Movie review - "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" (1979) **1/2

For me this was always in the shadow of Battlestar Galactica but it has its pleasures. It's a more full on, nutty show, with superb guest stars that were frequently given insufficient screen time, outlandish art direction and bonkers plots that frequently felt like cobbled together from various other projects and episodes. It feels very late 70s - the costumes have a Studio 54 aesthetic.

Ep 1 and 2 - The pilot - a very solid origin story helps this immensely, as does the generous production budget and they cast the key actors well. Any trauma Buck might have felt at missing so much time is minimised (as was the decimation of the human race in Battlestar). The villains are tremendous fun - Pamela Hensley, Henry Silva and Duke Butler as Tigerman. The action scenes aren't done that well.

Ep 3 & 4 - Planet of the Slave Girls - a great trashy title and heaps of different storylines, none of which is exploited in the way they should have been. David Groh is Buck's frizzy haired rival and former love of Wilma - not enough is made of this. Neither is enough made of Roddy McDowall's weak local ruler, though he is great fun - so is Jack Palance as a despotic ruler. Brianne Leary is a slave girl with the hots for McDowall's son. Buster Crabbe pops up as a veteran pilot - I wish he'd been used more too. Lots of story - a native uprising against a despot leader, a weak Sultan type, a plan to weaken all the pilots.

Ep 5 - Las Vegas in Space - another notable guest star wasted, in this case Cesar Romero as an intriguing dodgy figure who doesn't go on a mission he prompts, to rescue a girl. She's played by Ana Alicia who is very good. Universal TV stalwart Pamela Susan Shoop plays a hooker in all but name, Buck Rogers has a reflective moment at the casino about his old life which is moving and the ever reliable Richard Lynch is a good villain. The episode is still odd though because Juanin Clay plays a character clearly meant to be Wilma - the girl Buck goes on the mission with. They cover it with some topping and tailing with Erin Gray as Wilma but it still feels odd.

Ep 6 and 7 - The Plot to Kill a City - Buck pretends to be an assassin in another episode with an overdose of plotlines insufficiently developed. There's so much story - Frank Gorshin is the head of a group of terrorists, Markie Post from Nightcourt is an ex of the assassin, John Quade has telekenetic powers, Nancy deCarl is striking as a female terrorist, James Sloyan is great fun as a shifty type,Victor Argo is a tough guy. There's this black guy and a crippled guy and.. oh there's a lot going on but it still feels unsatisfactory because they skim it. But it's got to be said it does feel like a comic.

Ep  8 - Return of the 69th - Buck makes a touching plea against ageism in this tale where our heros have to use a bunch of old pilots to fight a baddie.  Peter Graves is the main pilot - it's a shame Buster Crabbe couldn't have hold off until this episode to be used; maybe they thought he wasn't up to it. Woody Strode is there too as a pilot but the best parts go to Elizabeth Allen (who was vaguely familiar... she held her own against John Wayne in Donovan's Reef) and Robert Quarry as the villains The girl who plays the slave girl is undercast.

Ep 9 - Unchained Woman - Jamie Lee Curtis plays a prisoner rescued by Buck, an idea which sounds like a lot of fun, but as I'm coming to see was all too typical of this show they don't have any fun with the concept. She needed to bounce off Buck in some way - be up town, a snob, a thief, something... but she's just straight, and Curtis is, like so many guest stars on this show, wasted. This show had a lot of good ideas but didn't know how to best execute them.

Ep 10 - Planet of the Amazon Women - this starts off fun, with Buck trapped into a man hungry planet, but it isn't developed well and is thrown by a subplot involving a rival planet.  They don't go for it - this show really should have had more of women finding Buck irresistible, they could have made it work, I mean that was the set up of the pilot. You needed Wilma in there getting annoyed, and more fun with the concept. Jay Robinson is good value as a treacherous man - it's entertaining to see Anne Jeffreys too as the head of the planet.

Ep 11 - Cosmix Whiz Kid - the storylines on this show were so nutty that it made perfect sense that Gary Coleman is a genius... they didn't need to make it so he was cryogenically frozen from Buck's time. That's a whole separate concept that isn't used... they waste it on this episode. Coleman is entertaining - some people feel he was out of place but I feel it fits in as much as any one else. The big debit is Coleman has hardly any scenes with Buck or Tweetie, who would be his natural co stars, and hangs out with Ein Grey while Buck runs around with Coleman's dull bodyguard. Why not give this actor something to play? Ray Walston lives up his scenes as a baddy - I do love how this series had a healthy respect for older stars.

