Buck Rogers is the central character of Philip Francis Nowlan's
story Armageddon 2419 A. D., which appeared in the
August 1928 issue of the pulp magazine Amazing Stories. The full title of most of his appearances in various media is Buck Rogers in the
25th Century. In the original novella, Rogers was not known as "Buck" Rogers; the nickname was given to the character
when the comic strip debuted in 1929. The name Buck Rogers was taken from an old Western fiction cowboy story scenario which included characters called Buck Rogers and Tom
Mix and a horse called Trigger.
Buck Rogers, an American air force officer, fell into a coma and was awakened in the 25th century. Together with his comrades, the beautiful Wilma Deering and intrepid Dr. Huer, he struggled to rid the world of evil warlords and "Mongol" hordes.
Comics, second story and radio show
In January 1929, under the guidance of John F. Dille, the story was turned into
a comic strip that would run for 38 years (1929-1967) and be credited with
launching the "golden age" of the comic strip. It was the first comic strip organized around a science fiction theme.
The launch of the comic strip was followed by the release of the second Buck Rogers novella, The Airlords of Han, which
appeared in the March 1929 issue of Amazing Stories. The enemy force in this story, the Han, were later renamed
Mongols.
In 1932, the Buck Rogers radio program began, the first science fiction show on radio. It aired four times weekly. The show
ran for 15 years (1932-1947). Matt
Crowley, Curtis Arnall,
Carl Frank and John Larkin as Buck Rogers voiced the character at various times.
First movie
John Dille Jr. - the son of John F. Dille, the man behind the Buck Rogers comic strip - starred in Buck Rogers in the 25th
Century: An Interplanetary Battle with the Tiger Men of Mars. This ten-minute film premiered at the 1933-34 World's Fair in Chicago.
Second movie
1939 saw a twelve part movie serial of Buck Rogers, starring Buster Crabbe who had previously played Flash Gordon along with Constance Moore as the only woman in the film, Lieutenant Wilma Deering, and Jackie Moran as Buddy Wade, a character
not seen in the other media. This serial marked the only time that Anthony Warde, who had portrayed the top underling of the boss villain in other serials,
played the boss villain himself, Killer Kane, a gangster who was also a dictator. The noted serial stuntman David Sharpe also plays in this film.
Notably, Philson Ahn plays Prince
Tallen, a Saturnian native who befriends Buck Rogers. This is because the plot of the original story was that the Han (Chinese)
had conquered North America. However, the other Saturnians are played by Caucasians. Racism does appear in that the workers of
the planet Saturn, who are called Zugs, are ugly, dark hulking brutes (played by Caucasians in makeup) who not only cannot
think for themselves but who immediately worship and attend to a catatonically brainwashed Earthman.
This film saved money on special effects by using background shots from the futuristic musical of 1930, Just Imagine, to depict the city of the future. The garish stenciled walls of
Kane's penthouse suite derive from Azura's palace in Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars. The mockups of the flying machines were derived from the
"Strato-Sleds" of the later movie as well. (Those made for the musical had already appeared in the Flash Gordon series.)
The serial was later edited as a movie and released in 1953 as Planet Outlaws and
for television in 1965 as Destination Saturn.
First television series
Kem Dibbs and Robert Pastene acted Buck Rogers in
his first television series in 1950-1951. The show was acted live and no known copies of the program exist.
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century movie and TV series
In 1979, the character was revived and updated for a prime-time television series for
NBC Television. The pilot film was
initially shown in theaters in the spring to strong box office, leading NBC to commission a full series, which debuted in
September 1979 with a modified version of the pilot film which had the death of
one character eliminated (in order to allow him to return in the series), and additional footage added to help launch the series.
The production also recycled props and costumes from Battlestar Galactica.
The new series centered around the character of Captain William Anthony "Buck" Rogers, played by Gil Gerard, a US Air Force pilot who commands Ranger
3, a space shuttle that is launched in 1987. Due to a freak combination of gases, Captain Rogers is frozen in space for 500 years and is revived in the
25th century. There, Captain Rogers learns that the Earth has been united following a devastating nuclear war
in the late 20th century and is now under the protection of the Earth
Defense Forces.
The series followed Rogers as he tried to fit (not always successfully) into 25th Century culture, while helping Earth Defense
foil assorted evil plots to destroy the planet. (In many respects, the new Rogers had more similarities with James Bond or Col. Steve Austin than Nowlan's original character.) Rogers is aided in his adventures by his
friend and semi-romantic interest, Lt. Colonel Wilma Deering, played by Erin
Gray, and his comic sidekick robot, Twiki, played by the voice of Mel Blanc (who had previously voiced Daffy
Duck as Duck Dodgers in spoofs of the early Buck Rogers and other
science fiction serials).
