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Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is an American science fiction adventure television series produced by Universal Studios.
The series ran for two seasons between September 1979 and April 1981 on NBC, and the feature-length pilot episode for the series was released as a theatrical film before the series aired. The film and series were developed by Glen A. Larson and Leslie Stevens, based on the character Buck Rogers created in 1928 by Philip Francis Nowlan that had previously been featured in comic strips, novellas, a serial film, and on television and radio.
Originally intended as the pilot for the show and meant to air on television, the movie was, instead, released theatrically in March 1979 as Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. The film made $21 million at the North American box office, prompting Universal to move ahead with a weekly series later that year. The film, which was also released internationally, featured all of the main protagonist characters who would appear in the weekly series, and it also included Princess Ardala of the planet Draconia and her henchman, Kane.
The theatrical film also served as a pilot and two-part first episode for the series, entitled Awakening. Several scenes were edited, some to remove the more adult dialogue in the film, including when Buck refers to Wilma as ballsy, and later when he says shit, and a scene in which Buck kills Ardala's henchman, Tigerman, was edited to not show Buck kicking him in the groin.
Also, some new and extended scenes were added for the TV version, including several scenes within Buck's new apartment, which was the setting for a new final scene in which Dr. Huer and Wilma try to persuade Buck to join the Defense Directorate. This scene ends with Buck actually declining their offer, though he opts to join them in an unofficial capacity by the first episode of the series proper, Planet of the Slave Girls. In this unofficial role, Buck does everything from acting as a covert agent on various undercover assignments to assisting Wilma as a flight/combat instructor. Buck is, most often, partnered with Wilma, with whom he often shares a flirtatious relationship.
Including the two-part pilot episode, the first season consisted of 24 episodes, with four of the stories being two-parters. The tone of the series was lighter than the pilot movie and showed a more positive picture of future Earth. The Inner City was now known as New Chicago; human civilization was established as having spread once again across the planet and also to the stars. After the movie pilot, no reference to barren radioactive wastelands was made and, in several episodes, the world outside is shown as lush and green. The mutants seen in the pilot film were no longer seen, and Buck sometimes ventured outside New Chicago with no hazards encountered. As opposed to the isolationist planet seen in the film, Earth no longer has an invisible defense shield surrounding it and is shown to be the center of an interstellar, human-dominated government, sometimes called the Federation or the Alliance, with its capital at New Chicago. During the first season, references were also made to other new Earth cities such as New Detroit, New Manhattan, New Phoenix, New Tulsa, Boston Complex, and New London. A City-on-the-Sea was also seen, mentioned as being the former New Orleans.
Wilma Deering and Dr. Huer were the only Defense Directorate personnel seen in every episode, though several others were seen in individual episodes. Most Defense Directorate personnel regard Buck as being at least an honorary captain, in reference to his 20th-century U.S. military rank, but his membership in Earth's defense forces is unofficial. Nevertheless, Buck often flies with the fighter squadrons and uses his 20th-century U.S. Air Force background to assist in their training. Dr. Huer regularly meets, greets, and otherwise deals with representatives of other sovereign powers. Huer was also seen in military uniform (at formal occasions), thus indicating he is or was a member of the military.
Travel between the stars was accomplished with the use of stargates -artificially created portals in space (similar in appearance to wormholes), but referred to as warp travel on at least one occasion by Wilma Deering. Stargates appear as a diamond-shaped quartet of brilliant lights in space that shimmer when a vessel is making transit. Some people find the transit through a stargate to be physically unpleasant (transit resembling a spinning of the spacecraft). Buck's dislike of them is shown in part one of the episode Planet of the Slave Girls and again in part two of the episode The Plot to Kill a City.
To portray futuristic-looking buildings on Earth, the show used stock shots of the remaining national Expo 67 pavilions, particularly the French and British pavilions, as well as shots of the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
Juanin Clay, who played Major Marla Landers in the first-season episode Vegas in Space, was originally cast as Wilma for the TV series. (Erin Gray had initially opted not to return after the pilot film, but she later changed her mind.) Wilma's personality was softened considerably in the series. While she was still seen as a strong, confident and consummate professional in her work, she had a much more relaxed attitude and a warmer relationship with Buck.
A potentially romantic relationship between Buck and Wilma was hinted at, but rarely expanded upon, and, in the first season, Buck was involved (to some degree) with a different woman almost every week. Producers demanded that Wilma have blonde hair, so dye jobs were needed to lighten Erin Gray's brunette locks. During the final episodes of the first season, Gray was allowed to return to her natural hair color, and Wilma was dark-haired throughout season two.
Buck's best-known enemy during the first season was Princess Ardala, played by Pamela Hensley, whose desire was to conquer and possess both Earth and Buck himself. She appeared in four separate stories, including the pilot film, two single episodes (Escape from Wedded Bliss and Ardala Returns), and the two-part first-season finale (Flight of the War Witch).
The opening title sequence for the series included stock footage from the Apollo 4 and Apollo 6 launches.
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