"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" (1979)TV series 1979-1981

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

20 September 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A 20th century astronaut is revived out of 500 years of suspended animation to become the greatest hero of a future Earth.

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Buck Rogers | Spacecraft | Based On Comic Strip | Cult TV

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 5 nominations

Cast

Gil Gerard	...	Capt. William "Buck" Rogers / ... (36 episodes, 1979-1981)
Erin Gray	...	Col. Wilma Deering (36 episodes, 1979-1981)
Felix Silla	...	Twiki / ... (34 episodes, 1979-1981)
Mel Blanc	...	Twiki / ... (29 episodes, 1979-1981)
Tim O'Connor	...	Dr. Elias Huer (23 episodes, 1979-1980)
Eric Server	...	Dr. Theopolis (20 episodes, 1979-1980)
William Conrad	...	Narrator (16 episodes, 1979-1980)

Runtime:

60 min (37 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

John Mantley Productions

Trivia:

Buck's ship is called "Ranger 3" by the narrator. Ranger 3 was a 1962 lunar probe which missed the moon and was lost in space.

Goofs:

Factual errors: 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.

Quotes:

[Tigerman lifts up Twiki]
Twiki: Put me down, you big ox.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Tripping the Rift: Extreme Chode (#2.7)" (2005)

James Bond In Outer Space

I.T.V. started with at a disadvantage with 'Buck Rogers' in the autumn of 1980 - they didn't have the rights to the pilot episode 'Awakening', so they began with 'Planet Of The Slave Girls' and hoped for the best. They needn't have worried. 'Buck' was a smash-hit in Britain, its ratings outstripping those of 'Dr.Who' over on B.B.C.-1. It was colourful escapist fun, perfect Saturday night entertainment. Such was its popularity that when I.T.V. ran out of Year 1 episodes, they went straight into Year 2, causing confusion amongst fans here. Everything good about Year 1 was dumped, including - unforgivably - Pamela Hensley as 'Princess Ardala'. Buck, Wilma and Twiki were relocated on a spaceship called 'Searcher', Dr.Huer was never seen nor mentioned again, a boring alien called 'Hawk' was introduced as a regular, the plots scraped the bottom of the sci-fi barrel, and Buck lost his famous sense of humour. Worst of all, Wilma looked less sexy! As Twiki would say: "What a bummer!".