Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

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".

Although never having seen the original pilot movie, I could remember watching Buck Rogers as a child, well mainly Twiki was the part I remembered! I remember enjoying it very much but obviously as a small child I could not appreciate the wonderful wit, great characters and sometimes hilarious plot lines, and of course as a child completely overlooked how deliciously handsome and charming Captain Rogers was! So when I spotted Buck Rogers for sale as a complete set I became uncontrollably over excited, in the middle of the shop it was rather embarrassing. However after sitting and watching the entire 24 episode lot over a couple of days it was every bit worth the embarrassment of over excitement and definitely worth watching.

Although we all know from the opening credits of the show how Buck ended up in the 25th century it was great to see what happened to him when he first arrived. The show has a fantastic appeal for all ages I am now 28 and both of my children 91/2 and 7 both were totally fixated, and along with their glued to the screen mummy, they laughed at the great humour of the show were totally engrossed in the story lines even the rather flaky ones! and now want a Twiki the robot! Although made in 1979/80 apart from rather hilarious special effects, which are funnily enough part of the appeal, the show is every bit as good if not better than anything on TV now. As an avid sci-fi fan it rates one of the highest if not at the top of my list of all time favourite shows.

From the rather serious but likable Dr Huer, sexy but sweet Wilma that rather fab Princess Ardala, and of course Twiki and Buck who rather hog the show with their great partnership and wit. Buck with his perfectly styled hair-note even after fight scenes, watch closely! ; ) great style and what a wonderful smile that seems to end every episode! You could not go wrong to watch Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. In fact I must insist that everyone should watch it! You will smile ( you can't help it when Buck beams his grins across the screen) laugh, cry if you are soppy like me! and most definitely want more when you have watched all of the entire series, well I did : ) BidiBidiBidi over and out Buck.

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.

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.

This series is fun and somewhat compelling to watch. But in every episode there are recurring incidents which defy any sense of innovativeness: 1. Panels on walls are destroyed. Approximately three per episode. This is done primarily to lock someone in a room.

2. Buck Rogers is deep in enemy territory and uses force to get the job done. 9 of 10 episodes' problems are solved in this manner. If he is captured or wants to free someone, he'll just have to start swinging at the guards and everything will be fine. Never any solutions based on intellect.

3. Buck Rogers is labeled by someone as the most perfect creature in the entire universe.

4. A new woman is introduced and shows immediate affection for Buck Rogers.

5. When they are flying in space, there is no variation from the theme of shooting at other spacecraft, and one hit always means the destruction of the target.

6. Twiki is unable to say anything that isn't deeply annoying.

7. Dr. Huer is very sensible.

8. The shows end with Rogers, Deering, Huer and Twiki eating at Buck's apartment and Rogers is laughing as the frame freezes.

All this aside, it's a good series. Not many dull moments. However, don't watch the episode called "A Blast for Buck", it's just a mixture of various flashbacks from previous episodes, and the real time ending is almost worse than the flashbacks.