WTF Happened to Buck Rogers in the 25th Century? (1979)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- In 1977, a little movie called Star Wars came out and quickly kicked off a sci-fi craze. Within two years, theatres were packed with Star Wars imitators, which extended to the small screen with Battlestar: Galactica and the show we’re talking about this week on Gone But Not Forgotten Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
Starring Gil Gerard as a 20th-century astronaut who winds up frozen for 500 years, only to awaken in the 25th Century where he does battle with the Draconian battle fleet, who seek to take over earth, the show had an interesting route to the small screen. Based on the classic character featured in comic strips and serials, the pilot film for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was released as a theatrical feature by Universal Pictures several months before the show made its debut. Grossing a very respectable $21 million, all signs pointed towards a long run on TV, but alas, just like its sister show Battlestar: Galactica (also from producer Glen A. Larson), it only ran for two seasons before being cancelled. Join us on this episode of Gone But Not Forgotten as we look back at this campy space classic.
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#BuckRogersInThe25thCentury #GilGerard #GoneButNotForgotten - บันเทิง
Hey guys!
This episode of GBNF was made from suggestions from fans who emailed us demanding this show be covered on this series. If you want to make suggestions for future episodes of GBNF then e-mail GBNFSeries@gmail.com and maybe we’ll cover your show!
Thanks for the memories. Who can forget Pamela Helmsley...HOT!!!
Check out Nuclear hurricane it star’s Erin Gray and Gil Gerade
You guys should do Thunderbirds from 1965😊
How about Blake's 7 (BBC)?
These days, I'd say "Buck Rogers in the 25th century" is gone and pretty forgotten.
Who didn't fall in love with Erin Grey's Wilma Deering.
The ones enamored with Wilma Deering AND Princess Ardala. 😍😚
@@johnnyjohn2527
😂👍
I know, right! I thought she added a lot to the show she was strong, smart, no nonsense warrior definitely a favorite👍🌟❤
Not me
@@johnnyjohn2527 oh, yeeeessss!
Two key words that made this show stay on the air:
Erin Gray
Yep...One of my biggest on screen crushes (of course I was like 13).
I love her. She and Lynda Carter were (and still ARE) my first two crushes. Buck reruns used to follow reruns of Wonder Woman on my local UHF station, so I discovered both shows simultaneously. ❤😊❤
interesting (but unsurprising) to find out that gerrard was such a putz
Little too skinny for me, but yeah. :P Peace.
@@leob3447 I a,ways wanted her as a naughty babysitter.
I loved that series as a young 5 year old,. I was in my mid 40s when I rewatched the series and realized why my dad enjoyed the show so much. God bless Erin Gray!
Agreed. I fell in love with Erin Grey when I was younger.
Don’t forget all the beautiful guest stars. Markie Post especially.
@@alanmike6883 I think most of us fell in love with her!
@@shallendor
The perfect woman 😊
I was 10 and loved this show.
Besides Erin Gray, the female guest list was amazing. Jamie Lee Curtis, Markie Post, Dorothy Stratten, Susan Shoop, Pamela Hensley and Julie Newmar just to name a few. As fine as those women are, no one holds a candle to Mrs. Gray.
Gil and Erin were guests at our show a few years ago. They were both quite pleasant. Gil is a very social person and wants an audience from the second he arrives to set up his space until the second he leaves. Erin is a great guest who knows how to work a convention. Her stories are as inspiring as they are interesting. They were great guests.
Several years ago I wrote to Gil on Facebook. When he replied I felt like a little kid again. 🤩
@@kevindondrea144 "When he replied I felt like a little kid again. 🤩"
🤣🤣🤣
The late 70s and early 80s was such a golden time for sci-fi tv. Thank heavens I was in my early teens to soak up every single one of those fabulous shows. Twas the best time ever to be a kid.
Could not agree with you more, I too was in my teens in the 70's and was a Sci-Fi junkie. I loved these programs and watched them over and over, even to this day.
@@bradryan8071 And it was amazing how often the peril of quicksand would arise. No matter what planet you were on.
Same here!
Late 80s and 90s were also fantastic! Star Trek Voyager, Next Generation, and Deep Space 9. Babylon 5. The short-lived but cool Space Above and Beyond.
The 70s had some great SciFi as well.
Space 1999, U.F.O., Battlestar Galactica, of course Buck Rogers. The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman and The Greatest American Hero, may also classify as SciFi as well, as they had some SciFi elements in them.
That was a fun time as a kid watching SciFi. But the 80s were amazing.
Here in Chile the show was aired around 1981, I was 9 to 10 years old. Princess Ardala and Wilma were my main reasons to watch it. I'm 50 now and they still make my heart flip over 💔😸
Yep, you're my age, I grew up in the US and I watched every episode of Buck Rogers and wanted more. I remember waiting for the second season to start and it was delayed by 5 months because of the writer's strike. That might have ruined the momentum of the show.
Exactly what I was going to say!
Ah, the fantasies of Ardala and deering in a cat fight followed by intimacy. Oh lord, I'll be in my bunk.
Erin Grey is still smokin....
@@NRecob GILF fo sho!
I remember being sick from school one week, and my dad rented me the pilot movie, and I watched that thing at least 3 times per day all week long. And of course I loved the show. Buck was 'too cool for school' and Colonel Deering was just....mmmmm. And Princess Ardala was dreamy. Twiki was funny (i was a kid, ok?) What a great show.
