"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" (1979) TV series 1979-1981

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

20 September 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A 20th century astronaut is revived out of 500 years of suspended animation to become the greatest hero of a future Earth.

Plot Keywords:

Astronaut | Buck Rogers | Spacecraft | Cult TV | Based On Comic Strip

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 5 nominations

Cast

Gil Gerard	...	Capt. William "Buck" Rogers / ... (37 episodes, 1979-1981)
Erin Gray	...	Col. Wilma Deering (37 episodes, 1979-1981)
Felix Silla	...	Twiki / ... (35 episodes, 1979-1981)
Mel Blanc	...	Twiki (30 episodes, 1979-1981)
Tim O'Connor	...	Dr. Elias Huer (24 episodes, 1979-1980)
Eric Server	...	Dr. Theopolis (21 episodes, 1979-1980)
William Conrad	...	Narrator (17 episodes, 1979-1980)

Series Directed by
Larry Stewart		(5 episodes, 1980)
Daniel Haller		(4 episodes, 1979-1981)
Sigmund Neufeld Jr.		(4 episodes, 1979-1980)
Vincent McEveety		(4 episodes, 1981)
Dick Lowry		(3 episodes, 1979)
David G. Phinney		(3 episodes, 1980-1981)
Michael Caffey		(2 episodes, 1979)
Philip Leacock		(2 episodes, 1979)
Jack Arnold		(2 episodes, 1981)

Series Writing credits
Robert C. Dille		(37 episodes, 1979-1981)
Glen A. Larson		(29 episodes, 1979-1981)
Leslie Stevens		(29 episodes, 1979-1981)
Alan Brennert		(6 episodes, 1979-1980)
Cory Applebaum		(4 episodes, 1979)
Rob Gilmer		(3 episodes, 1980)
Stephen McPherson		(3 episodes, 1981)
Bob Mitchell		(3 episodes, 1981)
Esther Mitchell		(3 episodes, 1981)
Anne Collins		(2 episodes, 1979)
Steve Greenberg		(2 episodes, 1979)
Philip Francis Nowlan		(2 episodes, 1979)
Aubrey Solomon		(2 episodes, 1979)
Chris Bunch		(2 episodes, 1980)
David Chomsky		(2 episodes, 1980)
Allan Cole		(2 episodes, 1980)
William Mageean		(2 episodes, 1980)
Norman Hudis		(2 episodes, 1981)
Francis Moss		(2 episodes, 1981)
Margaret Schneider		(2 episodes, 1981)
Paul Schneider		(2 episodes, 1981)

Series Produced by
David J. O'Connell	....	producer (26 episodes, 1979-1981)
David G. Phinney	....	associate producer (25 episodes, 1979-1981)
Glen A. Larson	....	executive producer (24 episodes, 1979-1980)
Jock Gaynor	....	producer (22 episodes, 1979-1980)
Bruce Lansbury	....	supervising producer (22 episodes, 1979-1980)
Medora Heilbron	....	associate producer (20 episodes, 1979-1980)
Calvin Clements Jr.	....	supervising producer (13 episodes, 1981)
John Mantley	....	executive producer (13 episodes, 1981)
John G. Stephens	....	producer (13 episodes, 1981)
Karen Welch	....	associate producer (5 episodes, 1981)
Richard Caffey	....	producer (2 episodes, 1979)
Andrew Mirisch	....	associate producer (2 episodes, 1979)
Leslie Stevens	....	supervising producer (2 episodes, 1979)
Tim King	....	associate producer (2 episodes, 1980)

Series Original Music by
Bruce Broughton		(7 episodes, 1981)
Johnny Harris		(6 episodes, 1979-1980)
J.J. Johnson		(6 episodes, 1979-1980)
Stu Phillips		(5 episodes, 1979-1981)
John Cacavas		(3 episodes, 1980-1981)
Herbert D. Woods		(2 episodes, 1980-1981)
Donald Woods		(2 episodes, 1981)

Series Cinematography by
Ben Colman		(33 episodes, 1979-1981)
Frank Beascoechea		(2 episodes, 1979)
Frank Thackery		(2 episodes, 1980)

Series Film Editing by
George Potter		(12 episodes, 1979-1981)
Michael Berman		(7 episodes, 1979-1980)
Leon Ortiz-Gil		(6 episodes, 1979-1980)
Howard B. Anderson		(5 episodes, 1979-1980)
Neil MacDonald		(4 episodes, 1981)
John J. Dumas		(3 episodes, 1979)
Edward W. Williams		(3 episodes, 1981)
David Howe		(2 episodes, 1979)
William Martin		(2 episodes, 1979)
Ron Honthaner		(2 episodes, 1981)

Series Casting by
Phil Benjamin		(14 episodes, 1979-1980)
Joe Reich		(12 episodes, 1981)
Simon Ayer		(8 episodes, 1980)
Robert D. Edmiston		(2 episodes, 1979)

