One's opinion of Cosmic Whiz Kid probably depends on how annoying one finds the late Gary Coleman's guest-starring role to be, I suppose; on Diff'rent Strokes,' he was acceptable, but in many of his other roles, not so much. Still, the notion of letting Buck meet somebody who is actually from the 20th century as well was a nice one, and the added attraction of Melody Rogers as Coleman's bodyguard Dia Cytron makes up for a great deal. Her two piece outfit nearly steals the show from our favorite outer space beauty, Erin Gray this time around, in fact.
The other reviewers have pretty well covered the episode, so I won't add a great deal else. I must say I thought that Buck taking out the super-strong killer sent after him was a bit much to swallow even for this series. Ray Walston did a nice turn as the villain Roderick Zale, though.
I suspect that some of the special effects problems with BRI25C were due to budget restraints imposed by NBC, as well as the state of of special effects in that era.
It is a bit sad watching this for another reason entirely, the unfortunate demise of Mr. Coleman. It seems some television series are cursed almost, such as Diff'rent Strokes, given the tragic demises of both Coleman, and Dana Plato. I know Todd Bridges has also had a number of serious problems in his life since Strokes ended years ago, now. Another series which seemed to have stars pursued by tragedy was In the Heat of the Night," I can think of off-hand.
The other reviewers have pretty well covered the episode, so I won't add a great deal else. I must say I thought that Buck taking out the super-strong killer sent after him was a bit much to swallow even for this series. Ray Walston did a nice turn as the villain Roderick Zale, though.
I suspect that some of the special effects problems with BRI25C were due to budget restraints imposed by NBC, as well as the state of of special effects in that era.
It is a bit sad watching this for another reason entirely, the unfortunate demise of Mr. Coleman. It seems some television series are cursed almost, such as Diff'rent Strokes, given the tragic demises of both Coleman, and Dana Plato. I know Todd Bridges has also had a number of serious problems in his life since Strokes ended years ago, now. Another series which seemed to have stars pursued by tragedy was In the Heat of the Night," I can think of off-hand.