Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

1979 - 1981

Awakening (1)

20th September 1979

Episode 1

In the year 1987, NASA launched space probe Ranger III, with astronaut William "Buck" Rogers, on a 5-month trip around the solar system. However, the craft runs into a meteor storm, which disrupts its life support system and sends it into a long elliptical orbit of the Earth. In the year 2491, Ranger III again approaches the Earth, and is intercepted by the alien flagship Draconia, which is on a peace mission to Earth. Aboard the Draconia, Buck is revived by Princess Ardala and her second-in- command, Kane, whose true plan is to attack and conquer Earth. Buck is sent to Earth with a hidden homing device, which is soon discovered by Earth's Defense Directorate. After Buck convinces the humans of his true identity -- a man from the past -- he helps them to repel the Draconians' attack, with the aid of the mechanoids Dr. Theopolis and Twiki.

Awakening (2)

20th September 1979

Episode 2

In the year 1987, NASA launched space probe Ranger III, with astronaut William ""Buck" Rogers, on a 5-month trip around the solar system. However, the craft runs into a meteor storm, which disrupts its life support system and sends it into a long elliptical orbit of the Earth. In the year 2491, Ranger III again approaches the Earth, and is intercepted by the alien flagship Draconia, which is on a peace mission to Earth. Aboard the Draconia, Buck is revived by Princess Ardala and her second-in- command, Kane, whose true plan is to attack and conquer Earth. Buck is sent to Earth with a hidden homing device, which is soon discovered by Earth's Defense Directorate. After Buck convinces the humans of his true identity -- a man from the past -- he helps them to repel the Draconians' attack, with the aid of the mechanoids Dr. Theopolis and Twiki.

Planet of the Slave Girls (1)

27th September 1979

Episode 3

Most of Earth's defense squadron becomes incapacitated after ingesting poisoned food discs. Buck travels to the planet of the food's origin, Vistula, with Wilma and flight instructor Duke Danton, an old boyfriend of Wilma's. On the planet, they trace the plot to a man named Kaleel who has been selling slaves to the planet's governor and secretly building an attack fleet. With so few fighter pilots, Earth's defense force is now outnumbered 10-to-1. Buck must rescue Wilma from Kaleel's mountain fortress and destroy the fleet before they can reach Earth. This episode was initially aired as a two hour special.

Planet of the Slave Girls (2)

27th September 1979

Episode 4

Most of Earth's defense squadron becomes incapacitated after ingesting poisoned food discs. Buck travels to the planet of the food's origin, Vistula, with Wilma and flight instructor Duke Danton (Groh), an old boyfriend of Wilma's. On the planet, they trace the plot to a man named Kaleel (Palance) who has been selling slaves to the planet's governor (McDowall) and secretly building an attack fleet. With so few fighter pilots, Earth's defense force is now outnumbered 10-to-1. Buck must rescue Wilma from Kaleel's mountain fortress and destroy the fleet before they can reach Earth. This episode was initially aired as

Vegas in Space

4th October 1979

Episode 5

Buck is sent to the gambling city Sinaloa with Directorate special agent Marla Landers to rescue a young woman who has been kidnapped by the city's ruler, Velosi. Velosi plans to extract some information from the woman's mind in order to destroy one of his competitors. The information involves plans for the Draconian Hatchet fighters, which have been plaguing Earth's defense forces.

The Plot to Kill a City (1)

11th October 1979

Episode 6

After a Defense Directorate agent kills a member of a group of interstellar assassins, they plot to take their revenge on the city of New Chicago. Buck masquerades as an assassin and joins the group, but is soon uncovered. He must now, not only escape from the assassins, but also stop them from detonating New Chicago's matter/antimatter energy plant.

The Plot to Kill a City (2)

18th October 1979

Episode 7

After a Defense Directorate agent kills a member of a group of interstellar assassins, they plot to take their revenge on the city of New Chicago. Buck masquerades as an assassin and joins the group, but is soon uncovered. He must now, not only escape from the assassins, but also stop them from detonating New Chicago's matter/antimatter energy plant.

Return of the Fighting 69th

25th October 1979

Episode 8

Some time before Buck Roger's arrival, Col. Wilma Deering had set out to capture two interstellar gun runners. A fire in their spacecraft left them disfigured and they now set out to take their revenge on Wilma and Earth. Capturing a freighter with 20th Century chemical weapons, they plan to poison the planet's atmosphere. With the aid of retired members of the Earth Defense Directorate's 69th Squadron, Buck and Wilma attack the gun runners' base to destroy them and the chemical weapons.

Unchained Woman

1st November 1979

Episode 9

Buck masquerades as a convict to break into a prison in an attempt to rescue Jen Burton, who took the blame for a murder her boyfriend, a shipping pirate, really committed. The Earth Defense Directorate believes that she can supply information to put the pirate in jail. Breaking out of the underground prison, Buck and the woman head for a nearby spaceport for return to Earth, but they are pursued by an indestructible android prison guard.

Planet of the Amazon Women

8th November 1979

Episode 10

Kidnapped to the planet Zantia, Buck finds himself auctioned off to Ariela, the daughter of the planet's Prime Minister. Through her, Buck learns that the planet's male population are being held as prisoners of war of a people called the Ruathans. Buck agrees to help the women free their men in return for his own freedom.

Cosmic Whiz Kid

15th November 1979

Episode 11

Hieronymous Fox, an 11-year-old child genius from the 20th Century is kidnapped for ransom by the sinister Roderick Zale. The boy is the President of the planet Genesia and his bodyguard fears that he will be killed because they cannot meet the ransom demand. Buck, Wilma, and the bodyguard then make separate attempts to rescue the boy.

