Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series)

Infobox Television
show_name = Buck Rogers in the 25th Century


caption = Region 1 US DVD cover
format = Science Fiction, Adventure
runtime = 60 mins.
rating =
creator = Glen A. Larson
starring = Gil Gerard
Erin Gray
Tim O'Connor
William Conrad
country = USA
network = NBC
first_aired = 20 September 1979
last_aired = 18 April 1981
num_seasons = 2
num_episodes = 37
imdb_id = 0078579
tv_com_id = 2724

"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" is an American science fiction adventure television series produced by Universal Studios. The series was developed by Glen A. Larson and ran for two seasons, from 1979 - 1981. The feature-length pilot episode for the series was released theatrically several months before the series aired.

The film and series were based upon the Buck Rogers character created by Philip Francis Nowlan that had been featured in comic strips and novellas since the 1920s, and on the CBS and Mutual radio networks, airing several times each week from 1932 to 1947.

Concept and broadcast history

Inspired by the massive success of "Star Wars" two years earlier, the pilot film opened in cinemas on March 30, 1979. Good box-office returns led NBC to commission a full series, which began on September 20, 1979 with a modified version of the theatrical release, which trimmed or altered some racier scenes — including a comment by Twiki ("freezing his ball bearings off"), and also omitted the death of Tigerman, Princess Ardala's henchman, who would later appear in several episodes of the series. There was also some footage added, including Buck exploring his new quarters, and his first conversation with Dr. Theopolis regarding the nature of Anarchia.

The production used recycled props, effects shots and costumes from Larson's previous sci-fi series "Battlestar Galactica" (1978). For example, the "landram" vehicle was made for the Galactica series, and the control sticks used in the Terran starfighters in the pilot/movie were the same as those used in Galactica's "Viper" craft. The Terran starfighters were also concept designer Ralph McQuarrie's original vision of the Colonial Vipers. The same props were later used in the opening credits of the TV Show, "Out of this World".

The new series centered on Captain William Anthony "Buck" Rogers, played by Gil Gerard, a NASA pilot who commands Ranger 3, a space shuttle that is launched in May 1987. Due to a life support malfunction, Buck is accidentally frozen for 504 years before the derelict spacecraft is discovered in the year 2491. The combination of gases that froze his body coincidentally comes close to the formula commonly used in the 25th Century for cryopreservation, and his rescuers are able to revive him. He learns that the Earth was rebuilt following a devastating nuclear war on November 22, 1987, and is now under the protection of the Earth Defense Directorate.

The series followed him as he tried to fit (not always successfully) into 25th-Century culture. As there were no traceable personal records for him, he was uniquely placed, due to his pilot and combat skills and personal ingenuity, to help Earth Defense foil assorted evil plots to destroy Earth. In many respects, the new Rogers was more similar to James Bond or Col. Steve Austin than to Nowlan's original character. Rogers is aided in his adventures by his friend and semi-romantic interest, Colonel Wilma Deering, played by Erin Gray, and his comic sidekick robot, Twiki, voiced by Mel Blanc (who had previously voiced Daffy Duck as Duck Dodgers in spoofs of the early Buck Rogers and other science fiction serials).

Twiki, a small robot or "ambuquad," tended to express himself with the exclamation "biddi-biddi-biddi" followed by a 20th-Century cliché or catchphrase (many of which he learned from Buck). Dr. Theopolis, a sentient computer, was a large disk with an illuminated face; he was usually worn by Twiki, and was a member of Earth's "computer council" and one of the planet's scientific leaders. During the first season, Rogers and Deering took their orders from Dr. Elias Huer, played by Tim O'Connor, the head of the Defense Directorate. Some episodes also suggested Huer was the leader of the entire planet. The series' chief villain was Princess Ardala (played by Pamela Hensley) whose goal was to conquer the Earth whilst making Buck her consort. She was aided by her henchman Kane (played in the pilot film by Henry Silva and in the series by Michael Ansara). Both of these characters were featured in the original comic strip, but only Kane (or Killer Kane as he was then known) was featured in the 1939 film serial and was actually the chief villain himself.

