William and Wilma

William and Wilma

...regarding Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979 - 81)...  It has always struck me as somewhat odd that the two lead characters - William ("Buck") Rogers and Wilma Deering should have nearly identical  first names.  In the original comic strip from the 1930's, Buck's real name was Anthony - he was renamed William for the TV series.  Was this "mirroring" of the characters names (sigh) yet another attempt to rip-off Star Wars (1977) with the famous Luke and Leia "double L" combination?  Or possibly (dare I say it...) Mork and Mindy (1978 - 82)?  In the case of case of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, nothing whatsoever is made of the characters similar names in the episodes themselves.

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is copyright (c) and trademark NBC / Universal