Buck Rogers in the 25th Century "Planet of the Slave Girls" #1.2 (1979) (TV)

It doesn't matter what he's doing - Jack Palance is awesome!, 8 March 2008

When the Earth's tainted food supply knocks most of its pilots out of commission putting the planet's defenses at risk, Buck and Col Deering visit the planet the food comes from to investigate. What they find is a population enslaved by the charismatic and ruthless Kaleel (Jack Palance), a clueless Governor (Roddy McDowell), and an attack force ready to strike the Earth. Once again, it's up to Buck Rogers to save the day!

To begin with, "Planet of the Slave Girls" is something of a misleading title. But it's probably more effective from a marketing standpoint than the truth - "Planet Where Everyone is Enslaved, Not Just the Hot Women". Whatever the title, this is a very enjoyable two-part episode. There are a number of things that I could point to as highlights, but at the top of that list would be Jack Palance. His character, Kaleel, is not unlike a television evangelist inspiring the troops (or slaves in this case) to do his bidding. Instead of healing hands, however, Jack's got glowing red hands of death. He's awesome! Beyond Jack, the rest of the episode is enjoyable. The plot is interesting and the episode is entertaining throughout. If you've seen Buck Rogers before, you pretty much get what you expect – some cheesy but fun special effects, Twiki being annoying, Erin Grey in a variety of spandex, gaudiness everywhere you look, and Buck. There aren't a whole lot of surprises. "Planet of the Slave Girls" does feature a plot thread involving a Major Duke Denton who represents a rival to Buck for Col Deering. Denton is played by David Groh. He and Gil Gerard seem to have developed some immediate chemistry. The pair play off each other nicely. My biggest complaint with "Planet of the Slave Girls" is how underutilized Roddy McDowell is. He was given virtually nothing to do.

7/10