos: joining me now to discuss all things associated with Battlestar Galactica,

[00:11:07] Curtis Lanclos: the original series, as well as what led to her landing her epic role as Lieutenant Athena,

[00:11:14] Curtis Lanclos: is the one and only Maren Jensen. Maren, welcome to the Retro Zest Podcast. How are things in Manhattan today?

[00:11:21] Maren Jensen: Things are absolutely stunning. It's one of those glorious, clear, and first kind of crisp day of the pre-fall season. So I'm very happy. I'm looking out at the Hudson right now. And yeah, things are good.

[00:11:39] Curtis Lanclos: Oh, that's great. I'm actually, we were talking about this offline just before the interview, but I'm actually just north of Atlanta. Have you ever been to Atlanta?

[00:11:48] Maren Jensen: No, I haven't. And I've been dying to go because I keep hearing about how incredible it is.

[00:11:53] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, it's pretty nice. You know, of course, you have the Olympic Park because the Olympics were here in 96 and World of Coke. There's all kinds of wonderful things to see in the city. Six Flags Over Georgia, where I used to work when I was a teenager.

[00:12:08] Maren Jensen: I didn't work there because I held so many jobs when I was a kid.

[00:12:13] Curtis Lanclos: Well, Maren, you have no idea what an honor it is for me to have you on the show today. I had just turned 12 years old when Battlestar Galactica premiered in September of 1978. And like many other youngsters my age and adults as well, I was glued to the set for each episode. And you were actually a key member of the cast. And I'm guessing it's no secret that you're best remembered for that role of Lieutenant Athena.

[00:12:48] Maren Jensen: Definitely. It did sort of define my former acting career. Definitely.

[00:12:54] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. Before we get into talking about Battlestar Galactica, I just want to give the listeners a little bit about your history growing up and everything. Now, you were born in Glendale, California.

[00:13:00] Maren Jensen: I was. I always joke that they had a town sign called We Still Perm. It's a conservative town when I grew up. And since then become incredibly diverse and much more diverse in age, ages. Because when I grew up, there were quite a few older people. And yeah, it was not diverse at all.

[00:13:30] Curtis Lanclos: Yes. Do you still have family there?

[00:13:33] Maren Jensen: I do. I have one relative there.

[00:13:36] Curtis Lanclos: Okay. Yeah, a lot of celebrities are from there. Betty Davis, Kathy Ireland, Don Knotts.

[00:13:43] Maren Jensen: What, from Glendale?

[00:13:45] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, they're listed as being from there.

[00:13:48] Maren Jensen: Wow, I can't believe it. Amazing. Me and Bette Davis. I love it.

[00:13:53] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. Ken Osmond, who played Eddie Haskell on Leave It to Beaver, who just passed away not too long ago. God rest his soul. Your parents, as I understand it, your father was a physician and he was of Danish descent, and your mother was of Hawaiian descent.

[00:14:11] Maren Jensen: Correct. That is all true.

[00:14:13] Curtis Lanclos: How did everyone end up in Glendale?

[00:14:16] Maren Jensen: I often ask that question myself. My parents met in Los Angeles. My mother came over to the mainland, which is what she called all of the greater United States, when she was in her early 20s, and she met my father. And that was that. They got married and had a family and then split up like so many people do.

[00:14:41] Curtis Lanclos: Oh, that's a shame. Was she raised in Hawaii?

[00:14:45] Maren Jensen: Absolutely, she was. In the North Shore of Oahu. In a small town called Laie.

[00:14:53] Curtis Lanclos: My wife and I, we got married in 2019, and we actually went to Hawaii, both of us, for the first time. And I'm sure you visited there, you know, your mother being from there.

[00:15:04] Maren Jensen: Indeed.

[00:15:05] Curtis Lanclos: Everything that I read about it and everything that people had shared with me about it didn't do it justice at all. I mean, it was just absolutely beautiful. We went to the Big Island, and we actually got married on the beach in Maui.

[00:15:18] Maren Jensen: In Lahaina?

[00:15:19] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, pretty much, yeah. It's really sad to hear about what's happened in Maui over the few weeks ago with the fires and everything.

[00:15:26] Maren Jensen: This is a horrendous tragedy. Just horrible.

[00:15:30] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, I know that Mick Fleetwood has a restaurant there in Maui, and it burned to the ground.

[00:15:38] Maren Jensen: Yes, it was quite a local touchstone. Very popular, and I think he put a lot behind it. And I heard someone talking, I think on a podcast, mourning its demise, was the center of a lot of society in Mahaina.

[00:15:58] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, absolutely. And, of course, you know, speaking of Hawaii, I mean, your middle name is Hawaiian. Would you pronounce it for me?

[00:16:07] Maren Jensen: Kavehilani.

[00:16:08] Curtis Lanclos: Kavehilani. And that means the morning mist from heaven.

[00:16:12] Maren Jensen: It does. That's great.

[00:16:16] Curtis Lanclos: That's wonderful. What a wonderful thing for your parents to name you.

[00:16:19] Maren Jensen: Well, you know, I didn't always appreciate it, but when I grew older, I grew to be grateful for my Hawaiian heritage.

[00:16:27] Curtis Lanclos: So then you attended high school at Herbert Hoover High School.

[00:16:32] Maren Jensen: Yeah.

[00:16:33] Curtis Lanclos: Interesting thing about that. Do you know Pamela Ferdin?

[00:16:37] Maren Jensen: I don't.

[00:16:38] Curtis Lanclos: She actually attended there and graduated. It appears she was maybe a freshman when you were a senior there. She was actually in a lot of television from the 70s and the 80s. She was on that TV show Space Academy. That filmation show. And I specifically remember her in an episode of The Brady Bunch, the one where Jan Brady wanted to wear a wig. She was bemoaning her blonde hair. She wanted to be different. And Pamela Ferdin actually played her best friend in the episodes. But yeah, she went to Herbert Hoover. So what happened from there? You got a scholarship or something, didn't you?

[00:17:19] Maren Jensen: Yes, I was very fortunate. I got a paid scholarship, a ride to the UC campus of my choice. So I elected to stay close to home and go to UCLA.

[00:17:33] Curtis Lanclos: You majored in theater?

[00:17:35] Maren Jensen: Well, I ended up in theater. I started with other majors in mind, but I guess all the high school productions I was in sort of, I miss doing that. And I started to think, well, maybe since I live here, I could pursue this profession.

[00:17:57] Curtis Lanclos: So did you have a favorite production that you were in in high school?

[00:18:06] Maren Jensen: I have some incredibly humiliating ones that I've performed in. I enjoyed improv. I was part of an improv little company, so I love doing that.

[00:18:18] Curtis Lanclos: Improv comedy?

[00:18:20] Maren Jensen: That was the idea. Didn't always work out.

[00:18:23] Curtis Lanclos: Did you rub shoulders with any other people that we would know today?

[00:18:28] Maren Jensen: Not in high school, no. Talented people and you know I hope they went on to do some good stuff.

[00:18:38] Curtis Lanclos: What about when you were in college were there any memorable plays there?

[00:18:44] Maren Jensen: No in fact I don't know that I ever got cast in a production. I mostly did you know work in class because I had jobs. I had to you know pay for the rest of my expenses like rent and food and books and so forth. So I worked you know probably around 24 hours a week, either waiting on tables or processing veterans claims or, you know, any number of odd jobs. I even sold a pantyhose and wrapped gifts. Oh, nice. I did it. And I would have loved to have worked at Six Flags. I don't even know if there was a Six Flags then.

[00:19:24] Curtis Lanclos: I'm sure there's something out in California that is comparable. Yeah, Disneyland. Well, true. Yeah. True. Disneyland. Yeah. You eventually got into, into modeling.

[00:19:36] Maren Jensen: Yeah. I sort of fell into that. Um, I was a quote unquote discovered by a really nice guy, uh, who was out shopping for records at Tower Records in Westwood.

[00:19:52] Curtis Lanclos: Oh yeah.

[00:19:54] Maren Jensen: Remember that? Yeah, he was he's a man named Mike Medavoy and he was with his 11 year old son and he just approached me and he gave me his card. And it was really very much on the up and up, very professional. Just asked me, you know, are you an actor? And I think I must have just kind of said, you know, I want to be. And then, you know, I probably told him that I was working all these odd jobs. And he said, well, you know, you should try modeling. You might be able to, you know, support yourself while you pursue acting. This is my office. And I'll make a couple of calls and, you know, send you to agents, which he did. And that was that. And what a generous thing to do for, you know, a young person starting out. I was probably, I don't know, 20, 21.

[00:20:47] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, I'm guessing it doesn't hurt being in Los Angeles, but at the same time, I'm sure the competition is pretty substantial as well.

[00:20:54] Maren Jensen: Well, you know, I think at the time, I, you know, I'm kind of a brown person. You may not know that, but so I was considered ethnic. And, and it was probably it was advantageous at that time to you know have some ethnicity um and again that that area has become much more diverse.

[00:21:22] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, I guess around the mid-1970s around then is it was the kind of the sweet spot for that.

[00:21:31] Maren Jensen: Yeah right you know because of you know the field was dominated by beautiful blonde young women. So to have some sort of ethnicity was good.

[00:21:48] Curtis Lanclos: Right. And the gentleman's name you mentioned that got you into modeling, what was that again?

[00:21:53] Maren Jensen: His name is Mike Medavoy. And he happened to produce a number of renowned films and I think he ran a studio. I don't have his credits in front of me, but, you know, he had an astonishing career.

[00:22:10] Curtis Lanclos: Okay. Was he the one that got you your agent?

