BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY lasted a mere season and a half on NBC, but the way fans fuss over it, you'd think it ran forever. Co-star Erin Gray, who played Spandex-clad warrior Wilma Deering, has a lot to do with the series' continued effect on fanboys, but also the show's humor, special effects, and Gil Gerard's charming performance as Captain William "Buck" Rogers.
The show had two major strikes against it heading into its second season. First, the series changed formats. Instead of Buck, Wilma, Dr. Huer (Tim O'Connor), and Twiki (Felix Silla with the voice of Mel Blanc) battling space villains from their home base of New Chicago, Earth, the cast--and some newcomers--launched into outer space on a search mission similar to that of executive producer Glen A. Larson's earlier series BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.
The other setback was a writers strike that pushed back the 1980-81 fall season, so that BUCK ROGERS' second season didn't premiere until January 1981, nearly ten months after the last episode of Season 1.
Fans didn't take to the new format or cast members, and BUCK ROGERS was dead by April. Unfortunately, I can't find any clips of the series' opening titles online, but I can present this fan trailer for the series, which isn't bad at all.
They get extra points from me for having Tamara Dobson on the birthday episode. That first season episode and all the others can be found available for instant online viewing at Netflix.
ReplyDeleteBe-da, be-da, be-da. I like the movable sets.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Steven G. Willis
XOWComics.com
That second season is really insufferable. I excitedly bought the Complete Series set when it first came out, devoured the first season episodes, and suffered through the second season, just to confirm that it was as bad as I recall. Saw several episodes that I had never seen before because even as an 11-year-old I had the good taste to bail on the series before it limped to a finish.
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