R.I.P. GLEN A. LARSON A new article in the trade journal Variety breaks this sad news: “Glen A. Larson, the writer-producer behind such indelible TV dramas as ‘Battlestar Galactica,’ ‘Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,’ ‘Magnum, P.I.,’ and ‘Knight Rider’ has died, the Los Angeles Times reports. He was 77.” We recently mentioned Brother Larson in our post about the song, “If You Could Hie to Kolob.” I call him “brother” because Glen Larson was, in fact, a Mormon — perhaps Hollywood’s most successful Latter-day Saint, as a matter of fact. Anyone who grew up in the 1970s will fondly remember the many entertaining television programs that Larson created, such as “Buck Rogers” and the original “Battlestar Galactica” of 1978. The latter series in particular is relevant to this forum because, although it was obviously inspired by Star Wars, Larson imbued Battlestar Galactica with an astonishing degree of Mormon content, from the fact that the Colonies were ruled by a “Quorum of 12, to their origin on a planet called “Kobol,” to their ceremonies of “sealing” (not marriage), to their adherence to a “Book of the Word” (a.k.a., Book of Mormon), and much, much more. The entire premise of the show, in fact, was an obvious metaphor for the Saints’ journey westward to Salt Lake: In the series, the Galactica was fleeing across the cosmos, from the destruction of the Colonists’ home world, to “a shining planet known as Earth” — just as the Saints fled Nauvoo across the plains in their trek to Zion. Moreover, in one episode, the Battlestar Galactica encounters “seraphs” who tell them, As you now are, we once were; as we now are you may yet become — practically quoting the Lorenzo Snow couplet: As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be. To the show’s millions of viewers worldwide, it was their first exposure to many Mormon terms and beliefs, and it still holds a special place in the heart of the present author (who has the entire series on DVD): https://youtube/watch?v=xHD1uPVkyk0
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 23:13:54 +0000
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