If the name Gil Gerard sounds familiar to you, it might be because of his most memorable television series. It was a show that lasted for only one and a half seasons, and that second season was just straight-up dreadful.
But when it debuted back in the day … it was an extremely popular science fiction show.
Say hello to Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
It was a melange of Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica and any other 1970’s-era science fiction trope you could employ, all packed into hour-long adventures on NBC. And Gil Gerard was the titular Buck Rogers, a reinterpretation of the classic pulp science fiction hero of generations past.
And yes, the show had the usual television conventions at the time – Erin Gray as the no-nonsense but drop-dead-gorgeous pilot Col. Wilma Deering; Mel Blanc voicing a robotic sentient computer named Twiki; and Pamela Hensley as the scene-chewing villain Princess Ardala. For the first season, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was a fun watch, even though the show’s tone seemed more comical and less serious as the program continued its run.
By the second season, the show went completely off the rails. Col. Deering’s role was reduced to some sort of assistant on a star-powered cruise ship, as Buck and Wilma were tasked to find the lost tribes of Earth in this star cruiser. Other characters came and went, I seem to recall one character named Hawk – who apparently was an adversary in one episode, then just hung around the star cruiser for the second season.
I really wasn’t sad when the show ended after two seasons; I thought the program had some good episodes, but nothing that would make me want to buy full-length DVD collections for my personal library. But as for Gil Gerard, I’d see him in a few other TV programs over time – I seem to recall an ecology adventure show named E.A.R.T.H. Force in 1990 that lasted maybe half a dozen episodes, but after that, nothing.
Sadly, I found out yesterday that Gil Gerard passed away last Monday from an aggressive form of cancer. He leaves behind a wife and family and a collection of great memories from science fiction aficionados of my generation.
Rest in peace, Gil Gerard. And thanks for your service as Captain William “Buck” Rogers, even if your service was only for a couple of seasons.
Chuck The Writer 
In between Buck Rogers & EARTH Force, Gil also starred in Sidekicks, not the same as the Chuck Norris movie, but with future Ninja Turtle Ernie Reyes, Jr.. Thom Christopher (Hawk) passed away a few years back after a long stint on One Life to Live. Pamela Hensley spent 3 seasons as Lee Horsley’s sidekick on Matt Houston. Erin Gray switched to comedy, and spent the rest of the 80’s on Silver Spoons. Gil’s son, Gib (w/Connie Sellecca) is now doing a radio show with his stepdad, John Tesh.
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