Does any remember Buck Rodgers with Gil Gerard?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Because unfortunately the very name "Buck Rogers" is almost synonymous for most people with "cornball fantasy" - ie "rayguns and all that Buck Rogers stuff."

Exactly. That's what BR is *supposed* to be. That's the whole point of it. Trying to make it hip and modern would turn out like...

Farscape.

 

[Ninjacore]

Because unfortunately the very name "Buck Rogers" is almost synonymous for most people with "cornball fantasy" - ie "rayguns and all that Buck Rogers stuff."

Exactly. That's what BR is *supposed* to be. That's the whole point of it. Trying to make it hip and modern would turn out like...

Farscape.

I think they should try it, a new farscape like show would be cool.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The late 70's Buck Rogers was my favorite show when I was a kid. I remember being seriously scared by the Space Vampire episode.

And then of course there's this. (Fun fact: Johnny Harris wrote this song - 'Odyssey' - *for this episode*. )

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmxXIS2ot8w[/yt]

 

[doubleohfive]

I loved the show, and when it came out on DVD I found it was a lot better in some parts than I remembered it. (I'm one of 26 or so people who actually really likes the second season.) Erin Gray was also a childhood crush of mine and I've had the opportunity to meet her on several occasions. (Word to the wise: one of the sidelines these days is she acts as an agent for a number of actors, arranging their appearances at comic conventions. Once in awhile she'll throw her hat into the ring as a bonus at the last minute, like she did at the Calgary Entertainment Expo last month.)

Incidentally, Gil and Erin made their peace years ago, and recently co-starred in a made-for-Internet Buck Rogers fan film reimagining (done, IIRC by the same people who did Star Trek Phase 2). It was on YouTube last I looked.

Alex

Is Gil and or Erin currently in any actual TV shows or movies? I heard about the internet project and freqent the Phase II site. However when I click to the Buck Rodgers link it says "Coming Soon". If they did finish the movie for the internet production is there a link to it?

To my knowledge, it's not complete yet. Gschnitzer in the fan forum is usually a good source of info on this subject.

One bit of interest - the scene Gil and Erin shot for the project is very interesting in that they never appear together in a single shot of the scene. Perhaps they shot it on different days?

 

[Python Trek]

Because unfortunately the very name "Buck Rogers" is almost synonymous for most people with "cornball fantasy" - ie "rayguns and all that Buck Rogers stuff." It's a marketing challenge.

But do people under thirty even know who Buck Rogers is? Have they even heard of him? The non-fanboy/girl world just doesn't have very much of our world on its radar at all. I've worn super-hero t-shirts to work for years, and the civilians are rarely able to identify anyone but Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man on them. "Buck Rogers" might be their congressman's name, for all they know.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Because unfortunately the very name "Buck Rogers" is almost synonymous for most people with "cornball fantasy" - ie "rayguns and all that Buck Rogers stuff." It's a marketing challenge.

But do people under thirty even know who Buck Rogers is? Have they even heard of him?

Culturally? Yeah, I think so - in the context discussed above, which is the problem. A lot of them may also confuse him with Flash Gordon - folks always did - which is its own issue. How you gonna do Buck without Queen?

 

[Klaus]

Erin Grey's hotness aside, I guess I was a little too old to forgive the silliness [18-20] when it was on... my memories of it are no warmer than of oBSG, I'm afraid.

I'd love to see a movie though, I read some of the original comics years ago and enjoyed them.

 

[WillsBabe]

Gil and Erin were at SF Ball convention in the Uk a couple of years back, and they were great. Check out the SF Ball website for some photos. I remember the show, and seeing the pilot movie at the cinema. Even back then, when I was 12 or 13, I remember enjoying the sexual chemistry between Ardarla and Buck. Even then, I enjoyed it every time she managed to capture him and tie him up...

 

[Cutter John]

I do, I was like 15 at the time. Even saw the movie version in the theater. I admit though I was never a big fan. Like Klaus it was a bit too silly for my taste. To be fair though, I was still pretty bitter about BSG being cancelled, and saw Buck as a poor replacement.

Cool ship designs though.

 

[Python Trek]

Because unfortunately the very name "Buck Rogers" is almost synonymous for most people with "cornball fantasy" - ie "rayguns and all that Buck Rogers stuff." It's a marketing challenge.

