BUCK ROGERS IN THE
TWENTY-FIFTH CENTURY
The year is 1987 and NASA launches the last of America's deep space probes. In a freak mishap Ranger 3 and its pilot Captain William 'Buck' Rogers are blown out of their trajectory into an orbit which freezes his life support systems and returns Buck Rogers to Earth 500 years later.
Download sound file of the above here: opening.wav
Introduction
Welcome to my Buck Rogers Page, dedicated to the science fiction television series "Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth Century" which first ran on NBC in the United States, and on CTV in Canada, from September of 1979 through to August of 1981.
If you see anything on this site that is incorrect, or have any concerns or questions please send me an email to Mark Weller at weller43@cox.net.
Contents
Buck Rogers Regular Cast Listing
Notable Buck Rogers Guest Stars
Gil
Gerard
as Captain William 'Buck' Rogers
Erin Gray as Colonel Wilma Deering
Tim
O'Connor
as Dr. Elias Huer
(1st season)
Felix
Silla
as Twiki
Mel
Blanc
as the voice of Twiki
(1st season, and again late in
the second season)
Bob
Elyea
as the voice of Twiki
(first half of the second season)
Howard F. Flynn as the voice of Dr. Theopolis (first episode only)
Eric
Server as the voice of Dr. Theopolis
(remainder of the first season)
Pamela Hensley as Princess Ardala
(recurring character - 1st season)
Thom
Christopher as Hawk
(2nd season)
Wilfrid Hyde-White as Dr. Goodfellow
(2nd season)
Jay
Garner as Admiral Asimov
(2nd season)
Paul
Carr as Lt. Devlin ( 2nd season)
Jeff
David
as the voice of Crichton (2nd season)
Also..
Dennis Haysbert as Lieutenant Parson.
Alex Hyde-White as Ensign Moore.
and William Conrad - the Narrator (first season)
..and some of the very Cool Guest Stars!
Michael Ansara as Kane in 'Escape from Wedded Bliss', 'Ardala Returns' and 'Flight of the War Witch'
Gary Coleman as
Hieronymus Fox in 'Cosmic Wiz Kid' and 'A Blast for Buck'
Buster
Crabbe (pictured) as
Brigadier Gordon in 'Planet of the Slave Girls' (and who played Buck Rogers in
the 1930's movie serial)
Jamie
Lee Curtis as
Jen Burton in 'Unchained Woman'
Frank
Gorshin (pictured) as
Kellogg in 'The Plot to Kill a City'
Peter
Graves as
Noah Cooper in 'Return of the Fighting 69th'
Mark
Lenard as
Ambassador Duvoe in 'Journey to Oasis'
Barbara
Luna as
Koori in 'Time of the Hawk' and 'The Guardians'
Roddy
McDowall as
Governor Saroyan in 'Planet of the Slave Girls'
Richard
Moll as
Yara in 'Space Rockers'
Julie
Newmar as
Zarina in 'Flight of the War Witch'
Jack
Palance as
Kaleel in 'Planet of the Slave Girls'
Markie
Post
(pictured) as Joella Cameron in 'The Plot to
Kill a City'
Cesar
Romero as
Amos Armat in 'Vegas in Space'
Henry
Silva as
Kane in 'Awakening'
Dorothy
Stratten as
Miss Cosmos in 'Cruise Ship to the Stars'
Ray Walston as Roderick Zale in 'Cosmic Wiz Kid'
Buck Rogers Episode Guide
1st Season : 1979-1980
Awakening (2 hour premier movie)
aired: September 20, 1979
Written by Glen A. Larson and Leslie Stevens. Directed by Daniel Haller.
Guest Cast: Pamela Hensley as Princess Ardala, Henry Silva as Kane, Duke Butler as Tigerman, Joseph Wiseman as Draco, Caroline Smith (I) as Delta Section, John D. Carter as Supervisor, Kevin Coates as Pilot, David Cadiente as Comtel Officer, Larry Duran as Draconian Guard, Kenny Endoso as Draconian Guard, Eric Lawrence as Officer, H.B. Haggerty as Tigerman, Colleen Kelly as Wrather, Steve Jones (I) as Pilot, Gil Serna as Technician, David Buchanan (I) as Pilot, Burt Marshall as Wingman, John Rayner (I) as Computer Council (voice), Guerin Barry as Computer Council (voice).
