Go to the downloads page and get the theme song Suspension by Kipp Lennon, with lyrics.

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Twiki's Disco Party LP, available from K-Tel.

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See also:

Battle Beyond the Stars
Just Imagine

by Mayzshon

Re-visiting your youth is always a tricky proposition. Quite often something the things that seemed incredibly cool to a nine-year-old, seem incredibly lame as an adult. This is largely because kids have seriously crappy taste.

Which brings me to Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. As a nine-year-old kid I thought this was the coolest thing in the world. Could a TV show be much cooler? It had lasers, spaceships, and a little metal robot spouting off nineteen-seventies era slang. (Yes, I was a Twiki fan. I also liked Muffet from Battlestar Galactica, hell, I liked the Ewoks)

Ahh, but now that I’m adult, how would it hold up? Surely my tastes have grown beyond silly spaceships and lasers.

Nope, they haven’t. I still love this show. Sure it has plot holes you could fly a spaceship through, and some occasionally clunky dialogue, but damn it, it’s just plain fun.

Oh, and it has Erin Gray in spandex. Some thing I appreciate much, much more with age.

William Conrad narrates the opening, telling us that in 1987, America launches the last of its deep space probes, with lone astronaut William “Buck” Rogers (Gil Gerard). But something goes wrong and Buck is buffeted by cosmic forces, transforming him into a big orange rocky monster... whoops sorry, that was Ben Grim. Buck Just get frozen and spends the next 500 years having wet dreams about Erin Gray and Pamela Hensley.

Seriously, the opening sequence features Buck lounging asleep on his logo, while Erin, Pamela, and some other women in silver lingerie strike sexy poses, and try to make out with him. This is also the only time I can recall the theme music having lyrics.

In the 25th century, Buck’s rocket is discovered by the Draconian flagship, under the command of the scantily clad Princess Ardala, and her toady “Killer” Kane (Henry Silva). Those who’ve seen the original serials will notice a definite demotion for Kane, from Gangster ruler of the Earth, to sexually frustrated lackey.

They thaw him out, and decide to release him, with a tracing device in his ship. See, the Draconians are trying to find a way through Earth’s big defense force field. He’s intercepted by Col. Deering, brought to Earth, suspected of being a spy, tried and sentenced to be executed. Oddly this occurs before he re-introduces Disco into polite society (see sidebar).

Even as a kid, Buck’s arrival on Earth raised one major question: since when does NASA land spacecraft in Chicago?

I’ve got to say in many ways this is even more fun to watch as an adult. Largely this is because more of the sexual innuendos make sense now. Gerard’s Buck is a much looser guy than the Buster Crabbe version. He wisecracks, and openly flirts with Princess Ardala, it sort of like if Star Wars had ditched Luke Skywalker, and just let Han be the hero.

In the end if you’re looking for a deep philosophical movie, you’ll want to pass on this. But for spaceships, lasers and spandex, Buck’s your man.