Techtite DVD Reviews

The Series : At around the same time Glen A. Larson produced the now-infamous Battlestar Galactica, another sci-fi series was in the works, based on the classic science fiction yarns of yesteryear. Sadly, the two-season run of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was not much different from Galactica; one cult hit season, and a second season (Galactica 1980, anyone?) which was so different from the original it was actually slightly pathetic. But hey; how many series earn a 5-disc DVD set of the complete series, 25 years after its first episode aired?

Let start this series overview with this DVD set's best offering: the unedited theatrical pilot episode. This PG-rated, only-unedited-in-theaters premiere has never been offered for purchase aside from a limited release VHS tape, no longer available. Its James Bond style of opening credits were considered too risqué for 1970's network television, although admittedly after shows like Simpsons and South Park, even kids these days may wonder what all the fuss was about. Not that the sexiness of these James Bond style credits are not readily apparent...and vastly different than anything even the later series would dare! Check out Erin Gray shaking her hair like she's Farrah Fawcett, in a leg-baring "disco" style space outfit. You go girl.

However; this theatrical pilot does show the series concept the producers were looking for: James Bond, in outer space. Hey, why not? Some of the best Bond movies were set in outer space! Furthermore, sci-fi demand at the time was rampant thanks to that film in theaters with the words "Star" and "Wars" in its title. So: give people Charlie's Angels, meets James Bond, meets Star Wars. Was that concept so very wrong?

Before any feminists answer that rhetorical question, consider the awesome roster of guest stars this series had in its first season alone: Roddy McDowall, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Julie Newmar (gee; you think someone was a diehard 1960's Batman fan?), Peter Graves, and veteran sci-fi star Buster Crabbe. Look also for guest roles from stars in Larson's other sci-fi series, Battlestar Galactica, particularly Anne Lockhart ("Sheba"). There are even guest roles from stars "of the era," like Judy Landers (who was guest starring in just about everything back then), and Gary Coleman, doing that precocious 10 year old shtick that made him famous.

It's the guests before they were famous that amuses me. Long before the roles that would either make them famous or earn them an Oscar (or both), look for major one-episode roles by a 20-year-old Jamie Lee Curtis, a pre-Falcon-Crest Ana Alicia, a pre-Dallas Morgan Brittany, a very pre-Law-and-Order Jerry Orbach, and a particularly enjoyable, giggly appearance by Markie Post; long before she'd play a prim and proper lawyer on Night Court! As for City Slickers' Jack Palance; if you thought he was a big ham now, just wait until you see his guest role here.

Among all the most memorable guest roles, however, is also one of the most poignant; Dorothy Stratten, then a Playboy model, and some say quickly on the rise to fame...until her estranged husband brutally killed her. Even some of the biggest feminists have admitted that this "1980 Playboy Model of the Year" could've, and should've, made it big in Hollywood. The bad news is; for whatever reason the director of this episode wanted a different voice, so it is painfully obvious (especially in crystal-clear digital video) that all of Dorothy's lines are lip-synched with some deeper-voiced actress. Yet regardless of the voice actress chosen (who had the added injury of being unaccredited), the poise and beauty of Dorothy is quite clear. Who knows where her quick rise to fame would have taken her?

However, guests were just the icing on the cake. There are many elements of this series which were so unique and inspired, they are now a part of sci-fi lore. Twiki, the robot drone with his own "Bi-di-bi-di-bi" robot language (as excellently voiced by cartoon veteran Mel Blanc), was the perfect sidekick. The spaceships and sets were very similar to Battlestar Galactica's, and in fact, were clearly salvaged from one another (the spaceship throttles in particular were exactly the same). But hey; who cares how similar the ships were, if this means the fighter ships blast into space with that same Galactica-like blast through the narrow launch tube? Oh, yes...there was also the costume department, which say what you will about working under budget (ahem), provided outfits for men and women alike that would put "Seven of Nine" to shame. Wilma Deering's shiny "uniforms," in particular, are now a part of sci-fi history.

