Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
1979 · 2 seasons · 37 episodes · Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Created by Glen A. Larson, Leslie Stevens
“The original space man! The ultimate trip! Buck Rogers swings back to earth and lays it on the 25th Century!”
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.
Why it's worth watching
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century offers thrilling space battles, innovative technology, and a hero's journey that emphasizes honor, bravery, and justice. Its positive portrayal of teamwork and leadership makes it a compelling watch.
What it praises
The series praises virtues such as courage, integrity, and self-sacrifice, with Buck Rogers embodying these traits in his quest to protect Earth and its people from evil forces.
For discernment
This is breezy, optimistic space-opera adventure that leans on Buck's honor, quick thinking, and loyalty, with bloodless laser-battle action and no profanity or drug content to speak of. The dated element a discerning viewer will notice quickly is the era's cheesecake sensibility: the show regularly parades scantily clad women showing varying degrees of cleavage as visual decoration, a low-grade objectification woven into its disco-era style rather than any single scene. It is tame by modern standards and the storytelling itself is wholesome and heroic, but that steady background of women-as-eye-candy is worth naming for a believer minding what his eyes rest on. The virtues of courage and self-sacrifice are real; the packaging is more worldly than the heroics suggest.
- SexualityThe show regularly features scantily clad women showing cleavage as decorative background, in the cheesecake style of its era.
- ViolenceFrequent but bloodless sci-fi combat — laser battles and space dogfights.
Cast
Gil Gerard
Buck Rogers
Erin Gray
Wilma Deering
Felix Silla
Twiki
Mel Blanc
Twiki (voice)
Tim O'Connor
Dr. Elias Huer
Eric Server
Dr. Theopolis (voice)
Wilfrid Hyde-White
Dr. Goodfellow
Thom Christopher
Hawk
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