In
the not so distant future, NASA launches the probe Ranger 3, piloted by astronaut
Captain William "Buck" Rogers, on a mission to explore space.
Unfortunately, the ship craft runs into a storm of strange meteors, and the life
support system of Ranger 3 is disrupted. Buck is placed into a state of
suspended animation, and the ship is cast into an orbit that returns the vessel
to the vicinity of Earth 500 years later. Fast forward to 2491 when the
still frozen Buck is intercepted by the flagship of the Draconian Empire, (the
Draconia - it figures) which is headed to Earth on a "peace"
mission. Once aboard the flagship, Buck is revived and brought before the
Princess Ardala and her crony Kane, who are planning to use the ruse of a peace
mission as a prelude to an attack on Earth.
Buck is sent to Earth by the Draconians with a homing device hidden aboard Ranger 3. Escorted to the city of New Chicago, Buck meets Dr. Huer and Colonel Wilma Deering. Unsure whether Buck is telling the truth about being a 500 year old man, or if he is in fact a spy, Huer assigns Captain Rogers a chaperone - the computer council member Dr. Theopolis and his ambuquad Twiki. When the homing beacon is discovered, Buck is given a last chance to prove he is not a spy, and is taken back to the Draconian flagship. Once there, he discovers the Draconian duplicity and helps the Earth forces repel the attack, clearing his name and saving the day.
Planet of the Slave Girls (2 hour special)
aired: Sept. 27, 1979
Written by Steve Greenberg, Aubrey Solomon and Cory Applebaum. Directed by Michael Caffey.
Guest Cast: Macdonald Carey as Dr. Mallory, Karen Carlson as Stella Warden, Buster Crabbe as Brigadier Gordon, Sheila DeWindt as Major Fields, Robert Dowdell as Galen, David Groh as Major Duke Danton, Brianne Leary as Ryma, Diane Markoff as female pilot, Don Marshall (II) as Julio, Michael Masters as worker, Don Maxwell as guard, Roddy McDowall as Governor Siroyan, Michael Mullins (I), Jack Palance as Kaleel, and June Whitley Taylor as woman.
Brief Synopsis: Poison food discs have grounded most of Earth's starfighter pilots, so Buck and Wilma and Wilma's old boyfriend Danton travel to the planet Vistula where the food shipment came from. The team traces the tainted discs to a charismatic religious leader named Kaleel (pictured, played by Jack Palance) who has been selling slaves to the planet's governor (played by Roddy McDowall). Kaleel plans to attack Earth once the fighter pilots are all suffering from poison. Only Buck can rescue the girl, destroy the fleet and save the day. But is there time?
Vegas
in Space aired: October 4,
1979
Written by Anne Collins. Directed by Sigmund Neufeld.
Guest Cast: Ana Alicia as Falina Redding, Ted Chapman as Man, Juanin Clay as Major Marla Landers, Alice Frost as Rita, James Luisi as Hood, Richard Lynch (I) as Malton Velosi, Cesar Romero as Amos Armat, Pamela Susan Shoop as Tangie, Joseph Wiseman as Carl Morphus.
Buck is sent to the gambling Mecca of Sinaloa - a kind of Las Vegas, but on a space station, to rescue a woman who has been kidnapped by Sinaloa's evil ruler, Velosi. Velosi plans to extract some information from the woman's mind in order to destroy one of his competitors.
Plot to Kill a City
Part 1
aired: October 11,
1979. Part 2 aired: October 18,
1979.
Written by Alan Brennert. Directed by Dick Lowry.
Guest Cast: Victor Argo as Raphael Argus, Sena Ayn Black as woman, Nancy DeCarl as Sherese, John Furlong as 1st cop, Seamon Glass as pirate, Frank Gorshin as Kellogg, Anthony James (I) as Varek, Markie Post as Joella Cameron, John Quade as Quince, Richard Reed (I) as 1st rowdy, Whitney Rydbeck as Hartsteen, James Sloyan as Barney Smith and Robert Tessier as Marcos.
After a Defense Directorate agent kills a member of a group of interstellar assassins, the assassins plot to take their revenge on the city of New Chicago. Buck masquerades as one of them and joins the group, but is soon uncovered. He must now, not only escape, but also stop the assassins from detonating New Chicago's matter/antimatter energy plant. Yikes!
Return
of the Fighting 69th aired: October 25,
1979
Written by David Bennett Carren. Directed by Phil Leacock.