By this point you may be asking; if it had all this, why did it fail? Well for one thing there's the way it put eggs from two different hens in the same basket; science-fiction, with risqué humor. Trouble is, they didn't have the guts to go to the extreme in either direction. The sci-fi barely left Earth orbit; the humor wasn't that risqué. Sure, the concept was amusing enough to earn a cult following of sorts --one which clearly demanded the series' release on DVD-- but at the time, low Nielsen's were all the producers saw, leading to a second season that was totally revamped. Allow me to give the sole piece of good news here, that this limited second season is offered in this set as well, completing the series as a whole. As for the season itself...

Let's put it this way: Buck Rogers is, in this sci-fi fan's opinion, second only to Space:1999 as a series with two seasons that were complete polar opposites of one another. This goes beyond the subtle changes, like a formerly blonde Wilma Deering going brunette, or Twiki's former Mel Blanc voice being replaced with some annoying kid-like voice. What's worse; in an attempt to make the comedy relief more cerebral (?), they offered a second robot named Crichton, who was about as amusing as trying to read a book in the rain. As for the addition of a "Spock"-like element, via the bird-alien-human, Hawk (Thom Christopher); the concept sounded cool, and his "hawk" spacecraft with extending wings was totally cool...but the character wasn't given enough to do. As for the scripts, well, let's just say the writers had no idea where to go with this new format; a tale of Buck roaming the galaxy for Earth's lost colonies (Battlestar Galactica rip-off, anyone?). This second season was bad, even to the most diehard of fans.

Yet there's so much to season one, alone, to warrant a purchase of this series set...particularly for Austin Powers fans. There's Princess Ardala, the intergalactic heir to an empire with a major crush on Buck. Her outrageous recurring schemes to "get" him for herself were actually quite imaginative, particularly when she kidnaps him and attempts to shroud his disappearance with a male "fembot," of sorts. Then there's the episode where Wilma Deering is kidnapped into a slave-girl ring, which was quickly followed (my; such equality!) by an episode where Buck is kidnapped by a slave ring himself. Then there's the outrageous way the "future" looked through the eyes of a disco-crazed Americana of 1979, be it a "Vegas in Space," a rock band, or even the latest dance craze.

Modern sci-fanatics will insist this series is not their cup of tea, because it made no sense. That's exactly the reason I loved it. At no point does the script drown itself in incessant techno-babble, as if to attempt an explanation for every scientific nuance. At no point does Buck get himself out of a jam with some sort of geek-filled rant about warp engine dynamics or transporter room malfunctions or an artificially intelligent "holodeck" gone awry. I love Star Trek's modern incantations, don't get me wrong; but Buck has his time and place on TV as well. Science Fiction was always meant to be fun. This series has "fun" in spades.

The DVD : To be fair, it was a major slice of generosity that this underdog "hit" was offered in DVD form at all; let alone as a complete series Did the Wonder Woman DVD set offer a look at both its WW2 first season, and its 1970's-based second? No. Did the Battlestar Galactica set offer a glimpse at Galactica 1980? No. This DVD set offers every Buck Rogers episode ever made. That's pretty cool, extras or not.

However, could they at least have made this set not look so...rushed? The only record of which-disc-holds-which-episodes is on the discs themselves, without so much as a one-page pamphlet insert, to tell you this in hardcopy form. There's actually no chapter listing sheet at all, even though the packaging has an inner flap implying that one was intended. This isn't even getting into how the discs' second sides do indeed have additional episodes on them --making this, in a sense, a ten disc set-- but many side "B's" aren't even labeled. Talk about rushed...!

So, allow us to give modest accolades to this set's sole added feature; the unedited series pilot, as it originally aired in theaters. Some say they would've preferred the option to see the pilot in its televised form as well. In that version, so much was deleted from the risqué opening credit sequence, they had to add an additional epilogue, better explaining the initial theme of the series. It's in this not-seen-here epilogue to the pilot where Wilma makes an initial plea to Buck, with no "past" on record, to act as a sort of undercover operative in Earth's most daring missions. Mind you; if I had to choose between this epilogue and that nifty opening credits, I'd choose the opening credits. It's just worth mentioning though.

We could go on and on here. Bloopers...? Deleted scenes...? Battlestar Galactica's award-winning collectors edition had all this and more, and in a limited edition box with a cylon "mask" on front. True, this series never received the same cult following that Galactica did, but did they have to rub it in?

	Final Rating : Large Crater. Campy sci-fi, yes, but in a barrage of science fiction that takes itself way too seriously, this series was a welcome change of pace.
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