Ep 12 - Escape from Wedded Bliss - Pamela Hensley makes a welcome return as the Buck-hungry Princess Ardala. Hensley was the best thing about this show - strutting around in  a series of spectacular outfits, playing everything with just the right amount of tongue in cheek. But the script doesn't do the idea or her justice - and neither does Gil Gerard who seems bored (he was frustrated with the direction of the show, and is low energy). It's obvious what should be done - you have Aradala wanting Buck just as his romance with Wilma is about to take off, and the humans push him into it and it should all be silly fun: a bucks party, hens night (Wilma as Bridesmaid), someone who wants Ardala all that... but there's hardly any Wilma and no Wilma-Aradala clash. It's so frustrating. This does get some points for a roller skating disco number.

Ep 13 - Cruise Ship to the Stars - an episode best remembered for Dorothy Stratten playing a starlet in a space bikini - while she's very attractive she doesn't quite suit it in the way, say Pamela Hensley did. Stratten was a sweet, girl next door type rather than a space bikini wearer. Her role is surprisingly small - a bigger part is some other blonde, Kimberley Beck (Stratten could've played the part but Beck is quite good) who is gaslit and shares a split personality with Aussie Trisha Noble, who is excellent. There's not enough Wilma, though she does go undercover with a hilarious perm. Twiki scores with another robot. There's more disco.

Ep 14 - Space Vampire - a more serious story and it results in a terrific episode with Buck and Wilma on board a ship where some Mysterious Things Are Happening. Elma Gray was - disastrously for the show - sidelined for most of the second half of season one, due apparently to Gerard's insecurity, but she has a good chance here, being possessed, and makes the most of it. Christopher Stone adds some class to the support.

Ep 15 - Happy Birthday, Buck - a mess of an episode, which, like so many of these episodes, has a decent premise that is poorly executed. There's all these shenanigans with Wilma wanting to cheer up a morose Buck who is feeling lonely, intercut with a plot to assassinate Tim O'Connor (given something to do at last apart from issue orders). Then there's another plot with Buck escorting Morgan Brittany. This series muffed the Buck-Wilma thing so bad... it would've been so easy to do

Ep 16 - A Blast for Buck - a clip show, and an entertaining one since the series' production values were high and guest stars so interesting.

E 17 - Aradala Returns - the show had one of the best villains with Princess Ardala but failed to come up with decent eps. Like Escape from Wedded Bliss the set up is fantastic - Ardala clones Buck - but they don't use Wilma nearly enough, can't make up their mind how Buck thinks about Ardala, and the whole ep lacks energy.

Ep 18 - Twiki is Missing - John Ryan has the time of his life as a hammy villain. Twiki being kidnapped is a decent idea and this episode is solid. Wilma is wasted, once more.

Ep 19 - Olympiad - campy fun with a futuristic Olympiad and Buck getting involved in a romance between two athletes from different cultures. Really Buck should have had the romance. He looks bored mostly, except in a few scenes where he seemed lecherous. Not enough Wilma. Dennis Haysbert is in this.

Ep 20 - A Dream of Jennifer - Universal must have liked Anne Lockhart as a love interest in sci fi, she was Captain Sheba in Battlestar Galactica and pops up as the double of Buck Rogers' long last love here. It's a decent episode, accessing Buck's past, and has some brilliantly entertaining villains done up like Masque of the Red Death - one played by Mary Woronov. Actually come to think of it the "long lost love" thing is another indication the writers of this might have seen the Corman Poe movies. Gerard looks bored - he began this series as one of his strengths then brought it down.

Ep 21 - Space Rockers - high camp as Buck gets involved in a rock band who are causing riots. That's a bit wowser-ish! Jerry Orbach is in this looking about as comfortable in sci fi garb as you would expect.

Ep 22 - Buck's Duel to the Death - Buck winds up in a fight with William Smith, who is perfect for this sort of thing. No Wilma along on the mission - that's what helped wreck this series.

Ep 23 and 24 - Flight of the War Witch - Aradala is back which is always fun but never as fun as you think because they never had the fun with her they did in the pilot. I did like her shifting allegiances. Julie Newmar is in it but underplays which seems pointless. Vera Miles pops up as does Sam Jaffe and once again Wilma is wasted.