Buck Rogers in the 25th Century The Satyr (1979–1981) Online

Buck and Twiki arrive on the planet Arcadus, where they hope to find one of the lost colonies of Earth. However, the only people they meet are ten year old Delph and his mother Cyra, who are being tormented by a strange, half-man/half-goat creature named Pangor (who is not unlike a satyr of ancient Greek mythology).

Buck suggests that Cyra and her son leave with him to settle on a new planet, but Cyra is strangely reluctant to do so. When Pangor attacks once again, Buck defends his new friends, but is bitten by the goat-man during a fight. After drowning the creature, Buck returns to Cyra's home where he tells her that her troubles are over. But rather than being delighted, the woman is unexpectedly sad.

After enquiring why she is so upset, Cyra reveals that Pangor was her husband: apparently, males on Arcadus are vulnerable to a virus that can transform them into glowing-eyed, hairy legged, horned monsters with a penchant for wine and pan-pipes—the reason why the rest of the colonists had abandoned the planet.

Buck finally convinces Cyra and her son to leave Arcadus, but is subsequently struck down by the virus. As he slowly transforms into a goat-man, he attempts to prepare his shuttle for take-off, whilst also battling two other satyrs who hope to take over Pangor's territory.

Even by Buck Rogers standards, this is a particularly daft tale, and fans of totally bizarre TV will have a whale of a time watching Gil Gerard, sporting a curly wig and a neat set of horns, as he proceeds to kick satyr ass. This episode is also memorable for its menacing smoke-breathing satyr steed, and the fact that Erin Gray slides back into the spandex outfit that made her look so hot in season one.

PLOT: Buck & Twiki are commissioned to explore a planet for signs of human colonization while the Searcher takes care of business elsewhere. The duo happens upon a widow and her kid son who are harassed by a Satyr, a goat-man. The situation takes a turn for the worse after Buck is bitten and starts to morph into a Satyr himself.

COMMENTARY: This is another very Trek-ish episode with Wilma and Hawk taking a backseat while the story focuses on Buck & Twiki on the alien planet. Speaking of Buck & Twiki, it's great having these two working together again, which had been absent from the 2nd season until now. This is also the second episode to feature the return of Twiki's original voice (by Mel Blanc). The quality planet locations are another highlight (not a lame studio set à la "The Crystals").

While Anne E. Curry (the widow) is beautiful, the producers basically make her out to be a plain Jane. Regardless, you can't help respecting her utter devotion to her long-gone husband. For those who require a hot space babe, Wilma appears in a skin-tight red spandex uniform at the close. The Satyrs and the demonic steed are actually pretty well done in a decidedly cartoony way for a series known for its cheesy (not so) special effects.

Although "The Satyr" is Trek-ish, it's unfortunately not as engaging as the typical Star Trek episode (TOS). The creators were on their way to working out the kinks in the 2nd season format when the series was prematurely canceled after four more episodes.

Buck Rogers (a typically earnest and engaging performance by Gil Gerard) and Twiki visit the planet of Arcadus. They discover two survivors on said planet: fetching and scared lass Cyra Samos (an appealing portrayal by Anne E. Curry) and her spunky son Delph (a likable turn by Bobby Lane). Buck finds out that the pair are being terrorized by savage half-man, half-goat satyr Pangor (robustly essayed with growly gusto by David S. Cass Sr.). After Buck gets bitten by Pangor during a fierce fight with the vicious subhuman beast, he starts transforming into a satyr as well. Director Victor French, working from a gloriously ridiculous script by Paul and Margaret Schneider, treats the astounding absurd premise with admirably wrongheaded seriousness, which along with the cruddy (far from) special effects, ineptly staged action scenes, ham-fisted attempts at pathos (Pangor was originally Cyra's husband!), and such inspired inane touches as Pangor's grotesque mutant horse that not only has glowing red eyes, but also snorts steam from its nostrils all do an expert job of recapturing the infectiously campy charm of the first season and hence provide a wondrous wealth of unintentional hilarity. Moreover, it's a total riot to see Buck sporting a massive curly white guy 'fro wig, a Grizzly Adams-style bushy beard, and a harsh guttural rasp while struggling with his degeneration into a satyr. An absolute loopy hoot.

Buck lands on some planet and after being attacked by a wild dog discovers a woman and her son living in a small cabin. Everything appears to be perfectly normal until Buck gets hints that the woman and her son are not telling the whole story. We later find out that the woman, Cyra Samos and her son, Delph are being menaced by a monstrous half-man,half-goat like being. This creature, armed with an electric whip and furry trousers torments the woman with demands for food and wine which she must supply to the creature ( a satyr, which Buck recalls from Earth mythology )in order to appease it. Buck asks why she just doesn't leave the planet but the woman says she can't but won't explain why. The satyr turns up and in an attempt to ward off the creature Buck withstands the attack but Twiki isn't so lucky. Buck manages to trick the satyr into using his electric whip in a pool of water where they are fighting and the shocked creature falls stunned into the water. Buck delivers the coup de grace by drowning it. Later, we discover the satyr isn't dead but only stunned. Buck learns the reason the woman didn't want to leave the planet is because the satyr was her husband, Major Jason Samos, and he was the victim of a strange transformation that only affected the men-folk on the planet. With Major Samos ( satyr ) out of the way a couple of other satyrs, complete with their very own electric whips, descend upon the cabin and kidnap Delph. All the while that Buck has been on the planet he has been slowly transforming into a satyr. He still manages to fix the damage caused to his ship in the satyr attack, fix Twiki and offer some comforting words to Mrs. Samos delivered in a husky baritone voice he is developing. Sporting a new curly hair-do, bristling beard, eyes that glow and some vestigial horns protruding from his forehead he sets off in pursuit of the two satyrs that kidnapped Delph and tricks them both into returning to the cabin for the food and wine that Buck has boasted was his. In the meantime, the still-stunned former Major Samos has crawled his way back from the scene of his near-death and approaches the cabin just as the two rival satyrs appear. They brush the weakened Major aside and enter a small building to the side of the cabin containing the wine and food. Little do they realise that Buck has rigged the building with explosives. It seems he found time to do that as well. Before Buck can set off the charges the wounded Major grabs the detonator and blows himself and the two other satyrs up. Buck along with the woman and her son return to Searcher where Dr. Goodfellow reverses Buck's transformation.

Buck and Twiki are sent to the planet Arcadus in search of another lost colony of Man. While Wilma and Hawk are busy at an asteroid belt, the orbit of Arcadus and its three moons means that Buck will not be able to contact the Searcher for ten days. This colony has not been been in contact for ten years and was seen as a potential Garden of Eden. While there, Buck encounters two settlers called Delph and Sira, a 10 year old boy and his Mom who are sole survivors of the original colony. While there, Buck must rescue them from the savage attacks of the goat-men, the legendary half-man, half-goat people, and their terrifying leader Pangor! What is the startling secret of Arcadus, the lost settlers, and the goat-men and what startling transformation will Buck undergo in this exciting episode? In other notes, Mel Blanc returns as Twiki and there is an entertaining comment about moonlight between Buck and Wilma. Other than that, this average episode has a strong classic Star Trek feel and comes off as a poor, but predictable clone. An unsuccessful but ambitious attempt for the series to be more than it is but overall, not a bad episode for Buck. A strangely cheese free episode. Given time and more episodes, the series might have found its feet again as it struggled to find new direction.