Princess Ardala (Pamela Hensley) was the only reason anyone watched Matt Houston. LOL 😅
Perv
Lol I was a kid too😁👍🌟🌟
I never cease to be amazed by networks that rework a show in the second season only to see it die a slow death. This happened to Space:1999 which had a great first season and a dismal second season. It is like these second seasons are supposed to be solutions searching for a problem.
Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers and Space 1999.
Excellent first season, awful second season.
( I suppose Galactica 1980 was technically a new show but it was still awful)
They'd found the problem - they were paying out enough money to make the show well, when they wanted it cheap. You can hear the network bosses now: "Sci fi is just for kids, there'll never be any money in merch or fees from reruns..."
@@leftgrrl Apparently the budget for each episode of season 3 of Star Trek TOS was just about enough to produce a reasonably good radio program. It really is surprising they managed to turn out some good episodes.
Your last sentence is actually more profound than you might think. There's no reason to solve a problem that isn't there, and there's no reason to even come up with a solution in the first place if there is no reason for the solution. I know I'm being redundant so sorry about that! Lol
This show had a lot of things going for it. If they had just kept the course and not make massive changes just for the Hades of it, it might have gone for a few more seasons.
@@WillCamx Actually no, the budget per episode for Star Trek was more than many other contemporary one hour shows...Star Trek was just more expensive to produce because they needed custom sets, props and costumes. Special effects cost money too. If a show had a much larger budget, it was because the stars were much better paid
Col Deering was my favorite character, followed by the hawk guy (I loved his "hair"). The dynamic between her and Buck was logical, during the 1st season, as Buck was a clueless, way-behind-the-times man and she was more-or-less his guardian. It was only fair that she was in charge. She was a role model for all the young girls like me watching the show on how equality between the sexes should work. Too bad Gil had a problem with that (which I didn't know until now).
Hawks hair reminded me of a hat Lucy would have worn and Ricky would have been mad that she bought behind his back. 😂😁
Linda Gray, Lynda Carter, Catherine Bach; sigh.
I still get goose pimples when I hear the intro and my imagination still fires when I see the fighters over the wasteland on approach to New Chicago.
This video made me happy
Common misconception is that they costumes were spandex, they weren't they were satin. Erin Grey talked about how much weight she lost wearing them. True story.
I loved this show. Bringing Buster Crabbe back for a cameo was the best and smartest thing they ever did. I'd already seen him in B&W as Flash Gordon, but when I watched that episode and my father pointed him out and said "That's Buster Crabbe and he was the original Buck Rogers", I was amazed. A true living legend of sci-fi from the silver-screen era.
mine too. i was little. i didnt quite understand what he was saying though. i look back and imagine one of his heroes re emerging and wonder what that was like for him.
luke coming back hit a spot for me.
i can only imagine.
I loved the cameo. "Son, I've been doing this since before you were born". Great in joke.
Oh I absolutely LOVED this show as a kid‼️
@@JohnJ469 The funny thing is that it is a double joke. Buck thinks its funny because he is 500 years old and Buster doesn't know that about the character in the story. But, its really funny since Buster Crabbe played Buck Rogers several years before the actor Gil Gerard was born. The joke works on a lot of meta levels
@@billpacheco7673 Yup. Like I said, an "in" joke. You have to know the backgrounds before you get the joke.
I loved the show. I was 10 years old when it came out. It was right in my wheelhouse. I loved Wilma Deering and Buck's charm and campy sweet comedy. Season 2 was stranger for me but I liked Hawk.
Did you get the COX gas powered RC Remote Controlled by Strings(not Radio controlled) that you flew in spinning circle and could make it up and down and do loops. Or The Estes(?) Model Rocket? I've thought a bought buying a replacement for the one I had as kid but the prices are just way to high.
I met both Gil and Erin about 15 years ago at a memorabilia in Birmingham. Both such lovely people. I got confused with the schedule and missed Gil's photo op. I was so disappointed but Erin ran around and had the photographer come back just for me. I still treasure that photo of me and Gil.
"but Erin ran around and had the photographer come back just for me.!
Wow!!! Can you share the pics or they are personal?
@@gmansi i would love to show someone but you can't on TH-cam ☹
@@MDyson151 You're right, I put a link with a test image and they deleted my comment
@@gmansi im going to change my profile picture for a short time, thats the only way to show you...
I went to my first Comicon a few years ago and I was just looking around at all the cool stuff that was going on. This guy came up behind me and asked if I was having fun and I said yea. He talked about going to cons a lot over the years, I said it was my first one. I was having a conversation with this guy for a few minutes before I looked over and realized I was talking to Gil Gerard and right behind him was a table and Erin Gray was sitting there. I never wtf'd so hard in my life. Off in the distance in front of us was Will Wheaton ranting about something. It was awesome lol
That's pretty neat
"Wil Wheaton ranting about something"... brings to mind "SHUT UP, WESLEY!" LOL:)
Neat story. I went to a Star Trek convention in Houston back in the early 90's and met James Doohan, "Scotty" from ST... he was SO cool.... h3ll of a guy.
Back then the shows weren't bigtime ripoffs like they are now...
Should have just said, "Shut up, Wesley".
