The Final Frontier #4 - Buck Rogers In The 25th Century
Now the variable quality of the Buck Rogers TV show is legendary, and is generally divided into two opinions which is formed in the shape of Season 1 and Season 2. The first season is the usual corny trash you'd expect from prolific hack producer Glen A Larson (he of Knight Rider, Manimal and The Fall Guy.) Season 2 however significantly lowered the bar in every way possible, leading to the shows inevitable cancellation. In the UK, and Europe I suppose, the pilot episode was released in cinemas to cash in on the Star Wars pop culture phenomenon.
And it's good cheesey fun. There's the combined beauty of sultry Pamela Hensley Princess Ardala and blond do-gooder Erin Gray, the kiddy-friendly robot that sounds like Bugs Bunny, Twiki, the cool design of the Starfighter spacecraft and Stu Philips dynamic score. The rest is just cheese on toast; utter tosh if you're not in the right frame of mind but distracting bollocks if you can turn your brain off for 90 minues (or get very drunk).
Oh and one thing I completely forgot about this pilot was the main titles; while Buck sleeps in suspended animation the disco classic theme song is accompanied by the female cast writhing around in silver leotards on top of a giant illuminated Buck Rogers sign. It was perhaps supposed to be a bit sexy...instead it looks like a deleted scene from Goldmember. Hmmmm.
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