Classic TV

About the Shows

Based upon the classic comic strip character of the 1920s, which itself was based on novellas by Philip Francis Nowlan, "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" was first presented as a feature film in 1979. Later that year, series Creator and Executive Producer Glen A. Larson debuted the series as a follow-up to his "Battlestar Galactica." In order to keep production values high and costs low, the series recycled its predecessor's props, effects shots and costumes, even utilizing some of its Viper craft.

Narrowly missing complete nuclear devastation in 1987, U.S. Air Force pilot Captain William Anthony "Buck" Rogers, played by Gil Gerard, wakes up from a deep freeze aboard his spacecraft Ranger 3 in the year 2491. The series followed Rogers as he tried to adapt to 25th century culture in New Chicago, while helping Earth Defense foil their many enemies. Colonel Wilma Deering, played by Erin Gray, served as Roger's partner and romantic interest, and Mel Blanc voiced sidekick Twiki the robot, who often wore super-genius computer, Dr. Theopolis.

Despite inclusion of Apollo launches in the title sequence, the first season was criticized by some as "comic book-ish." After several months delay in production due to an actor's strike, Buck, Wilma and Twiki boarded the spacecraft Searcher in the second season, with the mission of seeking out lost tribes of humanity, echoing Larson's cancelled series "Battlestar Galactica." Humor was scaled back in favor of more serious themes of evolution, ecology, racisim and self-identity, and the nature of Buck and Wilma's relationship skewed more towards the romantic.