Buck Rogers

I've had a lull in my netflix queue lately, so I've ordered up a couple disks of that old, post TOS BSG camp known as Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Remember, the one with Erin Grey?

As campy and made-for-kids as the original was, I can't help but thinking there were some underlying compelling elements to the series. Of course, all old 70's shows like that are hopelessly dated: the leather disco outfits, the room-sized computer banks with blinking lights, etc.

But it got me thinking. With the technology of now and being able to project out where we are going with nano-tech and perhaps quantum computers, imagine a Buck Rogers waking up in a 25th century with neural wetware, sentient androids, thought/computer mesh controlled spacecraft, etc.

In the original BR, one of the underlying themes was the way 25th century holocaust descendants depended on computers for everything. Imagine a population wired into a world-wide ethernet almost from birth, and how crippling it would be to be cut off from it- except for 21st Century man Buck Rogers, who was never wired in in the first place. This would make an interesting reimagining of the premise now.

Anyhow, it got my author gene firing again. Haven't decided if I want to play with this one yet or not. Does anyone happen to know who might have the rights to the old Buck Rogers franchise? I remember a few novels coming out back around the time of the old television series.

Storm seemed to have encyclopedic knowledge on Buck Rogers.

Wish he were here.

From Wiki:
"Ownership of Buck Rogers and other works later passed into the hands of the Dille Family Trust. Flint Dille was John F. Dille's grandson. All trademark pertaining to "Buck Rogers" is now registered to the Dille Family Trust.[8] Those trademarks formerly specific to TSR have been cancelled.[9]

In 1997, in an interview for the Calgary Sun newspaper, actress Erin Gray of the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century television series stated that the film rights to the character belonged, at the time, to Walt Disney Studios but it is not known if this is still (or ever was) the case."

You don't need Storm for Buck Rogers.

My geekiness is just as geeky as his!

There's fanfics going on from the Buck Rogers stuff:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buck-rogers/
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/Buck_Rogers_25th/

The Earth Defense Directorate site, the best for source material:
http://www.buckrogers.org/

More geeky fun:
http://www.scifi2k.com/buck_rogers/buckrogers.html
http://www.buck-rogers.com/

Wrote up an article on the setting for a wargame I play, along with conversions of all the ships. Here's a serious look at the scifi elements behind the camp:

“The year is 1987 and NASA launches the last of its deep space probes. In a freak mishap Ranger 3 and its pilot, Captain William ‘Buck’ Rogers are blown out of their orbit and into a trajectory that freezes their life support systems and returns Buck Rogers to Earth… 500 years later….”

With these words we are introduced to the world of Earth in the 25th century. While often considered campy, the base science fiction tableau created for by the writers of Buck Rogers in the 25th century was a surprisingly rich one, with considerable focus on space battles and high adventure.

Earth in the 25th century is a world far different from our own. After the nuclear holocaust instigated by the Warsaw Pact against NATO in the late 20th century, a diaspora of vast scope spreads forth from humanity’s ruined homeworld. Seeking the stars, humanity escapes to form dozens of colonies, first in generational sleepers and later in high technology ships powered by plasma drives and capable of exceeding light speed. However, the wasteland that was now Earth proved incapable of supporting the mass exodus, and society once again collapses into infighting and struggles over the limited resources available on a world scoured by nuclear fire. Communications with the more remote colonies faltered and then collapsed entirely. While humanity itself was destined to survive in its enclaves scattered throughout the spiral arm, the question of the fate of Earth itself hung in the balance.

In the end, it was our children that save us. Not the descendant of our flesh and bone, just as flawed and beautiful as humanity had ever been, but the offspring of our logic and will. The first tentative steps into artificial intelligence and sentient algorithms bore fruit, helping their human masters make great strides in technology and science. The rebuilding continued apace, and the great metropolises such as New Chicago and the City by the Sea arose from the ash strewn wreckage of earlier ages. By the 24th century the AI Council had formed. The guiding force behind the restoration, the Earth Directorate soon relied on them for their wisdom and unique insight, and indeed matters of judgment of criminality were left entirely in their hands. Granted mobility by their ambuquad assistants, the AIs became an indispensable part of human society. Indeed, in many cases were deferred to because for the clarity of their discernment as it was not marred by the emotions and frailties of the human condition.

By the late 25th century equilibrium of a kind had been restored. The collaboration of AI and human scientists had discovered secrets of space-time that directly led to the Stargate network. Instantaneous transportation between Stargate points allowed the Directorate to reestablish contact with many of its colonies. And while the Earth remains eternally scarred from the folly of ‘wise man’, with places such as Old Chicago still haunted by mutants and radiation hot spots that even the advanced technology of the Science Directorate cannot succor, trade has brought something akin to prosperity and stability back to humanity. Earth exists in a vast network of merchantile connections, exchanging advanced technology for the raw resources and the food stuffs that it can no longer supply for itself.