The pilot film depicted human civilization as insular and restricted to a few cities. The main city seen in the pilot and weekly series was New Chicago, which was also known as the Inner City. Travel beyond the Inner City was hazardous, as much of the planet was said to be a radioactive wasteland inhabited by violent mutants.

Making the movie

The movie was originally slated for release for September 1978 according to director Daniel Haller, in an interview for Fantastic Films Magazine, Sept '79. There were several start dates for filming but, were repeatedly delayed due to casting problems.

* The movie's opening credits featured a song "Suspension" sung by Kipp Lennon and co-written by Glen Larson using the same score as the series main title (as an instrumental rather than with lyrics).
* To make Buck appear frozen in his space shuttle he was sprayed with dry shampoo. Because of this Gerard couldn't open his eyes or move. During the waits between takes, he reportedly dozed off.
* Aerial dogfights were choreographed with the aid of a Hewlett-Packard 45 computer.
* The ruined City of Chicago called Anarchia was shot on the back lot of MGM Studios.
* Several stock shots portraying futuristic buildings on Earth are that of remaining pavilions on the site of Expo 67, including the British and French national pavilion (now open as the Montreal Casino). These shots were originally filmed for the Battlestar Galactica episode, "Greetings from Earth" where they were said to be the ruins of "Paradeen City."
* The movie grossed over $21 million in the U.S. and was later released internationally.

The series

The series showed a more positive picture of future Earth. The Inner City was renamed New Chicago, and it was established that human civilization had spread once again across the planet, and also to the stars. After the movie pilot, little reference to barren wastelands was made; in several episodes Buck ventures beyond the dome of New Chicago with no hazards encountered. As opposed to the isolationist planet seen in the film, Earth is shown to be the center of an interstellar human-dominated government, sometimes called "the Federation", other times "the Alliance", with its capital at New Chicago. During the first season, references were also made to other "new" Earth cities such as New Detroit, New Manhattan, New Phoenix, and New Tulsa. A "City-on-the-Sea" was also mentioned as being the former New Orleans.

Not much can be said with certainty about the nature of the Earth's government. It is plausible, but speculative, to assume that the 'Federation' refers to the city-states of Earth such as New Chicago, New Detroit, etc, and is thus the formal government of the planet Earth, and that the Alliance is Earth plus its off-world possessions, colonies, etc. Some support for this idea is found in the episode "Planet of the Slave Girls", in which we see that a world is governed by a 'governor' answerable to the Terran state.

Likewise, little can be said of the organization of the government of Terra. It is canonically known that it is divided into various 'directorates', and the Energy, Security, Science, Food, and Defense Directorates, at least, are mentioned by name. How the directorates operate and how they relate to each other is not made clear. A 'computer council' is mentioned occasionally, but humans such as Dr. Huer also have significant powers.

Most of the protagonistic characters we encounter are either part of the Defense Directorate, such as Wilma Deering, or otherwise associated with it, such as 'freelance' personnel such as Buck Rogers. Most Defense Directorate personnel regard Buck as being at least an 'honorary' captain, in reference to his pre-War American military rank, but his membership in Earth's defense forces is unofficial. Nevertheless, Buck often flies with the fighter squadrons, and assists in their training.

It is not clear whether Dr. Huer is head of the Defense Directorate specifically, or if he is the overall leader of all the directorates. Dr. Huer regularly meets, greets, and otherwise deals with representatives of other sovereign powers, and who sometimes 'faces them down' in hostile situations. Huer also has been seen in military uniform (at formal occasions), thus indicating that he is or was a member of the military.

Travel between the stars was accomplished with the use of stargates; which are artificially created portals in space shown as a diamond-shaped quartet of brilliant lights that shimmered when a vessel was making transit. Some people find the transit from stargate to stargate physically unpleasant (transit resembling a "spinning" of the spacecraft). Buck Rogers is portrayed as disliking them on at least one occasion.

