Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Frozen in a freak mishap, astronaut Captain William "Buck" Rogers is returned to Earth ... 500 YEARS LATER!
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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by Scott » Tue Jul 07, 2015 8:36 am

I should say I gave up on all the sources I'm aware of. Of course I will always keep an eye out for a copy

Years ago, late 90s, maybe early 2000's I used to buy Galactica related items from his son Chris who sold on ebay all the time. While I don't really know him, I'm sure I still have his address from a couple of packages that I kept the items in.

Somewhere in my vast Galactica archive...



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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by GoldCylon » Tue Jul 07, 2015 8:43 am

Glen's family tossed out many of his things like that years ago per Glen's request. Glen held on to very little.

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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by Cylon-Knight » Wed Sep 09, 2015 12:03 am

Back to the pilot - the theatrical version specifically ... WOW.
Just saw a link to it on Facebook I have to re-share here.

Now, I will pass on the freezing and 500 year nap... BUT... I do want my name in glowing letters with space babes!! :shock: :twisted:
Where do I sign up? ;) I didn't remember all of the ladies in this version!

I didn't remember the extended intro voice over either, very nice. (But not as nice as space babes... :roll: )

< Can't embed, they have it restricted to YouTube >
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BINijYepahA
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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by Hope It Is The Grog » Wed Sep 09, 2015 5:17 am

Yep. Several other things deemed sexually suggestive were also cut out of the TV version, including:

Buck's lines to Wilma, "Ballsy move" and "I have to be careful on re-entry"

Buck kicking Tigerman in the crotch

Twiki's line "I'm freezing my ball bearings off" (changed to "My microdisks are turning blue")

And for some reason, Twiki's line "What a body!" was moved to when Buck and Ardala go out onto the dance floor.
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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by Count Iblis » Fri Dec 04, 2015 8:11 pm

I am one of the few people whom saw the Buck Rogers movie when it was in the theaters. In fact I saw it as a double feature with 'Star Crash'. I am probably one of a handful of people whom saw that film in the theaters!

I do recall the missing scene in question. In fact, when I bought the DVD collection, I wondered where that scene was...what the hell?!

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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by Hope It Is The Grog » Fri Dec 04, 2015 10:20 pm

Wow, Star Crash! Was that the one with Richard Thomas? I remember the commercials for it; it looked incredibly cheap.
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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by Hope It Is The Grog » Fri Dec 04, 2015 10:27 pm

I think maybe Huer was in the missing scene but not Theo; that would indeed have to be the case if the scene was placed right before Buck returns to his apartment and says "Tell me about Anarchia," because Theo is already there. On the other hand, if Theo was in the missing scene, then it must have been placed prior to where Buck asks Wilma, "Tell me about the holocaust." Anyway, here's the best description I can give of how it went:

Buck is sitting at a table opposite Dr. Huer. There are windows behind Huer, through which the ruins of Chicago can be seen in the distance. On a small screen, Buck is shown footage of the holocaust that ended civilization as he knew it. He is told that it happened just a few months or years after Ranger 3 left Earth. Buck can't believe his whole family is gone and wants to go to Old Chicago to see the proof, but he is warned that "Anarchia" (as it is now called) is forbidden territory and they won't tell him anything about it.

This scene needs its own activist group or something. How can "Tell me about Anarchia" make sense when Buck has never heard of Anarchia?
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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by Thunderstruck » Sun Dec 06, 2015 2:40 pm

Uh Oh!

I had such a crush on Wilma Dering.....Erin Grey....<Blushes>

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On topic..I think I remember what you are referring too..but it is a vague misty memory..
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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by Joe Atari » Sat Jan 16, 2016 3:56 pm

Hope It Is The Grog:

Sorry to dash your hopes on this one, but I'm virtually certain the scene you describe never existed. Although I don't have a video recording of the original NBC broadcast of "Awakening", I do have an audio recording I made from the TV speaker from the original airing; it's identical to the version on the reissue DVD of S2.

