This show is definitely mired in the era it was created in, chauvinistic themes and all.
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In the late 70s and early 80s there was an influx of material taking a cue from the extreme popularity of "Star Wars." Programs like "Battlestar Galactica" and movies like "Flash Gordon" sought to draw on people´s sudden resurgent interest in space operas and science fiction. The quality of these programs varied widely, as the television budget or hurried feature film wasn´t conducive to the quality produced by the product on which they attempted to capitalize. One of the earlier entries into the genre was 1979´s rebirth of the anachronistic space hero, "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century."
A comic hero from the 20s and radio serials of the 30s, Buck Rogers is the story of adventure out-of-time. Buck is a regular Chicago Joe with all that entails. In the comics he flew about the skies on jetpacks, living in the Modernist vision of tomorrow, a true adventure hero. The radio serials were more operatic in structure than the comics and the television program of the late 40s attempted, with no success, to translate the far-flung adventures to the small screen. Unfortunately the program suffered from small sets and reflective budgets, and though it lasted for five years, failed to capture the spirit of the character.
The late-70s version of "Buck Rogers" looks as beautiful as one could imagine for the 25th century. The world he´s encountered is expansive and as futuristic as one could expect from the minds inspired by Stars "War" and "Trek." Buck himself is a charismatic, affable, burly man who is as quick with his wits as he is with his fists. A lover and a fighter, Rogers is what every man wishes he could be, and reminds me of great characters like "The Six Million Dollar Man" or "The Fall Guy." He sings Sinatra and uses colloquialisms, knowing full well that his new compatriots will have no idea what he´s on about.
As a television program, "Buck Rogers" has a great mix of action, intrigue, and romance. Is it cheesy? Absolutely, however that´s passable as a piece of nostalgia and it holds enough suspense to pass my entertainment test today. The program has some great themes, like the interplay between fallible humanity and a calculating, soulless computer world that governs its existence. In the premiere, Buck is sentenced to death by the computers because their logic tells them he´s guilty of treason, however human emotion leads to the proper conclusion. The computers guiding the ships are turned off to allow the humans to dogfight and use their instincts to defeat their enemies. These sort of subtle touches change the program from a goofy "Star Wars" rip-off to something slightly more substantive.
The individual programs feature a variety of themes with stories that sound remarkably similar to some "Star Trek" shows from the late 60s. I mean, honestly, the first episode of the series is called "Planet of the Slave Girls," (A perfectly-fitting pulp title) that reminded me instantly of an episode of featuring a man called Kahn and another known as Mudd.
Not all is well in the world of Buck. The acting from the majority of the leads is suspect at best. When delivering Sci-fi dialogue, one of the most important things to remember is that you believe what you´re saying. Outside a few of the male leads like Gil Gerard and Tim O´Conner, the people in this world don´t buy what they are exposing. Erin Gray falls into the trap of being "a girl," contrasting her strong, professional persona. Furthermore the characters of Twiki and Dr. Theopolis are so akin to R2-D2 and C-3P0 that it was almost distracting (aside from the fact that Twiki looks like a creepy robot version of the kid from "Eight is Enough").
The episodes on this set will take you to a wide variety of locations throughout the galaxy as Earth faces one threat or another that can only be conquered by Buck Rogers. The episodes themselves are formulaic and familiar to anyone who has seen machismo-laced television of the era, shows like "Magnum, P.I." In total, there are 31 episodes spread over the two seasons the show aired. My personal favorites include the premiere "Awakening," "Planet of the Slave Girls," "Happy Birthday, Buck" and "Space Rockers." These episodes best represent the adventurous nature of the series along with the social commentary that good Science Fiction should inherently possess.
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[release]14007[/release]