Greetings from Earth

Captain Apollo and Lieutenant Starbuck aboard their Colonial Viper fighters intercept a primitive spacecraft which fails to respond to communication. They take it in tow and bring it back to one of the Galactica's hangar decks.

Once there, the Colonials discover the ship contains six humans - two adults and four children - who are lying in transparent tubes in a state of suspended animation. Speculation arises that these humans may be from Earth. Despite the objections of Commander Adama, the Council of Twelve demands that Dr. Wilker and Dr. Salik bring the travelers out of their sleep-like state.

When the travelers awaken, they have difficulty breathing, and it becomes clear they cannot survive in the Galactica's atmosphere. While the Fleet begins to demand information from the travelers, Adama chooses a different course and the six escape.

Apollo, Starbuck and Cassiopeia escort the humans back to their original destination, the planet Paradeen. Arriving at Paradeen, the colonials are introduced to the family's android caretakers, Hector and Vector. The colonials discover that the travelers are from the planet Terra, part of which is enslaved by the Eastern Alliance, a cruel Nazi-like empire responsible for destroying the majority of the population on Paradeen.

Unknown to the group, an Eastern Alliance spacecraft is in pursuit of the travelers Apollo and the others have befriended.

[edit] Actors

Dirk Benedict - Starbuck
Terry Carter - Colonel Tigh
John Colicos - Baltar
John Dullaghan - Dr. Wilker
Lorne Greene - Adama
Richard Hatch - Apollo
Herb Jefferson, Jr. - Boomer
Maren Jensen - Athena
Anne Lockhart - Sheba
Laurette Spang - Cassiopeia
Tony Swartz - Jolly
Ray Bolger - android Vector ("Greetings from Earth" episode only)
Bobby Van - android Hector ("Greetings from Earth" episode only)

[edit] Trivia

Originally Greetings From Earth was aired as a two hour special on ABC on February 25, 1979. In later broadcasts, and in syndication, it was broken out into two parts.
Part of the episode was filmed in Montreal, Quebec at the site of Expo 67. The futuristic but by then dilapidated structures provided the backdrop for a devastated Paradeen.