Philip Francis Nowlan's Buck Rogers remains in litigation (due to a rights dispute between estate and publisher), but his legend lives on, as much as does Flash Gordon's (see "The Time for Re-entry Is Now"; June '18).
Therefore, space-opera fans needn't throw up their hands in response to "Solo'"s catastrophic crash. There's plenty of cosmic action and adventure to be had in "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", a retelling that launched in 1979 and has enthralled folks ever since.
Good ol' Buck ascended to glory in Nowlan's 1928 novel, "Armageddon 2419" (printed in Amazing Stories) and earned further exposure from various sequels and offshoots, including a 1934 Chicago World's Fair short, a comic strip and radio show. In 1939, Larry "Buster" Crabbe, who had heightened his fame as Flash, seized the lead in a successful movie serial. In the early '50s, Buck zoomed onto television, with Robert Pastene and Kem Dibbs taking turns at the role, in what now stands as a lost series.
After "Star Wars" became the world's number-one, cinematic sensation, Glen A. Larson, producer/creator of Universal Studio's "Battlestar Galactica", embarked on a big-budget, Buck television pilot. After a Sensurround release of "Galactica" collected a hefty profit, Larson decided to premiere Buck's retelling theatrically. To boost the luster, he gave the film a Bondian, opening-credits sequence, featuring lovely ladies sprawled upon the hero's logo and a song penned by Larson and the film's composer Stu Phillips, with dreamy vocals by Kipp Lennon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BINijYepahA).
Starring Gil Gerard as Captain William Anthony "Buck" Rogers (Nowlan's character didn't include "William"), "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" became the box-office hit of Spring '79 (debuting in the thick of the Three Mile Island incident) and acted as a springboard for the NBC series which then aired that fall.
Unlike "Galactica", which referenced "Stars Wars", "Star Trek" and "Space Cruiser Yamato/Star Blazers", Larson's Buck was more free-flowing, thanks in part to Daniel "House of Usher" Haller's breezy direction. Though they kept him a stand-up guy, Larson and Leslie "Outer Limits" Stevens' script permitted Buck to wisecrack and womanize (though only for good cause and within good reason). Also, Buck's Rip Van Winkle backstory was altered from our hero succumbing to radioactive gas in a mine to cryogenic slumber aboard NASA's Ranger 3 space shuttle in 1987 and awakening in post nuclear-war 2491.
Buck's new world proved either dangerous or exotic depending on where he roamed (whether in and around New Chicago or blasting off in his spiffy starfighter). He accumulated details from the icy but eventually endearing Colonel Wilma Deering, played by Erin Gray, and the reasonable and scholarly Dr. Elias Huer, played by Tim O'Connor. Buck discovered that Earth held an unsteady treaty with the conniving Draconians, an alien race led by Pamela Hensley's shapely and seductive Princess Ardala and the disgruntled Kane (Killer Kane to old schoolers), played by Henry Silva and later (once the episodic strand commenced), Michael Ansara. Buck deduced that the Draconians were using pirate Maurader ships in a ruse to establish Earth's conquest, but had trouble convincing others, since they suspected him a spy.
To give the story some C-3PO/R2D2 levity, Buck was partnered with amicable, artificial life forms, Twiki (the costumed Felix Silla, voiced by Mel Blanc) and Dr. Theopolis (voiced by Howard F. Flynn in the intro and in the series by Eric Server). Theopolis was actually a clock-shaped, council-member computer that Twiki kept close to his chest.
Though Buck's advent focused on his sabotaging the Draconian plot, his weekly exploits would involve such eclectic concepts as slave labor; a space vampire; planetary food poisoning; elderly astro pilots; a far-out, disco band; and subliminal signaling.
The guest-star roster proved impressive and includes (hold on tight!) Joseph Wiseman (Draco); Duke Butler (Tigerman #1); H.B. Haggerty (Tigerman #2); William Conrad (narrator); Buster Crabbe (as Brigadier Gordon); Peter Graves; Woody Strode; Robert Quarry; Roddy McDowall; Jack Palance; Sam Jaffe; William Sylvester; Richard Lynch: Leigh McCloskey; Christopher Stone; Jerry Orbach; BarBara Luna; Mark Leonard; Julie Newmar; Frank Gorshin; Cesar Romero; Morgan Brittany; Denny Miller; Richard Moll; Markie Post; Gary Coleman; Judy Landers; Pamela Susan Shoop; Mary Woronov; Anne Lockhart; Richard Reed; Brett Halsey; Patsy Ann Noble; Sig Haig; Ray Walston; Harry Townes; Anthony James; Vera Miles; Jamie Lee Curtis; and in an evident buffer to her "Galaxina" role, tragic Playmate, Dorothy Stratten. (BTW: the aforementioned Curtis later portrayed Stratten in a televised bio.)
As one can infer, the eye candy ran high on "Buck Rogers", encouraging many a lad to tune in, but the women were generally intelligent and practical, even if scantily clad: a swell combination in my estimation.
All the same, the titillation and superficial themes caused some (including Gerard) to criticize the series for being more frivolous than credible, and so after the initial season's "Flight of the War Witch" (a "Disney's Black Hole" influenced adventure, which some say was intended for overseas screenings), the saga adapted a "Star Trek" demeanor.
John Mantley, eminent for his television westerns, replaced Bruce Lansbury as the series' supervising producer and shifted Buck's primary base from Earth to the exploratory spacecraft, the Searcher. Deering and Twiki (briefly voiced by substitute, Tom Elyea) accompanied the voyage, joined by Wilfred Hyde White as Dr. Goodfellow (the new Huer); Jay Garner as Admiral Efram Asimov; Jeff David as snooty robot, Crichton; and Thom Christopher as Hawk, a descendant of fabled bird people.
The unflappable, feathered-crowned Hawk became a significant figure on the show and an equivalent to Mr. Spock. In fact, the relationship between Buck and Hawk matched that of "Trek'"s captain and first officer.
As such, second-season episodes were reminiscent of respected, science-fiction endeavors. One dealt with Buck facing a court martial just as James Kirk had (with convenient "Menagerie" type inserts to progress the tale); another with troublesome, little people, who'd give "Trek'"s tribbles a run for their money. Other aspects of the show referenced "the Empire Strikes Back" and the whimsical writings of Piers Anthony, such as "The Golden Man", which stressed character over action, even though it triggered one of the series' most perplexing and controversial endings. "The Guardians" was as contemplative as the best of "Trek"; "Galactica"; "Yamato"; or "Space: 1999".
Alas, in a fate akin to "Trek", NBC's shortsighted executives cut "Buck Rogers" short, due to skewed ratings. However, the show's legacy, supported by toys, models, magazines and other related paraphernalia, can't be ignored and to this day attracts collectors as much as that of any science-fiction franchise. In addition, Gerard, Gray, Hensley, Silla and Christopher appear at pop-cultural events to converse with their legion of fans.
Several years back, Frank "Sin City" Miller was linked to a possible, tongue-in-cheek remake, and an indie, period-piece feature (to costar Gerard and Gray in parental roles) was proposed, though never progressed beyond test footage. Nevertheless, for kids of the late '70s and early '80s, the pinnacle of the Nowlan's character stems from the Larson/Gerard reinterpretation.
"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" is available on DVD and Blu-ray in a complete-series box set and as separately packaged seasons. The adventures may vary in storytelling style and quality, but they faithfully reflect heroism, virtue, friendship and commitment, whether in the starry stretch of the distant future, the flashy past or the uncertain present. View 'em today. You'll feel all the better for it.
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