Guest Cast: Elizabeth Allen (I) as Roxanne Trent, Peter Graves (I) as Noah Cooper, K.T. Stevens and Woody Strode.
Two evil gun runners, with vengeance against Wilma Deering in their mind, are plotting to destroy the Earth with 20th century era chemical weapons. With the aid of retired members of the legendary Fighting 69th Earth Defense Squadron, Buck and Wilma attack their base hidden deep in an asteroid field.
Unchained Woman
aired: November 1, 1979
Written by Bill Taylor. Directed by Dick Lowry.
Guest Cast: Daniel Ades as Gymon, Tara Buckman as Majel, Robert Cornthwaite as Ted Warwick, Jamie Lee Curtis as Jen Burton, Michael Delano as Malary Pantera, Bert Rosario as Serio Sanwiler, Jim B. Smith as Shuttle Captain, and Charles Walker (I) as Lt. Zimmerman.
Buck masquerades as a convict in order to break Jen Burton (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), out of prison. The Earth Directorate hopes to use her as a witness in their pursuit of her former boyfriend, who is a wanted criminal and a pirate. Breaking out of the underground prison, Buck and Jen head across the desert to rendezvous with Wilma, but are doggedly pursued by an angry android prison guard.
Planet of the Amazon Women
aired: November 8, 1979
Written by Richard Fontana and D.C. Fontana. Directed by Phil Leacock.
Guest Cast: Wally K. Berns as pilot, Ann Dusenberry as Ariela, Liberty Godshall as Nyree, Anne Jeffreys as Prime Minister, Jay Robinson (I) as Cassius Thorne, Teddi Siddall as Linea, and Antoinette Stella (I) as Jayel.
Buck is kidnapped and brought to the planet Zantia, where he finds himself being auctioned off to the highest bidder! Ariela, the daughter of the planet's Prime Minister wins the auction, and tells Buck that the planet's male population are being held as prisoners of war by the Ruathans. Buck agrees to help the Zantian women in their attempt to free their men from capture.
Cosmic
Wiz Kid aired: November 15, 1979
Written by Alan Brennert and Anne Collins. Directed by Lesley Martinson.
Guest Cast: Gary Coleman as Hieronymous Fox, Melody Rogers (I) as Dea Zertan and Ray Walston as Roderick Zale.
Hieronymus Fox (played by Gary Coleman), a boy genius from the 20th Century, who is also the President of the planet Genesia, is kidnapped for ransom by the evil Roderick Zale (played by Ray Walston). Buck, Wilma, and Fox's bodyguard attempt to rescue the boy.
Escape
From Wedded Bliss aired: November 29, 1979
Written by Cory Applebaum, Patrick Hobby and Michael Bryant. Directed by David Moessinger.
Guest Cast: Michael Ansara as Kane, H.B. Haggerty as Tigerman, Pamela Hensley as Princess Ardala, and Alfred Ryder as Garedon.
Princess Ardala returns to try to make Buck her husband. Stationing a powerful weapon in orbit over the Earth, she commands Earth's leaders to turn Buck Rogers over to her. They do.
Cruise
Ship to the Stars aired: December 27, 1979
Written by Anne Collins, Alan Brennert and Michael Bryant (pseud.). Directed by Sigmund Neufeld.
Guest Cast: Kimberly Beck as Allison Michaels, Brett Halsey as Cruise Ship Captain, Patty Maloney as Tina the Robot, Leigh McCloskey as Jay, Trisha Noble as Sabrina, and Dorothy Stratten as Miss Cosmos.
Love Boat in Space! While on a cruise, Buck investigates the attempted kidnapping of the newly crowned beauty queen Miss Cosmos (played by Dorothy Stratten) by a mysterious woman.
Space Vampire
aired: January
3, 1980
Written by Kathleen Barnes and David Wise. Directed by Larry Stewart.
Guest Cast: Phil Hoover as Helson, Nicholas Hormann as Vorvon, Lincoln Kilpatrick as Dr. Ecbar, David Moses (I) as Technician, and Christopher Stone (I) as Space Station Commander Royko.
Wilma and Buck investigate what is thought to be a serious disease that is killing inhabitants of Space Station Theta. Buck comes to believe that the dead have actually been attacked by a Vorvon, a Space Vampire who drains the life energy from his victims, and he fears that Wilma has fallen prey to the creature's spell.
Happy Birthday, Buck
aired: January 10,
1980
Written by Marty Pasko. Directed by Sigmund Neufeld.
