Buck Rogers in the 25th Century 

A 20th century astronaut emerges out of 500 years of suspended animation into a future time to become Earth's greatest hero.

Creators:

Glen A. Larson, Leslie Stevens

Stars:

Gil Gerard, Erin Gray, Felix Silla

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 5 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Gil Gerard	...	Capt. William 'Buck' Rogers 32 episodes, 1979-1981
Erin Gray	...	Colonel Wilma Deering 32 episodes, 1979-1981
Felix Silla	...	Twiki / ... 31 episodes, 1979-1981
Mel Blanc	...	Twiki 27 episodes, 1979-1981
Tim O'Connor	...	Dr. Elias Huer 21 episodes, 1979-1980
Eric Server	...	Dr. Theopolis 19 episodes, 1979-1980

Storyline

In 1987, NASA astronaut William "Buck" Rogers is caught in a freak accident in deep space, causing his space shuttle Ranger 3 to be blown into an orbit that returns him to Earth - over 500 years later. The combination of gases that freezes him comes close to the formula commonly used in the 25th century for preservation, and his rescuers are able to revive him. In 2491, when Buck awakens from the freezing, Earth is recovering from a nuclear war and is coming under hostile attack by the Draconian Empire. In the second season, Buck has been assigned aboard the Searcher, a starship exploring the unknown reaches of space while searching for former Earth colonies that are scattered across the galaxy.

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Plot Keywords:

space opera | waking up in the future | buck rogers character | character name in series title | psychotronic series | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 September 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Filming Locations:

Tower of London, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Glen A. Larson Productions, Bruce Lansbury Productions, John Mantley Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min (37 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

Before Erin Gray agreed to return to play the role of Col. Wilma Deering from the film, Juanin Clay was considered to play the role. In the episode Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Vegas in Space (1979) she guest starred as Major Marla Landers, a character very similar to Wilma Deering.

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Goofs

In the narration intro Buck's spacecraft is called "Ranger 3". But the Ranger series spacecraft were unmanned lunar landers, and NASA never repeats project names to avoid confusion.

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Quotes

Narrator: [voiceover during narrative] The year is 1987, and NASA launches the last of America's deep space probes. In a freak mishap, Ranger 3 and its pilot, Captain William "Buck" Rogers, are blown out of their trajectory into an orbit which freezes his life support systems, and returns Buck Rogers to Earth... 500 years later.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits for the first season finale "Flight of the War Witch" differ from the credit sequences for the rest of the season's episodes (except the pilot). After the show title appears there follows a succession of short scenes from this episode as well as from the TV version of the pilot (including the episode). After about 20 seconds, the credits resume as normal.

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Alternate Versions

The episodes "Planet of the Slave Girls" and "Flight of the War Witch" were initially aired as two-hour specials and were later re-edited into two-parters. The 2004 DVD release retains the original two-hour format for these episodes.

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Connections

Follows Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979)

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Soundtracks

Cosmic Forces
(uncredited)
Composed by Stu Phillips

User Reviews

What's not to love

This stuff is classic. Pretty good plots. Nice little performances. You had Mr. Down-to-earth 20th century macho man Buck (complete with 70's dry-look over-the-ears hair) & straight-laced, but sexy fighter-pilot Wilma, and comic-relief, lusty little robot Twiki. And a talking necklace and boring old man, both named "Doctor".

Every week you could count on intrigue, double crosses, and buck knocking out 25 armed henchman, using his patented "Buck Fu" technique. And near the end, Twiki would say something like, "BDBDBDBDBDBD, Buck rocks me like a hurricaine."

This stuff is infinitely more amusing and entertaining that much of the sullen, sensitive and overly technical tv sci-fi of today.

It's a simple formula that works. action action action, tight shiny space outfits (on men & women) and a few lame jokes.