Escape From Wedded Bliss

29th November 1979

Episode 12

Princess Ardala returns to try to make Buck, who she considers the most genetically perfect male in the galaxy, her husband. With a powerful weapon poised in Earth orbit, she commands Earth's leaders to turn Buck Rogers over to her or else...

Cruise Ship to the Stars

27th December 1979

Episode 13

Murder and romance await Buck, Wilma, Theo and Twiki aboard the cruise ship Lyran Queen. Buck befriends a shy young girl (Beck) while investigating the attempted kidnapping of beauty queen Miss Cosmos (Stratten) by a woman (Noble) with superpowers. To his surprise, Buck learns the true identity of the mystery woman as he seeks the location of Miss Cosmos before a deadly dissection laser kills her.

Space Vampire

3rd January 1980

Episode 14

No one believes that the Vorvon, who sneaks up on his victims and drains their living soul, is responsible for a series of deaths on Space Station Theta except Wilma -- his next intended victim.

Happy Birthday, Buck

10th January 1980

Episode 15

It's Buck Roger's 534th birthday, and Wilma and Dr. Huer plan a surprise party to cheer up the homesick astronaut. Wilma arranges to get Buck "out of the way" by having him accompany Dr. Huer's assistant to New Detroit with the doctor's business schedule. Meanwhile, a man who is plotting revenge against Huer attempts to gain access to the schedule from the assistant so that he can ambush and kill Dr. Huer.

A Blast for Buck

17th January 1980

Episode 16

To discover the secret behind a terrifying riddle presented to him, Buck subjects himself to a mind probe in an attempt to find out who is responsible for the mysterious objects being transported into the Defense Directorate's building.

Ardala Returns

24th January 1980

Episode 17

Princess Ardala returns with another plan to snare the man from the 20th Century. This time, she captures Buck by luring him aboard a phoney 20th Century spaceship like his Ranger III. Once aboard the flagship Draconia, Kane creates four duplicate androids of Buck in an attempt to have them pilot the Draconian Hatchet fighters in an attack against Earth.

Twiki is Missing

31st January 1980

Episode 18

Twiki is kidnapped by the evil ruler of a mining colony who, faced with an uprising of the mine workers, plans to make duplicates of the mechanoid to work the mines. While in the mines attempting to rescue Twiki, Buck discovers something that will help Earth destroy a 10-ton ice asteroid that is on a collision course with Earth.

Olympiad

7th February 1980

Episode 19

Buck is invited to be the special guest of the 2492 Olympics. Shortly after arriving on the planet where they are being held, he is drawn into a game of political intrigue as an athlete from the planet Lozira attempts to defect to Earth.

A Dream of Jennifer

14th February 1980

Episode 20

Buck is haunted by the appearance of a young woman who bears a striking resemblance to Jennifer, a woman who Buck left behind when he was propelled into the 25th Century. He follows her, finds out her name is Leila Markeson, and soon discovers that she was made to look like Jennifer in order to lure Buck into a trap set by an alien who wants Buck to stop a space freighter from delivering weapons to a planet his people hope to conquer. Buck gets Wilma to detonate a warhead to deceive the aliens into thinking the shipment is destroyed. Buck defeats the enemy, but loses Leila, and his lost love again, as she tearfully dies in his arms.

Space Rockers

21st February 1980

Episode 21

The evil Lars Mangros plans to broadcast a subliminal signal during the next performance of the rock group Andromeda that will cause the youth of the galaxy to riot. Buck infiltrates Musicworld, where the broadcast will originate, in an attempt to stop the madman from destroying the galaxy's cities.

Buck's Duel to the Death

20th March 1980

Episode 22

Buck attempts to free a peaceful planet from the powerful grip of an evil warlord known as the Traybor. He leads a band of men into Traybor's fortress in the hope of freeing the women the alien has kidnapped, but Traybor has a few special powers that may end Buck's career at any moment.

Flight of the War Witch (1)

27th March 1980

Episode 23

Buck journeys through a space warp into another universe, where he discovers that the peaceful planet Pendar is being threatened by the sinister war witch Zarina. The Pendarans enlist the aid of Buck and Princess Ardala, who had followed Buck through the space warp, and an unsteady alliance between the humans and Draconians is formed as Buck leads a combined fleet against Zarina's battlecruiser.

Flight of the War Witch (2)

27th March 1980

Episode 24

Buck journeys through a space warp into another universe, where he discovers that the peaceful planet Pendar is being threatened by the sinister war witch Zarina. The Pendarans enlist the aid of Buck and Princess Ardala, who had followed Buck through the space warp, and an unsteady alliance between the humans and Draconians is formed as Buck leads a combined fleet against Zarina's battlecruiser.

Top Cast

Gil Gerard•Erin Gray•Wilfrid Hyde-White

Action & Adventure Sci-Fi & Fantasy

20th-century astronaut Buck Rogers awakens in the 25th century after a freak accident puts him in suspended animation for 500 years. Upon returning to Earth and discovering the planet is recovering from a nuclear war, Buck uses his combat skills and ingenuity to protect Earth and fight evil throughout the galaxy alongside starfighter pilot Colonel Wilma Deering and robot companion Twiki.

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Full Cast

Gil Gerard Image

Gil Gerard

Buck Rogers

Erin Gray Image

Erin Gray

Wilma Deering

Wilfrid Hyde-White Image

Wilfrid Hyde-White

Dr. Goodfellow

Thom Christopher Image

Thom Christopher

Hawk

Jay Garner Image

Jay Garner

Admiral Efram Asimov

Felix Silla Image

Felix Silla

Twiki

Full Crew

Glen A. Larson

Producer

Kenneth Hale

First Assistant Camera

Dick Wahrman

Sound Effects Editor

Douglas Knapp Image

Douglas Knapp

Camera Operator

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