[00:22:13] Maren Jensen: Yeah. No, he just made a couple of calls and that was it. And then I had to go in and get the agents on my own steam. And he just opened a door.

[00:22:23] Curtis Lanclos: I see. Your agent was actually very aggressive about getting you jobs.

[00:22:30] Maren Jensen: She was good at her job. And a female. Again, that was different for that era, too. Most of the agents at that company were men.

[00:22:39] Curtis Lanclos: But she was able to get you some commercials.

[00:22:41] Maren Jensen: Yes, I did some commercial work. And then she just sent me out. And then I had to read for parts. So I was going to school. I was working my jobs. I was trying to land some modeling jobs and going out for auditions. So I was busy.

[00:23:00] Curtis Lanclos: Now, these commercials, they weren't like local commercials. They were like national network commercials. Do you recall what products the commercials were for?

[00:23:09] Maren Jensen: Let's see. I think I did a commercial for a Clairol hairdryer. I didn't do a huge number of commercials, but I did a few. I did an alcohol print commercial for some big gin brand. I can't remember the name. I don't have these things up in my apartment. They're in a box in a closet somewhere.

[00:23:37] Curtis Lanclos: Well because you know you eventually kind of left that life behind which we'll get we'll get into that later but your first acting credit was actually on hardy boys nancy drew that was a great uh great well of course it was two different shows hardy boys nancy drew and i remember watching those on the sunday night i think is when they aired. You appeared on Hardy Boys in season two, episode 20, the episode entitled Death Surf.

[00:24:05] Marianne: Marianne. Who are you?

[00:24:08] Frank Hardy: Don't you remember me? You were out there windsurfing yesterday.

[00:24:12] Marianne: How nice of you to remember. I'm the guy that almost drowned trying to save you from your fake accident.

[00:24:17] Marianne: What do you want? I'm all right, as you can see, so don't feel badly about it. Just forget about it. Okay?

[00:24:24] Frank Hardy: Hey, I don't want to forget it. I want to know why a beautiful, talented girl embezzles $100,000 and fakes her death.

[00:24:30] Marianne: Embezzled? Embezzled what? What are you talking about?

[00:24:34] Frank Hardy: I'm talking about a great con-owner to fool everyone. You probably even helped that English photographer get his wife's inheritance. You've got poor Hover hiding you on his yacht, which makes him an accomplice. And you've got Don Gilson running around trying to get the money to clear your name.

[00:24:44] Marianne: His name is not Gilson, and that money wasn't embezzled. It was stolen from a Canadian bank.

[00:24:49] Frank Hardy: Thanks for your help, Frank. Terry, I don't know if I could have found it without you.

[00:24:55] Curtis Lanclos: So I'm guessing it was fun being in close proximity to Parker Stevenson and Sean Cassidy.

[00:25:01] Maren Jensen: They worked with both those actors and they were such nice guys, sweethearts. And guess what? It filmed in Hawaii.

[00:25:09] Curtis Lanclos: Oh, very nice. Yeah.

[00:25:11] Maren Jensen: It was very nice.

[00:25:12] Curtis Lanclos: And we were actually treated to your beautiful singing voice in that episode.

[00:25:16] Maren Jensen: (Singing) He's real. He's just a man. He's not the sun. He's not the sky. Just an ordinary man. And when I get to thinking I might have known the kind of love that only happens once in time. Just remind me I decided it was all in my mind. I went, I could get used to this.

[00:25:57] Curtis Lanclos: And of course, Parker would eventually marry Kirstie Alley.

[00:26:03] Maren Jensen: Yes. Yeah.

[00:26:05] Curtis Lanclos: God rest her soul. And then outside of that, you were almost immediately on Battlestar Galactica.

[00:26:11] Maren Jensen: Pretty much.

[00:26:12] Curtis Lanclos: Which had to be kind of exciting and maybe startling for you at the same time, since you were a top tiered actor on that. In the pilot, you were like billed fifth.

[00:26:24] Maren Jensen: Yeah. Um, it was, it was strange. Again, I was so young. I think I was 22 when I was cast. And of course, at the time, I thought I was so mature, but, but the passage of time I look back and I, you know, I understand I was basically, you know, still kind of a child. so I couldn't fully grasp all of you know the enormity of it and at the same time I just was also intimidated it was kind of a mix of both you know I just wanted to do the best job that I could do and so I just tried to keep my focus on that.

[00:27:08] Curtis Lanclos: This of course was I guess Glen Larson's answer to star wars and you know kind of capitalizing on the success of star wars even though there's not really anything on the show that's anything like star wars outside of the space battles.

[00:27:21] Maren Jensen: Well that was uh uh john dykstra yes absolutely so he just snapped him up to uh you know deal with the effects which was super smart.

[00:27:35] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah i actually interviewed michael fink recently who was uh visual effects supervisor on the the film war games and he was actually at universal working on Battlestar Galactica prior to that time period of working on war games yeah he talked about john dykstra a little bit i think he said by the time he got there john dykstra was already gone because you know he did several effect shots and essentially they just got reused in episodes so there wasn't you know call for a lot of additional effect shots from him so anyway just interesting anecdote.

[00:28:08] Maren Jensen: He was a lovely man i'm very happy to meet him so such a cool guy.

[00:28:17] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah yeah and and just a legend in in hollywood you know as i mentioned in the pilot you were billed fifth, and you were billed behind Richard Hatch as Captain Apollo, Dirk Benedict as Starbuck, Lorne Greeneas Commander Adama. I'm kind of surprised Lorne Greenewasn't billed first, but anyway.

[00:28:38] Maren Jensen: That is weird, isn't it? Yeah. I didn't even know that, so you're informing me. I must have known it back then. Yeah.

[00:28:46] Curtis Lanclos: And then Herbert Jefferson Jr., wonderful, wonderful actor as Lieutenant Boomer.

[00:28:51] Maren Jensen: Yep.

[00:28:51] Curtis Lanclos: Do you recall how the audition for that role went for Lieutenant Athena?

[00:28:57] Maren Jensen: I don't remember. I don't think I did an on-camera audition. I think I just came and read and read. And I think that it was a combination of just actually being able to spit out the lines and something about my looks. I think that they like the idea that I had dark eyes and light, I mean, light eyes and dark hair. I think they thought I looked like a space chick.

[00:29:28] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, and you look kind of like Richard Hatch's sister.

[00:29:32] Maren Jensen: Definitely.

[00:29:33] Curtis Lanclos: Which is who you were supposed to be. You were Adama's daughter and Apollo's sister.

[00:29:38] Maren Jensen: Right.

[00:29:39] Curtis Lanclos: That had to be kind of fun to be in the family of two legendary actors there.

[00:29:45] Maren Jensen: Oh, completely. And, I mean, and they, oh. Lauren Green intimidated me. We'll just get that over with. He was a huge presence on the set. A real gentleman, a gracious man, and I was kind of terrified.

[00:31:23] Maren Jensen: You know, I grew up on Bonanza, so I had that relationship to him.

[00:33:07] Curtis Lanclos: Sure. Yeah, absolutely. This was kind of a Western in space, you know, Battlestar Galactica. So he really fit right into that role.

[00:33:15] Maren Jensen: Exactly. Yeah, he did.

[00:33:18] Curtis Lanclos: And of course, Richard Hatch, you know, he had been on the streets of San Francisco. He replaced Michael Douglas on that show.

[00:33:24] Maren Jensen: Boy, those are big shoes to fill, huh?

[00:33:26] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, absolutely. Well, at the time, people didn't think so, but you look now at these guys' careers, and it's like, wow, you know.

[00:33:36] Maren Jensen: Yeah. Well, he was an original Nepo baby or Nepo baby. It's a term now used for children of people who are established in the business, either major stars or direct.

[00:33:51] Curtis Lanclos: Oh, okay.

[00:33:52] Maren Jensen: So they call them Nepo or Nepo babies.

[00:33:57] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, nepotism. Yeah, there you go. Okay. I want to mention something to you about Richard Hatch. I met Richard at Dragon Con a few years ago in Atlanta, and he was down in the area where all of the celebrities are with their tables and everything where they sign autographs and do pictures and so forth. And, you know, of course, these days, the celebrities can charge up to $40, $50 for a photo and sometimes even more for an autograph and like lou ferrigno was was there and aaron gray from both rogers yes she was there she was really really sweet and richard was there and he was only charging ten dollars for photos and autographs.

[00:34:48] Maren Jensen: Oh that's cool.

[00:34:48] Curtis Lanclos: In my estimation such a huge presence there and he was very very humble about it he was like you know i want people to be able to have a picture for me and not have to spend half of what they brought to the conference, you know? So I thought that was, that was really decent of him.

[00:35:05] Maren Jensen: Oh yeah. It's great. And I, and I was just shocked when he passed away.

[00:35:13] Curtis Lanclos: I know it was so sad. So sad. Because it was not long after I saw him.

[00:35:19] Maren Jensen: Well, when you work with someone, you get a feel for, you know, their essence of, you know who they are and he he was a really good guy really good guy always helpful just a sweetheart.

[00:35:29] Curtis Lanclos: In the early 2000s i mean he was really trying to spearhead this effort to bring Battlestar Galactica back right and uh he actually he put his own money into this trailer called i think it was like Battlestar Galactica the second coming.

[00:35:48] Clip Narrator: It was the seventh era of mankind. Twenty yarns had passed since the last great war. A civilization was reborn. An enemy had grown. And now a new generation will have to face an old war. I am a man and his dumb imperious leader i must prepare them for the second coming.

