ByYourCommand.net

Does anyone remember a scene when the Buck Rogers TV pilot was first transmitted, in which Dr. Theopolis sat in a room with Buck and showed him footage on a small screen of the destruction of 20th-century civilization, while telling him about "the holocaust" and "Anarchia"? I remember it quite vividly, and yet the scene does not appear in the 2013 DVD release of the broadcast pilot.

Not only did this scene seem like the emotional center of the story, but it also explained where Buck learned the terminology to ask Wilma, "Tell me about the holocaust," and to ask his home computer system, "Tell me about Anarchia."

I've encountered other people on the net who remember this scene as well. I wonder if it still exists in Universal's archives and whether we'll ever see it again.

There were several altered and extended scenes which were included in the TV version of the pilot episode, but I've never heard of the footage you mentioned.

Would be fun to see it.

What a shame Universal didn't put any of the deleted scenes as free bonus to their DVD box set like they did on BSG.

Theo may actually have used his own face as the screen. Not sure about that, though.

I suppose it's possible that they had to license the stock footage of destruction and devastation and didn't acquire the rights to use it again...

The TV pilot seems complete on the 2013 set, except for that one scene. Incongruously, the pilot is not on the Season 1 set where it belongs, but merely appears as an extra on the Season 2 set.

On my set, the theatrical version of the pilot is included.

Red Eye wrote:On my set, the theatrical version of the pilot is included.

The theatrical version is on both editions of the DVD set. They didn't include the broadcast version until the recent re-release... again, without that particular scene.

Hm, that's odd.

Hope they'll fix it in a future release (if there would be any).

I don't remember a scene like that at all.

Not in the TV pilot version, or the theatrical release.

Somewhere I have the original broadcast. As you stated it's not on any of the DVD releases, and it's not on any other the videotape releases (U.S. or overseas) that I have.

I'll give it a shot on tracking it down.

I recall Buck sitting down to watch that video, but I am not sure if I recall seeing anything on the monitor. If there was video on the monitor it was old recycled stuff Uni has used for decades.

Scott wrote:I don't remember a scene like that at all.

Not in the TV pilot version, or the theatrical release.

Somewhere I have the original broadcast. As you stated it's not on any of the DVD releases, and it's not on any other the videotape releases (U.S. or overseas) that I have.

I'll give it a shot on tracking it down.

It's actually my strongest memory from watching the pilot in '79.

Dude, if you can find it you will be officially a national treasure!

And I had been hoping for a chance to ask Glen Larson about this someday.

I had another thought about where this lost scene might have been placed. It could have been after Buck goes with Wilma to check out his ship, and therefore just before he returns to his apartment and asks the computer to tell him about Anarchia.

If that's correct, then maybe it was Dr. Huer who showed Buck the images of the holocaust and Theo wasn't in the room at all, because Theo is already in Buck's apartment and takes him by surprise.

This placement probably makes the most sense, since Huer tells Buck that Anarchia is a forbidden subject. Buck is very anxious to go there and find proof of what happened, to satisfy himself that his family was killed shortly after he left Earth. So as soon as he learns about Anarchia, he marches back to his apartment to try to get the information he's frustrated about.

Just like I'm frustrated about this scene.

I think I remember that... we're they watching it either on a box like display (something a like TOS Star Trek table top monitor) - or a screen in a wall? (Maybe a red wall?)

I remember it as a boxlike tabletop monitor. Also, I remember Buck could see Old Chicago in the distance through large windows behind Huer.
Here's a sketch I did a while back of how I remember the master shot from that scene.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0ilzeeuasfiec ... w.png?dl=0
Just pretend that it's a boxlike viewer on the table instead of Theo. At the time, I thought Theo might have been there and used his face as a screen, but now I think that was just me conflating it with the earlier scene when Twiki set Theo on the table. (And maybe a little bit the circular library viewers from "All Our Yesterdays" on Star Trek.)

I've officially given up my quest for a original broadcast copy of the pilot.

Someone out there has a copy...

Bummer.

Wonder if Glen Larson's son would have access to a copy. Anyone know him?