I met Gil Gerard at a show about nine years ago. I was impressed that he didn't have a 'handler' at his table; it was just him and he did his money transactions himself. He posed for a couple of pics with us, and I was so jazzed about the experience, I accidentally put my camera away in the wrong compartment of the backpack my 11-year-old son was wearing. When I didn't immediately spot it later, I panicked and began retracing my steps. I went back past his table, and there was no one in line at the moment, so I asked if he'd seen a camera anywhere. He said, "You definitely had it with you when you left." I continued the panicked circuit of retracing the entire hall, then finally just took the backpack and dumped the contents in the floor. Whew. There was the camera. Okay, big relief. But the nice thing about Gil Gerard was, he saw me later in the day and called out, "Hey, did you ever find your camera?" I said "Yes, just like you said, I definitely had it." He expressed genuine relief that I'd found it. I should also point out, both my son and I were dressed as Ghostbusters that day, and there were about thirty of us in attendance in virtually identical khaki flightsuits. Which means Gil Gerard was really paying attention to the people and faces that he'd been talking to that day. In short, I was a fan of the character Buck Rogers up until that day, but I left that event a fan of Gil Gerard himself.
@@LextheRobot hey that's a neat story... Some actors are real jerks and think WAY too highly of himself, but others genuinely become nice folks. Sounds like Gil is one of those.
He apparently caused a lot of grief when he was on the show... "serious actor" and all... but then his career high point was Buck Rogers, and basically that got sabotaged, through his actions and just circumstances. Kinda sad actually. He's a good actor. His latest project was 'Star Trek Continues" here on TH-cam, which is a fan-fic show, but REALLY good... he and Erin Gray BOTH were on STC... just SO neat seeing them again, particularly on Star Trek! You should check it out.
Thanks for sharing your story... OL J R :)
"Buck Rogers was a product of its time. And what a time it was!" Truer words couldn't be spoken.
On of my favorite SciFi shows as a kid.
Season one was best. I tend to pretend season 2 doesn't exist.
Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Space 1999, U.F.O., all made my childhood as far as SciFi goes.
I met Erin Gray once at a Comic Con, but she wasn’t a guest there. I told her: “I know you”. She replied, with her arms in her side: “Oh really, from where?”
And then I replied: “Battlestar Galactica” 🤦🏻♂️and she screamed Nooooo
I corrected my mistake and forgot to take a picture with her, which I regret to this day.
She’s such a lovely person.
🤦♂
Ones worst nightmare. Damn.
you should've said, SPACEBALLS
Thank you so much for making this video. Born in 1974, I mostly grew up in the 80s, and the film and first series are some of my favorite childhood memories. Wasn't that impressed with the second season, but the first and film will always hold a special place in my heart.
Showing my age here. I used to watch this show all the time. It was one of my favorites, aside from Battlestar Galactica. I love this show! I love Battlestar Galactica even more.
this show had it all.. sexiest villain- princess Ardala.. Sexiest Heroine-- Col Deering.. best robot and voice..
Gil Gerard was perfect for this as well. 1st season was beyond epic, loved it..
and they had a BUNCH of material they could work into the show.. the mutants, exploring earth, war with the Draconians.. Col Deering was beyond hot, smart, fearless... they couldnt go wrong.. except they did.. Seas 2 was a shitshow.. sorry, it just was.. they abandoned EVERYTHING that worked.. everything..
if you saw it, you saw HAWK go somehow from the MOST FEARED fighter/Pirate in the entire quadrant, to a "Tonto" to Bucks "Long Ranger"... a sidekick..nothing more.. which was ridiculous and total b.s. job by the writers.. wasted so much ability to expand on it..
i know Gerard "Coked' himself out of the show, but,, who knows, they mighta saved it, had they STUCK with a formula that was Sci Fi gold..
I 100% agree.
Erin Gray was SO hot, even my pre-pubescent self knew she was. . . .um. . . "pretty". And Ardala? . . .Well? . . .nuff said.
I swear, WHEN did we lose the ability to make tough, or strong, or intelligent female characters who were STILL "FEMININE"? (& often pretty, even HOT sometimes?)
I was disappointed when I learned (rather recently actually) of Gil Gerard's bad attitude & contribution to the cancellation. (I REALLY liked Buck, and by extension, liked him. What can I say? I was a kid when I knew of him & couldn't separate the art from the artist.)
They really DID just abandon EVERYTHING good about it in season 2! And stupidly tried to "play it safe" with a Copy/Paste stuff from other properties! Bad move.
I too sometimes lament "what COULD have been" with Buck Rogers.
@@sharkdentures3247 yea. i loved his character/big fan of his.. and it was sickening to learn he hated it, was so hard to deal with, etc... as if he "rocketed" to fame elsewhere.. basically.. cost himself a solid career.. as if 6-7 season of Buck Rodgers would be a bad thing...... residuals woulda been Yuge..
They also completely ruined her character! She went from this incredibly smart, confident, highly respected officer(sex goddes)! Too, well, I don't even remember. She was there, though. They also completely changed the way they dressed her. She was all covered up, and you could miss her if you weren't paying attention! First season, there ain't no way you were missing her! She was the most important person in every seen she was in! All they had to do if they wanted to get the ratings up in later seasons was throw those pants on her again! She was tough, but all you had to do was look at her, and you were incapacitated, tripping all over yourself, trying not to stare at her or let her see you drooling!
Agreed. My father said similar and Season 1 is canon, the following season not so much.
Buck Rogers did a reverse Battlestar Galactica:
When Galactica reached Earth, the show quality dove off a cliff (barring that last episode where we learned of Starbuck's fate).
When Buck Rogers LEFT Earth on the Galileo (EDIT: Searcher) the show quality dove off of a cliff. I can't even think of one redeeming episode from that second season.
I still love the series. I looked forward to episodes with Princess Ardala... oh, my.