Guest Cast: Morgan Brittany as Raylyn Derren, Tamara Dobson as Dr. Delora Bayliss, Gina Gallego as Woman, Harry Gold as Alien Squadron Leader, Chip Johnson as Carew, Peter MacLean as Col. Cornell Traeger, Eric Mason (II) as Lt. Garth, Victoria Woodbeck as Technician, and Bruce Wright (I) as Rorvik.
It's Buck's birthday! (no. 534), and Wilma and Dr. Huer plan a surprise party to cheer up the homesick astronaut. While this is going on, Buck stumbles across the schemes of a lunatic with transmutation powers who, together with his former psychiatrist, plans to kill Dr. Huer!
A Blast for
Buck
aired: January 17, 1980
Written by John Gaynor and Dick Nelson. Directed by David Phinney.
Guest Cast: Gary Coleman as Hieronymous Fox.Buck allows himself to be given a mind probe in an attempt to find out who is responsible for the mysterious objects being teleported into the Defense Directorate building. (This show featured clips from all the previous episodes.)
Ardala Returns
aired: January 24, 1980
Written by Chris Bunch and Allan Cole. Directed by Larry Stewart.
Guest Cast: Betty A. Bridges as technician, James Emery as pilot, H.B. Haggerty as Tigerman, Pamela Hensley as Princess Ardala, Bob Minor as guard.
Princess Ardala returns - and captures Buck by luring him aboard a phony 20th Century spaceship. Once aboard the Draconia, Kane (this time played by Michael Ansara) creates four duplicate androids of Buck in an attempt to have them pilot Draconian fighters in an attack against Earth.
Twiki is Missing
aired: January 31,
1980
Written by Jaron Summers. Directed by Sigmund Neufeld.
Guest Cast: David Darlow as Pinchas, Ken Letner as Oto Anad, Bebe Louie as Clare, Anne-Marie Martin as Stella, John P. Ryan as Kurt Belzack, Eugenia Wright as Dawn.Twiki is kidnapped by the evil ruler of a mining colony, who plans to make duplicates of the robot to work the mines in place of humans. Oh, and there's a ten ton ice asteroid on a collision course with Earth...
Olympiad
aired: February 7, 1980
Written by Craig Buck. Directed by Larry Stewart.
Guest Cast: Judith Chapman as Lara Teasian, Nicolas Coster as Allerick, Paul Coufos as Zogan, Paul Mantee, Barney McFadden, Carlos Palomino, Bob Seagren and John A. Zee as Satrap.Buck is invited to be the special guest of the 2492 Olympics. This is complicated by an attempt by an athlete from the planet Lozira to defect to Earth.
A Dream of Jennifer aired: February 14, 1980
Written by Michael Bryant. Directed by Harvey Laidman and David Phinney.
Guest Cast: Paul Koslo as Reev, Anne Lockhart (I) as Jennifer/Leila Markeson and Mary Woronov.Buck is haunted by the appearance of a young woman who bears a striking resemblance to Jennifer (played by Anne Lockhart), his old girlfriend from the 20th century. He follows her and soon discovers that "Jennifer" is an elaborate ruse designed by an alien to entrap him.
Space
Rockers aired: February 21, 1980
Written by Chris Bunch and Allan Cole. Directed by Guy Magar.
Guest Cast: Nancy Frangione as Karana. Jesse D. Goins as Rambeau, Jeff Harlan as Mark, Judy Landers as Joanna, Paul LeClair as Tarkas, Leonard Lightfoot as Cirus, Richard Moll as Yarat, Jerry Orbach as Lars Mangros.The slimy Lars Mangros plans to broadcast a subliminal signal during the next performance of the rock group Andromeda - which will cause the youth of the galaxy to riot, and destabilize the cosmos. Buck infiltrates Mangros' satellite base "Musicworld", where the broadcast will originate, in an attempt to stop the show.
Buck's Duel to the Death
aired: March 20, 1980
Written by Robert W Gilmer. Directed by Bob Bender.
Guest Cast: Keith Andes, Heidi Bohay, Fred Sadoff as Kelan, William Smith (I) as Traybor and Elizabeth Stack.
Buck attempts to free a peaceful planet from the powerful grip of an evil warlord known as Traybor.
Flight of the War Witch (two hour special) aired: March 27, 1980
Written by Robert W Gilmer, William Mageean and David Chomsky. Directed by Larry Stewart.
