This is probably a shameful admission, but I have a bit of a sneaking regard for NBC’s unintentionally camp science-fiction show, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, first broadcast on US network television in 1979. I watched the entire series during late night reruns on cable and satellite TV in the 1990s and 2000s, enjoying the garish and clichéd-ridden silliness of the first season, while being bored by the leaden Battlestar Galactica pastiche that was the second and final series. At its best, the sci-fi adventure was a gloriously over-the-top disco-era romp, complete with spandex-clad space princesses and moon pirates. The sets, costumes and special effects were perfectly acceptable for the period, and some of the crisp white design cues look quite modern now, in an Apple-like way (think, iBuck!).
It’s many years since I last watched an episode, snippets and gifs aside, and I’m not sure that I would do so again, just in case it fails to live up to my fond memories. However, here is a retrospective review of the show from the YouTube channel RetroBlasting, which makes me tempted to give it a weekend watch. It’s certainly a long way from the era of Buster Crabbe and company.
AN SIONNACH FIONN 
No too shameful!!! Buck Rogers was just a little corny. Lots of people would envy the man whose “embarrassing” childhood tastes were never worse than corny!!!
But one scoop on Battlestar Galactica. Did you know that the plot, many of the names, and several elements of the story are drawn from The Book of Mormon? I noticed some of the similarities as a child, but didn’t dare say so out-loud. Only when I was older did I realize that the resemblance was probably intended.
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Yep, the Mormonism is pretty obvious once it’s pointed out to you (though I know v little about the LDS group in general). Amazing that two individuals managed to create two entire religions based upon their likely manias. Then again, so did Jesus and Mohammed. Human beings are decidedly odd creatures.
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I liked Buck Rogers too, it’s campy but fun. And the effects were sometimes not too shabby. Season One though, season Two not so much.
Re BSG’s Mormonism (Grace this is amazing, two threads and we’re talking about the LDS’s again! 🙂 ) I never knew that Glen Larson was a member. Incredible stuff. Do LDS members like it? See it as abhorrent, anyone know?
ASF, was saying previously to Grace I’d Mormon relatives on my grans side who moved to Belfast from England and they very kindly gave the Book of Mormon to her. I read a fair bit of it, it is what it is!
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As for how LDS members react when elements of their religion appear in pop-culture? As far as I can tell, the general pattern is that they don’t directly discuss it, at least not when “gentiles” (their term for non-LSD) are within earshot. To my knowledge the LDS Church has never taken any official position against their members (or non-members), making various references to their faith or its tenets, in fictional books, TV shows, or movies. But they aren’t going to go out of their way to point it out to any “gentiles” who might be reading the books or watching the TV shows and movies, without noticing.
After all, the Book of Mormon is NOT secret, and in fact they will ENCOURAGE anyone to read it in hopes of winning converts. The thing they DO consider a closely guarded secret are the ceremonies that occur in The Temple (which is not the same as day-to-day church for them).
But the thing I couldn’t stop thinking of WBS, is about what it would be like for the children who grew up Mormon in Belfast. On one hand they’d live through The Troubles. On the other hand they would belong to a small minority with a complex set of beliefs that would set them apart from Catholics and Protestants alike. Then in the case of your relatives the family was from England?
I’m sure strangers upbringings exist, but not quite where.
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Buck Rogers was kind of fun. But I’m sure if I watched it again, it wouldn’t look as good.
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