The episode where Buck was put on trial for participating in the nuclear holocaust was pretty compelling.
Lol, never looked at it that way. Great analogy and spot on!
Just Like Battlestar Galactics 1980, I tend to ignore the existence of Buck Rogers Season 2.
The birdman kinda worked for me.But I agree the 2nd jumped the shark.
Same here. When the show went into reruns in the early 80s, I always looked forward to the season 1 episodes. But tuned out when they go to season 2.
That Erin Grey! Princess Ardala was up there two.
Getting rid of Ardala and turning Wilma into a stewardess helped killed the show, among other things. Even Gil Gerard seemed tired of the role.
I did think the Birdman was ok initially. But mostly in the first episode of season 2 or so. After that....
I will say that Buck Rogers S2 was very slightly better than Battlestar Galactica 1980. (That is not saying much.)
Well, what they did to Erin Gray’s Wilma Deering was a crime, but as a confirmed leg man, her in that skirt…. The second season as trash though.
I'm 53 now so it hit TV when I was 10 or 11. I was really into Battlestar Galactica, which was dark and edgy, very much of an outer space romance. But at the same time my mom was taking me to the Louisville science museum on Saturdays to watch old 1940s Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials. This was a cohort of moms who wanted their kids to know where Star Wars came from. So even though I was only 10 when Buck Rogers hit TV, I realized what it was aiming at, a continuation of an old classic matinee movie serial, so I appreciated the series for what it was. It was just fine. Fun and entertaining. Many decades later, I stood in an alcove at a science fiction convention near Erin Gray, who played Lt. Colonel Wilma Dearing in the series. I don't go to science fiction conventions, but I was there for a friend who was dying. I ran off to this alcove to collect myself, not cry outwardly, but inwardly. There, in her autograph booth with no one around, was Erin Gray. I smiled, and bowed to her, and she smiled back. It was okay that I was just a random person needing a moment to myself. I owe her thanks.
I was about 11 years old when the series aired and I loved it. I recently tried to rewatch it and it has not aged well. It is better left in my fond childhood memories.
I think we've all been there. Of course, the opposite, "hey this holds up really well, it's a lot better than I remembered it" is pure joy!
Fantastic synopsis, I loved this show as a kid, and when I tuned in and it wasn't on I was heartbroken in a serious way, we didn't get twitter notices or web articles years in advance of cancellation, we had no idea about season changes, there were no IMDB ratings or reviews, we simply had playground arguments and discussions about who was the best, it was a fantastically good time, and hard to explain to anyone today
I was 10 when this show came out. I cant remember anything about it except that I was head over heels in love with this show. I’m gonna buy the Blu-ray set and just binge out!
Buck Rogers was the best TV show ever when I was a kid!
Same. When I was a boy in the 70's/80's, I never missed an episode.
And while I was too young to understand why, Erin Gray was every boy's dream girl back then alongside Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman. lol
"Discophonic"? Huh?
Unfortunately, I was quite a bit older when Buck came to the small screen. The movie I found okay, but the series left MUCH to be desired. My personal opinion, with no actual documentation to back it up, is that too much cocaine was available in Hollywierd, and a lot of story ideas, plots, characters, etc., that seem like a great idea when you're high just didn't turn out well in real life-- "How about a bird guy with feathers instead of hair! We'll call him Hawk! Cool! (Sssnort!)" and, of course, "How 'bout an alien that can take off his head to spy on Buck?!" To this day, I pity poor Mark Lenard, who went from playing Sarek, father of Spock, AND the first Romulan commander in Star Trek to having to deal with drek like this! Of course, I didn't like the original 'Battlestar Galactica' either, so take my opinions as you wish.
Still love the show. But for the life of me I can't figure out how they fit a Space Shuttle in a Saturn 5 rocket. 😁
Yeah, but then again, I loved KISS back then too
One of my favorite shows as a kid.
Sadly, it ended way too soon. If they stayed on the track like season one it would have lasted longer.
Thanks for the memories
If they could have been able to find an actor to play Buck Rogers and that would not fight with the cast and crew it would have lasted much longer. Probably the original storyline with the original director would have made the series more interesting because when they jumped from the on planet playfulness to basically copying Battlestar Galactica it lost a lot of its originality. I grew up in the 50's and 60's going to movies just to see either Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon on the big screen as little pieces of a story every time I got to go to see a double feature with cartoons and either Buck or Flash in between the two movies. I lived on science fiction as a permanent part of my younger life I love the magazine "Amazing Stories." I still love Sci-Fi movies but they getting to be too many CGI scenes and fewer live character interactions and less live character challenges.
Loved season One, but season two was good as well. The network didn't give it a chance. Sci Fi shows didn't fare well in the late 70s early 80s. Networks didn't believe in them and they were expensive to produce. But there definitely were an audience for them. It's a shame that shows like Magnum P.I and Knight Rider lasted longer than Buck Rogers.
The show jumped the🦈big tyme'/!!!
@@lamarravery4094Would be nice if the owners of Galactica and Rogers would get together and collaborate on a Buck Rogers, Galactica crossover movie where the Searcher and Galactica run into each other.
@@Goldengirl48 have you watch ANDOR?
Thank you
This show too was one of my favorites for sure. I think I’ll watch it again with my kids time around
Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, V, Mork and mindy was my all time favourite TV shows grown up in the 80s
One joy of being older is remembering when these shows were on TV and how good they were back then. I remember seeing Star wars when it premiered in Australia in the late 70's and we couldn't believe what we seeing. Shows like Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek were the best things about the TV when I was growing up
Fantastically written and edited, great work Jessica and team! I have very fond memories of the series. I love that you specifically highlighted The Satyr, the best episode of season 2.