Guest Cast: Tony Carroll as Pantherman, Sid Haig as Spirot, Pamela Hensley as Princess Ardala, Sam Jaffe (I) as Council Leader, Don Maxwell as Draconian soldier, Kelley Miles, Vera Miles, Julie Newmar as Zarina, Donald Petrie, Larry Ward as 1st council member.
Buck journeys through a space warp into another universe, where he discovers that the peaceful planet Pendar is being threatened by the sinister war witch Zarina (played by Julie Newmar). The Pendarans enlist the aid of Buck and Princess Ardala, who had followed Buck through the warp, and an unlikely alliance between the humans and Draconians is formed as Buck leads a combined fleet against Zarina's battlecruiser.
2nd Season - 1981
Time of the Hawk
(two hour special)
aired: January 15, 1981
Written by Norman Hudis. Directed by Vincent McEveety.
Guest Cast: Sid Haig as Pratt, Barbara Luna as Corri, and David Opatoshu.
Buck, Wilma, and Twiki set off into deep space aboard the Searcher, a starship on a mission to find the lost tribes of Earth (people who fled to space after the nuclear holocaust). The Searcher encounters a damaged spacecraft with one survivor, who tells them of a savage attack by a bird-man named Hawk. The Searcher sets course for Hawk's planet and Buck becomes involved in a battle of wits and piloting skills with the bird-man. Hawk's mate, Koori, is mortally wounded in the battle and Buck and Hawk form a shaky alliance to seek medical aid for her. At the episode's end, Hawk joins the crew of the Searcher, hoping to add bird-men to the list of lost tribes the crew is seeking.
Journey to Oasis (two hour special)
aired: January 22, 1981
Written by Robert Mitchell and Esther Mitchell. Directed by Daniel Haller.
Guest Cast: Len Birman, Mark Lenard as Ambassador Duvoe, Felix Silla as Oh-Dee-X.
Hawk, Buck, Wilma, and Dr. Goodfellow are charged with escorting Ambassador Duvoe (played by Mark Lenard) to a peace conference that could avert a terrible galactic war. Unfortunately, on the way to the conference their shuttle goes though a storm and crashes in a desert. Having lost contact with the Searcher, the party must travel by foot to Oasis, and on the way encounter strange mutants and the mischievous creature known as ODX.
The Guardians
aired: January 29, 1981
Written by Paul Schneider and Margaret Schneider. Directed by Jack Arnold.
Guest Cast: Paul Carr (I) as Lt. Devlin, Howard Culver as mailman, Rosemary DeCamp as Buck's Mother, Dennis Haysbert as Helmsman, Barbara Luna as Korri, Vic Perrin as 1st Guardian, Shawn Stevens (I) as boy and Harry Townes as The Guardian.
While exploring a planet with Hawk, Buck is entrusted with a strange glowing green box by an old man on his death bed. Back aboard the Searcher, the box creates a series of bizarre hallucinations and appears to be distorting space and time. The box takes control of the Searcher to lead them - where..?
Mark of the Saurian
aired: February 5, 1981
Written by Francis Moss. Directed by Barry Crane.
Guest Cast: Linden Chiles, Kim Hamilton and Vernon Weddle as Ambassador Cabot.
The Saurians are plotting to start a galactic war by posing as humans and destroying the Searcher and a space station. Buck, due to a strange virus he has contracted, is somehow able to see the true form of the Saurians, but no one believes him.
The
Golden Man aired: February 19, 1981
Written by Calvin Clements and Stephen McPherson. Directed by Vincent McEveety.
Guest Cast: Bob Elyea as Alphie, Diana Chesney as Hag, Michael Masters as Jailer, Bruce M. Fisher as Loran, Roger Rose as Marcos, Russell Wiggins as Relkos, David Hollander as Vellus, and Anthony James (I) as Prison Colony Leader.
The Searcher rescues a gold-skinned boy from an capsule found floating in an asteroid field. When the Searcher collides with one of the asteroids and becomes stuck, the boy assures the crew that he can free the ship with the help of his companion (another gold person) from a nearby planet.
The Crystals aired: March 5, 1981
Written by Robert Mitchell and Esther Mitchell. Directed by John Patterson.
Guest Cast: Gary Bolen, Sandy Champion, Leigh C. Kim and Amanda Wyss.