[00:36:23] Curtis Lanclos: And then of course eventually what happened was the the other reboot that happened right which he appeared on but uh he he just kind of had a small part in an episode but yeah he had a great love for the franchise and he wanted it to be represented correctly so anyway let's talk about rick springfield for a second because in the pilot episode he also plays your brother lieutenant zach is his name.

[00:36:55] Zac: I can't lose him he's right on my tail.

[00:37:16] Apollo: Hang on i'm coming steady hurry apollo steady. Nice shooting, but they hit my high engine. That's okay, little brother. We got all of them. The day those guys can outfight us without a ten-to-one margin. Apollo, better look at your scanner. Oh, but a thousand-to-one, that's not fair.

[00:37:38] Zac: What's it mean?

[00:37:39] Apollo: It means there isn't going to b Lanclos: And then of course eventually what happened was the the other reboot that happened right which he appeared on but uh he he just kind of had a small part in an episode but yeah he had a great love for the franchise and he wanted it to be represented correctly so anyway let's talk about rick springfield for a second because in the pilot episode he also plays your brother lieutenant zach is his name.

[00:36:55] Zac: I can't lose him he's right on my tail.

[00:37:16] Apollo: Hang on i'm coming steady hurry apollo steady. Nice shooting, but they hit my high engine. That's okay, little brother. We got all of them. The day those guys can outfight us without a ten-to-one margin. Apollo, better look at your scanner. Oh, but a thousand-to-one, that's not fair.

[00:37:38] Zac: What's it mean?

[00:37:39] Apollo: It means there isn't going to be any peace. There may not be much of anything if we don't warn the fleet.

[00:37:43] Zac: Do it. I'm short an engine. You know I won't be able to keep up with you.

[00:37:48] Apollo: Zack, I'm not going to leave you.

[00:37:49] Zac: You have to. I'm putting my foot in that turbo. I may get back ahead of him now. Go on. You've got to warn the fleet.

[00:37:55] Apollo: I'll be all right. You can fly with me anytime, little brother. Good luck.

[00:38:03] Curtis Lanclos: This was before General Hospital. This was before Jessie's girl. He was virtually an unknown at the time.

[00:38:15] Maren Jensen: Right. Was known as a musician.

[00:38:18] Curtis Lanclos: Yes.

[00:38:20] Maren Jensen: Know of him from music, but not that he was well known.

[00:38:25] Curtis Lanclos: He actually played himself on a filmation cartoon in the mid-70s called Mission Magic, but he had a bit of an accent at the time. I think he's Australian or something like that.

[00:38:38] Maren Jensen: I think he's Australian. I didn't notice that he had an accent. It didn't stand out to me. And I subsequently spent a day with him doing a photo shoot for some magazine. And I didn't notice it then either.

[00:38:54] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, I think he had lost the accent by that point. It says here that he is Australian-American.

[00:39:01] Maren Jensen: Well, there you go.

[00:39:02] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. As I recall from the pilot, I just rewatched the pilot not too long ago, which I love, by the way. And you never shared a scene with him.

[00:39:12] Maren Jensen: Right. I think I just broke up when I found out the bad news.

[00:39:17] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, that exchange between Commander Adama and the president is probably my favorite exchange from the whole series.

[00:39:25] Adama: Patrol the fleet! Patrol the fleet! I need help!

[00:39:28] President Adar: What was that?

[00:39:43] Adama: That was my son, Mr. President.

[00:39:45] Curtis Lanclos: That was my son, Mr. President. Obviously, you loved your little brother.

[00:39:55] Maren Jensen: Clearly.

[00:39:56] Curtis Lanclos: It's interesting because in 2018, I went on the 80s cruise, and Rick Springfield was the guest host on that cruise.

[00:40:06] Maren Jensen: How amazing.

[00:40:08] Curtis Lanclos: And I got to meet him. Well, I say I got to meet him along with two or three hundred other people who were waiting in line to see him. And my wife and I, of course, she was my girlfriend at the time. We were escorted in front of him and I reached out my hand and shook his hand. And I said to him, it's such an honor to meet the first colonial warrior to be killed by the Cylons.

[00:40:32] Maren Jensen: Did he go, huh?

[00:40:36] Curtis Lanclos: Actually, no. Actually, he got wide eyed and he said to me, you know, thank you for saying that, he says, because I'm a big nerd, too. And he went, proceeded to talk about this large collection of Star Wars action figures that he has. And he talked about how he auditioned for the role and he was so excited to get the role of Lieutenant Zack. And then he said he was and I'm quoting him. He says, I was pissed because I found out that I was going to die. But he says in retrospect, he said it probably was the best thing because he didn't get typecast or anything in that role. And he went on to have a very successful career.

[00:41:20] Maren Jensen: Right. And I'm sure he loved, you know, being a working musician and touring and doing all of that other stuff and recording.

[00:41:29] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. And by the way, he performed on the 80s cruise with his band. And he's in his 70s, but man, he was jumping around the stage. And I mean, he's in such good shape.

[00:41:44] Maren Jensen: That's amazing.

[00:41:45] Curtis Lanclos: He and Sammy Hagar are actually in the rum business together now. And Sammy wrote one of his big hits, I've Done Everything for You. Here in recent years, they've gotten together and kind of performed it together on stage. And Sammy already had this beach bar rum business and he brought Rick into the business with him. So it's that's kind of a cool partnership, you know.

[00:42:08] Maren Jensen: Well, I hope it works out. I hope they sell lots of rum.

[00:42:11] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. Did you ever talk to Rick at all?

[00:42:16] Maren Jensen: No, I mean, we just worked together. And, you know, I saw him on the set and we had a day together shooting this spread for publication. And that was it.

[00:42:28] Curtis Lanclos: Like I said, you didn't have any screen time with him, as you did with the other cast.

[00:42:33] Maren Jensen: Right. But, I mean, that first episode was shot over a period of months and months and months. So, you know, he was lurking around. So we saw each other periodically.

[00:42:45] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, I think it was a three-parter.

[00:42:47] Maren Jensen: Originally, it was four hours, and then they'd cut it down and released it theatrically in Europe.

[00:42:54] Curtis Lanclos: Oh, right. Yeah, absolutely they did. Yeah. Very ambitious for a tv show i thought you know it was major motion picture quality i thought at the time.

[00:43:05] Maren Jensen: It was incredibly ambitious i mean now we have these phenomenal productions going on on uh you know cable it's remarkable.

[00:43:18] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah but yeah rick you know one of the other things he said to me was yep you're right i started a cylon war and he has that on his resume so.

[00:43:25] Maren Jensen: Oh, excellent. Excellent.

[00:43:27] Curtis Lanclos: So let's talk about Dirk Benedict.

[00:43:29] Athena: Are you all right?

[00:43:31] Starbuck: Fine, fine. No thanks to your father. Here, give it a good watch.

[00:43:34] Athena: What are you saying about my father? Do you realize what we've just been through?

[00:43:38] Starbuck: Oh, yeah. You should have seen how we spent our day. I managed to single-handedly keep the Cylons off your neck while you took off on a little cruise.

[00:43:45] Apollo: Stop it, Buck. Don't you realize what's happened?

[00:43:47] Starbuck: Oh, yeah, sure. I realize what happened. You should see this baby from there when it takes off across the skies. It's a beautiful sight. Beautiful. As it happens to be your base ship.

[00:43:56] Apollo: Starbuck, listen to me. The colonies are gone. All of them.

[00:44:02] Starbuck: What are you talking about?

[00:44:04] Apollo: Gone.

[00:44:04] Curtis Lanclos: In the pilot, it's hinted that you and Dirk Benedict's character, Starbuck, had been in a relationship.

[00:44:12] Maren Jensen: Right.

[00:44:13] Curtis Lanclos: But it's coming to an end at that point. I mean, do you recall that whole exchange?

[00:44:18] Maren Jensen: Yeah, I do.

[00:44:19] Starbuck: Anybody here? Oh, Mr. Darvick. I've been looking for you.

[00:44:26] Athena: I came to apologize for how I treated you. It's just... I'd seen so many of the guys from my squadron burned up. I guess I was looking to take it out on somebody. I wish it hadn't been you.

[00:44:52] Starbuck: It wasn't important, Starbuck. I don't know what is. Look, I'm sorry about... Zach and your mother.

[00:45:06] Athena: Starbuck, you don't have to say anything.

[00:45:08] Starbuck: Zach pulled my patrol. He wanted to go. Yeah. Christina, this is a time for sticking together. Maybe we could talk about things. Us, you mean?

[00:45:30] Athena: Well, I guess it is a little overdue. Starbuck, I don't know. I don't think any of us have any kind of future anymore.

[00:45:45] Starbuck: Don't say that. Things are going to be all right. Look, if we can handle what we've just been through, we can handle anything.

[00:45:58] Athena: Later, maybe. But things aren't so fresh in my mind.

[00:46:04] Starbuck: Athena, I... I said I was sorry.

[00:46:11] Athena: Starbuck. I don't want to care about anybody. But especially you. Zack couldn't wait to get out there, get all shot up. And you, you're worse than Zack.

[00:46:29] Starbuck: I think of it as an obligation.

[00:46:33] Athena: No, you don't. You like to pretend that they're out there dragging you by your bootstraps, but you really can't wait to get up there in that machine of yours.

[00:46:48] Starbuck: I guess we see things differently.

[00:46:53] Athena: I guess we do. I said what I came to say.

[00:47:00] Maren Jensen: I mean, it was just sort of, you know, playing a bit of a playboy character.

[00:47:07] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. And as I recall, you were in a pretty advanced state of undress in that scene. I think you were hiding behind a cabinet door or something.

