I
had a good time celebrating Space: 1999 and Breakaway Day last
Thursday -- and I’m anticipating
celebrating Star Trek: The Next
Generation’s 25th anniversary next Thursday -- so I thought
I would bridge the gap this week by featuring Buck Rogers Day.
As
you may know, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979 – 1981)
premiered on NBC thirty-three years ago this week.
The
series starred Gil Gerard as Captain William Buck Rogers, a man from 1987
hurled into the future year of 2491. The
series lasted for thirty-seven episodes and two seasons, and remains something
of a cultural touchstone for kids who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s.
The
first season features Buck and Wilma (Erin Gray) battling the Draconians and
Princess Ardala (Pamela Hensley), and working with Dr. Elias Huer (Tim O’Connor)
as kind of “secret agents” for the Earth Defense Directorate.
The
second, abbreviated season (which came after a Hollywood writer’s strike) saw Buck and
Wilma go out into deep space aboard the Searcher, a spaceship seeking the “lost
tribes” of Earth (from the time of a nuclear holocaust.) Our heroes were joined by a noble bird man
called Hawk (Thom Christopher) for that stretch of shows.
So,
without further preamble, we’ll begin Buck Rogers Day with a look back at the
theatrically-released “pilot” episode, “Awakening”…
The BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY 1979 movie/"Awakening"[slightly altered ending for the series] is the absolute best two hours of this entire series to me. I felt that way as a boy in '79 because before it was changed in episode 2. The facts established in "Awakening" is there is a computer council including Dr. Theopolis and there is a invisible Defense Shield that encompasses the entire Earth's outer atmosphere that not even the mighty Draconian StarFortress can not penetrate. Sadly, these facts were eliminated during season 1.
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