I actually liked The Time of Hawk, Journey to Oasis, Testimony of a traitor and the Golden Boy the best. The Mark of Sauron was great too. There were only a few that I didn't like.
the shift in tone between seasons confused me. I was 11 when this came on TV. I was already a scifi fan so they had me.
maybe I was 12 because I know I had the "hots" for Wilma.
I miss watching Buck Rogers when it was on METV. I recorded every episode and watched them all.
I recorded all the ones with Princess Ardala.
I first saw the show as a kid back when it first aired. I also enjoyed it on MeTV, but then I bought the DVDs. I still watched one episode per week, but with the DVDs I could watch it when I wanted to instead of when MeTV showed it.
I also "fixed" the first episode/movie so that I could see it the way I felt it always SHOULD have been shown.
I remember watching this show as a kid. While I don't remember most of the episodes, the one that stuck with me was the space vampire. That scared the crap out of me as a child watching alone in the family room basement.
Absolutely! Still freaks me out to watch those space vampire episodes. LOL
You guys at JoBlo should do a retrospective on Space 1999. That show was the biggest budgeted series at the time and has influenced not only future sci-fi shows but also Star Wars itself.
A great show, but not as good as the series is spawned from!
I think U.F.O and the first season of Space:1999 were equally good.
The effects of Space:1999 were more polished though, as expected of a later production. And the Eagle, as far as I am concerned, is one of the best Space vehicles of have ever seen from a utilitarian perspective.
Oh yes, Space 1999!! Loved that show. Particularly Season 1.
Would love to hear a deep dive on the series and it's history.
I need to watch that. I think I was living in the middle east when that aired.
...and Space 1999 itself borrowed heavily from Kubrick's _2OO1: A Space Odyssey._ George Lucas didn't need to steal from Space 1999 when he took directly from _2OO1's_ set designs...
Erin Gray was the first woman of whom I thought "I didn't even know they made 'em like that."
I was glued to the TV when this was on as a kid. 8-year-old me. I still love the robot Twiki
Any episode featuring Pamela Hensley as Princess Ardala was MUST SEE TV.
10:06 that's Markie Post from Night Court. She had a flattering outfit on BR that showed off her fabulous body that was hidden in Night Court. She was one of the goto bikini wearing guest on numerous 70s shows. She had it all, she was gorgeous, could act, had great comedy timing and looked amazing in a bikini.
I want to go back and rewatch this now as an adult. No exaggeration that Wilma Deering was groundbreaking as a woman who could handle herself instead of being in distress all the time.
Johanna Cameron’s lead role in “The Secrets of ISIS” predate Wilma Deering’s role by 4 years.
It looks so vintage now. It felt state of the art when I saw it on television as a child.
As a kid this was one of my favorites, it had everything you needed! BTW, yes Hawk’s ship was awesome.
Oh man, the space vampire. That's my #1 memory of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. You could only see him if he had locked onto you as his next victim.
Lets just all admit that the reason we all liked that episode was seeing Wilma Deering slink around as vampire.
@@nispelsm In addition to it being a scary episode for a child, Deering slinking around as a vampire sure didn't hurt. It's my favorite EP.
Prime time science fiction back in the day original Star trek ,Logan's run Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers toss in Quark a geeks night for sure . Erin Grey and Catharine Bach. What more is there to say.
And Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman.
@@MK356BC I some how forgot her in that short list I'm getting too old .
Yes everyone forgets Quark
Love the 1st season. My mind refuses to admit there was a 2nd season! 😉
its crazy i was around age 6 when Buck premiered and like 9 -10 watching the repeats in syndication. if you asked how many seasons were there id guess 3-4, from all the episodes.
There is some decent ones in season 2.
I really enjoyed this trip down memory lane!💖👏👏👏👍👍👍
I LOVED this show like crazy. This and O.G. Battlestar were the best parts of TV in the 70s imho.
I just rewatched the Buck Rogers series and the second season was actually pretty good. It only lasted for 9 episodes, which is normal now, but back then a season was 22 to 24 episodes. This series should've ran another 2 or 3 yrs at least. We the fans got short changed.
There’s kind of a reason why those first season Buck Rogers, and Battlestar Galactica 2 parters are the ones everybody remembers. Neither show was conceived as regular ongoing weekly 1 hour tv series. Instead they were originally planned to be a recurring 2 hour rotating “movie of the week” type format, as was seen with some tv mystery shows of the period. So the two parters were the stories intended to be those 2 hour TV movies. Most of the 1 hour one shots were the filler scripts quickly cobbled together when production was shifted to the 1 hour weekly format. This is more apparent with BSG. As Buck Rogers had a lot more lead time with the format shift. So they could plan and prepare the one hour episodes better.
Yea, can you imagine _Columbo_ as 2-part installments in an hour-long TV broadcast slot?
@@JohnDlugosz Columbo ran as a rotating movie block for quite awhile. The NBC Mystery Movie. Rotating with McCloud, McMillan and Wife, and later Banacek, and I think Quincy ME originally piloted there. It was a 90 minute block.
It's often interesting to go back and listen to channels like this who really delve into the background of some well-known series only to find out that some of the most beloved characters are egotistical assholes and that they had a perfectly working formula for the show and then change some of the best characters and essentially ruined their entirety in the series
I used to LOVE this show as a little boy watching it on the TV. I have to say it's surprisingly not too camp. Those outfits actually look pretty cool even today.