While exploring for crystals (the kind used to propel the Searcher) on a remote planet, Buck, Wilma, and Hawk encounter a bizarre riddle involving a young woman who has no memory of her origins and an eerie, mummy-like creature.
The Satyr
aired: March 12, 1981
Written by Paul Schneider and Margaret Schneider. Directed by Victor French.
Guest Cast: David S. Cass Sr. as Pangor, Bobby Lane as Delph Samos and Anne E. Curry as Syra Samos.
Buck and Twiki come across the survivors of a doomed colony - a young widow and her son. The woman tells Buck that the other colonists all fled the planet as the result of a plague. Buck is confused by the woman's refusal to leave the planet despite being repeatedly menaced by a goat-man named Pangor; but he soon discovers the truth about the plague when he contracts it, and turns into a satyr himself!
Shgorapchx!
aired: March 19, 1981
Written by William Keys. Directed by Vincent McEveety.
Buck is ordered to explore a derelict spaceship that the Searcher encounters, and finds it filled with solar bombs and crewed by seven little men. They are escorted back to the Searcher and Admiral Asimov takes their ship in tow to a place where the bombs can be safely detonated. Wilma's chaperoning of the little men does not go well.
The
Hand of Goral aired: March 26, 1981
Written by Francis Moss. Directed by David Phinney.
Guest Cast: Peter Kastner as Cowen, William Bryant (I) as Riordan, John Fujioka as Hand of the Goral, Dennis Haysbert as Lt. Parsons, and Michael Horsley as Yeoman James.
Buck, Wilma, and Hawk explore the strange "Planet of Death" and come across the wreckage of a spacecraft and its lone survivor. The survivor is taken back to the Searcher by Wilma, while Buck and Hawk continue to explore. After some unexplained happenings on the planet, they return to the Searcher, where they find that everyone has undergone dramatic personality changes.
Testimony of a Traitor
aired: April 9,
1981
Written by Stephen McPherson. Directed by Bernard McEveety.
Guest Cast: John O' Connell as Jim Petersen, Ramon Bieri as Commissioner Bergstrom, Thomas Bellin as Crawford, William Sylvester as Lt. Gen. Preston C. Myers.A 500 year old video is discovered that proves that Buck was involved in the nuclear holocaust that nearly destroyed the Earth! Commissioner Bergstrom convenes a war crimes trial aboard the Searcher. If found guilty, Buck would face a death sentence. In a desperate attempt to clear himself, Buck agrees to a mind probe.
The Dorian Secret
aired: April 16,
1981
Written by Stephen McPherson. Directed by Jack Arnold.
Guest Cast: William Kirby Cullen, Walker Edmiston, Devon Ericson, Michele Marsh (I) as Cleis, Denny Miller and Eldon Quick.Buck and Hawk are sent to a space station to pick up the survivors of a planetary disaster. Before departing, Buck rescues a young woman from a group of attacking Dorian brutes. Later, while enroute to the survivor's new home, the Searcher is attacked by a Dorian ship, whose commander demands that the woman be returned for the murder of a warlord's son.
Buck Rogers
Timeline
Moved to its own page - click here to go to the Buck Rogers Timeline.
The adventures of Buck Rogers, whether in comic book form, movies, radio or television, became an important part of American Pop Culture. This pop phenomenon paralleled the development of space technology in the Twentieth Century and introduced Americans to space as a familiar environment for swash-buckling adventure. It may have been Robert Goddard who invented rocket science, but it was Buck Rogers who first popularized space exploration.
Pulp Origins. The fictional exploits of Buck Rogers all began with a short story in a pulp fiction magazine. "Anthony" Rogers first appeared as the hero of "Armageddon 2419 AD", a story which first ran in the August 1928 issue of Amazing Stories . Written by Philip Nowlan, the story told of how Rogers fell asleep in a cave and due to the influence of a strange gas woke up 500 years later. In the year 2419, Rogers encounters a strange society where the United States has been conquered by a repressive Asian regime. In the tale, Buck is quickly recruited by the American resistance fighters, and meets within their ranks the lovely Wilma Deering, and the brilliant scientist Dr. Huer.
This
serialized story was first combined into a single book in 1933 (pictured), and released as
a breakfast cereal premium.
Comic Strip. This story caught the attention of newspaper comic strip developer John F. Dille, who asked Nowlan to turn his story into a strip. It was Dille who came up with a new first name for the character: "Buck." Buck Rogers in the 25th Century A.D., debuted on January 7, 1929, the same day as the new Tarzan of the Apes strip, signaling the start of the Golden Age of comics.
