"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" pilot

[Vile]

I loved that show. That's what my Traveller Universe looks like. Went downhill in the second season, though.

[gentleman john]

There was no second season. Just like there was only one Highlander movie, no sequel to Battlestar Galactica, and only the 1967 version of The Italian Job.

[seneschal]

There was no second season. Just like there was only one Highlander movie, no sequel to Battlestar Galactica, and only the 1967 version of The Italian Job.

... No prequels to the Star Wars trilogy, no Lost In Space third season, no Seaquest DSV reboot, no Star Trek Voyager or Enterprise, no Wild, Wild West movie starring Will Smith, no second season to The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, no edition of Traveller after the original ...

But what would a Mutant Future setting based on Buck Rogers look like? The '70s TV show indicated a blasted wasteland outside high-tech urban areas, the sort of post-nuclear war scenario common in sci-fi since the 1950s. Worth noting, in at least one other episode Buck left New Chicago in a huff to do some camping and thinking. In that story, the wild looked more like Southern California scrub land: dirt roads, tall grass and bushes, boulders, a few twisted trees, no mutants. Dry and barren, but much more hospitable than in the pilot. Why was there still a dirt road in existence? We don't know, except that Buck could drive his vintage motorcycle on it. Based on the Earth's desperate need to trade with other planets, presumably food is either imported from space or synthesized in labs (although given the episode mentioned, surely they could raise cattle or goats). Where are they getting all their raw materials to make that high-tech gear with? The TV series doesn't go much into what 25th century society is like, but kids still play ball in the park with their dads and people still go to work at assorted government and commercial jobs. Since the Computer Council makes all the major decisions, it isn't clear how much personal freedom folks have (secret agents have a lot of leeway). The series emphasizes that Buck is useful to the Earth Defense Force because he is mentally unique; he has a greater than normal capacity to think and make calculations because he hasn't had machines making decisions for him all his life. It is implied that Regular Joes could regain that capacity given a chance, but most folks we meet are happy to live an undemanding life of high-tech luxury. How do those scary mutants live? We never find out. How many other Earth cities are there than New Chicago and what are they like? We never find out. How did Earthmen manage to design and build those spiffy starfighters when they lost all knowledge of the Ancient world and don't even know what a ping pong table is or how to care for a simple potted plant? We never find out.

Philip Nowlan's original 1929 post-apocalypse presented a green North America returned to primeval forest, populated by wild beasts and a few wild men. After all, it's been hundreds of years since the war, the Mongols rarely leave their luxurious domed cities near the east and west coasts, and the surviving Americans hide in underground bunkers. Anti-grav vehicles and airplanes (World War I style biplanes are the Americans' secret weapon) make ground travel obsolete, so no roads. No external buildings, farmers' fields or power plants, since the Americans can't afford to be discovered by Mongol patrols. Not much personal freedom in this setting, either. American underground cities are run somewhat like organized crime gangs, with a "boss" in charge of each -- and there's still a war on, buddy, so quit squawking. Anthony Rogers, a former World War I flying ace, is more interested in teaching the Americans how to defend themselves than in restoring their knowledge of their heritage, so no Star Trek style lessons on the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. He does marry Wilma in this version, though, so some notion of traditional family structure and morals has survived. It's the Mongols here who lead a decadent high-tech existence devoted to pleasure (ironically similar to real-life 21st century American lifestyles). They lose the war despite their superior gear because they've grown soft mentally and physically.

[Blood axe]

I loved that show as a kid. Ah...fond memories.....

[baran_i_kanu]

I had a game set up and ready to go. We're still working on other games now so it ended up on the backburner.
http://theosrlibrary.blogspot.com/2012/ ... ntury.html
I have my MF stats for Buck and others somewhere. Need to repost them.

[seneschal]

I had a game set up and ready to go. We're still working on other games now so it ended up on the backburner.
http://theosrlibrary.blogspot.com/2012/ ... ntury.html
I have my MF stats for Buck and others somewhere. Need to repost them.

I like your setting summary. The Buck Rogers Adventure Game faced that problem, too. It gave stats for Buck and Wilma (as icons of what the PCs could aspire to) but took the approach that the struggle against the Han was a big war, and that PCs would rarely encounter the titular hero in their adventures. Encounters with the villains "Killer" Kane and Ardala Valdamar, on the other hand, was something PCs could expect.

In the 1920s version, Kane was the future Americans' former top flying ace who turned traitor when Buck Rogers stole his glory and the girl he wanted (Wilma). Ardala was an American junior naval officer infatuated with Kane who abandoned her duty to follow him. The pair had an uneasy love/hate relationship during the comic strip's long run as Kane betrayed Valdamar more than once to save his own skin. Although Kane knew how to play rough, he was more of the sneaky weasel type of villain, manipulating others and situations to get what he wanted. Ardala became a competent Big Bad in her own right and might have enjoyed better success could she have torn herself loose from her on-again, off-again lover.

[baran_i_kanu]

My version of the good guys:
( I only built Buck so a player could see how I envision him and he really is the standard even if he isn't in the campaign.)

http://theosrlibrary.blogspot.com/2013/ ... fense.html

[finarvyn]

I love the original movie, but the series seemed to go downhill in a hurry. Sad, because I remember it as being great SciFi. It's just that when I re-watch the DVDs all these years later it seems a lot more cheezy than I remember.

[shart2069]

I love the original movie, but the series seemed to go downhill in a hurry. Sad, because I remember it as being great SciFi. It's just that when I re-watch the DVDs all these years later it seems a lot more cheezy than I remember.

I completely agree.

I ended up taking a few weeks off from watching after episode 10.

I saw the next one was the one with Gary Coleman...

Trying to watch 2 episodes a week was becoming too much like work.

Besides I was getting ready for a 1-day sci-fi / comic book con I went to (ended up running a game of Marvel Super Heroes, and I also think I (in concert with a Pathfinder Society rep) may have convinced the organizer to consider a dedicated gaming room for next year).

So I've started a different idea: today I tried to recreate the "Saturday Morning cartoon experience" by watching an episode of Flash Gordon, an episode of Thundarr, and an episode of Dungeons & Dragons. Then I watched an old Bruce Lee kung-fu movie to simulate Saturday afternoon.

Tomorrow night I will attempt to start watching Buck Rogers again, but maybe only 1 episode per week. (If I have the energy to keep watching something I have the original BattleStar Galactica I can start up on at 1 episode per week also.)

[shart2069]

I didn't get to watch the episode with Gary Coleman after all - that episode is unplayable on my disc, although all episodes before and after it are fine.

So I watched the next episode with the return of Princess Ardala.

Maybe it is for the best?

Someday I guess I will have to invest in the newer release version that uses single-sided discs, but costs twice as much.

(I wonder how many other DVDs I have left sealed for months or years are defective ... arrrggghhh!!!)