"Before this erupts into flaming..." uh, this was written not by a "tv writer" but by a historian. It's WWI.. the "AEF" was a mistake on this take: is was supposed to be Teddy and the Rough Riders and I imagine it will be corrected before the final release. He's referring to short-wave radio. Although we may know about the complicated reasons behind WWI, to "contemporaries" it was about an assasination.

And, Rab, according to reports, it was directed by Fred Olen Ray.. a "professional" director.

"The personal insult between two royal families"

That doesn't really describe the origins of WW1 either.

Before this erupts into flaming...I will step back and remember that this is written by TV writers who generally seem to be history dumb shits.

"Buck is arguing with his parents about participating in World War I."

Nope, he is arguing about WW2.

He references his dad having been part of the American Expeditionary Force - a term first used for WW1.

He mentions listening on the radio, that was not common until after WW1 - 1920 (the technology wasn't their yet).

It looks promising - I like seeing vintage material fleshed out without the supposition that it has to be updated for people to connect to it. While I agree that the clip shown was repetitive and slow, it does help set up Buck's eagerness to jump into problems without being compelled to, as will be shown when he winds up in the future, which textually, is nothing BUT other people's problems. In the comic strip, Buck's background prior to his adventures in the future, is covered in like 3 panels. Unlike the tv series with it's shining futuristic metropoli, the future he slumbers into is one of the first popular "post apocalypse" depictions: the US doesn't exist anymore. It's the wilds of america sparsely populated by local "Orgs" (usually with a stereotypical local flavor: indians, cowboys, etc) loosely allied in their shared opposition to the more affluent Mongol invaders (VERY stereotypical pre-communist chinese). Though they have jetpacks and ray guns and rockets, there's an almost guerilla flavor to his life in the future. Lots of factions, and Buck needs some sort of setup characterwise, to explain why he'd jump into the middle of it all.

It's also a nice turn to see Gil and Erin help launch this version: Buster Crabbe, the original Buck of the serials, made a guest appearance on the tv version of Buck Rogers as Col. Gordon (he also played Flash Gordon back in the day).

Guess I gotta dust off my Daisy Buck Rogers Rocket Pistol and tune in for this...

Gerard and Grey are really good here. I enjoyed the heck out of seeing them. But I'm genuinely sorry to say Cawley just simply isn't as good as he apparently thinks he is. This scene is slow, flat, and poorly directed. I just wish a guy with his obvious passion for the material would be stricter with himself, less self-indulgent and more professional.

Her name is Erin Gray. Not Grey.

Who you calling old, there, Sparky.