I've seen every episode of Buck Rogers from both seasons, and thought I'd written comments on all of them; imagine my surprise to discover that, somehow, Episode 12 from Season OneEscape from Wedded Blisshad slipped through my net and avoided critique.
And imagine my horror when I realised that it was one of the episodes that I enjoyed least of all and that, in order to write a fair comment, I would have to watch it all over again! Oh well, the dirty deed has now been done, and here's what I have to say....
Wow, what a stinker!
Misguided Princess Ardala (Pamela Hensley) is still under the illusion that Buck (Gil Gerard) is the most genetically perfect male in the galaxy, and threatens to destroy Earth's cities with her alien pyramid weapon unless he agrees to become her husband. After a brief trip into the wasteland to secure vital information that can help him destroy the princess's space laser, Buck travels to the Draconian flagship where he is to be wed, but not until he has fought a duel to the death against Tigerman to prove his worth!
Apart from a hilariously camp disco-roller-skating sequence, and the really bad duel, which sees Gerard donning a leather girdle to hold in his gut, Escape from Wedded Bliss is an pretty unentertaining mix of lame comedy, lacklustre action, and plain stupidity. From Buck's inexplicable use of what looks like a WW2 motorbike (with sidecar for Twiki) to travel beyond the boundaries of New Chicago, to Tigerman's betrayal of Ardala (which seems to be instantly forgiven by the usually ruthless princess), this episode is simply dreadful.
And the lovely Erin Grey isn't given anywhere near enough screen time.