Omg my parents got my brother and his fighter union with the helmet that was a walkie talkie and the Robot. My childhood is this video 😭😭😭😭. I lived for all these shows and movies.
I remembering watching this as a kid in 1980, and thinking how 1987 seemed so far into the future.
This show so deserves a remake. God Bless Erin Gray!
Not in todays PC climate. It would be a disaster
@@jimh472 Yeah that's what worries me about a remake... Thank God BR was done in a time when men were still men, women were still allowed to be gorgeous, sexy, AND CAPABLE as well, where we didn't have to check off every box of "the agenda" and "the message" and all the crap that makes the PC/Woke crowd not flip their wig... BR with its tight spandex and HOTT sexy women, who were CAPABLE and interesting characters in their own right AS WELL as alluring, back when it was okay to be sexy and attractive AND still be capable of handling yourself and coming out on top of a situation... Now the 'wimmins have to beat out the incapable foolish apologetic toxic men, and of course they can't look the least bit sexy or attractive doing it" because "sexist"... God I miss the 70's...
@@lukestrawwalker You seem to be living in an alternate universe because men are still men and women are still allowed to be gorgeuous, sexy, and capable to this day and there isn't really that many agenda driven stuff out there these days (there were more of this in the 70s honestly) and are easily avoided. You weirdos need to stop living in the past with this made up bs about what's going on right now lol. Wokeness isn't a real thing that actually exists, come on now. Stop that nonsense.
There's nothing to miss about the 70s. Today is SO MUCH BETTER, it's not even funny.
@@TheGeorgeD13 😂... I think your the one in the alternate universe... Nearly everything coming out of Hollyweird had been absolutely FULL of woke garbage for YEARS now. SMH...
Just think of battle star galatica. No thanks
I lived this show as a kid... this and Battlestar Galactica. Those were days of good tv.
I only watched a few episodes but I saw Erin Gray and thought OMG!!!
That little bit of your credits where you play "The Lonely Man" from The Incredible Hulk brought me back. Buck Rogers and Hulk were two of my favorite shows growing up. I also have a favorite that never made it out of the first season, Sonny Spoon.
In 1979 when Buck Rogers in the 25th Century came out I was almost 13 years old. I actually had a great crush on Princess Ardala who was actually Pamela Hensley. Few years later on she played in Matt Houston in 1982-1985. It was actually a great TV program ever made in 1979-1981, I always prefer the original 1979-1980 as the best thing but 1981 onboard the Searcher was a add on to the show.
Although season 2 reeked worse than open sewage, the actual idea was interesting. I believe the explanation was they were looking for “lost human colonies”. If the writing had been better and if they had kept Wilma’s spandex uniforms it might have been good. I actually kind of liked the arrogant robot in season two. They should have serialized the second season instead of making it an alien of the week show. What could have been.
More than just 'had the kept Wilma's spandex'. Had they kept "Wilma" period! Instead of turning her in to a secretary/stewardess in appearance and personality. Maybe, just maybe the second season could have been a little better. But there were other factors that ruined S2 as well.
My favorite season 2 episode was Oasis with Lenard doing the head thing. Very cool effect for the time! But you hit the nail on the head with Wilma Deering in Season 1 being inspirational and changing the women of science fiction from the accessory or the objective to the co-lead and adventurer. Thanks for the video! It really took me back!
Yeah, but why did they have to dress her in an outfit so tight it had to be sown on? Glen Larson had a bad habit of selling sex appeal but had very few decent scripts.
I still love this series. I don’t know if it’s nostalgia but I could watch it from the beginning now and enjoy it just as much.
This 1979 series, OG BSG, and ST TOS started my life long love of science fiction. I didn't like SW at that time. It took probably 20 more years before I ever got into those. ST TNG came along and sealed my obsession. I don't know why Buck Rogers appealed so much. I always identified with Buick bc the character had the surname as half my family, so as a kid I thought "Look it's a show about the future of our family"....as silly as it sounds.
And also, this video has somehow revealed why I was so obsessed with Erin for so many years. I never linked this woman with the one I'd see in the future and found so beautiful LOL.
This was absolutely exceptional! I also grew up with the show and this was a *wonderful homage*. I still have my Twiki action figure :) I'm a new YT content creator and I have a newfound appreciation for the work that goes into making good content. You put a lot of work into this and it shows. Thank you :)
70's/80's kid here.
Man, the Buck Rogers Star Fighter was one of my favorite toys when I was a boy. When I played Star Wars, it was added to the Rebel Fleet alongside the X-Wings. When I played G.I. Joes a few years after that, it was part of the Joe's arsenal. Such a cool design, and the toy was made really well. Pretty sure I eventually busted it. Not in some adolescent act of defiance or anything, I just played with it until it was ready to crumble. Also, if memory serves, it wasn't made as solid as the Kenner or Hasbro toys of the day. Great design though, just not as high quality build. I liked the way the engine pieces and nose cones could pop off for "battle damage". Shame it was built with such flimsy plastic though. If it's still in my old storage boxes, it's likely in a dozen or more pieces by now.
Same here, But I used it for Transformers too including like you G.I.Joe
There were five kids in my family on an Air Force salary so toys like that were out of the question. Way to expensive. But I would borrow my friends stuff. I thought he was spoiled because his parents got him all kinds of stuff like that. Star trek toys, Star Wars toys, etc. I would borrow them and “forget” to bring them back to him. Lol. Eventually my dad made me give them back.
