Buck Rogers In The 25th Century: Cast Photo - Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries

Buck Rogers In The 25th Century ran from September 1979 until April 1981 on NBC.

This updated Buck Rogers was far more elaborate than the version aired on ABC almost 30 years earlier. It benefited from much-improved technology, the interest generated by thatrical fims like Star Wars and Close Encounters Of The 3rd Kind, and a budget that enabled the utilization of fancy special effects. Also unlike earlier versions of Buck, in the comics and on film, radio and television, this series didn't take itself seriously. It was good escapist entertainment with a tongue-in-cheek quality that prevented it from getting pretentious. Captain Buck Rogers ( Gil Gerard), was an astronaut whose deep-space probe, launched in 1987, was lost for 500 years. Fortunately for Buck, he was frozen in suspended animation, awakening when his craft was discovered by Draconians in the year 2491. The Draconians, led by beautiful but evil Princess Ardela ( Pamela Hensley) and her henchman, Kane ( Henry Silva and later Michael Ansara), hoped to take over Earth and thought that Buck was a spy. So, too, did The Earth Defense Directorate, based in the city of New Chicago. Buck using a combination of wit, charm, brains, and brute strength, eventually prevented the Draconians from achieving their ends ( though they did keep re-appearing with new plans to defeat Earth) and became a vaued ally in defending Earth. He became a good friend of Dr. Huer( Tim O'Connor), the most renowned scientist on Earth, and of Wilma Deering ( Erin Gray), the beautiful commander in charge of Earth's defense. Dr. Huer provided Buck with a small robot aide Twiki ( played by Felix Silla and voiced by Mel Blanc), and the services of a talking computer , Dr. Theopolis ( voice of Eric Server), usually seen in the form of a large disk around Twiki's neck. Together they fought the Draconians and others who threatened peace and security. Buck's aclimation to the world of the 25th century was not always easy and his use of 20th century slang tended to rub off on both Twiki and his human associates. When Buck Rogers In The 25th Century returned for its second season ( delayed several months by an actors strike), it had been completely overhauled. No longer based on Earth, Buck and Wilma were now crew members aboard the Searcher, an intersteller spaceship seeking survivors of the " great holocaust" that had sent many Earthmen into space not long after Buck's original probe had been lost. In many respects this new format had elements of both Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. Other members of the Searcher's crew included its commander, Admiral Asimov ( Jay Garner), who was descended from science-fiction writer Issac Asimov; Dr. Goodfellow ( Wilfred Hyde-White), an elderly, eccentric scientist with an insatiable curriosity; and Hawk ( Thom Christopher), part man and part bird, searching for other members of his race. In addition to Twiki, the searcher carried Crichton( voiced by Jeff David), a highly intelligent but very obnoxios robot that could not believe it had been built by humans, and especially by its creator, Dr. Goodfellow. Missing from the second season, in addition to the departed cast members, was the narration provided by William Conrad during Buck Rogers initial year. The pilot for this series, titled Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, was released theatrically in March 1979, six months before the series premiered on NBC.

For a great website on everything Buck Rogers go to www.buck-rogers.com/ and for 2 other websites go to http://members.tripod.com/~crozee/buck/ and www.scifi2k.com/buck_rogers/buckrogers.html