Yet such relationships remain fragile. Internal and external threats remain, from mutant terrorists with powers beyond explanation to apocalyptic religious leaders to alien empires bent on conquest. Even mind-controlling music executives and aliens of ancient and mysterious abilities challenge the ingenuity and skills of the members of the Earth Defense Directorate. The 25th century remains a place of danger, intrigue, and high adventure!

Welcome to the Wars of the 25th Century! This is a conversion of the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century setting to the classic Babylon 5 Wars rules set, along with some recommendations for including the societies and technology of the 25th century into a larger campaign setting. Part One of this article will focus on the two largest governments that dominate Earth’s spiral arm during this time period, the Earth Directorate (also known as the Federation) and the Draconian Empire. Part Two will look farther a field at some of the other nations of the time period, including the Thrommian Hawkmen, Zykarian Consulate, the Empire of Zaad (ruled by Zarina the War-Witch), the duplicitous Saurians of Delta Sector, and the mutant colony known as the Dorians of Cygnus.

Fun that Buck's Ranger 3 deep space probe mission was supposed to take place in 1987!

Yes, the geek is strong with this one indeed!

Ooops.

I think I geeked to hard. Sorry about that.

I got hold of the 1930s Flash Gordon serial featuring Buster Crabbe, recently...surpisingly watchable.

Once...

I want in. I want in I want in I want. IN. I fucking loved that show when I was a kid.

Y'know, for all its cheesiness, the one with the Vorvon (the space vampire) still managed to creep me out a bit. I've always wondered if that was a Halloween ep.

EDIT- And the medallian that would ward off the Vorvon like a cross was Commander Adama's Kobol medallion from BSG. Guess maybe Buck's Earth was the thirteenth tribe, eh?

You just filled in another part of the reboot, right there. BR in a grittier style. Maybe a world that's just a little scary, and a lot scarier around the jagged edges.

Well if I ever do write a Buck story, I'll give ya a cameo.

I say a modern Buck rogers ought to look a lot like this....



for reference, the old Buck...

Yeah, I know I know....

It's the thought that counts.

So... he usedta look like a tripod, and now he oughta look like an angelfire?

I think you mean "biddi biddi biddi."

I wonder how hard it would be to knock that thing down by throwing a basketball at it. Don't get me wrong, I loved the show as a kid, and that character is funny. I just wonder random things like that, time to time.

I don't know.

Just watched 'Flight of the War Witch', which I'd actually never seen before. This was the end of S1 2-hour deal where Buck and the Draconians travel to an alternate universe and team up against some baddies there.

Okay.

Erin Grey, Pamela Helmsley, and Julie Frakkin' Newmar all in one double episode, along with several HAWT, scantily clad background girls. Lots of dogfighting (they even shot some new FX for this one instead of using all-stock footage), laser gunfights, and bad karate galore. Complete with 70's getups, sets, and lighting.

What is not to frakkin' love?

Call it cheesy or whatever, but I will say that Glen Larson, Bellisario, and those 70's guys sure knew how to make a gorram television show. T&A, larger than life heroes, and bare knuckles action. Reminds me of why I like TOS so much more than TNG.

Guess I'm just....a guy.

Actually, if you look at the original movie, when Buck leaves the city, it is a gritty, scary world.
I wonder if the series would have lasted longer had Glen gone in that direction instead.

Yeah, flight of the war witch rocked. The planetary shield that trapped you in another dimension was cool as well, and of course the fact they travelled to another dimesnion in the first place...

Probably my favorite was the Plot to Kill a City two parter with the Legion of Death... evil mastermind played by Frank Gorshin, a mutant who can phase through walls, a telekinetic, Markie Post, all sorts of cheesy goodness.

Yeah, Markie Post's outfit was a real hormone jump-starter for me back in the 70's.

Hell, it's a real re-charger even now!

This outfit?

Okay.

The storyline has been tickling my brain for a week or two now, and enough of it has gelled that I'm about ready to sit down and start typing. I wasn't sure I was going to want to tackle this, but I may have to give it a go. This will be more than a short- a novella at least, or the whole enchilada depending on where it takes me.

I begin tonite!

I was gonna ask if you'd read the novels, Marso.

You might find them a source of ideas.

I read one of them a long time ago, but I want to go an almost entirely new direction here.

Will it be available for reading when done?

Here's the raw first bit I did tonite, as a primer: