Buck Rogers - The Lost Series
- Thread starter Mysterion
- Start date
Coming late to this, I'm also in the camp (no pun intended) which enjoyed season 1 but not 2. As has been said, S1 at least felt like its own show whereas S2 was just a Trek rip-off, with Hawk playing Spock to Buck's Kirk.
And Hawk was the Poochie of sci-fi shows!
And Hawk was the Poochie of sci-fi shows!
I remember hating Buck Rogers when it first came on. I had given it a chance by watching the first few episodes, but found it lacking and stopping watching altogether. Never saw the rest of the first season, nor the second.
If this other, less campy version had aired instead, I might have enjoyed it much more.
Didn't know Buck is presently on Netflix. I might give it another shot, now.
Sean
If this other, less campy version had aired instead, I might have enjoyed it much more.
Didn't know Buck is presently on Netflix. I might give it another shot, now.
Sean
Do it. There's nothing wrong with campy fun (although I would argue that "camp" doesn't apply here). Plus, as bad as season two was, it was still better than anything you'd find on TV now.
I don't know if it's lowering your tastes but it definitely helps if you can enjoy it for the 70s disco cheese rather than in spite of it. It seems to me they were playing it up as intentionally as not, they certainly made no effort to avoid it on the first season. I think that's why I like the first season so much. The second season was often silly and dumb but without the playfulness.
Oh, I have no problem with camp today. In fact, the 1980 Flash Gordon is one of my favorite films.
And I've just watched the first episode (movie, actually) of BR on Netflix. And I enjoyed it for what it is. I'll keep going through the series, now.
Sean
Ian Keldon
Fleet Captain
^The LA movie version of Flash wasn't my cup of tea for some reason. I prefered the Filmation version.
70s BR was a lot of fun in a straightforward, doesn't quite take itself too seriously way.
That said, Buck's monologue at Hawk's trial in the S2 opener is one of the finest speeches in sci-fi.
70s BR was a lot of fun in a straightforward, doesn't quite take itself too seriously way.
That said, Buck's monologue at Hawk's trial in the S2 opener is one of the finest speeches in sci-fi.
The 1980 Flash Gordon is very silly, but it's also a visual feast. I like watching it because it's great eye candy.
Sean
Yes it was. How anybody could call that series "campy" is beyond me.
And besides, it's not like he was talking about gazelles.
Ian Keldon
Fleet Captain
It definitely had it's tounge-in-cheeck elements, but I never thought it descended into full bore camp.
Everyone remembers the "gazelle speech", but they more than made up for it with the "Let's explore it together" speech in "Terra Prime".
Could the Glen A Larson series or this one here be Successfully Rebooted like Battlestar Galactica was?
And who would you have Star?
And who would you have Star?
We've already had a Buck Rogers reboot. It was called Farscape. 
Well, that question doesn't really make sense, since Buck Rogers is a concept that predates either of those adaptations. Any new BR series would presumably be a new adaptation of the original book/comic strip character, not based specifically on a pre-existing TV incarnation.
The Larson series was actually the second Buck Rogers TV series that made it on the air. The first was a live show airing in 1950-51 and is completely lost now, with no recordings known to exist. Wikipedia says it went through multiple cast changes, but for part of the series, Buck was played by future Thundercats voice actor Earl Hammond and Wilma was played by Eva Marie Saint before she became famous in films like On the Waterfront and North by Northwest. IMDb doesn't confirm this, however.
Can't be completely lost, TCM showed 2 or 3 episodes a week for at least two weekends, if not more, of a Black and White Buck Rogers (That is if the Glen Larson Series was only the second), or was what I saw episodes from Saturday matinees like the buster Crabbe Flash Gordon? And come to think of it, it may have been Buster Crabbe as Buck?
What you saw must've been the 1939 Buck Rogers theatrical serial starring Buster Crabbe.
Ah, OK, yea, I thought I remembered it being Buster Crabbe, thanks for the clarification.
Ian Keldon
Fleet Captain
Nothing saying it couldn't be either.
Ian Keldon
Fleet Captain
Crabbe gets associated w/the Larson version due to his guest starring part in "Planet of the Slave Girls II", though he is credited in the ep as "Brigadeer Gordon" (a reference to his other famous serial part).
