Glen A. Larson
Glen A. Larson (born 1937) is a television writer and producer. Some of his series have become cult hits and either remain in syndication or have been revived. Larson is sometimes compared to Gene Roddenberry by fans of genre television. He began his career in the entertainment industry as a member of the singing group The Four Preps (with whom he appeared in one of the Gidget films). The Four Preps ultimately produced three gold records for Capitol, all of which Larson wrote: "26 Miles Across the Sea (Santa Catalina)", "Big Man", and "Down by the Station".
After working for Quinn Martin, Larson signed a production deal with Universal Studios. His first hit series was Alias Smith and Jones. One of Larson's tactics has been to copy successful formats. He was involved in the development of The Six Million Dollar Man and later secured an unprecedented $1,000,000 per episode budget for Battlestar Galactica which exploited the popularity of Star Wars (George Lucas sued for copyright infringement and lost).
Originally, the series was intended to be called Adam's Ark and the show incorporated many themes from Mormon theology, as Larson was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints[1]. Even with its generous budget the series was reportedly marred by recycled effects shots along with poor scripts and cancelled after a short run. The pilot episode of Galactica was refashioned as a theatrical release in North America and Europe, and in some Europeans markets was the top grossing film of 1979.
Larson was known for co-composing some of the musical themes to TV programs he produced, usually with the help of composer Stu Phillips. These include "Suspension," used in the Buck Rogers movie. Larson re-used sets, props, costumes, and effects work from Galactica to create the light-hearted sci-fi series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979). Larson collaborated with Donald Bellisario in creating Magnum, P.I. one of the most enduring television series of the 1980s. (Curiously, Magnum was only developed because the production company had significant under-utilized resources in Hawaii after the cancellation of Hawaii 5-0.)
Larson also created The Fall Guy, which made much use of stock footage as well. Larson's most influential series was probably Knight Rider, featuring science-fiction elements with a light hearted action adventure scenario and limited violence. These basic elements characterised Larson's output through the 1980s with Automan, Manimal and The Highwayman but few of these were renewed and Larson's popularity declined. He made a brief comeback in the 1990s' with an adaptation of the Ultraverse comic Nightman, which lasted two seasons and became a small cult favourite, but failed to make a larger impact.
He was credited as "consulting producer" for the Sci-Fi Channel/Universal's 2003 re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Larson wanted the credit and had taken the dispute to the Writer's Guild of America. Series creator Ronald D. Moore felt that Larson deserved a credit because he came up with the original ideas. Thus Larson received "consulting producer" and co-writer credits under the pseudonym "Christopher Eric James", although he had no direct role in writing the screenplay or the production of the series.
Larson has a love/hate relationship with David Hasselhoff, and the two have been involved for years in how to approach the development of a Knight Rider movie. Larson has recently sold the rights to his series to the Weinstien Company for less than what Hasselhoff was willing to pay him, and will be heavily involved in the film's production. Hasselhoff will no longer be involved. Larson has a star on Hollywood Boulevard for his contributions to the television industry.