Oh God please don't ruin Buck Rodgers by remaking it into another woke SJW shitfest. How many childhood memories is woke Hollywood going to destroy before it collapses?
Man... this show and Battlestar Galactica were simply the best. Fact.
I have no idea whether or not Buck Rogers In The 25th Century would be accepted by today's youths, but when I was a teenager in the 1970s I enjoyed watching this TV show.
This & the original Star Trek were my two favorite science fiction shows when growing up. And yes, I loved Erin Grey's Wilma Deering. I loved everything about the show. It was one of my few friends when growing up.
Loved "Buck Rogers" as a kid too. Remember watching the movie in the theater, and then the show. Enjoyed both immensely. Erin Gray was one of my favorites for sure.
Fun fact: Michael Vendrell was Gil Gerard's stunt double in pretty much all stunt scenes. Mike has a movie list longer than near any actor. RIP Mike
My Dad took me to see the pilot in theaters. I remember him telling me that in a few months it was going to be a show on tv and my mind was blown when he turned out to be right.
As a big Three Dog Night Fan, I loved the show with Gary Coleman, where he and Buck played SHAMBALA.
I now have Telstar stuck in my head, so that's nice.
Absolutely adored it has a kid and I had all the die cast toys and figures. Erin Gray is and was beautiful.
Beautiful and tough as nails.
Hard to believe they never had Erin Grey guest star on Star Trek TNG.
That is surprising.
She has a starring role in an episode of Star Trek Continues.
I thoroughly enjoyed Buck Rogers as a child. I fell in love with Ardala and Wilma even though I was only 6 or so at the time, to this day :) I had one of the fighter ships which was so cool. Hawk was very cool
I was just looking for this show on #Netflix yesterday. I can't believe I couldn't find it.
Hawk wasn’t divisive to me. I love his character. The only thing about season 2 worth watching.
If he was universally hated, he wouldn't be divisive.
There were only 9 episodes from the 2nd season and they weren't all that bad, but clearly took a new direction.
It's a shame that season 2 went flying off the rails. This was such a great show
I was 8 when BRIT25C came out in 1979... what a cool show! Lots of great memories of the action and excitement, just the absolute golden era of TV Sci-fi... along with the original (and far superior than its later remake) BSG. Both shows definitely shared a lot-- Buck's "Ranger 3" shuttle was originally used in BSG, as was the blockier shuttlecraft used on the Searcher. The ships and designs were really classic and neat, from the Scorpion fighter often used by the baddies to Princess Ardala's private launch... the costumes were great and the music was absolutely first rate. The show appealed in many ways, from the action and adventure and stories they told, then in reruns a few years later as a teenager, I REALLY enjoyed the alluring bevy of beauties that the show had each week... The guest stars were always great, as mentioned, usually playing baddies, like Richard Lynch as "Morgan Velosi", a mobster running a space station gambling and pleasure city, Cesar Romero as "Amos Armant", a rival gangster, and the impeccable Frank Gorshin as "Seton Kellogg", leader of a group of assassins bent on destroying New Chicago in revenge for a dead comrade.
Gil Gerard made a lot of trouble the first season with his constant complaining and being difficult; he always thought the show should be "more serious" and more of a drama than an "adventure" type show. The studio was unhappy with the cost of the show, as the special effects and wardrobe and prop heavy nature of sci-fi shows wasn't something they really banked on, making them much more expensive to produce than typical regular TV shows. The production reverted to a LOT of use of recycled shots as "stock footage" in order to save money by reusing most of the special effects shots from episode to episode, reducing the effects budget and saving time as well, but this soon became quite apparent to the viewer. The first several episodes of Buck Rogers, from the premiere "Awakening" which was the reworked feature film, followed by the two-part "Planet of the Slave Girls" which featured Brianne Leary from CHiPs, where she played a female highway patrolman in a recurring character for a couple seasons at least, as well as the incomparable Jack Palance as "Kaleel" and Roddy McDowell as the "governor Soroyan", followed by the next two-part episode "Plot to Kill a City" which featured Frank Gorshin as "Seton Kellogg", head of a group of interstellar assassins bent on destroying New Chicago, were absolutely top-notch stories with a stellar cast and well acted, beautiful theme music written for the episodes, and top notch production quality. Things gradually dropped in quality as the first season went on, though the episodes featuring the Return of Ardala and Kane were good episodes, but as the season wore on the stories got rather silly, including "space rockers" which was cringeworthy... then the first season ended with the rather silly "Flight of the War Witch" two-parter, though Julie Newmar certainly added to its charm.