Series Art Direction by
Fred Luff III		(19 episodes, 1979-1980)
William L. Camden		(10 episodes, 1979-1980)
William H. Tuntke		(9 episodes, 1981)
Paul Peters		(7 episodes, 1979)
Hub Braden		(4 episodes, 1979-1980)
Bill Taliaferro		(4 episodes, 1980)
Peter Clemens		(4 episodes, 1981)
David L. Snyder		(unknown episodes)

Series Set Decoration by
Frank Lombardo		(25 episodes, 1979-1981)
Joanne MacDougall		(9 episodes, 1979-1980)
Victor Hugo		(3 episodes, 1979)
Richard Reams		(2 episodes, 1979)

Series Costume Design by
Al Lehman		(29 episodes, 1979-1981)
Sal Anthony		(6 episodes, 1979)
Jean-Pierre Dorléac		(2 episodes, 1979)

Series Makeup Department
Jerry Gugliemotto	....	hair stylist (4 episodes, 1981)
Werner Keppler	....	makeup artist (4 episodes, 1981)
Jack Stone	....	makeup artist (4 episodes, 1981)
Brenda Todd	....	makeup artist (4 episodes, 1981)

Series Production Management
Harker Wade	....	unit production manager (29 episodes, 1979-1981)
Charles E. Walker	....	unit production manager (5 episodes, 1980)
Paul Wurtzel	....	unit production manager (4 episodes, 1981)
Jack Cunningham	....	unit production manager (2 episodes, 1979)
Edward D. Markley	....	unit production manager (2 episodes, 1979)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gerald T. Olson	....	second assistant director / first assistant director (19 episodes, 1979-1980)
Bob Bender	....	first assistant director (14 episodes, 1979-1981)
Stephen Lillis	....	second assistant director (13 episodes, 1981)
Frank Crawford	....	first assistant director (11 episodes, 1979-1981)
Robert Villar	....	first assistant director / second assistant director (9 episodes, 1979-1981)
David Kahler	....	second assistant director (3 episodes, 1980)
Phil Bowles	....	first assistant director (2 episodes, 1979)
Jerry Sobul	....	first assistant director (2 episodes, 1979)
Judith Vogelsang	....	second assistant director (2 episodes, 1979)
Dick Erickson	....	second assistant director (unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
William Apperson	....	construction coordinator (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Dick Wahrman	....	sound effects editor (35 episodes, 1979-1981)
Earl Crain Jr.	....	sound (33 episodes, 1979-1981)
Peter Berkos	....	sound effects editor (2 episodes, 1979)
John R. Carter	....	sound (2 episodes, 1979)
Andrew Gilmore	....	sound (2 episodes, 1979)
William H. Kauch	....	dialogue editor (2 episodes, 1979)
Clyde Sorenson	....	sound (2 episodes, 1979)
Barney Cabral	....	adr editor (unknown episodes)

Series Special Effects by
David M. Garber	....	miniature effects / miniatures (24 episodes, 1979-1980)
Wayne Smith	....	miniature effects / miniatures (24 episodes, 1979-1980)
Peter Anderson	....	special photographic effects supervisor: Universal Hartland (13 episodes, 1981)
David Jones	....	special photographic effects supervisor: Universal Hartland (13 episodes, 1981)
Robert Cole	....	special effects (unknown episodes)
Courtney Dane	....	special effects (unknown episodes)

Series Visual Effects by
C. Cory M. McCrum-Abdo	....	special visual effects coordinator (unknown episodes)
Dennis Michelson	....	visual effects editor (unknown episodes)
David Stipes	....	visual effects (unknown episodes)

Series Stunts
Mickey Caruso	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Roydon Clark	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Nick Dimitri	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Dick Durock	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Tony Epper	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Dean Raphael Ferrandini	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Whitey Hughes	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Gene LeBell	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Bob Minor	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Conrad E. Palmisano	....	stunt performer (unknown episodes)
Michael Runyard	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Rick Sawaya	....	stunt performer (unknown episodes)
Ron Stein	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Kym Washington	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Richard Washington	....	stunt coordinator (unknown episodes)
James Winburn	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Bob Yerkes	....	stunts (unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Reggie Newkirk	....	key first assistant camera (unknown episodes)

Series Casting Department
Phil Benjamin	....	casting (2 episodes, 1979)

Series Costume and Wardrobe Department
Barry Downing	....	costume supervisor: Gil Gerard (23 episodes, 1980-1981)

Series Editorial Department
Maureen O'Connell	....	assistant editor (unknown episodes)

Series Music Department
Glen A. Larson	....	composer: theme music (36 episodes, 1979-1981)
Herbert D. Woods	....	music editor (26 episodes, 1979-1981)
Donald Woods	....	music editor (6 episodes, 1981)
David Kahn	....	music editor (2 episodes, 1979)
Stu Phillips	....	conductor (2 episodes, 1979)
John W. Morgan	....	orchestrator (unknown episodes)
Don Nemitz	....	orchestrator (unknown episodes)
Will Schaefer	....	conductor (unknown episodes)

Series Transportation Department
Chris Haynes	....	driver (2 episodes, 1979-1980)

