Why doesn't she get much love from Buck Rogers fans?
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Lornsorrow — 18 years ago(October 28, 2007 05:16 PM)
Well, I love the old 1978 Galactica very much. Very dear to me. I've never seen it as "overly pompous". I suppose some could see it that way, but I think its meant to be taken as tragically epic instead. I grew up with both Buck Rogers and Galactica in the 1970's as kid, and as much as I love the Buck Rogers show, if I was forced to make a choice between Rogers and Galactica, I would choose Galactica without hesitation. The dire, critical, apocalyptic situation has always interested me, as a kid, and now as a aspiring writer. Starbuck, Apollo, Baltar, the list goes on how awesome I think they are. The new "Galactica" though is just something else all together that built its creation on the hard work of all those who wanted to bring the old show back, then stole the name and twisted all sorts of stuff around. No matter how good the show might be (for some people), it is a travesty how it came about and what it has stolen and should have gone by another name.
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joshewah78 — 18 years ago(February 15, 2008 09:06 PM)
"tragically epic" makes for depressing TV week in and week out, OR, alternatively, if the characters don't seem depressed after suffering the kind of holocaust the Galactica characters endured, viewers start to wonder why they're so shallow and callous to not be bummed out by their whole lost civilization. Having watched both shows recently and back in the day, the original Galactica seems hokey and taking itself way to seriously to me today, whereas Buck Rogers seems hokey, campy and having fun with the material. Gil Gerard was terrific, playing the role with a twinkle in his eye and a wink, Erin Grey and Pamela Hensley were gorgeous, and despite looking like it cost about a buck ninety-five per episode, Buck Rogers is just fun, light entertainment. Galactica does come off as kind of pompous and dreary in comparison, although the production value was a lot better. You can tell ABC and Universal spent some mo2000ney on that show. Not so much on Buck.
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aimless-46 — 18 years ago(February 27, 2008 09:36 PM)
Probably because she looked cheap and slug-like compared to Gray, and her costumes were comical. She didn't have the chemistry with Gerard that Gray did. Plus her character was moronic and unfunny. Finally, the episodes she appeared in generally had the same plot, which wasn't great the first time and got worse each time it was repeated.
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aimless-46 — 17 years ago(April 14, 2008 07:18 PM)
Yes but you have to remember that there was a legion of fans who tuned in each week mainly because they got off on Wilma and her spandex. There was one episode where Ardala donned a uniform herself and filled it out quite nicely; had they stayed with that look all the time she would get more love today from Buck Rogers fans.
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mikeflw1 — 10 years ago(September 25, 2015 09:42 AM)
Hmmm,
that would have gotten more interest for her all right, but you are ignoring the obvious fact that Wilma was in almost every episode, and Ardala was only in a handful, (or six episodes?).
The number of episodes alone made Wilma a more popular character.
And then there was also the 'womens lib' climate at the time. Wilma was a capable officer, and Ardala was an "old school" spoiled princess. Which do you suppose would have been more popular by type alone?
Princesses don't start spaceships -
cuttleslug — 17 years ago(March 07, 2009 05:08 PM)
Ever since I was a boy watching Princess Ardala, on Buck Rogers, I've become pretty certain Pamela Hensley has got to be the most beautiful woman ever. Even my schoolmates at the time, all the other boys in my school, all had huge crushes on Ardala/Pamela.
But it seems nowadays there is more attention given to Erin. South Park even made a reference to Erin Gray (specifically as "Erin Gray from the 2nd season of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century") being the pinnacle of female actractiveness. Don't get me wrong. Erin Gray is ridiculously gorgeous. But Pamela is even more so. So maybe I need to make my own crudely drawn, irreverant cartoon, so I can re-assert Pamela as the true pinnacle of all beautiful women. -
GraeLeigh — 17 years ago(March 09, 2009 12:31 AM)
In my opinion, it's more an Ardala's dislike than a Pamela one.
Guess because many fans are Buck/Wilma shippers, they see Ardala as a threat to that.
In my opinion, Princess Ardala was far more fun, in her crazy way, than Wilma . although both women were gorgeous wink
http://www.pamela-hensley.com
http://www.melinda-mcgraw.com -
johnnyb94109 — 16 years ago(June 14, 2009 01:47 AM)
"In my opinion, it's more an Ardala's dislike than a Pamela one."
It was basically the evil temptress vs the wholesome good girl, so people are going to associate the character with the actress. Myself, I feel that Pamela Hensley was the best thing about that seriesno interest unless she was on, strutting her stuff, delivering those lines in a tone mixed of patrician and sexy, and generally fun(as you say). -
hnt_dnl — 16 years ago(June 18, 2009 01:24 PM)
Well, in recalling the show, at first Deering was very robotic and cold in the pilot, then they did a 180 after that and Buck kind of endeared her to us. I liked the Buck/Wilma friendship a great deal. Like I said, in terms of pure hotness, I preferred Ardala, but that doesn't mean I'd want to be friends with her!
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Woodyanders — 15 years ago(March 13, 2011 04:57 PM)
You can count me in as a huge fan of Pamela Hensley as Princess Ardala. Damn, was she smoking hot in that role! You gotta love those skimpy outfits Hensley wore as Ardala. Plus Hensley played that part with tremendously delicious lip-smacking relish.
I'm a totally bitchin' bio writer from Mars! -
zapjaste — 14 years ago(December 19, 2011 11:16 PM)
Interesting! My husband just downloaded the Buck Rogers series for us to watch and I had no idea what it was lol. (He was born in '75 and is 10 years older than I am)
So we started watching it from the pilot. I immediately loved Ardala! Then I watched a couple episodes of season 1 and was kinda bummed. Husband asked me, "So what do you think of Buck Rogers so far? Who is your favorite character?" and I said, "Well I really liked that Princess Ardala from the pilot I wish she would have stayed as their main enemy instead of having only standalone episodes." This was before I watched further of course. Then yesterday husband was watching Buck Rogers with our 3 year old and I was in a different room. The preview came on and was like "PRINCESS ARDALA RETURNS" and my husband yells, "Omg come here!" I had already heard the good news from the nice preview voiceover man so I totally watched that episode. I actually said "THE FANS HAVE SPOKEN!!" when I entered the room because I had been fake whining about wanting Princess Ardala back for a few days at that point.
And now I kind of like this silly show.
I haven't watched all of season 1 yet, nor any of season 2.
But yeah Ardala is the best! Her costumes were insane and awesome. So sad she was in only 4 episodes! But that beats her being in just the pilot, which is what I originally thought.
I would buy a Princess Ardala doll, and all of the outfits to go along with it. -
johnnyb94109 — 14 years ago(March 21, 2012 02:53 AM)
You'd think Ardala/Hensley would just be popular with the men, but women apparently love her as well. You might be interested to know that her rival and polar-opposite on the series, Erin Gray, was quoted in an interview at the time as always cheering her on-set, "Go Pam Go!!!"
Enjoy watching further Ardala episodes!