[00:47:16] Maren Jensen: Oh, jeez.

[00:47:18] Curtis Lanclos: we're very chased in space.

[00:47:24] Maren Jensen: Yeah absolutely.

[00:47:27] Curtis Lanclos: but you know i mean his character was you know starbuck was i guess kind of the han solo of battle star galactica and he was kind of the type of guy that you would consider not to be tied down to any one person but then he ends up moving on to cassiopeia, right, played by lorette spang.

[00:47:48] Maren Jensen: yeah a wonderful actress wonderful girl wonderful.

[00:47:48] Curtis Lanclos: And there's this great scene in the pilot wherein Starbuck and Cassiopeia are in the launch tube fooling around and your character finds them on a monitor or something and then you have a little fun with them.

[00:47:59] Cassiopeia: I had this wonderful speech all prepared. About this being your last night here. About possibly not seeing another night as beautiful as this one or another girl as beautiful as I am ever again.

[00:48:17] Starbuck: Well, that speech is a little better than the one I had. Would you mind if I borrowed it on some future occasion?

[00:48:23] Cassiopeia: Uh, listen. Do you mind if we don't spend too much more time in the launching bay?

[00:48:33] Starbuck: Well, can you think of any place more private? Come to think of it, I can't think of any place private in the whole damn fleet. What's in there?

[00:48:45] Cassiopeia: That's the launching tube.

[00:48:47] Starbuck: You don't want to go in there. It's dark and cold and it's... Lord, I'll do anything you ask tomorrow. Just don't call an alert tonight.

[00:49:00] Athena: Colonel, have you seen Lieutenant Starbuck by any chance?

[00:49:04] Colonel Tigh: No, I don't think I... Wait, I did see him on one of the monitors earlier. Before we shut down the flight deck, I think he was checking out his ship.

[00:49:12] Athena: That would seem to make sense. I'm sure he's long gone by now. I'm getting a good night's sleep for the mission. Why don't you do the same? You are going to be working.

[00:49:18] Curtis Lanclos: I think you gave Starbuck a steam bath or something.

[00:49:24] Maren Jensen: Yeah. That little snake. That little snake. Yep, I recall that. I do. Boy, you're bringing back the memories.

[00:49:47] Curtis Lanclos: Her character is interesting because in the pilot, she's a sociolator or essentially a temple prostitute. But then once the series began with, you know, episode two, they morphed her into a med tech. I guess they figured it was her character in the pilot was a little bit too, you know, risque for kids or something. I don't know.

[00:50:12] Maren Jensen: Right. Well, there were some things going on to behind the scenes, which might have, you know, led to the expansion of her role. I mean, besides the fact that she was very good in it, I don't want to take anything away from that. I had an issue with one of the executives on the show. I'll just say it's a Me Too issue. So at a very, pretty early on point, that person who shall remain unnamed was actively working on getting me off the show, whereas the network was promoting me. So it's a very strange position to be in. I wasn't really aware of what was going on behind the scenes, but I did find out later from my agent who had reported the business person to the studio. So that's how it came out. Stories are common as mud.

[00:51:20] Curtis Lanclos: Right. And interesting bit of trivia about Lorette. Her daughter, Molly McCook, is an actress, and she was the young lady who replaced the original actress on Tim Allen's show, Last Man Standing. She replaced the young lady who played his daughter, Mandy, in the final season or two. She played Mandy. And I think they made some kind of a joke on screen about how you look kind of different. And, you know, they do that sometimes whenever there's an actor change in a role.

[00:51:56] Maren Jensen: Right.

[00:51:57] Curtis Lanclos: Particularly on a TV show, it's a comedy. They'll kind of, you know, joke with the audience about that. But yeah, she's a wonderful actress, too.

[00:52:06] Maren Jensen: Very happily on film. Very, you know, projected a lot of energy and charisma.

[00:52:11] Curtis Lanclos: Herbert Jefferson Jr., did you and he have any fun conversations?

[00:52:15] Maren Jensen: Oh, yeah.

[00:52:16] Starbuck: Hey, Boomer, what are you doing in the Rejuvenation Center? I thought Blue Squadron was on alert.

[00:52:22] Boomer: Well, even Blue Squadron pilots get a furl on once in a while. Now all I have to do for the next 24 centaurs is relax.

[00:52:29] Maren Jensen: I mean, all of us had so much downtime on that set because of the complications, the lighting, and, you know, acting with a monkey in a space suit. Remember the dog?

[00:52:43] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, the daggett, yeah.

[00:52:44] Maren Jensen: It was a chimp. We did Chamber Angler on the set. And, you know, it was a difficult show to shoot. And then there was, you know, rewriting going on. We'd get new sides. So, right, we were months and months on the set. So, yeah, I had a lot of conversations with Herb, who was, you know, a great guy. I mean, I really have nothing to say but incredibly positive things about all of the actors that I worked with on that show.

[00:53:17] Curtis Lanclos: And Terry Carter, I mean, a wonderful man.

[00:53:24] Maren Jensen: Is he still with us?

[00:53:26] Curtis Lanclos: He is. He's in his 90s.

[00:53:28] Maren Jensen: Wow.

[00:53:29] Curtis Lanclos: But he started a company. I can't, because I tried to track him down, but I couldn't reach him. Yeah, he's still with us. And if I'm not mistaken, Battlestar Galactica was one of the first shows like that to have a person of color in a position of authority like that.

[00:53:48] Maren Jensen: Lord, isn't that sad? Yeah. It's great that it happened, but, you know, it's sad that it had to take that long. I'm thinking back to think of other TV shows.

[00:54:00] Curtis Lanclos: I mean, of course, on Star Trek, you had Lieutenant Uhura on the on the bridge. And she was, as you know, some other Trekkies that I've spoken with on the podcast that pointed out she was in every shot of Captain Kirk because she was in the background. And and that was by design. And, you know, Gene Roddenberry wanted for people to see a person like that in a position of she wasn't so much in a position of authority, but an important position on the bridge of the ship.

[00:54:30] Maren Jensen: Right. She had like maybe one or two episodes devoted to her story. Not too many, right?

[00:54:38] Curtis Lanclos: Yes, correct. Yeah, not too many. But, you know, Roddenberry did put her quite out front and is being, you know, very capable of doing her job. So she was a great addition to the cast of Star Trek. But, you know, I felt that way about that same way about Terry Carter. I just thought he was a very large presence on the bridge of the Galactica as Adama was.

[00:55:02] Maren Jensen: Right. Exactly.

[00:55:04] Colonel Tigh: There's only one thing worse than lifting rations from the officer's mess. Do you know what that is, Flight Sergeant?

[00:55:10] Flight Sergeant: No, sir.

[00:55:11] Colonel Tigh: It's getting caught lifting rations from the officer's mess. Do I make myself clear?

[00:55:17] Flight Sergeant: Yes, sir.

[00:55:17] Colonel Tigh: Good. Captain Apollo and Starbuck should be returning from patrol any time now. Let's see to it that things are in full swing. Okay. Jenny! All right.

[00:55:29] Curtis Lanclos: So the pilot aired, and then we enter into the regular series. Now, of course, once the series start, it appears that you're bumped down a spot on the billing. You're down to six because John Calicos, his name ends up right above yours, I think.

[00:55:45] Maren Jensen: Right. As it belonged.

[00:55:48] Curtis Lanclos: Well, I suppose so. I mean, he had been in quite a bit of television and films. He was actually on Star Trek at one point. He played the Klingon. Right. Of course, John played colonial trader and Cylon leader Baltar. And his right-hand man, or actually his right-hand robot, was Lucifer, played by Jonathan Harris of Lost in Space fame.

[00:56:16] Lucifer: By your command. Speak. I bring good news. We believe we have located the Battlestar Galactica.

[00:56:25] Baltar: Oh?

[00:56:26] Lucifer: A scouting expedition of colonial vipers has landed on a listening post in the quadrant Otarsis. They were permitted to escape, as you instructed.

[00:56:36] Baltar: How far is this outpost from us?

[00:56:38] Lucifer: 1.5 hectares. Since the Galactica is kept to a minimum speed by the slower vehicles under her protection, at light speed we can easily catch her within a senton.

[00:56:49] Baltar: Is she aware that she's been detected?

[00:56:51] Lucifer: No. Our fighters will take her by complete surprise.

[00:56:56] Baltar: As they did at Carillon? One base star is not sufficient to assure victory over the Galactica. Find her, but follow just beyond her scanner range. Until we can call for reinforcements.

[00:57:11] Lucifer: Such a call would surely be picked up by the Galactica. She would be alerted and escaped.

[00:57:18] Baltar: Logical. Yes. Now perhaps you see why the Imperius Leader put me in command.

[00:57:25] Lucifer: But if we cannot call for assistance, and you will not attack, is not the end result the same? The Galactica escapes.

[00:57:34] Baltar: Have faith, Lucifer. Have faith. I have a plan. All I need is the opportunity to present it. And that will come by your command.

[00:57:48] Curtis Lanclos: But in Episode 2, Lost Planet of the Gods, Part 1, I really like that episode because that episode highlights a bunch of female pilots, which Starbuck and Apollo trained with a simulator, and you're one of the pilots.

[00:58:04] Maren Jensen: I am indeed.

[00:58:06] Curtis Lanclos: And you all go on a mission with Starbuck and Apollo, and you end up being Starbuck's wingman. And the two of you had some words for each other while flying around.

[00:58:18] Starbuck: Athena, what do you think you're doing?

[00:58:23] Athena: I'm your wingman. Apollo said a wingman should stick to a leader at all times.