To portray futuristic-looking buildings on Earth, the show used stock shots of the remaining national pavilions of Expo 67, particularly the French and British pavilions as well as shots of the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Juanin Clay, who played Marla Landers in the first season episode "Vegas in Space", was originally cast as Wilma for the television series before Erin Gray decided to return. In the first season Buck had a different girlfriend every week. Producers demanded that Wilma have blond hair and repeated dye jobs were needed to lighten Erin Gray's brunette locks to an appropriately bright yellow.Fact|date=August 2008 During the final episodes of the first season, Gray was allowed to return to her natural hair color, and Wilma was dark-haired thereafter. A relationship between Rogers and Wilma was hinted at, but rarely expanded upon. His best-known enemy during the first season was Princess Ardala of Draconia, played by Pamela Hensley, whose desire was to conquer and possess both Earth and Buck Rogers.

Although popular with viewers, the first season failed to receive much critical acclaim; it was seen as being too light-hearted and comic bookish.Who|date=August 2008 One vocal critic of the series was Gerard himself. He pushed for more serious storytelling and conflicted with the producers over the show's tone. "He was a smart-ass," Gerard said of Buck. "Dr Huer is trying to tell him about an assignment and all Buck is doing is making one wisecrack after another."Fact|date=August 2008

The opening title sequence included stock footage from the Apollo 4 and Apollo 6 launches.

The series had an overall budget of $800,000 per hour of air time, according to "Starlog" #32.

The second season

Production of the second season was delayed by several months due to an actors' strike. When production resumed in the fall of 1980, the format of the series was changed.

Instead of defending the Earth from external threats, Buck, Wilma and Twiki were now a part of a crew aboard the Earth spaceship, "Searcher". The "Searcher", which displayed the Latin motto, "Per Ardua Ad Astra", on its side, had a mission to seek out the lost "tribes" of humanity who had scattered in the decades after Earth's 20th century nuclear war (which is a theme present in another Glen A. Larson science fiction television series, "Battlestar Galactica").

Also notable change in the second season was the disappearance of many of the regular characters of the first season, such as Dr. Huer, Dr. Theopolis, Princess Ardala, and Kane. In their place, the following characters were added:

*Admiral Efram Asimov, commander of the "Searcher" and a descendant of the famous science fiction author Isaac Asimov.
*Hawk, an alien character who represents the last of the nearly extinct bird people.
*Dr. Goodfellow, a scientist with insatiable curiosity.
*Crichton, a snobbish robot, built by Goodfellow, who finds it difficult to believe that lowly humans could have ever built him.

Another change in the second season was the sound of Twiki's voice. Mel Blanc left the series at the start of the season and another actor, Bob Elyea, supplied Twiki's voice. Blanc returned for the final six episodes of the season. Mel Blanc's Twiki referred to Crichton as "a poorly behaved son."

The opening narrative was also modified for the second season, both in terms of the narrator's voice and content. In the first season, William Conrad delivered the following opening 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 system and returns Buck Rogers to Earth 500 years later."

In the second season, another uncredited individual delivered the following alternate narrative:

"In the year 1987, NASA launched the last of America's deep space probes. Aboard this compact starship, a lone astronaut, Captain William "Buck" Rogers, was to experience cosmic forces beyond all comprehension. In a freak mishap, his life support systems were frozen by temperatures beyond imagination. Ranger 3 was blown out of its planned trajectory into an orbit a thousand times more vast, an orbit which was to return Buck Rogers to Earth 500 years later."

The substance of the storylines also changed in the second season. With a few exceptions, Gerard scaled back the humor in the second season in favor of more serious episodes. Buck and Wilma became more serious characters. Their relationship became more romantic during the second year, though most romantic activity was implied and took place off-screen.

Moreover, the second season deals with serious issues such as evolution, ecology, racism, pollution, war, nuclear power, identity, the self, and religion. It also draws on mythology as an inspiration as exemplified by the Hawk's people, which are a variant on the Bird people found in mythologies around the world and makes special reference to the moai of Easter Island, and by Pangora the satyr.

As well as its parallels to Larson's previous "Battlestar Galactica", the second season is similar in theme to "", with the "Searcher" roaming through space like the "Starship Enterprise", Buck being the maverick explorer true to the style of Captain Kirk, and the serious, rather stoic Hawk being a revamped version of Mr. Spock.