Twiki, a pint-sized robot, tended to express himself with the dispeptic ejaculation ”biddi-biddi-biddi.” followed
by a 20th Century cliche or catchphrase he picked up from Buck (although he already knew quite a few by the time he first met
Buck). Dr Theopolis ("city of God"), another chatty robot who consisted of
only an illuminated face, was housed in a large medallion worn by Twiki and was considered one of the planet's scientific
leaders. During the first season, Rogers and Deering took their orders from Dr. Elias Huer (Tim O'Connor), the head of the "Defense
Directorate" (although some episodes also depicted Huer as the leader of the entire planet).
There were subtle but significant shifts in setting between the pilot and the series. The pilot film depicted human
civilization as insular and restricted to living in a few domed cities (with its capital referred to as the Inner City); travel
beyond the Inner City was hazardous, as the rest of the planet was said to be a wasteland inhabited by violent mutants. The
series painted a more positive picture of future Earth. The Inner City was renamed New Chicago, and it was established that human
civilization had not only spread once again across the planet, but also to the stars. Little reference to barren wastelands was
made; in several episodes Buck ventures beyond the dome of New Chicago with no hazards encountered. As opposed to the
isolationist planet seen in the movie, Earth is shown to be the center of an interstellar human-dominated government (alternately
called "the Federation" and "the Alliance"), with its capital at New Chicago.
Buck Rogers' best-known nemesis during the first season was the sexy Princess Ardala of Draconia, played by Pamela Hensley, whose insatiable desire was to conquer and possess both the
Earth and Captain Rogers.
Although popular with viewers, the first season failed to receive much critical acclaim; it was seen as being too
light-hearted and comic book-like for their tastes. One vocal critic of the series was Gil Gerard himself, and the star of the
series pushed for more serious storytelling for the show's second year.
Production of the second season was delayed by several months due to an actors' strike. When production resumed in the fall of
1980, the format of the series was changed with Buck, Wilma and Twiki joining the crew of an earth spaceship called the
Searcher which, true to its name, was in search of the lost "tribes" of humanity (borrowing themes from the earlier
Battlestar Galactica). The characters of Dr. Huer, Dr. Theopolis, and recurring villain/love interest Princess Ardala were
eliminated and replaced by the commander of Seacher, Admiral Efrem Asimov (said to be a descendent of the famous science
fiction author, Isaac Asimov, whose Laws of Robotics is quoted in one episode), Hawk - a half-man, half-bird character who somewhat resembles
Star Trek's Mr. Spock, Dr.
Goodfellow - an eternally curious scientist, and Crichton, a prissy know-it-all robot who Twiki considers his son. Mel Blanc also
left the series at the start of the season and another actor began to perform Twiki's voice, much to the dismay of viewers (Blanc
came back for the final half of the season).
Gerard was successful in scaling back the humor in the second season in favor of more serious episodes (with a few notable
exceptions). Buck and Wilma became more serious characters taking part in plotlines that might have been holdovers from
Battlestar: Galactica. One element of the first season that was dropped was giving Buck a different girlfriend every week;
although most romantic activity occurred off-screen, the second season firmly established the relationship between Buck and Wilma
that had started in the pilot movie but was only hinted at (and at times outright ignored) in the first season.
Viewers did not respond well to this change of pace and with the corresponding ratings drop, the series was cancelled at the
end of the strike-abbreviated season, although the ratings were still considered strong by comparison to other series.
The two seasons are so different in tone that Buck Rogers fans tend to consider the two seasons to be two entirely
different series. The second season is often spoken about with scorn in science fiction Internet newsgroups and forums, but the
recent DVD release has led to a reappraisal.
The show ran for 32 episodes (including a number of two-hour specials) that aired from 1979 to 1981 and was later shown in
reruns on the Sci-Fi Channel. A North American DVD set of the complete
series was released on November 16, 2004.
According to Erin Gray, her character Lt. Col. Wilma Deering, despite her sexy costumes and somewhat flighty demeanor in some
episodes (no pun intended), became a major role model for young girls. She
still receives letters from women who entered the military or other fields in part because of the inspiration of Wilma
Deering.
Gray also said that she never actually met Eric Server, the actor who provided the voice of Dr. Theopolis, until many years after the series ended when
she found herself sitting next to him on an airplane.
Cast
- Gil Gerard - Captain William Buck Rogers
- Erin Gray - Lt. Colonel Wilma Deering
- Tim O'Connor - Dr. Elias
Huer (first season)
- Wilfrid Hyde-White - Dr. Goodfellow (second season)
- Thom Christopher - Hawk (second season)
- Felix Silla - Twiki (physical
performance)
- Mel Blanc - Voice of Twiki (first season, plus second season episodes
starting with "The Crystals" through "Testimony of a Traitor")
- Bob Elyea - Voice of Twiki (second
season episodes "Time of the Hawk" to "The Golden Man")
- Eric Server - Voice of Dr.
