WTF Happened to Buck Rogers in the 25th Century? (1979)

In 1977, a little movie called Star Wars came out and quickly kicked off a sci-fi craze. Within two years, theatres were packed with Star Wars imitators, which extended to the small screen with Battlestar: Galactica and the show we’re talking about this week on Gone But Not Forgotten Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

Starring Gil Gerard as a 20th-century astronaut who winds up frozen for 500 years, only to awaken in the 25th Century where he does battle with the Draconian battle fleet, who seek to take over earth, the show had an interesting route to the small screen. Based on the classic character featured in comic strips and serials, the pilot film for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was released as a theatrical feature by Universal Pictures several months before the show made its debut. Grossing a very respectable $21 million, all signs pointed towards a long run on TV, but alas, just like its sister show Battlestar: Galactica (also from producer Glen A. Larson), it only ran for two seasons before being cancelled. Join us on this episode of Gone But Not Forgotten as we look back at this campy space classic.

#BuckRogersInThe25thCentury #GilGerard #GoneButNotForgotten

[Symon]

In the absence of a new series of Buck Rogers, we did get a show which very much embodied the spirit and vibe of Buck; Farscape.

[krishnajaipersad]

45 years later, I still enjoy season 1, season 2???? 4get about

[mug]

I vaguely remember the show but one thing I'm sure of, I loved it. Judging from the scenes, I remember the show mostly from the first season. I'll pretend the second season never happened.

[ginoames]

I loved this show. One of the only times I remember going to the movies with my Dad. He was a fan of the serials. I was all in. Loved the movie and the TV show. Christmas '79 was all about Buck. I got all the figures.

[captlazer]

The feature film was the best version with the Chicago ruins and Buck seeing what happened to earth.

[joeblogs-vxep]

Remember it well from its first time on UK TV me and my brother where big fans 👍

[baileykullman]

Watched the hell out of the pilot movie as a kid even got help from my dad to build a Earth fighter craft cockpit outta boxes. Suspension the title song has heavy rotation in my play list.

[shallendor]

A never forgettable show, it was so much fun to watch! Erin Grey was also too hot to forget, especially when she had to deal with the "Off-Think" problem!

[wildlifetails]

In the UK Buck Rogers was a huge hit - but well into the 1980s at Saturday primetime. Wilma is an icon of my teenage years. The second series was never shown - or if it was hidden in some timeslot I never saw - nor ever want to. somebody has said in the comments it had a natural successor that did it more justice - Farscape.

[krdragon]

I remember having the mego large size Buck Rogers action figure.

[somejackball]

was one of my favorite shows back then! I happened to catch Gil Gerard back around 91, or 92, by Universal Studios, heading into a Hotel there.. i did the Beedeebeedeebeedeebeedee thing, he looked over at me and did not seem all that impressed! lolz kind of just smirked, and shook his head! 😅

[edkwon]

One of the scenes that most aroused me in a confused way as a kid was the S2 ep where the psychic space dwarves didn't know what a female was and proceeded mentally undress Wilma to 'examine' her

[mycroft]

Loved the show. Only thing that was confusing to me - a kid growing up on the Space Coast - was how NASA fit an STS orbiter onto a Saturn V rocket.

[peternacken]

what happeend to the sound at 16:51? Only saw the movie a couple of times in the theater and could not believe how quickly it showed up on TV ... the series did not come out for a long time in my corner of the world back then

[hanoc]

They did Erin Gray dirty due to Gerard's ego.

[christopherwaldrop]

Even as a kid I found the season 2...uneven. I loved Hawk and still think he was a great character, and I liked "Time Of The Hawk", but “Journey to Oasis” started strong then got increasingly goofy and the whole series went downhill from there.

[ShamrockParticle]

Yeah, the movie had enough seriousness with the camp. Sadly, season 1 became way too campy and just numb or dumb with ideas, though the first handful of stories still hold up nicely. I liked season 2 at the time. While some season 2 episodes did not age well (e.g. headless horseman Mark Lenard), others did (Hawk, Giardians, Saurian, Testimony, Dorian... I should rewatch those and see if memories hold up...)

I preferred Chrichton over Twiki with ease. Nods to Orac and Avon rolled into one?

Loved Hawk but they never expanded on him in the way the opener promised.

Deering's outfit in season 2 did feel like "tennis in space"...

[DocMicrowave]

Full agree. S2 was terrible. Even by my standards as a kid who loved anything scifi back then.

[Vindix]

There is only a good episode in the second season: Testimony of a Traitor.

[maldaror]

Ahhh, the days when the future could be saved by an unreconstructed trucker from the 70's