[00:58:27] Starbuck: Okay, okay. Just hold back a little. And for Sagan's sake, don't shoot me.

[00:58:32] Athena: Keep it up, Starbuck. Keep it up.

[00:58:36] Curtis Lanclos: I want to talk about those scenes in the cockpit because back on episode 100 of the podcast, I interviewed Garrett Hagen, who played Biggs Darklighter in Star Wars. He was the rebel pilot Red 3, who ends up getting shot down right at the end of the film. He said that all of those x-wing cockpit scenes for each pilot were filmed in the same x-wing cockpit mock-up i mean they were and after each actor entered the set they filmed every single one of their lines for from the battle you know against the death star and i'm guessing that's what they did for battle star galactica as well.

[00:59:21] Maren Jensen: There was one that was it well we all hopped in with our little Cleopatra style helmets with their own light. They were pretty cool, those helmets, weren't they?

[00:59:36] Curtis Lanclos: I love those. I mean, they look like they have sort of an Egyptian influence.

[00:59:41] Maren Jensen: Yep, definitely.

[00:59:43] Curtis Lanclos: In Lost Planet of the Gods Part II, all of you go down to where the pyramids are. And I wonder if that's kind of the reason for that influence on the helmets.

[00:59:54] Maren Jensen: Oh, yeah, absolutely.

[00:59:57] Curtis Lanclos: So those cockpits, so all of your lines, I guess, were filmed pretty quickly in the cockpit.

[01:00:03] Maren Jensen: Exactly. One after the other.

[01:00:05] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. And then they just, you know, through the magic of editing, they piece them together later. It appears sometimes the special effects people had a moving star field in the background. And other times there was a rear projection screen showing footage of another Viper or something. It doesn't appear that it was, you know, a green screen.

[01:00:27] Maren Jensen: No, this was all pre-green screen. And I don't remember how that was handled. I'm sorry, I can't give you any detail.

[01:00:37] Curtis Lanclos: So the cockpit wasn't really dressed with all the buttons and everything. It was just because they're only filming it from one or two angles. They're not actually showing the joystick and all of that. Those are all close-ups.

[01:00:49] Maren Jensen: Right. But I think they might have dressed it up a bit inside in case, you know, depending on the camera angle, they'd want it to, you know, be shootable.

[01:00:59] Curtis Lanclos: Right. And there were a couple of vipers in the hangers, and it looks like beyond that, it might have been a painting or something, a forced perspective.

[01:01:08] Maren Jensen: Probably. So vipers have been done that way so much. I mean, think about how difficult it was then, too. It's not like they could generate on computer the graphics. It was all done by hand.

[01:01:23] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. And the space battle that you and your female counterparts end up getting into in that episode, that part one of Lost Planet of the Gods, there's a lot of use of the Galactica expletives, you know, frack and Feldercarb. Uh-huh.

[01:01:40] Starbuck: Oh, frack.

[01:01:47] Curtis Lanclos: I thought that was a clever way to get away with using expletives. I'm surprised, you know, no other sci-fi shows did that. I mean, I noticed on The Mandalorian, the new Star Wars series, sometimes The Mandalorian will say Dank Farrick, and that's supposed to be an expletive. But nothing compares with Frack and Felgerkarp. I'd love to talk to whoever came up with those.

[01:02:21] Maren Jensen: You know, it was probably Glen Larson. He had a lot to do with that show, a lot to do with the content and storylines. So that would be my guess.

[01:02:31] Curtis Lanclos: Absolutely. And, of course, Jane Seymour, who played Apollo's love interest, Serena, was fighting in that battle as well.

[01:02:40] Serena: Flight Cadet Serena reporting for duty, Captain.

[01:02:43] Apollo: What is this, a joke?

[01:02:46] Serena: No. I just wanted to surprise you. I've been in training ever since Adama opened up the program to replace the pilots that we lost.

[01:02:54] Apollo: Training? You've been in training to...

[01:02:58] Serena: A shuttle cadet who has just finished her first solo.

[01:03:01] Apollo: You didn't even tell me. No one told me. Does my father know?

[01:03:05] Serena: No, he doesn't get a report on every cadet in the fleet.

[01:03:08] Apollo: It's too dangerous. I won't let you do it.

[01:03:11] Serena: Well, you don't have any choice.

[01:03:12] Apollo: Serena, we're about to be married.

[01:03:14] Serena: What does that have to do with it? Your own sister's a pilot and a warrior.

[01:03:19] Apollo: She's my sister, not my wife-to-be.

[01:03:20] Serena: Oh, and if that's what it's all about, we can take care of that.

[01:03:23] Apollo: Serena! Serena, don't you understand? I love you. I don't want anything to happen to you ever.

[01:03:31] Serena: Don't you think I love you too? You go flying off on missions in your Viper, into combat. All I'm becoming is a shuttle pilot.

[01:03:41] Apollo: Do you know how many shuttle pilots we lost on Caroline? You know how many civilians.

[01:03:44] Serena: Apollo, there is no safe place or function anywhere in the fleet. Everybody's being trained in every capacity. It's the only way if we're going to survive.

[01:03:53] Apollo: Are you any good?

[01:03:55] Serena: Top of the class.

[01:03:58] Apollo: Well, you better be. You're going to be married to a squadron commander.

[01:04:03] Serena: Yes, sir.

[01:04:04] Curtis Lanclos: Do you have any fond memories of working with Jane?

[01:04:08] Maren Jensen: Yeah, I mean, again, she came out of James Bond, I think, And so it was intimidating to work with her and, you know, share a makeup room with her and so forth. I, you know, I really looked up to her as, you know, a working actress and someone who I, you know, I wanted to emulate in terms of working continuously. So and she had a good role on Battlestar Galactica. So, yeah, again, someone I really liked working with and she was different, you know, culturally different and very friendly.

[01:04:49] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. You know, I used to think that she had a glass eye because just looking at her, there was something about her. And I would say to my wife, she has a glass eye or one of her eyes looks different. And I read somewhere that she does not have a glass eye. Her eyes are different colors.

[01:05:04] Maren Jensen: They're both. They're different colors. You're absolutely right. Now and remembering that i haven't seen her in decades although i do have a friend uh who's friendly with her so i maybe i'll run across her one of these days i hope so.

[01:05:20] Curtis Lanclos: And of course you know she lasted longer than rick springfield did but she got killed off in episode three lost plan of the gods part two got killed by a cylon shot her in the back yeah i thought richard hatch and noah hathaway you know played that scene really well at the end of the episode when they were mourning her death.

[01:05:38] Boxey: I don't want her to go. I don't want her to go.

[01:05:42] Apollo: I know. But it's her body that's gone boxy, not her spirit. Or her love for us. But we'll have that always. Forever.

[01:05:58] Boxey: I guess I won't make a very good warrior.

[01:06:07] Apollo: you'll make a fine warrior. come on son let's go.

[01:06:22] Curtis Lanclos: They had just gotten married in the episode i think apollo and serena and so essentially at that point foxy was apollo's responsibility and noah hathaway i mean man what a great guy.

[01:06:32] Maren Jensen: I met him at a convention one time. He was a very smart kid, boy.

[01:06:38] Curtis Lanclos: He was in a pretty popular film at the time. The NeverEnding Story, I think, was the film that he was in.

[01:06:44] Maren Jensen: Yes, he starred in that.

[01:06:47] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, he was the big star. By the time episode 10 rolls around, it's revealed that the Battlestar Pegasus survived under the command of Commander Kane, played by, wow, here you got another legend on the show, Lloyd Bridges.

[01:06:55] Maren Jensen: I know, I couldn't believe it.

[01:07:02] Commander Cain: Get them something to drink, Tolan. They look pale.

[01:07:04] Apollo: It's a very great honor, sir. A very great honor.

[01:07:11] Commander Cain: Yes, I should imagine it is. That's just a little attempt to humor. Well, I had quite resigned myself that I would never see another human, other than my old people on the Pegasus. And there you are.

[01:07:26] Apollo: In Galactica, sir. Under the flag of Commander Adama, my father.

[01:07:31] Commander Cain: Tama? Yes, yes. Yes, I see it. Well, how is he? How is that old Madaka?

[01:07:40] Apollo: Well, considering the load he's carried since the destruction of our nation.

[01:07:44] Commander Cain: Yes, yes, I should imagine. And the rest of the fleet?

[01:07:48] Apollo: Only the Galactica survived, sir. Along with some 220-odd ships carrying what's left of our people.

[01:07:56] Commander Cain: My God. And I thought we had it bad. Only 220 ships left from all the Galanists.

[01:08:04] Apollo: Yes, sir.

[01:08:04] Commander Cain: My friends, our troubles are over.

[01:08:10] Apollo: How do you mean, sir?

[01:08:11] Commander Cain: Tomorrow we go on the offensive. We'll show those Galmonging Silents how to fight now. Yes, by the Lords of Kobol. The Silent Empire is about to fall.

[01:08:23] Maren Jensen: Sea Hunt. Yeah. From my childhood.

[01:08:30] Curtis Lanclos: And of course, the father of Bo and Jeff Bridges.

[01:08:33] Maren Jensen: Yeah.

[01:08:34] Curtis Lanclos: And also another Nepo, as you would say, Anne Lockhart.

[01:08:38] Maren Jensen: Right.

[01:08:39] Curtis Lanclos: As Lieutenant Sheba and Jack Stauffer as Lieutenant Bojay. Both of them are introduced to the cast. Anne Lockhart's mother is June Lockhart from Lost in Space.