For the second season the show was jarringly and poorly retooled. Gone was the Defense Directorate and New Chicago, as well as Dr. Huer and Dr. Theopolis the computer... and it was shameful how they didn't even let Tim O'Connor properly know that his part was canceled and he was no longer on the show-- he had to hear it second-hand. Replacing the Earth Defense Directorate/New Chicago setting, the show moved aboard the "Searcher", a recycled starship from "Cruise ship to the stars" episode of the first season that starred the ill-fated Dorothy Stratten as "Miss Cosmos", this time redesignated as an Earth Starship, taking on a very "Star Trek" type mission to deep space to find "the lost tribes of Earth", presumably humans scattered across the galaxy in the centuries after the nuclear holocaust on Earth when aliens had "plundered Earth" and carried people off, while other humans got some of their technology and left Earth on their own for points unknown. The second season didn't have much going for it-- the Hawke character by Thom Christopher was decent enough, but the new "Star Trek" approach simply didn't work well. The second season was badly hampered by an ill timed writers strike in Hollywood and that didn't help matters, and led to a lot of the second season's episodes being hokey and clunky. The only bright spots in the second season were the aforementioned "The Satyr" which had a good message as well as being rather unique and well-shot, and probably the best episode of the entire series IMHO, the next-to-last episode of the series, "Testimony of a Traitor", where Buck is put on trial for his life for crimes against humanity, when video evidence turns up during excavations of an old US military bunker back on Earth reveals that evidently Buck had a hand in causing the nuclear holocaust that nearly destroyed Earth, although he cannot remember anything about it or his part in it. It's rather gut-wrenching seeing Buck grieve for his best friend in the 20th century who "died believing I was a traitor to him and his country" and it was rather inventive in how the story was resolved and how Buck found out the truth about what happened. Sadly it was too little too late, and the last episode of the series following it, "the Dorian Secret" was rather forgettable.
Had the show stayed on Earth, with Buck Rogers being more of a "James Bond in the 25th Century" type show, I think it would have been far better of a second season. The "Star Trek" type approach of the Searcher was rather hokey and poorly done IMHO, and the way the show simply switched formats with NO expository or transitional rationale behind it was jarring and turned a lot of the show's fans off. They could have had their first episode be a transitional one, at least some scenes showing the transition-- maybe King Draco died "mysteriously" and a new Draconian leader, maybe one of the "29 other daughters" who were rivals to Ardala, actually came to power and decided to make peace with the Earth so she could focus on "problems in the Empire" and solidifying her claim, after having banished Ardala or something, and thus there wasn't going to be much for Buck to do. Dr. Huer, honoring a longtime tradition to "leave things better than they found them", decided to retire from the Defense Directorate, and his replacement had no particular affinity for Wilma or Buck, and had selected Wilma's replacement at the Defense Directorate. Feeling a bit lost, suddenly with the new peace allowing Earth to dedicate resources to "discovering the fates of those who had left Earth in the 21st and 22nd centuries", evidence of their departure having been found by archeologists at various sites around the world, a new starship is devoted to the cause, and a new crew and commander is being assigned the task, and it's a perfect opportunity for Buck and Wilma, to give her a new career path, and Buck perhaps to learn the fates of some of his comrades or their descendants from the 20th century he left behind, perhaps some of his own family... just as it would turn out to be a chance for Hawke to find perhaps some of his own people who fled to the stars... That would have been a fitting tribute and MUCH smoother transition between the two settings of the show... but alas it wasn't done.
If there is a "remake", I CERTAINLY hope it will be better than the dark and dreary and IMHO poorly written "Melrose Place in Space" remake of Battlestar Galactica"... I hope that any remake of BRIT25C will be far more respectful to the original TV series, and will follow a setting more like the first season than the second, to be sure, and be faithful to the characters and theme of the show...
Brilliant show, loved it as a kid, I was heartbreaking that they ended it to soon.
i loved this Buck Rogers as kid.. the first two seasons were great but kinda jumped the shark in the 3rd
Erin Gray, god, who didnt have a crush on her
Erin Gray is BEAUTIFUL !!!!
One of the the few who could be called a goddess
Definitely a fun show. Caught it on re-runs in the UK in the 90s. It typified what I've come to think of as retro-futurism. Erin Gray made child me think odd thoughts.
This was really two shows. The first season was fun, with Buck learning about the new Earth he was stuck in. The second season had Buck on the Searcher spaceship, travelling to different planets, like a lame Star Trek rip-off. The first season was full of charm, the second season had none..
If you have ME TV where you live, an episode of this show plays every Saturday Night, in order.
I tune in every week for Svengoolie, and leave it on the channel all night until I fall asleep
I love this show. But back in the early 80s when the show ended and went into re-runs, I always tuned out when they got to season 2. Just didn't like it.
I forgot that I actually had Buck Rogers toys as a kid until I saw this!
This was one of my favorite shows as a kid as well.
Loved this show as a kid especially Erin Gray ❤️
I loved the show as a kid. I remember the episode when he showed the bad princess how to disco dance. My dad started laughing like crazy!
Thanks for doing these. I grew up with this show as well as many others such as Phoenix, The Master, The Powers of Matthew Starr, Doctor Who and a time travel show I believe was called Voyagers or something like that.
yes it was Voyagers with a kid and an adult with a watch that took them through different time periods
Duck Dodgers in the 24th and a half century.
Was my version when I was a kid.
24th and 1/2 century
I was 10 when it came out, never missed an episode
This show is the earliest memory I got from watching TV, I was too young to understand it, but I still have some images burnt in my head. I remember not liking it that much (as I was too young), but it’s good to have these memories from a period I miss.
My parents said I was afraid to watch Planet of the Apes (and kept watching it anyway), but I don’t remember it.
Wow. Are you telling me that there was a time when tv shows were made with the single purpose of enterntaining people and had no political overtones?!! Those must have been great times...
"Political overtones" in older series were baked right into the shows' premises and simply considered "normal" back in the day; stuff that challenges peoples' preconceptions tends to pop out at folks who aren't used to looking at things from a point of view different from their own.
Those intro credits still stand up today. Epic stuff!
Whoever designed Twiki's head had a sick sense of humor lol
The space vampire was my favorite episode.
We used to watch this as a family when I was growing up