The Guardians (29 Jan. 1981)

Buck and Hawk discover an old man dying on a uncharted planet while searching for evidence of human settlements. He says it was destiny that brought him to this time and destiny that ... See full summary »

Director:

Jack Arnold

Writers:

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

Stars:

Gil Gerard, Erin Gray, Thom Christopher

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Gil Gerard	...	Capt. William "Buck" Rogers
Erin Gray	...	Col. Wilma Deering
Thom Christopher	...	Hawk
Jay Garner	...	Admiral Asimov
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Dr. Goodfellow
Harry Townes	...	The Guardian
Rosemary DeCamp	...	Buck's Mother (as Rosemary De Camp)
Paul Carr	...	Lt. Devlin
BarBara Luna	...	Koori (as Barbara Luna)
Felix Silla	...	Twiki
Shawn Stevens	...	Boy
Dennis Haysbert	...	Helmsman
Vic Perrin	...	1st Guardian
Howard Culver	...	Mailman

Storyline

Buck and Hawk discover an old man dying on a uncharted planet while searching for evidence of human settlements. He says it was destiny that brought him to this time and destiny that brought him to that planet. He entrusts Buck with a green jade box and tells him to take it to the next guardian. It's a legendary box and strange things start to happened to those who touch the box. Horrific future visions, but Asimov wants to get to his R and R, so he throws the box on the back burner. But they soon realize is if they don't take the box right away, that the time shifts may destroy them all.

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Plot Keywords:

25th century | spandex disco jeans | spandex suit

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 January 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

Aboard the Searcher, Wilma has a vision of herself as being blind. We hear "oh my God" but her lips say something else.

User Reviews

Don't open the box, Buck!

Feeling more like an episode of Star Trek:TOS than a Buck Rogers adventure (there is not a disco rope or gold lamé suit to be seen), this interesting tale sees Rogers and Hawk trapped for the night (by adverse weather conditions) on a seemingly deserted planet. After discovering an empty grave and a cave lit with candles, they meet a dying old man who, before croaking, entrusts Buck with the job of delivering a strange, glowing, green box to a person only referred to as 'the guardian'.

That night, whilst touching the box in his sleep, Buck has a strange dream in which he is back on Earth, prior to the mission which saw him frozen for 500 years.

Buck and Hawk return to The Searcher with the box and a collection of old scrolls, which Dr. Goodfellow wastes no time in translating. The doddery old scientist reveals that the box controls the order of time, and chaos will ensue unless a new guardian is found PDQ!.

Soon, other members of the crew begin to experience strange, and often frightening hallucinations—glimpses of the past and possible future; then The Searcher veers drastically from its course, heading for an uncharted part of space, where Buck can only presume they will finally find 'the guardian of time'.

A less action packed story than usual, but just as enjoyable, The Guardian is helped considerably by some wonderful writing, the impressive 'dream' sequences', and solid direction from Jack Arnold, the man who gave us such classic 50s monster/sci-fi movies as Tarantula, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and It Came From Outer Space. Buck's return to 1987 is particularly interesting, since I have always wanted to see what happened in the lead-up to Buck's accident—an event that was overlooked in the show's pilot episode.