[01:08:50] Sheba: Apollo, strike Captain Apollo. I believe you've spent a lot of time on my tail.

[01:08:54] Apollo: You are Sheba.

[01:08:55] Sheba: Yes. To both questions.

[01:08:59] Adama: You can't be serious. You mean you shot down one Cylon patrol ship in a secton?

[01:09:04] Apollo: Very serious. When you're responsible for the lives of hundreds of civilians crammed aboard slow-moving barges, you have to learn to keep a low profile.

[01:09:11] Sheba: Sounds like we're going to be incompatible.

[01:09:13] Adama: We all have to learn to adjust. Even the legendary Commander Kane may have to alter his combat techniques.

[01:09:19] Sheba: And who's going to tell him that?

[01:09:21] Adama: Being somewhat a student of your father's battle tactics, I think he'll come to it on his own.

[01:09:25] Maren Jensen: Yeah, good casting, right? And Anne was very good.

[01:09:30] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, absolutely. Did it start to feel to you that it was a little crowded with another actress in the mix there?

[01:09:35] Maren Jensen: Well, I never looked upon any other actresses, quote unquote, competition. It was a strange predicament to be in because one minute I'd be, you know, barely in an episode and then they'd feature me completely through another episode. And I felt like this push-pull thing going on that I really didn't understand until much later was because of this issue between the network and the executives of the studio.

[01:10:08] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. And, of course, speaking of that, you're actually credited in every episode.

[01:10:13] Maren Jensen: Yes.

[01:10:14] Curtis Lanclos: They show your image at the beginning when they're showing all the actors, but you didn't actually appear in all of them.

[01:10:19] Maren Jensen: That's right. It's because I had a very good agent. she did that but also i think the intent was to you know have me in every episode but that's not exactly how it panned out.

[01:10:31] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah and it appears your final episodes were in the two-part or greetings from earth parts one and two that was the one that randolph mantooth was a guest star. Do you recall that being your final moments on the show?

[01:10:52] Maren Jensen: Well i had no idea it's not like anyone told me. I didn't know.

[01:10:59] Curtis Lanclos: So you expected to be on until at least on until the end of the season, but you just weren't asked to come back for any other episode.

[01:11:05] Maren Jensen: I just wasn't, wasn't called. So I guess, uh, you know, that was the decision from online. So do you have any other favorite moments from the show?

[01:11:13] Maren Jensen: I had a lot of fun doing, um, the episode, uh, fire, the fire episode.

[01:11:21] Curtis Lanclos: Oh, yeah.

[01:11:21] Maren Jensen: Mm-hmm. That was, um, I liked being a teacher. I liked doing that bit.

[01:11:28] Athena: By now, I'm sure that most of you are aware that something special has happened. We found people from Earth. Please use your question indicator when desiring to address the class, Boxy.

[01:11:39] Boxey: I'm sorry, Athena.

[01:11:41] Athena: You're excused. Now, I'm sure that all of you realize that what happens throughout this day is liable to affect each of us for the rest of our lives. We're all a trifle nervous. Yes, Loma.

[01:11:54] Loma: If there are people inside that ship, why aren't they coming out?

[01:11:57] Athena: We can't allow it right now because their craft has to be decontaminated. Now, who knows what that means? Yes, Boxy.

[01:12:06] Boxey: It means we have to kill any sick bugs that may be on their ship.

[01:12:10] Athena: Very good. Now, if you'll all look at your monitors, you can read today's key phrase for today's lesson. The human life forms can adapt to many varied environments and foods.

[01:12:28] Maren Jensen: But, you know, just liking everyone that you work with, it's always a joy to have that. And that's not always the case, I might add. Some people become difficult or ego-driven to the point that, you know, they're unpleasant to be around. But it was a very jovial cast. And again, we had so much downtime. We did all get to know one another, and it was just familial.

[01:12:54] Curtis Lanclos: That's great. Yeah, that fire episode, I believe they actually used some stock universal footage. I don't know if it was Towering Inferno or something. There was some footage that they had of some fires in buildings and stuff, and it kind of passed off as could have been inside of a spaceship.

[01:13:14] Maren Jensen: Oh, well, yeah. That makes big sense. That makes big sense from a cost perspective.

[01:13:21] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, well, because the show was very expensive, you know, and they had to cut corners where they could. As I previously mentioned, a lot of the effects shots were used over and over again, like the shots of the Vipers doing a roll maneuver, which I thought was super cool looking.

[01:13:39] Maren Jensen: Yeah, very.

[01:13:41] Curtis Lanclos: I mean, you just really got a sense of the awesome power of, you know, being a Colonial Viper pilot. I mean, it was just amazing. But sadly, the final episode came, which was episode 21, The Hand of God, and that ended with that little transmission that they got of the moon landing. And so the hint was that the Galactica was getting closer to Earth, but then the show wasn't renewed.

[01:14:08] Maren Jensen: Right.

[01:14:09] Curtis Lanclos: Do you recall getting a call about that, about, sorry, we haven't been picked up for another season?

[01:14:16] Maren Jensen: Yeah, I'm sure my agent called me and told me that. I was at that point in time probably trying to break into film. That was, you know, the big goal at that point, strangely enough. And now I look back on it and think, wow, I mean, how cool is it to be on, you know, an episodic series, dramatic series, a one-hour series. But, you know, back then, the big reach was toward the big screen. So I was going up for a lot of parts at that point. But I was still too young. Still at like 23, 22. I wasn't quite leading lady age.

[01:15:01] Curtis Lanclos: And so the final episode aired in the, I guess, spring of 79. and then they did kind of bring it back with Galactica 1980. Now, I have to borrow one of the Galactica expletives here and say, what the frack were they thinking with Galactica 1980? It was just all very odd to me. Were you asked to come back for that?

[01:15:24] Maren Jensen: No, I wasn't. And kind of the whole experience, the galactic experience for me was confusing. If I were to pick up a word, it would be confusing because there were so many great things about it. So much I learned and all these wonderful professionals I worked with. And yet I have this situation that was painful and confusing. so you know i i kind of uh distanced myself from from galactica because of that confusion i mean i was young and i didn't really have um you know the tools to really put it into you know some sort of a context that i could wrap my arms around.

[01:16:19] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah of course on the show Lorne Greenereturned with a beard and oh it never explained how he outlived you and Apollo because Apollo is obviously gone and boxy is is grown up now and is being played by Kent McCord and his uh his Starbuck-like sidekick is Barry Van Dyke Boomer is you know Herb Jefferson Jr. is there he's been promoted to colonel which I thought that was kind of nice yeah Robbie Rist as Dr. Z. It was just, it was just, it was all very odd. I think it lasted maybe 10 episodes. It wasn't to be any more beyond that, but I guess it was, it was kind of an interesting thing to explore. You know, the Galactica finally makes it to earth, but it would have been nice to have a couple of additional seasons of the original one, right? Yeah. First, but anyway, it's a, you know, live and learn, I guess.

[01:17:14] Maren Jensen: Well, it was good storytelling. You know, I mean, that's ultimately what it's about, right, is to tell a really good story and hopefully execute it decently.

[01:17:25] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. And so, you know, Beyond Galactica, you stayed fairly busy. You worked on Beyond the Reef. Was that a TV movie or was that a theatrical release?

[01:17:36] Maren Jensen: It was a theatrical release. I think it was more aimed at a younger audience.

[01:17:41] Diana: If I hadn't seen you today, I would have come to find you at the villa. In spite of your brother. And everything else.

[01:17:51] Tikoyo: What's wrong with my brother?

[01:17:52] Diana: He wouldn't like me.

[01:17:55] Tikoyo: How can you say that? You don't even know him.

[01:17:58] Diana: From the little I know about him, he just couldn't like me.

[01:18:02] Tikoyo: Ticoyo, where's your shop? Montadou? I don't know. He's been gone since the day he left my hut. I think he's gone back out to the sea. Forever.

[01:18:17] Diana: I guess so. I guess he doesn't need me anymore. And I don't need him.

[01:18:23] Tikoyo: A couple of days ago, a man was killed by a shark in these waters. What do you mean by that?

[01:18:30] Diana: Nothing, maybe.

[01:18:31] Maren Jensen: Remember the reviews of it said, beyond the reef, beyond belief. Soundly panned, although I think I got a very nice mention from Pauline Kael.

[01:18:46] Curtis Lanclos: Oh, nice. Okay. You know, I was looking at the IMDB listing for it and I didn't recognize anybody else in the cast. So you were the one recognizable person in it anyway.

[01:18:57] Maren Jensen: Well, they have the lead in my opposite in that film. He was brought over from Hurricane, a film that they had shot on the same location.

[01:19:09] Curtis Lanclos: Okay.

[01:19:09] Maren Jensen: So Hurricane, his name is Dayton Kane, and he played off as Mia Farrow in Hurricane. And then he came to do Beyond the Reef with me. So he was, you know, slightly recognized.

[01:19:26] Curtis Lanclos: And like a lot of actors during that time, you did your due diligence on The Love Boat a few times.

[01:19:33] Maren Jensen: Oh, I did. Love it.

[01:19:35] Julie McCoy: Hi, welcome aboard. I'm Julie McCoy.

[01:19:38] Susanna Wells: Susanna Wells. Hi. Hi. Wow, what a beautiful ship.

[01:19:43] Julie McCoy: What a beautiful coat.

[01:19:44] Susanna Wells: Oh, thank you. It's genuine me. I wasn't too cool, was it?

[01:19:49] Julie McCoy: Is this your first trip to Mexico?

