Buck Rogers: El aventurero del espacio

I was a addict of this show when it was first ran,lo over thirty years ago. More straight ahead in its approach than "Star Trek" and twice as difficult to take seriously,this show was "Cheese" for the Sci-fi loving kid of the late 70s. That was me,grade school addict of cartoons and things involving rocket ships,robots and laser guns.

With an opening credit sequence intro(narrated by none other than "Voice of God"-like basso profundo William Conrad)that is priceless and memorable,this show was able to both incorporate a cool,"Star Wars"/"Battlestar Galactica" element into what seemed to be little more than a sort of Disco era sensibility. The Out-of-his-element title character(played by soap opera stud Gil Gerard,fantastic hair)helps future Earth,now reconfigured from devastating nuclear damage,against hostile aliens and various other rogues. He's paired with comely Col.Wilma Dearing(comely Erin Gray)and a cute,utterly one-dimensional robot named Twiki(voiced by the greatest animated voice talent ever IMHO,the late Mel Blanc)and supervised by a kindly professor(Tim Ryan)who is in charge of some sector of New Earth's security.

To be sure,this show was the extension of the very popular comic strip,comic book, radio serials and movies from the 1930s and 1940s,and while I have absolutely no running familiarity with those shows,I'd probably be right in guessing that those "buck Rogers" as much reflected those eras as this one. My critique(actually,more of a loving,back-handed soft slap)of this show comes from the fact that when I reflect back on it,it seems like it had the ambition and production values of a big budget Sci-fi,but lacked the imagination to be anything more than a futuristic discotechque,full of all the right images(i.e. spaceships,deep space,laser guns,laser blasts,force fields,unitards,costumed humans as aliens,etc.),but flavored too heavily by the era its really from(i.e. male-female attitudes,hairstyles,"future music"that sounds suspiciously like Brian Eno/Devo,dated,potentially anachronistic slang and lingo,etc.). Its first season was a hoot and a lot of fun to watch.When they tried to extend this to a next season and add new characters,the show faltered greatly. To me,a cheesy show really needs their characters to stay kind of static or it loses something.

Here's wondering how and why this show hasn't gotten a bigger push to become a motion picture. Off the air for over twenty-five years,I feel like this could make for a reasonably good(or at least not TOO cheesy)movie for a whole new generation of people not familiar with the famous future man from the "present".

All-in-all, Buck Rogers was a fun and entertaining series. Given its episodic nature, the shows were somewhat uneven. The earlier episodes tended to be more interesting than the later episodes, but you could always count on a bit of fun. The series didn't take itself too seriously, but also didn't degenerate into farce (usually). It's biggest problem was its lack of direction.

The show suffered from the same problem that most tv sci-fi shows (and most tv series, in general) have; it had no definite story to tell or ultimate destination. Each episode took you on an adventure, but with little link to previous or future episodes. Thus, the characters didn't grow and the settings didn't change. The show never seemed to decide how decimated the Earth was, or how advanced the rest of the galaxy was. In some episodes, the Earth is a wasteland, with a few sheltered cities. In others, it seems to be on par with the rest of the galaxy. There were few continuing plot threads, other than the cold war with the Draconian Empire. The attempt to find direction in the final season led to its downfall, mainly because the plot of that season had little to do with the first season.

Still, many episodes were quite fun; including "The Return of the Fighting 69th", "Vegas in Space", "Planet of the Slave Girls", "The Plot to kill a City", "Unchained Woman", "Space Vampire", "Flight of the War Witch", and any with Kane and Ardala. The final season was completely forgettable, as were those with Gary Coleman.

Erin Gray was given a much larger role in the series, but still ended up as the damsel in distress. Twiki was annoying, but did provide some comedy. Pamela Hensley was still quite the vixen and Michael Ansara was a welcome change as Kane. There were many fine guest stars; with the likes of Roddy McDowel, Jamie Lee Curtis, Buster Crabbe (the original Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon), Peter Graves, Julie Newmar, Frank Gorshin, Ceasar Romero (hmmm, lot of Batman stars), Ray Walston, and Jack Palance.

Overall, the series was quite fun; but stick with the first season, and mainly the first half of it.

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.

Like the other creations on Glen A. Larson, this was mindless fun too. Like Knight Rider, Battlestar Galactica and The A-Team, It had the ideas, the story, the characters and was executed very well. It used the same effects system as Battlestar Galactica but was based along the lines of the 1930's series of Buck Rogers starring Buster Crabbe. The story goes that in the year 1987, Buck blasted of into space to probe space. Events take a drastic turn as his ship and his life clock freeze, putting him into, what seems, an eternal orbit until four and a half centuries later when he is revived by Princess Ardalla of the Draconian Empire and sent back to earth but it's not as he knows it!!! Gil Gerard stars as Captain William 'Buck' Rogers in what isn't as good as Battlestar Galactica but is good in its own right. Where as Battlestar Galactica has, in my opinion, a grittier feel, Buck Rogers has a comic strip, family appeal and look to it. Some of the acting is suspect but not in some places. If you liked Battlestar Galactica, give this a go. You never know, you may like it!!!

Before watching Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, can I make a suggestion? Deposit your brain in another room, sit down and enjoy a fantastic fun-filled show.

Gil Gerard (with a straight face) played Buck Rogers who was a man 500 years out of time. He awoke in the 25th century to battle evil, mainly the Draconians. He met other villains along the way. Joining him was an annoying (but loveable) robot called Twiki and the sexy Wilma Deering (played by Erin Gray).

Fans of Flash Gordon will enjoy this. It's camp, it's tongue in cheek and it's got everything a sci-fi fan will want. Forget painfully average shows like Star Trek:Voyager and check out this show full of action, drama and most importantly beautiful women.