But do people under thirty even know who Buck Rogers is? Have they even heard of him?

Culturally? Yeah, I think so - in the context discussed above, which is the problem. A lot of them may also confuse him with Flash Gordon - folks always did - which is its own issue. How you gonna do Buck without Queen?

Elton John should TOTALLY re-record "Rocket Man" for the Buck Rogers soundtrack!

 

[Goliath]

I remember Buck Rogers with Gil Gerard.

Or, to be more precise: the rank stench of that series haunts me still.

 

[Vendikarr]

I remember the Erin Grey series called Buck Rogers that also had some guy in it.

 

[Python Trek]

I remember Buck Rogers with Gil Gerard.

Or, to be more precise: the rank stench of that series haunts me still.

The show was campy fun, just like oldBSG, the '80 Flash Gordon movie, and about a dozen other goofy things that have given me hours and hours (and hours!) of pleasure. I am much more annoyed by cynical, mean-spirited, "sophisticated" crap (the Lost in Space and Land of the Lost movies) than I am by harmless, good-natured crap (the Lost in Space and Land of the Lost TV series). Buck was a fun show. I was 10. I played with the toys. I remember it fondly.

 

[jbny67]

Where else could you see Frank Gorshin, Jack Palance, Peter Graves and many more on a sci fi TV show?

They even had Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon in one episode. Although they didn't use the name Flash. I think he was called Brigadier Gordon on the show.

But do people under thirty even know who Buck Rogers is?

Probably the same amount of people under thirty who knew the character when the show premiered.

Elton John should TOTALLY re-record "Rocket Man" for the Buck Rogers soundtrack!

No, they should get William Shatner to record his version of it. That would be different.

 

[Mr Awe]

Yeah...fuck Gil Gerard.

Care to elaborate?

 

[Starkers]

Buck's a tricky one. Loved it back in the day but when I got the first series on DVD...well let's just day it hasn't aged well, or else maybe my tastes have just changed. It's just really, really bad (luckily at times so bad it's great, see Space Rockers or the stupid space olympics that feature men boxing with plant pots on their hands.) I'm still not sure I've seen every episode in the box set.

By contrast I still love old BSG so go figure!

It did have cool ships, Twiki, Ardala and Wilma...ah was Wilma a lot of boys (and girls) of a certain age's crush I wonder?

Ardala, proving that the more lip gloss you wear, the more evil you are!

 

[RandyS]

I remember Buck Rogers with Gil Gerard.

Or, to be more precise: the rank stench of that series haunts me still.

The show was campy fun, just like oldBSG, the '80 Flash Gordon movie, and about a dozen other goofy things that have given me hours and hours (and hours!) of pleasure. I am much more annoyed by cynical, mean-spirited, "sophisticated" crap (the Lost in Space and Land of the Lost movies) than I am by harmless, good-natured crap (the Lost in Space and Land of the Lost TV series). Buck was a fun show. I was 10. I played with the toys. I remember it fondly.

Grrr.

There was nothing even remotely campy about Buck Rogers or the original Galactica.

You know, I really can't wait for the babies of today to grow up and start dismissing the New Galactica and other stuff you kids today think is so sophisticated and deep as "campy garbage".

I for one will be laughing my ass off when that happens.

 

[Mr Awe]

I watched the original run of Buck Rogers and really enjoyed it. Of course, I was 10ish back then. I haven't seen it since then but suspect it hasn't aged so well. But, for my age back then, it was the perfect type of show for me.

Mr Awe

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

oldBSG was awful. I knew that when I watched it in 1978 (for the weeks that I bothered to continue. Years later I saw episodes where they recruited Ray Bolger to play a robot and knew that I'd been right to bail when I did).

Buck Rogers was deliberately flip and light and if anyone thinks otherwise then they just didn't notice what the producers intended. Love those horny little space dwarves.

I liked the Lost In Space movie quite a bit, certainly a great deal more than I did the TV series. Certainly the LIS film wasn't great, but the universe of movies isn't divided into "Great" or "Sucks."

 

[Klaus]

Grrr.

There was nothing even remotely campy about Buck Rogers or the original Galactica.

By my definition, this certainly qualifies as campy:

..I'll agree that oBSG wasn't campy. It was just bad, partly because it did take itself so seriously.