Buck Rogers in the 21st Century - Page 7

Anyone know the reasoning behind the voice change of Twiki for about the first half of season 2 ?

Twiki has a little boys voice were they trying to phase him out of the show at that point since he doesn't get much to do ? Also Wilma tended to wear alot of baggy clothes for first half of season 2 aswell.

Then at about the mid-way point Twiki gets his old voice back and once gain buck actually acknowledges him and they go on a mission together. Wilma gets back her skintight clothes aswell. Perhaps a last minute attempt to save the show ?

Mel Blanc was ill.

Also, there was an almost universal panning of the "wimpy" replacment voice, and many fans (and publications like Starlog) writing about how insane it was to replace Twiki's voice and demanding the return of Mel Blanc.

As for Wilma's clothes...her mini-skirts weren't exactly form-fitting, but hey, they were mini skirts, so they did show off her legs! At least they didn't make her wear that stupid "flight attendant" hat that was originally to have been a part of the costume (it turns up in some of the publicity photos).

I found S2 so awful (back when the show was on its original run), that I never made past a couple of episodes. Which episode exactly do Wilma's outfits change back to their original sub-glory (or do they)?

Ted

I have this set on my Christmas wish list, so I will be interested in seeing the show again. I've seen a couple of eps on Sci-Fi, but I'd like to revisit it some more. Even if it does seem quite a bit dated at this point.

I was looking forward to this one and, last year, to Battlestar Galactica. I find Buck much more enjoyable. It's funnier, doesn't take itself as seriously and is even pretty exciting. I've enjoyed Battlestar too, but not as much. These came from the same creative teams, so it's not unfair to compare them. There is a lot about Buck I didn't remember, and I'm glad to have it on DVD. The show just seems more vibrant than Battlestar.

Yeah, that's how I feel as well. A couple of months ago, having seen the mini-series remake of BSG and having a pretty bad reaction to it, I decided to go and revisit the original BSG as I had pretty fond memories of it. I was watching my bank balance (clever bank), so I went for the theatrical feature rather than the series box set. I was glad I did because the whole enterprise was a crashing disappointment (not helped by a lousy transfer). Buck Rogers on the other hand was as nutty as I remembered it. To a certain extent I think Buck Rogers inspired me at that time more than Star Wars, so I'm enjoying revisiting the show. It was, I might reiterate, the show that broke my Doctor Who habit as it was screened in the UK at the same time - and before video recorders.

The R2 version doesn't include the season two stories (thank goodness - the show really fell apart that at that point) but it does include all the fun bits and some agonisingly cheesy stories. I look on it as what might have happened if Burt Reynolds had jumped on the Star Wars bandwagon.

There's a thought. Jackie Gleason as Buford T Tarkin: "Princess Leia, once we have the plans, we gonna go over to Alderaan and smack yo' papa in the mouf."

"so I went for the theatrical feature rather than the series box set"

And that Mark, is the absolute WORST way to reintroduce oneself to Galactica. The theatrical cut of the pilot film is 40 minutes shorter than what was broadcast, missing several key scenes of character development, and on top of that you're not taking into account how Galactica's overall quality is measured by the strength of series episodes like "Lost Planet Of The Gods", "Living Legend" (Commander Cain and the Battlestar Pegasus), "War Of The Gods" and "The Hand Of God."

And when it comes to the DVD set of the series, never has a TV series been given more first class treatment. The transfers on the episodes are superb, and the supplements are unique in offering more deleted footage for a TV series than we are ever apt to see.

I have nothing against Buck Rogers, which I saw very little of during its run, but if this is going to turn into a bash Battlestar Galactica thread, I'm going to have to say in its defense that it was the most innovative TV series for its time, especially in how it was the first to break the mold by presenting story arcs and character development rather than a formulaic adventure week after week where the characters never change and are never affected by what went on before (Star Trek). If anything, the kind of standards that are now expected in sci-fi TV are ones that Galactica was the first trailblazer in.

Thanks i was only about 9 or 10 at the time i couldn't recall.



Good to hear because that voice is just downright terrible! They shoulda atleast let twiki have a deeper voice! Most of the time they didn't let him talk at all, but the few times he did it was cringe time. Thankfully Mel was able to return for the last several episodes.



Ted: yes she does indeed go back to her tight outfits of the first season. Starting with the episode the Satyr and the rest of the way. She is also seen with her skirt a few times still but it was nice to have wilma back in good form :b

Season 2 was still kinda fun as i liked the Hawk Character. I vaguely remember him getting his own spinoff show. But maybe thats just in my head. I do agree though that it definately was not as good as the first year.

