Buck Rogers (TV) seems to be on tap- still no sign of Rockford or Kolchak (1 Viewer)

[Paul_Scott]

i caught up with the show again around 97/98 and the first season has a lot of cheese.
not just in the physical production (sets, costumes, etc), but in the low concept of the stories (vegas in space, the 'love boat' in space,the miss galaxy contest, etc, etc).
i haven't seen it in a while, but my memeories were that the second short season was actually the more interesting of the two.


just look at the titles of the eps

The First Season

1.... Awakening - Part 1 (9/20/1979)
2.... Awakening - Part 2 (9/20/1979)
3.... Planet Of The Slave Girls - Part 1 (9/27/1979)
4.... Planet Of The Slave Girls - Part 2 (9/27/1979)
5.... Vegas In Space (10/4/1979)
6.... The Plot To Kill A City - Part 1 (10/11/1979)
7.... The Plot To Kill A City - Part 2 (10/18/1979)
8.... Return of the Fighting 69th (10/25/1979)
9.... Unchained Woman (11/1/1979)
10.. Planet Of The Amazon Women (11/8/1979)
11.. Cosmic Wiz Kid (11/22/1979)
12.. Escape From Wedded Bliss (11/29/1979)
13.. Cruise Ship To The Stars (12/27/1979)
14.. Space Vampire (1/31/1980)
15.. Happy Birthday, Buck (1/10/1980)
16.. A Blast For Buck (1/17/1980)
17.. Ardala Returns (1/24/1980)
18.. Twiki Is Missing (1/31/1980)
19.. Olympiad (2/7/1980)
20.. A Dream Of Jennifer (2/14/1980)
21.. Space Rockers (2/21/1980)
22.. Buck's Duel To The Death (3/20/1980)
23.. Flight Of The War Witch - Part 1 (3/27/1980)
24.. Flight Of The War Witch - Part 2 (4/3/1980)

The Second Season

25.. Time Of The Hawk - Part 1(1/15/1981)
26.. Time Of The Hawk - Part 2 (1/15/1981)
27.. Journey To Oasis - Part 1 (1/22/1981)
28.. Journey To Oasis - Part 2 (1/22/1981)
29.. The Guardians (1/29/1981)
30.. The Mark Of The Saurian (2/5/1981)
31.. The Golden Man (2/19/1981)
32.. The Crystals (3/5/1981)
33.. The Satyr (3/12/1981)
34.. Shgoratchx! (3/19/1981)
35.. The Hand Of The Goral (3/26/1981)
36.. Testimony Of A Traitor (4/9/1981)
37.. The Dorian Secret (4/16/1981)

i haven't seen them in a few years to actually be positive, but to me Testimony Of A Traitor at least sounds a little more sophisticated than Space Rockers and A Blast For Buck.
and of course, if the titles weren't proof enough, the first season contains two appearences by Gary Colman, capitalizing on his enormous appeal at the time (in fact, when these were made, his show was a LOT more popular than BR).

still, for someone who grew up with the show, like i did, i'll still enjoy it for nostalgia, but -like Galactica- the inherent quality and sophistication of the show (first season especially) doesn't lend itself to very compelling viewing on its own.

jmo, of course.

and i still hope it sells well, as i would love to see the second season again, and i have a big interest in seeing more of Universals 70s genre product ( The Bionic Woman like most of Ken Johnsons productions holds up really well)

 

[Nathan*W]

I offered a re-imagining of Buck Rogers in this thread.

 

[Britton]

Let me just say that Twiki's head is perhaps the dirtiest thing ever to make it on TV screens.

I used to watch this show as a wee lad and was completely fascinated by the opening credits. There was just something about them that was hypnotic.

 

[DougFND]

I'll be buying, but probably just the first season. The show is dated, yes. But, dudes, Erin Grey circa '79 may be on of the most beautiful women I've ever seen.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I watched Buck Rogers and Battlestar Galactica a few years back on SCI-FI they were both shows I had fond memories of as a kid. I was suprised at how well BattleStar held up. Some 70's clothing and hairstyle for sure but the show was still good. Now Buck Roger ewwww. I had a difficult time ever believing I was in the future in this show because of the constant disco clothes, hair and music and the scripts are much cheesier than Battlestar. Buck Rogers today would best be discribed now as Sid and Marty Kroft meets The Love Boat meets the Brady Bunch.
So as much as I love revisting old shows and collecting them I would have to really think twice about purchasing Buck Rogers.

 

[Craig: Mclaren]

Whats that? Its the 20th Aniversary of "Miami Vice" this year. Oh well I guess they can release this along with Buck Rogers then.

 

[NickT]

Yes, it was Frank Gorshin. I believe his character's name was Kellog. I remember that because he's named after a cereal brand.

 

[Will_B]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed that. It had to be intentional, right?

 

[Gary->dee]

Oh you guys. As adults we're able to associate Twiki's head with a certain part of the male anatomy but how many of us were able to as a kid when our minds were freer and weren't as corrupted? :p) I guess you see what you want to see. I think Twiki's head looks like a page-boy or quasi-Prince Valiant haircut. Basically he looks like a mechanical little boy with a bowl hairstyle(and Mel Blanc's grouchy voice!).


Well, I think it depends on what you consider 'cool' or whatever or maybe how jaded you've become since you first saw it. BR was always on the corny side but that's why I liked it. It was never supposed to be as serious or thought-provoking as Trek, Galactica or Star Wars for that matter. It was another option to those shows and movies. Key word being fun. And Gil Gerard has a great, open personality. I can't imagine the show any other way and I'm glad it was how it was. I like the 70's/early 80's sets, clothing and everything else about it that might scream 'dated' to some but to me it's like... time travel!

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Thanks for the Post!

Neil

 

[Nathan*W]

Didn't Colonel Deering have to report to General Mills?

 

[david_slater]

i have them recorded on dvd but i cant wait till the real DVD's are Released. i have 1000's of dvd's.
i buy them all.... lol

 

[TomJC]

I'd buy this, but just the first season. They tried to turn it into Star Trek in the second season and it just didn't work.

And I guess I'll be the odd one out and proclaim that I think Battlestar Galactica has aged worse than Buck Rogers. This may come, though, from Buck having been from the 20th century, so it made sense for the show to have the feel of the eighties.

 

[John_Berger]

It's not in the first seaon, but everything time I think of Erin Gray, I only think "Off-think, off-think, off-think."

 

[David Lambert]

Possible reason why Universal is releasing this. According to one e-mail I got, which I've been unable to verify the truth of, "Gil was going to release the series on his own, 'for the fans', and this was the final thing that convinced Universal to bring it out". Or wording to that effect...I won't go looking for it right now.

I personally find that hard to believe, because I don't see what legal leg Gerard would have to stand on. Still, it might just be that cast influence (Gerard and Gray are both repped by the same publicist, so that doesn't hurt) was the final straw on top of the things that Randy Salas mentioned.


John: me too! :b