Series Other crew
Alan Brennert	....	story editor (13 episodes, 1979-1980)
Stephen McPherson	....	executive story consultant (13 episodes, 1981)
Anne Collins	....	story consultant / story editor (12 episodes, 1979-1980)
Rob Gilmer	....	story editor (8 episodes, 1980)

Production Companies

• John Mantley Productions (1980)
• Glen A. Larson Productions
• Universal TV

Distributors

• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1979-1981) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• MCA (video)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (laserdisc)
• Studios USA Television
• Universal Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Veronica Omroep Organisatie (1985-1986) (Netherlands) (TV)

Special Effects

• Universal Hartland (visual effects)

Runtime:

60 min (37 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

John Mantley Productions

Trivia:

US broadcast of the second season was delayed until midway through the 1980-81 TV season due to an actor's strike. During the strike, the series was retooled to make it a variation on "Battlestar Galactica" (1978).

Goofs:

Factual errors: 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.

Quotes:

Narrator: [voiceover during opening] 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.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "South Park: Go God Go XII (#10.13)" (2006)

Enjoyable Hokum, Until Things Got Serious...

What do you do when you served as Executive Producer to one of the decade's most expensive failures, and you have all these leftover props, costumes, sets, and special effects film footage lying around? If you're Glen Larson, and the failed series was "Battlestar Galactica", you consider producing another Science Fiction-themed series, less pretentious and more 'audience-friendly', that can utilize all the surplus...

...and in a very real sense, that's how "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" came to television, in 1979! Based, originally, on a 1928 short story, 'Buck Rogers' achieved his greatest fame in comic strips, radio, and a movie serial in the 1930s, but by 1979, the character had been 'retired' for 28 years, and Larson knew he could 'update' the story without arousing much controversy. The 'new' Buck was an astronaut piloting the last of Earth's 'Deep Space' probes, Ranger 3, in 1987(!), which was thrown off-course by a cosmic disturbance, and damaged, entering a centuries-long looping orbit back to Earth, and releasing a mix of gases that placed Rogers into suspended animation for 500 years. Revived by the evil Draconian Empire, Rogers soon is returned to an Earth in ruins after a nuclear holocaust, where he gradually earns the government's trust, and becomes a civilian 'troubleshooter', using his 20th century wiles to save Mankind, again and again.

Casting was essential for the series to succeed, and Larson made an inspired choice in Gil Gerard, 36, as the lead. Ruggedly handsome, Gerard combined maturity with a boyish charm, and an ability to make even the most risqué remark seem unoffensive (and the series pilot, released theatrically, had a LOT of risqué remarks!) As Wilma Deering, a Colonel in Earth's Defense Force, Erin Gray, 29, was a bit wooden, but gloriously beautiful, and wholesomely sexy; Tim O'Connor, 52, as wise Dr. Huer, provided kind stability and statesman-like wisdom to the mix, and a goofy little robot, "Twiki", voiced by Mel Blanc, gave the kids something to enjoy (although he would utter an occasional risqué or ethnic aside, as well).

The first season of "Buck Rogers", while certainly not 'Classic TV', offered an entertaining mix of adventure and comedy, with stories that intentionally avoided the 'heaviness' that plagued "Galactica". Rogers would face a variety of galactic terrorists, dictators, and madmen, fend off advances by a variety of scantily-clad women, and maintain a "Will they or Won't they?" relationship with Deering. High points were the guest appearances by Pamela Hensley as the evil but vampy Drackonian Princess Ardala, in huge head wear (and little else), and, in a wonderful cameo, the legendary Buster Crabbe, who'd played both "Buck Rogers" and "Flash Gordon" in the 1930s, as 'Brigadier Gordon'.

While ratings were mediocre, at best, the series was renewed for a second season...and all the mistakes of "Galactica" were repeated, when the Earth-centered series was dropped, in favor of a starship-based, 'serious' adventure, as Buck and Wilma joined in a "Galactica"-like search for 'lost' tribes of humans who'd fled Earth at the time of the Holocaust. Why was the entire concept changed so abruptly, and disastrously? The reason I've been told, was that Gerard, a devout Christian, did not like the sexual undercurrent of the first season, and wanted stories that would be more uplifting and family-friendly, and that he forced the changes on a less-than-enthusiastic Glen Larson. Whether or not this was true, the season lacked all the swashbuckling joy of Season One, and despite an attempt to introduce a bird-like, stoic alien ('Hawk', portrayed by Thom Christopher), to attract the "Spock" crowd, the episodes were frequently dull and uninspired, and the ratings plummeted. When NBC canceled the series, just 13 episodes into Season Two, no one was truly surprised.

While Gerard's post-"Buck Rogers" career was a roller-coaster ride of highs and lows, Erin Gray enjoyed a long, successful run on "Silver Spoons", and both actors, today, are popular Convention guests, as both "Buck Rogers" and Larson's "Battlestar Galactica" have achieved 'cult' status.

"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" will never be held in the kind of esteem "Star Trek" or "Babylon 5" enjoy, but, as a rare chance to see how television viewed Science Fiction in the "Disco Decade", the series has earned it's own piece of immortality!