Buck Rogers in the 25th Century 

A 20th-century astronaut emerges out of 500 years of suspended animation into a future time to become Earth's greatest hero.

Creators:

Glen A. Larson, Leslie Stevens

Stars:

Gil Gerard, Erin Gray, Felix Silla

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 5 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Gil Gerard	...	Capt. William 'Buck' Rogers 32 episodes, 1979-1981
Erin Gray	...	Colonel Wilma Deering 32 episodes, 1979-1981
Felix Silla	...	Twiki / ... 30 episodes, 1979-1981
Mel Blanc	...	Twiki 25 episodes, 1979-1981
Tim O'Connor	...	Dr. Elias Huer 21 episodes, 1979-1980

Storyline

In 1987, NASA astronaut William "Buck" Rogers is caught in a freak accident in deep space, causing his space shuttle Ranger 3 to be blown into an orbit that returns him to Earth - over 500 years later. The combination of gases that freezes him comes close to the formula commonly used in the 25th century for preservation, and his rescuers are able to revive him. In 2491, when Buck awakens from the freezing, Earth is recovering from a nuclear war and is coming under hostile attack by the Draconian Empire. In the second season, Buck has been assigned aboard the Searcher, a starship exploring the unknown reaches of space while searching for former Earth colonies that are scattered across the galaxy.

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Plot Keywords:

space opera | waking up in the future | buck rogers character | character name in series title | psychotronic series | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Just like Battlestar Galactica,Buck Rogers also re-used footage from the space battles.However,unlike Battlestar Galactica,Buck Rogers faced a different adversary in different ships each week resulting in a lot of mismatched shots including shots where the pilot targets one type of ship and it then cuts to them firing on another type of ship. Also depending on which shot was being used the laser beams would change color from shot to shot.

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Goofs

Buck Rogers is supposed to be a Captain in the Air Force, but he is wearing Navy wings. In fact he is not even wearing Naval Aviator (pilot) wings, he is wearing Naval Flight Officer (navigator) wings.

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Quotes

Narrator: [voiceover during narrative] The year is 1987, and NASA launches the last of America's deep space probes. In a freak mishap, Ranger 3 and its pilot, Captain William "Buck" Rogers, are blown out of their trajectory into an orbit which freezes his life support systems, and returns Buck Rogers to Earth... 500 years later.

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Crazy Credits

In a few non-consecutive episodes toward the end of the first season, the soundtrack for the opening credits is slightly different. Though the narration is spoken by the same actor and has the same wording, it is delivered here with slightly different pacing. This different version of the opening credits also has a different recording of the music, easily identifiable by a slightly more bombastic bass guitar in the 2491-era portion of the title sequence.

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Alternate Versions

The opening episode, Awakening, was originally released as the theatrical film Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. For TV, the film's sensual opening credits were removed, a scene showing Tigerman being killed was omitted, some dialogue was toned down, and several scenes were added including an epilogue setting up the TV series. The movie was also re-edited into a two-parter for syndication.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 TV Space Operas (2018)

User Reviews

Leave Your Brain Behind And Enjoy!

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.

Details

Release Date:

20 September 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Filming Locations:

Trona Pinnacles - 300 S. Richmond Road, Ridgecrest, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Glen A. Larson Productions, Bruce Lansbury Productions, John Mantley Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min (37 episodes)