I really thought the final episode "The Dorian Secret" was well done and one of the best of the series run. But that's just my opinion. might wanna check that one out if you get a chance.

On that I would agree. I never meant to "bash" Battlestar in the least in my earlier post; I was simply commenting on differences between the two series and that I was enjoying Buck's lighter tone more. But Battlestar was a good show overall -- the episodes you mention are good examples of bringing a bigger scope to sci-fi, especially in the late 1970s. And the DVD treatment it got is very good. (I was less a fan of the Sci Fi Channel mini-series last year, although I will give the new series a chance come January 2005.)

But to get back to the topic at hand, the Buck DVDs are also well done, albeit not perfect. I watched "Space Vampire" yesterday and was laughing out loud a few times. Good campy fun.

Okay, let's set the record straight. I remembered BSG and Buck Rogers very fondly from my youth - as fondly as Original Star Trek and Star Wars. I splashed out on Buck Rogers, and I'm highly delighted with that. BSG on the other hand I'd first encountered as the Sensurround theatrical version. A while ago I'd bought the DVD of Earthquake, and run through my HT setup I'd been very happy with that. I thought the theatrical version of BSG would be as much fun as I remembered, for only the equivalent of US$20 (and of course at the time I bought it, the BSG box set was the equivalent of US$96). The disc was a disappointment - mainly because of the transfer. Fortunately the BSG box set is in the Xmas sales for =US$38, so you can guess what's going to be a belated Christmas present.

Merry Christmas, and to all a Good Night!

Any chance they will have another run of Buck Rodgers anytime soon, kinda similar to what they are doing with Battlestar?

I would tend to doubt it. I think the main reason for another run of BG was the original big cylon head packaging, most people didn't like it and i think it also was limited. I could be wrong on that though. Maybe at some point BR would get a lower msrp, but as far as everything else goes, this is probably as good as it will get.

Watching more of the show yesterday, I think one valid criticizm of it is that it didn't really have a sense of vision that other shows, like Battlestar or Star Trek, had. Buck was an adventure show that's just based in the future, but the events of each week are similar to that of any adventure show - jail breaks, kidnappings, vengenance against the boss, world domination, etc. That's fine, and that's what Buck Rogers should be. But I don't get a sense of the world they live in -- unlike say, TNG where a whole social-political world is set up.

The plots of the 1st two eps of BSG and Buck were nearly the same too, with the warriors going down with an unknown virus.

Yeah, Stephane, that's right. They just switched formats like that between seasons, with no detailed explanation other than "time to explore deep space".

Is anyone 'in the know' able to answer what will happen with the Region 2 Buck set (since we didn't get season two in the original release) - if it was generally accepted as poorer, and cut short, do you think it will be released here at all - and should I worry if it isn't, or do I have the best episodes and all that's worth collecting?
How many will I be missing?

Just about finished with the season 2 episodes, and there's a dramatic difference between seasons 1 and 2. The later episodes are much more childish -- the one about the seven midgets on board the ship and the one about the goat-man were both about as bad as science fiction television has ever been. What happened between seasons 1 and 2? I mean, season 1 was certainly not on a par with the best of Star Trek, or the X-Files, or other great series, but at least it was a fun show that brought pulp sci-fi to a weekly audience. The show had style and sex appeal and a very charming lead actor. But the second season lost all of that. Were they trying to bury it? Could they have been hoping to get picked up for Saturday morning TV? Also, in season 2, the crew of the Searcher mention they are looking for "the lost tribes of Earth." Any chance there were plans to run into that other ship from that other Glen A Larsen series, Battlestar Galactica?

Sam, I agree. The differences between S1 & S2 are like 2 separate series. I actually got the series pack just for Season 1. I liked the series enough to get it on DVD only for S1. I probably won't even watch the S2 disks since I didn't like S2 when it aired.

I used a gift certificate from Christmas on Amazon to get this pack since I didn't want to spend my $'s for only half a series pack

Re: Buck Rogers in the 21st Century

Reviving an ancient thread with a bit of newish info. I've also posted this on a science-fiction board, but felt it perhaps should be noted here as well.

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I just recently purchased the BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th CENTURY DVD set in Wal-Mart. I happened to be in there, looking around, and saw it for $19.86. Since it included both seasons, and there were a few fondly remembered things about the show, I decided to pick it up.

So for the last few days, I've been watching an episode or five here and there, delving into the Internet scuttlebut about both the series and the DVD set, and I have an interesting observation regarding the casting of Erin Gray in the role of Wilma Deering.

As we all know, Ms. Gray was hired to play Col. Deering for the theatrical movie that served as the pilot for the TV series. When the series began filming, though, I've learned that she must have been a holdout for one reason or another, and Juanin Clay was hired to play the Col. Deering character for the series run.