The use of term "Anarchia" is not necessarily evidence of a missing scene. The inserts hastily shot for and incorporated into the NBC premiere were designed to set up the series to come and pad out the running time (some very brief Standards and Practices cuts but especially to make up for the deletion of Joseph Wiseman's "King Draco" appearance, since he had already filmed another more pivotal role for the first regular episode shot -- "Vegas in Space") but were not particularly well written, shot, or edited. For instance Theo looks and sounds (new voice actor I believe) quite different in the inserts than he did in the theatrical release, Buck's hairstyle and NASA flight suit change drastically (although the hairstyle strangely fluctuates quite a bit within the theatrical version as well), and don't even get me started on Erin Gray's appearance in the "epilogue." Don't ask me why, but the on-set audio of the "squeaking" air mattress when Buck lays down in his bunk drives me crazy every time; it could've easily been muted. The point being, not a lot of attention was paid to continuity when these inserts were shot (probably around the time of "Vegas in Space" and "Planet of the Slave Girls" -- the 1st and 2nd episodes shot after the premiere). The "Anarchia" error probably just crept in and nobody caught it.

Not all of the inserts for "Awakening" were reshoots; some are restored footage that was deleted from the theatrical version (Huer pleading with the council, Buck and Wilma in his cell, Buck and Wilma after the dance, etc.). If your scene was shot during principal photography for the theatrical version (which I doubt), it might appear in the script, which I don't have. I also do not have access to the comic adaptation (which does include Draco's early scripted appearance on Earth at the dance and very early renders of the Draconian fighters), but the scene definitely did not appear in the Fotonovel of the theatrical version.

"Post-apocalyptic survivor recalls or views recordings of his civilization's destruction" is a pretty common sci-fi trope, so my guess is you could be remembering it from another film or TV show. In BR the only time I recall seeing a shot of post-apocalyptic Earth through windows from inside a room was "Testimony of a Traitor" from S2.

Hope this helps!

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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by Hope It Is The Grog » Sat Jan 16, 2016 4:10 pm

Well, if you have the audio from the premiere... I guess I can't argue with that. I'll have to rewatch Testimony of a Traitor and see if that's the source of this memory trace. :sad:
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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by Joe Atari » Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:13 pm

My pleasure! "Testimony" doesn't feature any mushroom clouds or anything like that though -- just a 20th century guy sitting at a desk with ruins visible out of his window.

You might also want to try Genesis II (1973), Planet Earth (1974), and Strange New World (1975). All three feature basically the same premise: 20th century guy awakens from suspended animation after an atomic holocaust (man did they wear that one out in the '70s!). All three were also TV movie staples back in the day, frequently showing up late at night or on weekend afternoons. Fun fact: All three were unsold pilots (can't say they didn't try!) and the first two were produced by Gene Roddenberry. The third with basically the same concept was produced without Roddenberry's involvement.

I don't have any of them handy, but one or more of them might have a scene like you're recalling.

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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by Hope It Is The Grog » Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:15 pm

Thanks, but I definitely never saw any of those.
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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by Scott » Tue Jan 26, 2016 9:23 am

Count Iblis wrote:I am one of the few people whom saw the Buck Rogers movie when it was in the theaters. In fact I saw it as a double feature with 'Star Crash'. I am probably one of a handful of people whom saw that film in the theaters!

I do recall the missing scene in question. In fact, when I bought the DVD collection, I wondered where that scene was...what the hell?!
I watched it in the theater twice when I was 13 years old, and have no memory of that scene at all.

I've tried searching for a old theatrical print, and a original NBC broadcast but with no luck. I do have the NBC repeat broadcast on audio tape, but that scene is not included.

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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by Scott » Tue Jan 26, 2016 9:34 am

Joe Atari wrote:Hope It Is The Grog:

it might appear in the script, which I don't have. I also do not have access to the comic adaptation (which does include Draco's early scripted appearance on Earth at the dance and very early renders of the Draconian fighters),
I have a copy of the script, it's not in there.

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Re: Buck Rogers 1979 pilot "Awakening" - missing scene?

Post by Hope It Is The Grog » Tue Jan 26, 2016 9:42 am

Thanks. I definitely never saw it in the theater. It's just weird that I have this memory trace and I'm not the only one. But the original broadcast audio has to be definitive (saving only the infinitesimal possibility of an East Coast/West Coast difference).

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