The Golden Man (19 Feb. 1981)

While traveling through an asteroid field, Buck Rogers and crew come across a life pod. Inside is a young golden-skinned boy, Vellus, who displays the unusual ability to alter the nature of... See full summary »

Director:

Vincent McEveety

Writers:

Glen A. Larson (developed for television by), Leslie Stevens (developed for television by),

Stars:

Gil Gerard, Erin Gray, Thom Christopher

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Gil Gerard	...	Capt. William "Buck" Rogers
Erin Gray	...	Col. Wilma Deering
Thom Christopher	...	Hawk
Jay Garner	...	Admiral Asimov
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Dr. Goodfellow
David Hollander	...	Velis
Anthony James	...	Mr. Graf
Bruce M. Fischer	...	Loran
Russell Wiggins	...	Relcos
Paul Carr	...	Lt. Devlin
Felix Silla	...	Twiki
Diana Chesney	...	Hag
Richard Wright	...	Onlooker #1
Arthur Eisner	...	Onlooker #2
Roger Rose	...	Marcos

Storyline

While traveling through an asteroid field, Buck Rogers and crew come across a life pod. Inside is a young golden-skinned boy, Vellus, who displays the unusual ability to alter the nature of metals. When the Searcher becomes hopelessly stuck on an asteroid, Vellus suggests that his friend Relkos, whose life pod landed on a nearby planet, is more powerful that he and could lighten the ship enough to free it from the asteroid. Buck and Vellus head down to the planet, unaware that it is a penal colony full of unruly prisoners. They discover that the criminals are also after Relkos's metal-altering powers, hoping he can lighten a crashed vessel enough for them to escape.

---

Plot Keywords:

25th century | spandex suit | spandex disco jeans

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

---

Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 February 1981 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Glen A. Larson Productions, Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Color (technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When the searcher gets stuck on an asteroid, Hawk increases the power to the engines. When it switches to a scene of a gloved hand moving a large slider the uniform arm is blue when it switches back to Hawk he is still wearing his black outfit. This happens twice in the space of 2 minutes.

User Reviews

Shiny happy people.

Buck and the crew of The Searcher are travelling through a vast asteroid field when they chance upon a life-pod, inside which they discover a golden-skinned boy named Vellus who is capable of altering the molecular structure of metal. When Admiral Asimov becomes trapped under a heavy structure (after The Searcher crashes into an asteroid) Vellus displays his unique ability by placing his hands on the object, making it lighter, enabling it to be lifted free.

Asimov's problems are not over yet, though: his ship is stuck fast on the asteroid and a cosmic storm is on the way which could destroy it. Fortunately, Vellus has a friend, Relkos, who is much bigger than he, and has the necessary power to free The Searcher; unfortunately, Relkos was in a life-pod that landed on a nearby planet.

Buck and Vellus travel to the planet to find Relkos, unaware that their destination is a penal colony full of dangerous criminals.

By no means a particularly great episode, The Golden Man does, however, succeed in recapturing some of the camp silliness that made season one such fun. For example, I love the crazy conceit that golden people would choose to wear only clothing that matches their skin-tone. And who could keep a straight face as the angry mob chasing Relkos are outwitted when he cleverly ducks into a doorway? To top it all, Hawk provides a hilarious moment when he also visits the planet, brilliantly hiding his identity with an over-sized cloak with a huge hood—how inconspicuous!!!

The episode ends in a suitably daft fashion when it is revealed that golden people age in reverse, and that the seemingly adult Relkos is actually the five year old son of Vellus.