Buck Rogers Complete Series DVD $9.99

[deputypowell]

Just so everyone knows...I received my DVD set from Bestbuy and have watched almost the entire set. The last time I saw any of these was when they aired on television back in the late 70's when I was a boy. I missed them on the Sci-fi Channel as I was in the military at the time they were showing and deployed overseas for many years. Good cheesy fun! One thing I never noticed as a child was all the subtle sexual innuendos. Now the show can be seen from an adult point of view. I almost feel guilty watching these. (...almost!)

-Great stuff!

[megoapesnut]

Amazon just cranked it up to $22.00!

[Nostalgiabuff]

I just finished watching the first season. a lot of fun. I have not seen them since the early 80's. 70's cheese at it's best.

[Nostalgiabuff]

okay, i just watched the first half of the season 2 premier what a difference in budget. and what's the deal with changing Twiki's voice. he sounds like Mickey Mouse. You can see whay it went off quickly in season 2 and I am only one episode in.

[deputypowell]

According to the Wikipedia:

Production of the second season was delayed by several months due to an actors' strike. When production resumed in the fall of 1980, the format of the series was changed.

Instead of defending the Earth from external threats, Buck, Wilma and Twiki were now a part of a crew aboard the Earth spaceship Searcher. The Searcher, which displayed the Latin motto, Per ardua ad astra, on its side, had a mission to seek out the lost "tribes" of humanity who had scattered in the decades after Earth's 20th century nuclear war (which is a theme present in another Glen A. Larson science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica).

Also notable change in the second season was the disappearance of many of the regular characters of the first season, such as Dr. Huer, Dr. Theopolis, Princess Ardala, and Kane. In their place, the following characters were added:

Admiral Efram Asimov, commander of the Searcher and a descendant of the famous science fiction author Isaac Asimov.
Hawk, an alien character who represents the last of the nearly extinct bird people.
Dr. Goodfellow, a scientist with insatiable curiosity.
Crichton, a snobbish robot, built by Goodfellow, who finds it difficult to believe that lowly humans could have ever built him.
Another change in the second season was the sound of Twiki's voice. Mel Blanc left the series at the start of the season and another actor, Bob Elyea, supplied Twiki's voice. Blanc returned for the final six episodes of the season. Mel Blanc's Twiki referred to Crichton as "a poorly behaved son".

The opening narrative was also modified for the second season, both in terms of the narrator's voice and content. In the first season, William Conrad delivered the following opening narrative:

The year is 1987, and NASA launches the last of America's deep space probes. In a freak mishap, Ranger 3 and its pilot, Captain William "Buck" Rogers, are blown out of their trajectory into an orbit which freezes his life support systems, and returns Buck Rogers to Earth, 500 years later.

In the second season, another uncredited individual delivered the following alternate narrative:

In the year 1987, NASA launched the last of America's deep space probes. Aboard this compact starship, a lone astronaut, Captain William "Buck" Rogers, was to experience cosmic forces beyond all comprehension. In a freak mishap, his life support systems were frozen by temperatures beyond imagination. Ranger 3 was blown out of its planned trajectory into an orbit one thousand times more vast, an orbit which was to return Buck Rogers to Earth 500 years later.

The substance of the storylines also changed in the second season. With a few exceptions, Gerard scaled back the humor in the second season in favor of more serious episodes. Buck and Wilma became more serious characters. Their relationship became more romantic during the second year, though most romantic activity was implied and took place off-screen.

Moreover, the second season deals with serious issues such as evolution, ecology, racism, pollution, war, nuclear power, identity, the self, and religion. It also draws on mythology as an inspiration as exemplified by Hawk's people, which are a variant on the Bird people found in mythologies around the world and makes special reference to the moai of Easter Island, and by Pangor the satyr.

As well as its parallels to Larson's previous television series Battlestar Galactica, the second season is similar in theme to Star Trek, with the Searcher roaming through space like the Starship Enterprise, Buck being the maverick explorer true to the style of Captain James T. Kirk, and the serious, rather stoic Hawk being a revamped version of Mr. Spock.

Ratings dropped significantly after the season premiere.

[Nostalgiabuff]

thanks for the info. I have not watched any season 2 episodes in probably 25 years.

[Nostalgiabuff]

I was just watching the episode Journey to Oasis and there is a scene where Admiral Asimov is giving orders and they dubbed in a different line to change what he was saying....he was giving order to stay at battle readiness while he would be at a dinner with the other admiral and Creighton says Battle ready?..the dubbed response, "you heard me kettle belly." anyone know what the original line was? I was wondering if it was something that would not be PC in this day and age.