Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series)
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is an American science fiction adventure television series produced by Universal Studios. The series ran for two seasons between September 1979 and April 1981 on NBC, and the feature-length pilot episode for the series was released as a theatrical film[2] before the series aired. The film and series were developed by Glen A. Larson and Leslie Stevens, based on the character Buck Rogers created in 1928 by Philip Francis Nowlan that had previously been featured in comic strips, novellas, a serial film, and on television and radio.[3]
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
- Gil Gerard
- Erin Gray
- Tim O'Connor (season 1)
- Felix Silla
- Mel Blanc
- Eric Server (season 1)
- Thom Christopher (season 2)
- Jay Garner (season 2)
- Wilfrid Hyde-White (season 2)
- Stu Phillips (theme)
- Johnny Harris (theme)
United States
2
37 (list of episodes)
60 min. (with commercials)
September 20, 1979 –
April 16, 1981
Home media[edit]
The theatrical version of the pilot film was released on VHS, Betamax, and Laserdisc in 1981. A handful of the episodes were issued in the US in 1985 by MCA Home Video: "Vegas in Space", "Space Vampire", "Return of the Fighting 69th", "Unchained Woman", "A Blast for Buck", "Happy Birthday Buck", "Space Rockers", and "The Guardians". In 1987, a single episode, "Ardala Returns", was released by Goodtimes Home Video, a budget release company. The same MCA tapes were re-released in the late 1990s. In other countries, several series episodes were released on VHS in the late 1990s. Australia released 10 volumes, covering all first-season episodes through "Space Rockers".
Universal Studios released the complete series on DVD in North America (Region 1) on November 16, 2004. While it does contain every episode from both seasons, the pilot episode included is the theatrical version and not the TV version. The set contains five double-sided discs.[14][15]
The series was released on DVD in Europe (Region 2), though each season was released separately as opposed to in one set like the Region 1 release. Season one was released on November 22, 2004, and season two on October 31, 2005, neither of which had the same cover artwork or menu screens as the Region 1 release. Notable differences are the addition of subtitles for various European languages.
On January 24, 2012, Universal Studios re-released season one as a six-disc set in North America. The discs were single-sided for this release, in contrast to the double-sided discs released in 2004. Season two was re-released with single-sided discs on January 8, 2013. As a bonus feature, the second-season set includes the television version of the original pilot film, "Awakening", the first time this version has been released on DVD.[16]
On August 17, 2016, Madman Entertainment released the series on Blu-ray to Australia and New Zealand in 1080p. The eight-disc set includes each episode in HD. Extras include theatrical version of the pilot episode and feature-length version of "Flight of the War Witch" (both in standard definition), the syndicated two-part version of "Journey to Oasis" (in HD), textless opening and closing credits sequences, opening credits without voice-over narration, and isolated music and effects audio tracks on each episode.[17] The Blu-ray sets have been released in various other countries since.
As of 2019, all the episodes are available for streaming for free on the NBC app.
Kino Lorber announced a Region 1 Blu-ray set to be released on November 24, 2020. It includes the movie (in HD for the first time on home media) and seasons one and two.
Reception[edit]
Contemporary assessments of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century were generally mixed. In his book Sci-Fi TV from Twilight Zone to Deep Space Nine, writer James Van Hise opined that the show's scripts "just never took advantage of what they had at hand" and criticized Larson's version of Buck Rogers as a cynical attempt to exploit one of the most loved characters in American popular culture.[18] John Javna's book The Best of Science Fiction TV included Buck Rogers in the 25th Century on its list of the "Worst Science Fiction Shows of All Time" (along with The Starlost, Space: 1999, and Manimal).[19] Journalist Bill Lengeman also strongly criticized the program, stating "the acting is so wooden that Ed Wood himself (no pun intended) would surely have gone weak in the knees and wept openly upon witnessing it." Lengemen also called the Buck Rogers episode "Space Rockers" the worst episode of TV science fiction he had ever seen.[20] On a more positive note, writing in the UK's Observer newspaper in October 1980 (shortly after the series began showing there), journalist Clive James stated, "the best comic-strip science fiction on at the moment is Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. The hardware looks good and Wilma Deering looks simply sensational, like Wonder Woman with brains."[21]
Filmink thought the series did not live up to its pilot, in particular the Buck-Wilma-Ardala triangle, arguing "the writers forgot the simple motivations and characterisations. Poor old Wilma was disempowered and shunted to the side, where she held Buck’s water while he had adventures and was thus no threat to Ardala (this was reportedly due to Gil Gerard’s sulking over the prominence given to Wilma on the show). They also forgot Ardala’s motivation was to use Buck politically to get an edge on her 23 siblings, not just because she found him hot. Pamela Hensley was everything you wanted in a silly '70s sci-fi epic and on one hand the producers knew it (they kept bringing her back), but on the other they didn't know how to exploit it."[22]