Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Redux

by SciFiSurfer

After being in a state of cryogenic suspension for 504 years, USAF Captain William "Buck" Rogers awakens to discover he's now in the year 2491 and everything has changed. This is my attempt at making 70s Buck Rogers a more sophisticated work, ultimately in support of my BR/BSG crossover project.

1. Introduction To Buck Rogers Redux

Usually, story introductions start with some sort of setup, and generally also a discussion of the background on when or why the author wrote it. At least, that's what I usually do, and it's what I've seen elsewhere here on FanFiction. However, I'm going to do something a bit different, and tell you the story of a different story.

As some of you will already know, I've been working for several years on a crossover between 70s Buck Rogers and Battlestar Galactica, both properties of the late Glen A. Larson. It all started one night when I began reading another person's initial crossover for which he never wrote a follow-up. In the years which followed, I'd done far more development than actual story writing. Recently, I picked up the project again and started posting it here under The Armageddon Saga. However, there is such a significant difference between what kind of story I'm trying to write and the caliber of TV production in the 1970s (especially given the "it's for kids" stigma which science fiction carried with it for a long time) that I've produced a LOT of materials. Moreover, I'm confident it would be somewhat jarring if one has literally come directly from watching (well, rewatching, obviously) Buck Rogers episodes and started reading my project.

This process of background materials creation stretched on for a long time, and I've now gotten to the point of feeling a little bit about myself like Ronald D. Moore, lately of 2004 series Battlestar Galactica fame, did about himself when he worked in the Star Trek franchise, calling himself the "Margaret Mead of the Klingon Empire". I feel as though it would be a shame to have done all of that background work and then do nothing else with it. Ok, that's an exaggeration because so much of the crossover I'm working on is directly based upon that work. However, I felt it was partially wasted, and so that's how I decided to take on the additional, simultaneous project of doing a complete re-write of the Buck Rogers In The 25th Century pilot, which is what this story is.

As always, constructive feedback (and beer; can't forget the beer) and general comments are welcome.

Enjoy!