Ratings dropped significantly after the season premiere. Citing cost concerns,Fact|date=August 2008 NBC canceled the series at the end of an eleven-episode strike-abbreviated season.

International broadcast

The series was shown in the UK in 1980 by ITV in an early Saturday evening slot, where it competed against - and beat - the BBC's long-running sci-fi series Doctor Who.

DVD release

Universal Studios Home Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in North America (Region 1) on November 16, 2004. While it does contain every episode (from both seasons), it is not complete. The original movie version of the first episode is included in the set instead of the extended television version which was broadcast when the show became a series. Missing elements include scenes of Buck checking out his new apartment and Buck being approached by Dr. Huer and Wilma to be secret agent for the Earth Directorate.

The series was released on DVD in Europe (Region 2), though each season was released separately as opposed to in one set like the Region 1 release. Season 1 was released on November 22, 2004 and season 2 on October 31, 2005, neither of which had the same cover artwork as the Region 1 release. Notable differences are the addition of subtitles for various European languages, and translated text sections on the DVD boxes. The back cover of the European season 1 box set also erroneously shows the character Hawk, who did not appear until season two.

Cast

* Gil Gerard - Captain William Buck Rogers
* Erin Gray - Colonel Wilma Deering
* Tim O'Connor - Dr. Elias Huer (first season)
* Pamela Hensley as Princess Ardala (first season)
* Wilfrid Hyde-White - Dr. Goodfellow (second season)
* Thom Christopher - Hawk (birdman) (second season)
* Jay Garner - Adm. Efrem Asimov (second season)
* Paul Carr - Lt. Devlin (second season)
* Felix Silla - Twiki (physical performance)
* Mel Blanc - Voice of Twiki (first season, plus second season episodes starting with "The Crystals" through "Testimony of a Traitor")
* Bob Elyea - Voice of Twiki (second season episodes "Time of the Hawk" to "The Golden Man")
* Eric Server - Voice of Dr. Theopolis (first season)
* Jeff David - Voice of Crichton (second season)
* William Conrad - Narrator (first season)

Episodes

Books and comics

Two novels were published by Dell Publishing based on this series, both by Addison E. Steele.

The first was a novelization of the pilot film. ISBN 0-440-10843-8

The second, "That Man on Beta", was adapted from an unproduced episode script. ISBN 0-440-10948-5

A fumetti book entitled "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" was published by Fotonovel Publications in 1979.

Gold Key Comics published fourteen issues of a "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" comic book based upon the show. The first couple of issues adapted the movie, but picked up the numbering from a Buck Rogers revival in the 1960s. The comic books started with issue number two, because issue number one was published in the year 1964 in the style of the old comic strips. Starting with issue five, new adventures were created in the series continuity. The first three issues ( two - four ) were reprinted in a "Giant Movie Edition" and was distributed by Marvel Comics. Artists on the series included Al McWilliams, Frank Bolle and Jose Delbo. Ironically, the comic outlived the series by several months. Issue number ten was never published and this comic book series was cancelled after issue number sixteen.

A strip based on the television series also ran in two publications in the UK: 'Look-In' with 64 weekly installments covering 10 separate adventures between autumn 1980 and early 1982, and 'TV Tops', which picked up the rights from 1982 for two shorter runs. Both were based on the format of the first year of the series.

Revived comic strip

The popularity of the TV series led to the revival of the Buck Rogers newspaper strip, daily and Sunday, drawn by Gray Morrow and written by Jim Lawrence. The strip ran from 9 September 1979 to 26 October 1980, and was reprinted in its entirety, with the Sundays in color, in a large trade paperback.

External links

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* [http://www.buck-rogers.com Buck-Rogers.com]
* [http://www.buckrogers.org BuckRogers.org - The Earth Defense Directorate]
* [http://www.thefutureandyou.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=62385 Interview with Erin Gray] on the podcast "The Future And You" (anecdotes about how she broke into Hollywood and how she feels about being remembered as Wilma Deering)