Buck Rogers in the 25th Century "Vegas in Space" #1.3 (1979) (TV)

Not much originality, 8 March 2008

I've just started going through the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episodes for the first time since they originally aired. Up to now it's been an a blast. Episode 5, "Vegas in Space", is easily the worst I've watched so far. The problem – the plot lacks any originality. You could have seen (and probably did) a similar plot line on any one of a dozen 70s television programs. I can easily imagine such a plot (a girl who accidentally sees something she shouldn't have is kidnapped and "forced" to remember what she saw) on Charlie's Angels or Vegas or Wonder Woman or . . . well, just name it. The names of the supporting cast may not mean much to most people, but the faces of Richard Lynch, Pamela Susan Shoop, and James Luisi certainly would. These actors would have been right at home on any of these television shows. The guest star of "Vegas in Space" is Cesar Romero, but unfortunately his screen time is terribly limited. It's hard to do much or make much of an impression in less than 5 minutes.

Ah well, there's always the next episode.

5/10