It seems that Andromeda was hidden in a pile of Gene's future ideas since 1975. It was unearthed (I'll use that loosely) by a company called Tribute Entertainment in 1998-99. Just coming from a "starbase-based show" like Babylon 5, Wolfe really liked the idea of a "ship-based" series. "Ships are cool....they fly around and can blow things up," says Wolfe.
Anyway, it was Wolfe's job to rummage through the pile of stuff and come up with two major television shows to show to the popular actor Kevin Sorbo of Hercules fame. He liked the ship story and Wolfe was very happy.
To make Wolfe's long story short, Andromeda is about a man who struggles to save humanity. It is full of action, stunning special effects, character diversity and, once again, blowing things up. The ship, Andromeda Ascendent, is the coolest thing since the Lost In Space robot! She, the Andromeda, can project herself as a holographic image, can talk to and incedently have a crush on our resident hunk, Captain Dillon Hunt, and (can you sense a pattern here?) blow things up with style.
Richard spoke to the fans with warmth and inspiration. He spoke of the long time he had been waiting now...hoping something profound would come along, something that spoke to the audience, but there was nothing out there that made this native Californian's blood boil like the timeless story of a group of human survivors trying to make it to the only outpost left to mankind....Earth. Richard's passion for this project rapidly spilled over into the crowd who went wild after the viewing. Richard was left with a lump in his throat and a smile on his face as the standing room only crowd gave him a standing ovation.
It was the highlight of our trip.
There was no doubt in my mind after meeting him, talking to him, and hearing him speak to his public that Richard Hatch is the same kind of hero that his counter part, Captain Apollo, is. In this day and age...we need heroes. I am certainly glad that this man is one of them.
Along with Richard Hatch, we met Jack Stauffer, who played Bojay on Galactica. Jack has been a friend of Richard's for almost thirty years. He kids around a lot with him and tells the most entertaining stories. Jack was as warm as Richard and very personable. He met with our staff over a drink and spoke about his passion for his friend, for Galactica, and for musical comedies. He would like to do a duet with Richard, he says, but Richard won't learn the words..
Both actors are great entertainers. Jack and Richard have very nice singing voices. Jack is at home on the stage as well as on a movie set. Richard expresses himself in about the same way. On the stage, one can find immediate feedback which is a plus for any actor. We enjoyed Jack's sixty seconds of jealousy when he exclaimed that in the trailer there were 70 speaking lines....Richard got 69 and he only got one......only one...but it was memorable.
We thanked both Richard Hatch and Jack Stauffer for the genuine attitudes and warmth toward the fans...not to mention showing us the trailer. We also enjoyed meeting Richard Lynch and Herb Jefferson Jr. ).
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