Initially, the strip retold the story from "Armageddon 2419 AD," but there soon followed a series of alien attacks, space voyages, and other science fiction devices that, although common in the pulps, were new to the comics. Years later, Americans would come to commonly use the phrase "Buck Rogers stuff" to describe anything related to rocketry, or more broadly to technological advance.
The Buck Rogers strip was so popular it produced a slew of imitators including Brick Bradford and Flash Gordon.
Comic Books. Buck was an early star of Famous Funnies, which has come to be known as the first modern comic book, where he appeared alongside Mutt & Jeff and others, from 1935 through to 1955. During this period, Buck also appeared in comics where his adventures were the only storylines.
Radio. Buck Rogers, the radio serial, first aired on November 7, 1932. Broadcast from New York City, the popular series reached hundreds of thousands of listeners. Each serial was 15 minutes in length, and it aired four times during the course of a week. It eventually left the airwaves in 1939.
Toys. Buck Rogers was one of the most often licensed characters, as companies like Kellogg's and Cream of Wheat promoted their products by offering Buck Rogers merchandise. The first toy space gun was created in 1933 exclusively to promote Buck Rogers.
World's Fair Movie. A ten minute Buck Rogers short feature, starring John F. Dille's son, John Dille Jr. as Buck, was created to be shown at the 1935 World's Fair in Chicago. Despite its poor production values, it was shown continuously during the fair to much positive response.
Movie Serial.
Like many comics heroes, Buck was the subject of a 12-part movie serial starring
Buster Crabbe, who also starred in Tarzan and two Flash Gordon
movie serials. Released in 1939, the serial was broadly successful on its initial run, and was
recycled a number of times afterwards.
The serial was edited down and re-released in 1953 as Planet Outlaws in movie theaters (this version was much later released to video in 1999). Then, it was re-released again in 1965 as a TV movie entitled Destination Saturn. In 1977 a very similar edit was apparently released under the title Buck Rogers. The complete serial, unedited and including all twelve parts was released in VHS and recently on DVD as well.
Television. In the 1950's, Buck became part of Saturday morning TV. The show ran briefly - from 1950 to 1951, and was a swashbuckling affair aimed at children.
Daffy Duck. Such was his fame, Buck was spoofed in one of the most fondly-recalled Daffy Duck cartoons: Duck Dodgers in the 24-1/2th Century, which was directed by Chuck Jones in 1953. There were also two sequels to this cartoon (which were somewhat less effective), Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24th 1/2th Century in 1980 and Duck Dodgers in the Third Dimension in 1996.
Comic Strip cancelled. After a series of artistic and creative changes, the Buck Rogers strip was finally cancelled in 1967.
Coffee Table Book. In 1969, Chelsea House published The Collected Works of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, a coffee table book of comic strip reprints, with an introduction by Ray Bradbury.
1979. Now this
is the Buck Rogers that this site is dedicated to. In March 1979, Universal Pictures
released a brand new Buck Rogers motion
picture, which was
followed by an NBC television series featuring the same stars that fall.
The first season was a swashbuckling one, but the series turned more thoughtful
in its second season, pursuing some more serious sci-fi themes, and in the
process losing much of its core audience. Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth
Century was cancelled in the Spring of 1981, after the production of 31
episodes.
More merchandise. There was a great deal of merchandising that surrounded this incarnation of Buck Rogers as well, including a line of action figures, a Gold Key comic book and a new newspaper strip, which ran until 1983.
Role Playing Game.
Buck was back again in 1988 when TSR, a game publisher, released a Buck Rogers
board game. This was followed by a series of modules for a new
roleplaying universe called Buck Rogers XXVc. In conjunction with this, TSR briefly published a
series of XXVc novels, as well as a comic book and two computer
games. The universe never completely caught on, however, and as of
1993, when the last novel was published, there was to be no more new TSR
material.
Since then, very little has been done with the Buck Rogers franchise, but it still commands a large degree of recognition throughout the United States. Another revival, sometime in the future, seems very likely. (But then, if Buck were put to sleep for 500 years as of now, wouldn't he be Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Sixth Century?)
Thom Christopher / Hawk Website
All content and images from Buck Rogers in the Twentieth Century are copyright 1979, 1980, 1981 Universal Studios.
Last Updated on Sunday, February 27, 2005
Click here to go to my homepage at www.thewellers.com
end