The general story that I've read on the Internet is that Juanin Clay was pushed aside when Erin Gray decided to accept the Deering role, and that Ms. Clay was given a "consolation role" instead in the "Vegas In Space" episode.

While watching that episode, I've come to a slightly different conclusion about how the events must have taken place based on the evidence on the DVD itself. My theory is that Ms. Clay was indeed hired to play Col. Wilma Deering, and began actually playing and filming that role in the "Vegas In Space" episode. In the early scene of her in Dr. Huer's office with Cesar Romero, there's a line where Huer introduces Juanin Clay's character to Mr. Romero's character. If you look closely, you'll see that Tim O'Connor is not mouthing the words "Major Marla Landers" even though that's what we hear. It's unclear just what his mouth IS saying, but I was reasonably sure that it must have been "Col. Wilma Deering".

My suspicions were confirmed in the next-to-last scene of the episode, where the characters are all back in Huer's office, and Buck turns to Marla and clearly mouths "Wilma" while we hear "Marla". Since Cesar Romero was in that scene as well, my assumptions are that his scenes were all filmed at the same time, when it was still Ms. Clay's job to be Wilma Deering. Sometime shortly thereafter, Erin Gray must have been hired, and her scenes were filmed around the main story, with the change of Juanin Clay's character to Marla Landers. I'm guessing this was done due to the unavailability, or perhaps just the cost of paying Cesar Romero for another day's work - something the producers probably didn't want to do or couldn't work out. Thus, a slight re-write, some looping of dialog, and voila, the job is done - good enough for network TV audiences in 1979.

And with the magic of DVD, we're able to unlock some of those old secrets.

Harry

Re: Buck Rogers in the 21st Century

I picked this set up right before Christmas. Amazon was having an incredible sale and it was only $15.99. I had called my brother to let him know and he said he wasn't a big enough fan of the show. I said, for that price they are basically giving it to you for free.

I haven't started watching yet but look forward to reliving the series. Fun show!

Re: Buck Rogers in the 21st Century

Nice to see this revived. This was a fun show, and the DVDs present the material well, despite being on the sometimes fauly double-sided discs. There is an episode or two on my set that won't play all the way through.

Re: Buck Rogers in the 21st Century

I, too, am glad all the episodes are on there, but wish Universal had pushed the boat out a little, like they did for Battlestar Galactica. I'm sure there's a bunch of unused footage (particularly from the original movie, including additional scenes of Draco that were cut before release) lying around like there was for Galactica. Would've also been nice to have gotten the "epilogue" scene from the TV version of the pilot as an extra (if not an alternate version). Heck, if I recall correctly, both Gil Gerard and Erin Gray expressed interest at the time to provide a commentary track for the pilot film, but Universal couldn't even be bothered with that.

Kind of makes me wish I'd waited to buy this in a sale, though. Bought it when it came out (at around $40). The price cut on this set (along with Alien Nation) was probably the final straw for me as far as pre-ordering goes. Now, I almost always play the waiting game and never pre-order, as I know it's just going to be cheaper a few months (or a year) down the line. Very little I just can't wait for.

Re: Buck Rogers in the 21st Century

I got the set a few weeks ago at Wal Mart for $19. The only problem, there was no booklet. And, in emailing Universal, I have yet to hear back about getting a replacement book. I guess they no longer have them in stock and are ignoring me.

Re: Buck Rogers in the 21st Century

Mine from Walmart came with the insert/booklet enclosed. It's a strange one, though, with the listings of the DVD's contents rather non-intuitively laid out. If you unfold it and read it the way you'd think was proper, the listing is whacked-out. Apparently, the creators of the booklet had some kind of idea that everyone would unfold these the same way, and would understand their logic in the way they placed the "pages" in it.

It's not a big deal for me. Packaging and inserts are an afterthought with me. As long as the DVD's contain what I want them to contain, I'm happy.

You can tell there was no attempt at cleaning these episodes up. I think basically what we got was whatever was in the syndication package before any editing was done. The episodes have a dirt and grit to them, particularly at the start of each episode. Once you get into the show though, the prints look nice and clean.

And yet that's the way these aired on network TV. I dug out an old VHS tape from the original NBC broadcast of the pilot and the dirt is still in the same places!

Back in 1979, I guess TV displays still weren't all that good, so the program suppliers and networks went for the lowest common denominator in terms of picture quality.

Harry

Re: Buck Rogers in the 21st Century

I'm normally the same way, but with a set like this, I don't even know what episodes are on what disc, or if there are any extras, or anything like that.