[01:19:51] Susanna Wells: It's my first trip anywhere. A month ago, I was a waitress in a coffee shop, and now I'm rich. My uncle left me a fortune. Listen to me. Here I am trying to be sophisticated, and in two seconds, I've told you my life story.

[02:00:05] Julie McCoy: Well, I don't blame you. You must have been in shock.

[02:00:08] Susanna Wells: No, in stores. I've been shopping my house.

[02:00:11] Julie McCoy: I'd probably do that, too.

[02:00:13] Susanna Wells: Yeah.

[02:00:14] Maren Jensen: I didn't know Aaron Spelling. He was a great employer. He kept me busy.

[02:00:20] Curtis Lanclos: And Fantasy Island, too. I think you were on an episode of that.

[02:00:23] Maren Jensen: I did do that. I think I really did all of the 70s. I did Merv Griffin's show, Hollywood Squares, a bunch of those. You know, I kind of hit those 70s high points.

[02:00:39] Curtis Lanclos: Did you and Paul Lynn get to share any conversations?

[02:00:42] Maren Jensen: Oh, my God. He was hilarious. Needless to say, he was making fun of everybody from his box. And, you know, when they turn your microphone off, so I think I was next to him, so he would wisecrack to me. And he was hilarious. We had lunch together. I think he had two black poodles that joined us at lunch.

[02:01:06] Curtis Lanclos: Oh, nice. He has to be the most quick-witted person I had ever seen at that point.

[02:01:11] Maren Jensen: Beyond quick-witted. I know that because they had our quips pre-canned. They were written for us, but he was cracking them to me. It was really something.

[02:01:24] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. Well, having worked in improv, you certainly had to have appreciated that.

[02:01:31] Maren Jensen: I did.

[02:01:32] Curtis Lanclos: And then you were in Deadly Blessing in 1981, which was a Wes Craven film.

[02:01:37] Maren Jensen: Right.

[02:01:38] Announcer: Do you ever wonder about terror? Do you ever think that behind your worst fears there is something far more frightening? Because it's real. Soon you will face the ultimate unholiest terror. And no power on Earth will save you. Soon you will receive the Deadly Blessing. Deadly Blessing. Pray you're not blessed. Rated R under 17, not admitted without parent.

[02:02:06] Curtis Lanclos: A lot of great stars in that film. Sharon Stone.

[02:02:09] Maren Jensen: Yes, it was her first film.

[02:02:11] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, Jeff East, Lisa Hartman, Ernest Borgnine. And one of my favorites, Doug Barr.

[02:02:18] Maren Jensen: Doug Barr is such a nice guy. He was a model, too.

[02:02:22] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, I interviewed him on episode 82 of the podcast for the 40th anniversary of The Fall Guy.

[02:02:30] Maren Jensen: Oh, wow.

[02:02:31] Curtis Lanclos: Which another Glen Larson show.

[02:02:33] Maren Jensen: Right.

[02:02:33] Curtis Lanclos: That I absolutely loved.

[02:02:35] Maren Jensen: Hours on TV. Hours. It's seven hours a week, I think, at that point.

[02:02:40] Curtis Lanclos: And I believe that in Deadly Blessing, you were kind of a love interest for him.

[02:02:44] Maren Jensen: Well, right. In the very beginning of the film and then the terrible things happened.

[02:02:49] Martha Schmidt: What's this? Thanks for the best anniversary I've had so far.

[02:02:55] Jim Schmidt: That's not surprising since it's our first.

[02:03:00] Martha Schmidt: New manure spreader. Portable. We'll save it.

[02:03:04] Jim Schmidt: Already we're history, huh?

[02:03:08] Martha Schmidt: Nice suit. Papa knew this would happen if he let me go off.

[02:03:18] Jim Schmidt: Glad you went anyway? Glad you're stuck out in the country with that crazy Hittite.

[02:03:23] Martha Schmidt: Ex-Hittite.

[02:03:25] Curtis Lanclos: How was it working with Wes Craven?

[02:03:30] Maren Jensen: He was, you know, very particular about what he wanted. A true pro. Very nice guy. A little edgy and nervous, I think. And now I can appreciate how directing a feature can be a little nerve wracking. Yeah. Now, that was the last project that I did because, of course, I got deathly ill on that project. That was the end of my film career, film and television career.

[02:04:04] Curtis Lanclos: Around that same time, you and Don Henley were an item, weren't you?

[02:04:08] Maren Jensen: We were. We were in my 20s and in his 30s. And we're still friendly to this day.

[02:04:19] Curtis Lanclos: Oh, that's great. You were actually featured in the Not Enough Love in the World video.

[02:04:24] Maren Jensen: You really do your homework. I was, yeah. Yeah.

[02:04:28] Curtis Lanclos: And what I found interesting about that music video, it was directed by Timothy Hutton.

[02:04:33] Maren Jensen: It was. And I think he did a really good job. Maybe he was getting his feet wet. I mean, he was a really talented actor. And I think he did some interesting things with the camera. And I think he achieved what he set out to do in that little piece.

[02:04:53] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. And I guess that was, what, around 85 or so? That's when Building the Perfect Beast was the album, and it came out around that time. I love that song, The Boys of Summer. I thought that was, that's a magnificent song. I remember when that came out, I thought that he's got something here and substantial in his solo career now. He had had a few other hits, and of course he was with the Eagles.

[02:05:16] Maren Jensen: Well, that song is endemic. It's just one of those tunes that you can hear in your head, and year after year it comes back. It's a great, great, great track.

[02:05:29] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, and one of the things that I love about the Eagles, I still have never seen the Eagles in concert, but I'm sure you've been to a few.

[02:05:36] Maren Jensen: Oh, yeah.

[02:05:37] Curtis Lanclos: But I noticed that at least in the later years that they would play all of their solo hits, too, at the shows. They would play some of Joe Walsh's songs and Glen Frey, who's no longer with us, and, of course, Don Henley. I remember seeing a video of them playing the Boys of Summer, and I thought, oh, that's kind of cool that they do that, you know?

[02:06:01] Maren Jensen: Well, yeah. Well, they are currently on tour, and this is their long goodbye tour. This is wrapping it up for them, and they're going to tour as long as people want to see them.

[02:06:16] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah, and I think Glen Frey's son is with them now.

[02:06:20] Maren Jensen: Yes, Deacon, yes.

[02:06:21] Curtis Lanclos: At one time, Vince Gill was with them, too.

[02:06:25] Maren Jensen: I believe he still is.

[02:06:26] Curtis Lanclos: Okay. Amy Grant's husband.

[02:06:28] Maren Jensen: What a singer. What a talent.

[02:06:31] Curtis Lanclos: Yes, absolutely. You touched on how on Deadly Blessing you started to experience some issues with chronic fatigue syndrome. That kind of pushed you in another direction as far as your career?

[02:06:44] Maren Jensen: Well, what happened is that we had three weeks of night shoots. You know, obviously it was a horror movie. So a lot of scenes were shot at night because nighttime is really scary. And those scenes were shot in a barn in Waco, Texas. It was very cold. You know, you don't think of Texas as being cold. But at that time of year was in December. It was frigid. And I had sort of, you know, not such warm costumes on. So I don't know if it was from, you know, working in this active barn, being up all night for weeks on end, six days a week. And I was in nearly every scene in that film and being cold. But I got sick and I couldn't really take time off to get better. I think that's what happened. So I had to go back to work. You see the movie, you see me progressively disappearing. I think I dropped like 15 pounds that I didn't have to lose to begin with. So, yeah, when I was done with that film, I just thought I would rest up and get better. But, you know, that's not what happened. And so I had a post-viral situation akin to long COVID, which a lot of people are dealing with now. Only, you know, they really didn't know anything about it and there was no treatment. So, you know, I had a struggle on my hands for much of my 20s.

[02:08:14] Curtis Lanclos: Okay, you eventually founded a cosmetic company.

[02:08:18] Maren Jensen: Yeah, well, the idea was that, you know, I didn't know if I had the stamina to go back to acting because, you know, you really need to have a lot of vitality. You know, both for the demands and also the work itself, you know, can be really draining. So I thought that if I started my own business, that I would be able to, you know, choose my own hours. But the irony is that when you work for yourself and it's your own business, you end up working harder than anybody else.

[02:08:57] Curtis Lanclos: Oh, sure. Yeah.

[02:08:58] Maren Jensen: And that was the case. So, yeah, I started a cosmetic company with a business partner and we did very, very well with it.

[02:09:07] Curtis Lanclos: The company was purchased by Estee Lauder, right?

[02:09:10] Maren Jensen: It was. It was. After five years in the marketplace, we had the global distribution, and that's what happened.

[02:09:18] Curtis Lanclos: Well, I hope that was lucrative for you.

[02:09:21] Maren Jensen: It was good. Yeah. It worked out.

[02:09:24] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. You know, I was talking about Sammy Hagar earlier. You know, he had that Cabo Wabo tequila brand.

[02:09:31] Maren Jensen: Oh, my goodness. I remember that. Wow.

[02:09:34] Curtis Lanclos: And he sold that to Sky Vodka and became a billionaire, essentially, from that. He made much more money off of that than he ever did performing.

[02:09:43] Maren Jensen: Right, right.

[02:09:44] Curtis Lanclos: It's great when you have a product that other people believe in that much that they're going to buy you out.

[02:09:51] Maren Jensen: Right. Well, I mean, you know, Estee Lauder's thing at the time was, you know, market share. So they wanted to own a certain percentage of every cosmetic floor in every department store. So they acquired a number of brands, ours being one.

[02:10:10] Curtis Lanclos: Okay. And then you founded another company or two, didn't you?