Theopolis (first season)
- Jay Gardner - Admiral Efrem
Asimov (second season)
- Jeff David - Voice of Crichton
(second season)
- William Conrad - Narrator (first season)
After the decision was made to produce a weekly television series following the success of the movie, it was not certain if
Erin Gray would return as Wilma Deering. Juanin Clay was cast in the role as
a replacement, but ultimately Gray returned. Clay subsequently played a very Wilma Deering-like character in the episode "Vegas
in Space."
Episodes
Season 1 (1979-1980)
- "Awakening" (September 20, 1979)
- two-hour episode, a revised version of the theatrical release Buck Rogers in the 25th Century with a different opening
credits sequence and additional scenes. Syndicated as a two-part episode. (Note: the theatrical version of the pilot, not the TV
version, is included in the 2004 DVD release.)
- "Planet of the Slave Girls" (September 27, 1979) - two-hour episode,
later syndicated as a two-part episode. In a special appearance, Buster
Crabbe, who played Buck Rogers in the original serial, plays Brigadier Gordon, which also refers to his other famous role,
Flash Gordon.
- "Vegas in Space" (October 7, 1979)
- "Plot to Kill a City, Part 1" (October 11, 1979)
- "Plot to Kill a City, Part 2" (October 17, 1979)
- "Return of the Fighting 69th" (October 25, 1979)
- "Unchained Woman" (November 1, 1979)
- "Planet of the Amazon Women (November 8, 1979)
- "Cosmic Wiz Kid" (November 15, 1979)
- "Escape from Wedded Bliss" (November 29, 1979)
- "Cruise Ship to the Stars" (December 27, 1979)
- "Space Vampire" (January 3, 1980)
- "Happy Birthday, Buck" (January 10, 1980)
- "A Blast for Buck" (January 17, 1980) - this episode takes place prior to
"Happy Birthday, Buck" but was aired out of sequence.
- "Ardala Returns" (January 27, 1980)
- "Twiki is Missing" (January 31, 1980)
- "Olympiad" (February 7, 1980)
- "A Dream of Jennifer" (February 14, 1980)
- "Space Rockers" (February 21, 1980)
- "Buck's Duel to the Death" (March 20, 1980)
- "Flight of the War Witch" (March 27, 1980) - two-hour episode, later syndicated
as a two-part episode.
Season 2 (1981)
- "Time of the Hawk" (January 15, 1981)
- two-hour episode, later syndicated as a two-part episode.
- "Journey to Oasis" (January 22, 1981) - two-hour episode, later syndicated
as a two-part episode.
- "The Guardians" (January 29, 1981)
- "Mark of the Saurian" (February 5, 1981)
- "The Golden Man" (February 19, 1981)
- "The Crystals" (March 5, 1981)
- "The Satyr" (March 12, 1981)
- "Shgorapchx!" (March 19, 1981)
- "The Hand of Goral" (March 26, 1981)
- "Testimony of a Traitor" (April 9, 1981)
- "The Dorian Secret" (April 16, 1981)
Books and comics
Two novels were published based upon this series, both by Addison E. Steele. The first was a novelization of the pilot film, while the second,
That Man on Beta, was adapted from an unproduced episode script.
Gold Key Comics, meanwhile, published more than a dozen issues of
a Buck Rogers in the 25th Century comic book based upon the show. The comic outlived the series by several months.
Buck Rogers games
A Buck Rogers board game was produced in the 1980s. The game was a space-based wargame similar to Risk, in which the players moved playing pieces representing starships around the
board trying to eliminate one another.
Buck Rogers also featured in a role playing game from TSR, Inc. and associated books published from 1988-1995. In it
the player characters were allied to Buck Rogers and NEO (the New
Earth Organisation) in their fight against RAM (a Russian-American corporation based on Mars). The games also extensively
featured "genies" (genetically enhanced organisms). Strategic Simulations, Inc. produced two computer role-playing games based on this setting: Countdown to Doomsday and Matrix
Cubed.
Sega released the arcade video game
Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom in 1983.
The user controls a spaceship that must destroy enemy ships and avoid obstacles; Buck himself is never seen, and its only real
connections to Buck Rogers are the use of the name and the outer space setting. Home versions were released for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari XE, Colecovision, Intellivision, and Sega Master System video game systems, and the Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, Texas Instruments
TI-99/4A, and ZX Spectrum computers.
Later novels
Numerous novelists have "reinvented" the Buck Rogers mythos over the years, including M.S. Murdock who wrote a trilogy of novels
in the early 1990s, and Martin Caidin, who wrote a standalone novel
retelling the original story. A series of novels based upon the Buck Rogers role playing game has also been published.
Future adaptations
As of 1997, the film rights for Buck Rogers belonged to the Walt Disney Company, but as of 2004 no new film or TV adaptation has emerged, and it is not known if
Disney still owns the rights. An announcement in the summer of 2004 that a new Flash Gordon film was in the planning stages suggests a new Buck Rogers film may follow eventually.
External links
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