TV SERIES · 1979– · USA
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
30 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (30)
- #001
Erin Gray was asked to dye her hair blonde for the role of Wilma Deering. As the first season progressed, however, her blonde hair began reverting to its natural brunette color, and in the second season she was allowed to have fully brunette hair.
- #002
Footage of the British and French pavilions from Expo '67 in Canada was used to represent futuristic buildings in the series, such as Dr. Elias Huer's office tower and Buck Rogers's apartment building.
- #003
In the United States, the broadcast of the second season was delayed until the middle of the 1980-81 television season because of an actors' strike. During the strike the series was reworked to resemble Star Trek (1966) and Larson's own Battlestar Galactica (1978) more closely. The first season was set on Earth, while the second was set aboard a deep-space exploration ship. The Draconians, the main villains of the first season, do not appear at all in the second season, nor does Buck's friend and mentor Dr. Elias Huer, and Hawk (a "Mr. Spock"-type character) is added as Buck's sidekick.
- #004
For the first five episodes of the second season, Bob Elyea briefly replaced Mel Blanc as the voice of Twiki because of Blanc's illness. After Mr. Blanc recovered, he returned to the role for the rest of the series.
- #005
The producers initially intended Buck Rogers to be played by a younger actor, around 25 years old. However, because Gil Gerard, who was 35 at the time, gave the production team such an impressive audition, it was decided to base the character on the actor rather than the actor on the character. Buck Rogers was subsequently rewritten to be somewhat older than the character in the original comic strips and the film serials.
- #006
The Earth Starfighter seen in the series was designed by Ralph McQuarrie and was in fact one of his original designs for the Colonial Viper in Battlestar Galactica (1978). When the Galactica producers went with a different design for the Viper, the design reappeared in Buck Rogers as the Starfighter.
- #007
The series was originally planned to air as a series of two-hour television movies, but NBC preferred a weekly series instead. This explains the number of two-part episodes broadcast in the first season.
- #008
Actor Kurt Russell was producer Glen A. Larson's first choice for the lead role. Russell, who had worked on many television programs by then, said he was not interested, as he was trying to concentrate on starting a film career, especially after coming painfully close to landing the role of Han Solo in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and ultimately losing it to Harrison Ford.
- #009
The miniature sets of the landing areas and launch tubes frequently seen in the series were built using Styrofoam packing materials. Combined with clever lighting, these produced relatively inexpensive models that appeared to have complex architectural detail.
- #010
The series quickly gathered a small, intensely loyal and affectionate fan base. Occasionally young girls tried to get into the studio area to meet Gil Gerard. One studio employee reported that a teenager offered him 20 dollars to smuggle her into the studio in the trunk of his car; he refused. A lovestruck fan of Erin Gray once arrived at the studio entrance with a bouquet of roses and a box of chocolates; she was stopped at the entrance and not allowed inside, and it was never reported that Gray came to the entrance to meet her and accept her gifts. Even Felix Silla had several devoted female fans who tried to come to the studio to see him on set; some tried (and failed) to sneak into the building where filming took place.
- #011
Gil Gerard and Felix Silla (the actor inside the Twiki costume) were friends for more than 40 years. It was Gerard who announced his friend's death on 16 April 2021.
- #012
Much like Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers reused footage of space battles. Unlike Battlestar Galactica, however, Buck Rogers faced a different enemy in different ships each week, which resulted in many mismatched shots, including ones in which the pilot targets one type of ship and then fires at another type. The laser beams also changed color from shot to shot depending on which shot was used.
- #013
Crichton is stated to have a positronic brain. The positronic brain is a fictional technological device first conceived by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov in the late 1930s, and it is a central element of his classic robot stories.
- #014
Admiral Efram Asimov (Jay Garner), the commander of the Searcher spacecraft, is said to be a descendant of the famous science fiction writer Isaac Asimov.
- #015
The robot Crichton is named after the American science fiction writer Michael Crichton.
- #016
In "Shgoratchx!" (1981) it is stated that Crichton has a positronic brain. This fictional term was later used as the technology employed in Lt. Commander Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).
- #017
Before Erin Gray agreed to return as Colonel Wilma Deering, the role was considered for Juanin Clay. In the episode Vegas in Space (1979), Clay played Major Marla Landers, a guest character who closely resembled Wilma Deering.
- #018
Twiki was originally meant to emit only unintelligible electronic sounds (the "biddi-biddi-biddi" noise), with Dr. Theopolis acting as his interpreter. This was judged too similar to R2-D2 and C-3PO in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), so Twiki was given his own voice.
- #019
Among the off-screen background stories devised for Kane was that he was a former student of Dr. Huer who had taken refuge with the Draconians. To explain the large differences between Henry Silva's and Michael Ansara's portrayals of Kane, the novelizations established that Silva's Kane was the younger brother of Ansara's Kane. This may explain why Silva's Kane treats Ardala more crudely and manipulatively, while Ansara's Kane, though more honorable and duty-bound, still shows Ardala no more respect than his work requires.
- #020
Producer Glen A. Larson, a Mormon, infused Buck Rogers with Mormon beliefs and ideologies, especially in the second season. He did something similar in the first season of Battlestar Galactica and Galactica 1980.
- #021
Buck's middle name, Anthony, was a nod to his cheap/comic-book origins, where Anthony was his official name.
- #022
Dr. Elias Huer's office chair is the iconic "Egg Chair" by Danish modern designer Arne Jacobsen. The piece was originally designed as a lounge chair rather than a desk chair.
- #023
In the second season, unlike the rest of the cast in 25th-century clothing, the character Dr. Goodfellow (played by character actor Wilfrid Hyde-White) wore 20th-century clothes.
- #024
Captain Buck Rogers's full name is spoken only once: in the episode Happy Birthday, Buck (1980), as William Anthony Rogers.
- #025
Johnny Harris arranged the opening theme composed by Stu Phillips. The first 45 seconds, in which Buck Rogers returns, is an original Johnny Harris composition that plays until Phillips's main theme begins.
- #026
Henry Silva played Kane in the theatrically premiered two-hour pilot Awakening (1979). Silva was unavailable for the weekly series, however, so Michael Ansara was cast as Kane in later episodes. The change had a slight effect on Kane's relationship with Princess Ardala. In "Awakening," some of Ardala's banter with Kane has a flirtatious quality, such as her asking whether he wants "Me, or my throne?" and telling Kane that her interest in Buck Rogers "wouldn't have been necessary if you were more of a man." Kane is also stronger toward Ardala in the pilot, for instance insisting that she fulfill her duties as a Draconian princess. When Ansara took over the role, however, the dynamic between the characters changed and the relationship became more businesslike; notably, in Ardala Returns (1980) (#1.15), Ardala repeatedly voices her suspicions about Kane regarding Buck Rogers's Zygot robot duplicates and at one point angrily orders him to sit down.
- #027
Hawk is shown to have almost no sense of humor. While the characters around him enjoy a comic moment, he simply keeps a straight face or frowns.
- #028
Footage of New Chicago was reused in Dollman (1991) for the city on the planet Arturos.
- #029
Erin Gray hated her tight spandex costumes and did not care about keeping them after the series was cancelled. She reportedly said, "Burn them!" and described the outfits as fitting like a second skin and being a nightmare to wear, preferring to cover herself with a robe between takes. She was very surprised when the costumes were later sold to collectors for enough money to pay for her daughter's college education years afterward.
- #030
The laser sound effects were reused as the combat rifle sound effects (red lasers) for the Joe team in the 1980s Sunbow cartoon GI Joe.
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