[02:10:15] Maren Jensen: I did. My current company, Glow Beauty Fuel, which is protein bars with four beauty supplements. That's the first of its kind. So we're just now entering the marketplace. We did a number of test runs, and we're starting up our manufacturing. In fact, I'll be manufacturing next month for a big rollout. So I'm very excited about that.

[02:10:46] Curtis Lanclos: Oh, nice. Yeah, you know, and, of course, talking to Caitlin, you know, setting up this interview and everything, in the process of our conversations, I ordered a package of those chocolate mania bars. And I asked Caitlin, I said, are these bars just for women? And she says, oh, no, men love these bars.

[02:11:06] Maren Jensen: They do. They do. Well, the idea is that, you know, you're getting protein, you're getting all your beauty supplements, and they taste like a treat. And they're low in sugar and high in protein and low in calories. So who doesn't love that?

[02:11:22] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. And you'll be happy to hear that they arrived yesterday. Oh my goodness. Thanks. Yep. And I ate one for breakfast this morning and I thought it was great. And I'm not just saying that because you're on here. I think it's a, you know, it's not too sweet, but it has just enough chocolate in it that it, you know, satisfies that craving. It's funny because my wife and I are currently doing Weight Watchers. I'm happy to say I've lost eight and a half pounds so far.

[02:11:50] Maren Jensen: Oh, congrats.

[02:11:51] Curtis Lanclos: Thank you. You know, on the Weight Watchers app, they have a thing where you enter what you eat, and each thing that you enter has a certain amount of points, and you're allowed a certain amount of points a day. I don't know if you've ever – you've probably never had to do Weight Watchers because you've always been so skinny.

[02:12:06] Maren Jensen: Well, I've been lucky, but I have friends who have, so I'm very familiar with the point system.

[02:12:11] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. I went on there and scanned the barcode on the back of the Globe Beautyfield bar, and the app said it, there was no record of that product. So you'll be happy to know I entered the information on there. And so it's now on there.

[02:12:26] Maren Jensen: Thank you. Yeah.

[02:12:28] Curtis Lanclos: At least for the chocolate mania one.

[02:12:30] Maren Jensen: Yeah. Yeah. Perfect.

[02:12:31] Curtis Lanclos: So, and what other flavors do you have?

[02:12:34] Maren Jensen: We have a vegan version, which is peanut butter, chocolate chip crunch. And then we have cherry, uh, cherry grazie and orange dream.

[02:12:45] Curtis Lanclos: Okay. Perfect. The peanut butter one sounds pretty appealing. I may order some of those.

[02:12:50] Maren Jensen: Oh, it's incredible. I'll send you some. How about that? You'll give me your address and we'll send you an assortment of bars after we meet next month.

[02:13:02] Curtis Lanclos: Oh, that's very sweet of you. In fact, I was talking with Caitlin. I thought what I might do is a giveaway here on the podcast. After we finish with the interview, I'll let the listeners know how they can win a free bar and I'll send them one.

[02:13:16] Maren Jensen: Well, why don't we just make it like a variety pack? We'll send them six. How's that?

[02:13:23] Curtis Lanclos: Okay. Okay. Yeah, if you're willing to do that.

[02:13:25] Maren Jensen: Yeah, I am. But it's going to have to be after October 15th. Like, that's when they'll be ready.

[02:13:31] Curtis Lanclos: Okay, perfect. Perfect.

[02:13:33] Maren Jensen: Yeah, I couldn't get quite as granular about these episode details. I mean, your knowledge is remarkable. And I'm sure your depth of knowledge is that intense on all of your guests. I'm really impressed, Curtis.

[02:13:48] Curtis Lanclos: Thank you for saying that. But it helps when you're a super fan. I just like to talk about the things that I grew up watching. So do you have any other projects going on that you'd like to plug? Or is Globe Beauty feel about it?

[02:14:02] Maren Jensen: That's it. That's enough. Okay. Very busy of a highly engineered, intentionally formulated product. I mean, we have hundreds of batches, and I work with a food scientist. It's enough.

[02:14:22] Curtis Lanclos: Okay. Well, perfect. I'm glad you found something else that you're passionate about and that it's proving to be successful for you.

[02:14:32] Maren Jensen: Well, I hope so. We'll see.

[02:14:34] Curtis Lanclos: Yeah. Well, Maren, again, I have to say it's been an absolute honor and pleasure to have you on the show. The fanboy in me here is just saying I can't believe I'm talking to Maren Jensen because you were such a big part of my adolescent years. I mean, on Battlestar Galactica. And it's a show that I've always adored. I thought it was tremendously underrated. Should have been on for a few more seasons.

[02:15:00] Maren Jensen: Definitely.

[02:15:01] Curtis Lanclos: We didn't talk about the reboot because you never watched it. I'll probably get hate mail over this, but I didn't care for it that much. There's just something about the OG actors from Battlestar Galactica 1978 that made it the special fan favorite that it was. And I'm so pleased to hear about Glow Beauty Fuel and how well that company is doing. I wish you nothing but all the success in the world. God bless you.

[02:15:29] Maren Jensen: Oh, thank you, Curtis, and to you too. We're lucky people, aren't we, to have such interesting careers.

[02:15:36] Curtis Lanclos: Absolutely. I trust you enjoyed this discussion with Marin as much as I did.

[02:15:48] Curtis Lanclos: If you'd like to enter for your chance to win a giveaway of a six-pack assortment of

[02:15:54] Curtis Lanclos: Merin's Glow Beauty fuel bars, along with some great Battlestar Galactica swag, please go to

[02:16:01] Curtis Lanclos: RetroZest.com forward slash drawing. That's RetroZest.com forward slash drawing. There you

[02:16:10] Curtis Lanclos: will find an online form. Simply fill that out and click submit. It's just that simple. No strings

[02:16:18] Curtis Lanclos: attached and most certainly no Felger Carb. The drawing will be held on October the 1st, 2023,

[02:16:27] Curtis Lanclos: so you have until September the 30th to enter. So please go ahead and do so now. Also, please visit

[02:16:35] Curtis Lanclos: Marin's website glowbeautyfuel.com and check out all of her wonderful protein bar products.

[02:16:42] Curtis Lanclos: I'll provide a link to that website along with other great info about Marin in the show notes for this episode at RetroZest.com forward slash EP 139.

[02:16:56] Remy Nessence: Hi there. My name is Remy Nessence and I am the head DJ at WII FM. That stands for What's in it for me. If you'd like to help my friend Curtis Lonclo with costs for the RetroZest podcast, you may do so while doing what you do already. Shopping for great retro-themed t-shirts. Some great t-shirts related to Battlestar Galactica are available via the RetroZest store. Simply go to the webpage for this episode of the podcast at retrozest.com forward slash EP139 and click on the t-shirt link provided in the show notes. Additionally, you may browse the entire RetroZest store by going to store.retrozest.com forward slash home. Thank you so much for supporting the Retro Zest podcast. And remember that there's always something in it for you if you do so.

[01:37:46] Laverne: Hey, it's Laverne inviting you to visit Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where all your dreams can come true on the Shamil Shamazal MKE Tour of Milwaukee. This is the must experience Laverne and Shirley themed tour of Milwaukee. HappyTimesTours.com, that's H-A-P-P-Y-T-I-M-E-S-T-O-U-R-S.com, or call 414-867-2727, that's 414-867-2727, and get ready to shamil shamazil your way through Milwaukee. When you call or write Happy Times Tours, mention the Retro Zest podcast and you'll receive a special discount.

[01:38:34] Mushies Kid: Hi, kids. Have you tried mushies? They're really delicious. And what's more than nutritious? M-U-S-H-I-E-S. Mushies. Tell your parents. They're really wonderful.

[01:38:45] Craig Littler: Hi, this is Craig Littler. You might remember me as the lead character in Jason Stark Man. And you're listening to Retro Zest Podcast.

[01:38:55] Curtis Lanclos: And that's going to complete this episode of the Retro Zest Podcast.

[01:38:59] Curtis Lanclos: Thank you so much for listening.

[01:39:01] Curtis Lanclos: Please reach out to me at podcast at retro zest dot com with your suggestions and feedback.

[01:39:07] Curtis Lanclos: I'd really love to hear from you.

[01:39:09] Curtis Lanclos: Stay tuned.

[01:39:11] Curtis Lanclos: Episode number 140 of our show is right around the corner and you don't want to miss it.

[01:39:16] Curtis Lanclos: On that episode, we're going to continue the celebration of the 45th anniversary of Battlestar Galactica with a conversation with another actress whose participation was crucial to the amazing storytelling of the show.

[01:39:31] Curtis Lanclos: Once again, I promise it'll be a smorgasbord of obscurity and minutiae,

[01:39:36] Curtis Lanclos: which you'll only find right here on RetroZest.

[01:39:40] Curtis Lanclos: Until that time, stay safe, stay free, stay young,

[01:39:46] Curtis Lanclos: and keep on spreading the retro love out there by telling your friends and family about this show.

[01:39:52] Curtis Lanclos: You may do so by simply leading them to RetroZest.com.

[01:39:57] Curtis Lanclos: Have a wonderful week and may the God and Father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, richly bless your life.

[01:40:05] Curtis Lanclos: Long Clo, out.

[01:40:08] Unknown Speaker: This is Curtis, baby.

[01:40:10] Unknown Speaker: I know Curtis, man.

[01:40:12] Unknown Speaker: I mean, I'm on top of it. Rest easy. Curtis is on the case.

[01:40:15] Announcer: And that's our show. Thanks so much for listening.

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[01:41:05] Announcer: Goodbye.