Category: Buck Rogers

A routine survey of an Earthlike planet turns up seemingly abandoned ruins, and one man who appears to be a human survivor. Crichton warns that the planet was called the planet of death by a long-extinct race called the Goral. Wilma returns to the Searcher with the survivor, while Buck and Hawk explore the ruins. An disorienting phenomenon on the planet convinces them to return to their ship as well, but what they find on the Searcher is even more disturbing: Admiral Asimov is arresting several members of the crew on suspicion of disloyalty and showing no mercy, and even the layout of the ship is different. Wilma appears to be unaffected at first, but even she exhibits behavior that Buck finds suspicious. He and Hawk manage to escape the Searcher and return to the planet of death, where an ancient being greets them – and tells them that they have successfully passed what is actually a test of intelligence and intuition. Now they must pass one more test – someone is sabotaging the Searcher, and they only have a little time to figure out who, and how.

written by Francis Moss
directed by David G. Phinney
music by Stu Phillips

Cast: Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers), Erin Gray (Colonel Wilma Deering), Thom Christopher (Hawk), Jay Garner (Admiral Asimov), Wilfred Hyde-White (Dr. Goodfellow), Felix Silla (Twiki), Jeff David (voice of Crichton), John Fujioka (Hand of the Goral), Peter Kastner (Reardon), William Bryant (Cowan), Dennis Haysbert (Lt. Parsons), Michael Horsley (Yeoman James)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

The Searcher makes a return to Earth, and once refueled and resupplied the ship will return to its deep space exploration mission. But before the Searcher can set off again, the Commissioner of Earth’s war crimes tribunal grounds the ship and arrives to personally arrest Buck. An ancient audiovisual recording medium predating the holocaust, known as a “videotape,” is uncovered, and its still-intact contents implicate Buck in a conspiracy that led to the near-destruction of Earth in the late 20th century. The Commissioner convenes Buck’s trial aboard the Searcher, and makes it clear that based on the damning evidence, he intends to pursue the death penalty. Buck claims he remembers none of what is recorded on the tape, but even when he submits to a mind probe devised by Dr. Goodfellow to reveal his true memories of 20th century Earth, images of his apparent betrayal of his own country still inexplicably appear.

written by Stephen McPherson
directed by Bernard McEveety
music by Bruce Broughton

Cast: Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers), Erin Gray (Colonel Wilma Deering), Thom Christopher (Hawk), Jay Garner (Admiral Asimov), Wilfred Hyde-White (Dr. Goodfellow), Felix Silla (Twiki), Jeff David (voice of Crichton), Ramon Bieri (Commissioner Bergstrom), William Sylvester (Lt. General Preston Myers), David Hooks (General Arnheim), Walter Brooke (President of the United States), John Milford (Official), John O’Connell (Major Peterson), Thomas Bellin (Crawford), Buck Young (Brigadier General Biles), Carl Reindel (Air Force Sergeant), Eric Lawrence (Young Marine), Jim Emery (Marine Pilot), Dean Brooks (Marine Sergeant), Bill Andes (Colonel Turner)

Notes: The videotape identifies November 22nd, 1987 as the date of the nuclear war – and apparently in whatever alternate history Buck’s adventures took place in, gigantic top-loading VCRs were still in use. (It’s also an odd coincidence – the 24th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy – given the conspiratorial nature of the storyline.) Guest star William Sylvester had appeared in another SF favorite, playing the role of Dr. Heywood Floyd in 2001: a space odyssey.

LogBook entry by Earl Green