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The best Western series was....
Kung Fu. Easily.
I've watched some episodes recently, as it's out on DVD, and there's something really, really great about the whole peaceful and tranquil basis of Kane. Carradine was just perfect in it, and it was a completely different kind of show to anything before (and actually anything since, come to think of it). Plus it's great fun to watch him get taunted and not react because of his nature, and the bad guys keep on, till he beats the living tar out of them. (Oh, I do remember F Troop fondly, btw) |
Re: The best Western series was....
Liked "The Rifleman" when I was a kid. Coulda just been the bad ass intro though.
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Re: The best Western series was....
To be blunt - Kung Fu was Crap. That's my opinion and I know it will not be shared by some but so be it. A six-foot three-inch Caucasian Chinaman traveling through the west with no visible means of support playing a sissy flute and muttering metaphysical hooey to every ignorant westerner he stumbles into had little appeal to me. Then Carradine also talked in that choppy and parsed silly cadence as if it added weight and wisdom to his pithy prattle and other unending twaddle he spewed out of supposed ancient wisdom example:
The--path---you---tread---will---only---lead---to-----wisdom---if----you----don’t----search----for---it...... Queue the flute. Trash. Bonanza was also trashy but at least they had real Chinese play a Chinese, as a cook and washing boy I think. One of my best friends was a nut about Kung Fu and insisted that it was a great show. Whenever I watched it with him I always cheered for the ignorant redneck scum to blast Mr. Fu into bloody chunks with a shotgun. Somehow that never happened and the show became too formalized after awhile, though I did missed many episodes - thank Heaven. To be fair, it was a good concept for a show especially for the time. It hit the nerve of many in the nation and I can see the appeal. It was just never my cup of tea. Maverick, Wagon Train, and the Virginian were far better as was F Troop, the cream of the TV Western genera. I would rate the High Chaparral better also. Kung Fu was middling. I would have shot that bastard down with my 45 faster than you could say "Shaolin Monk" -Zeno |
Re: The best Western series was....
I loved Kung Fu and it was the first thing that came to mind when I read the title. Of course, it would have been better had Bruce Lee actually played Kane, but I loved it anyway. All this said, I loved all the Billy Jack movies, so that pretty much nullifies any authority I have on the subject.
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Re: The best Western series was....
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Re: The best Western series was....
The "and it's not even close" answer is Gunsmoke. But for reality and great acting, the current Deadwood sets the bar very high.
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Re: The best Western series was....
[ QUOTE ]
The "and it's not even close" answer is Gunsmoke. But for reality and great acting, the current Deadwood sets the bar very high. [/ QUOTE ] Totally agree on the Gunsmoke nomination. Each episode was a variation on a morality play, where the issue of right, wrong and the difficult choices between the two played out in a western seeting. The writing was clear & crisp, and the many different issues were clearly delineated, and the object lessons were put squarely in front of the viewer. Gunsmoke was the finest of the genre of the day, but not the only one. Rawhide, Have Gun will Travel, The Rifleman and Cimmaron Strip were other worthy contenders. I enjoyed Kung Fu; it had the same "morality play" basis, but was a bit of a stretch on the 'reality' side. FWIW, they all sprung from the great John Ford/John Wayne movies of the 40's. A study in morality best summed up by the character John Bernard Books in John Waynes last movie, The Shootist: "I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them." |
Re: The best Western series was....
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To be blunt - Kung Fu was Crap. That's my opinion and I know it will not be shared by some but so be it. Trash. Bonanza was also trashy. [/ QUOTE ] Dear Zeno, We usually fall in love with trash. That goes for many, many things, including movies, TV shows, music and girls. Didn't you know this already? Best, Mickey Brausch |
Re: The best Western series was....
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We usually fall in love with trash. That goes for many, many things, including movies, TV shows, music and girls. Didn't you know this already? [/ QUOTE ] Dear Mickey, Yes I did but thank you for the reminder. Under the spell of talking TV, I left reality for a bit. These things happen. Regards, Zeno |
Re: The best Western series was....
Wanted Dead or Alive
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Re: The best Western series was....
Easily Deadwood but that one shouldn't count. As a kid my favorite was Maverick by a wide margin. My least favorite was Bat Masterson because I didn't like his hat [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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Re: The best Western series was....
I think Bonanza was better than most of you guys feel it was. I'm not sure I'd like it now, but I did like it all the way into college when I'd watch it in reruns. I also know a lot of the words to the (intrumental after the first episode) theme song.
As a small child I found some of the major westerns like The Virginian, and Wagon Train boring. I think I was just a few years too young for them (several of you are about 3 or 4 years older than I, though you're about 30 years more curmudgeonly [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]), and would undoubtedly like them better now. I did occasionally like Gunsmoke. And I definitely liked The High Chapparal, possibly because it came out when I was a few years older, compadres. All of these westerns were the kind of morality plays Myrtle mentions. They were strong on instilling certain values like honor and honesty. Despite the violence, I think those things often came through the most clearly. About the Rifleman: The various episodes of The Rifleman promote fair play toward one's opponents, neighborliness, equal rights, and the need to use violence in a highly controlled manner ("A man doesn't run from a fight, Mark," McCain tells his son, "But that doesn't mean you go looking to run TO one!"). In other words, the program's villains tend to be those who cheat, who refuse to help people down on their luck, who hold bigoted attitudes, and who see violence as a first resort rather than the final option. Indeed, a curious aspect of the program is that when they meet African-Americans, the people of North Fork are truly color-blind. In "The Most Amazing Man", a black man (played by Sammy Davis, Jr.) checks into the only hotel in town; for the entire show, no one notices his race. Not only is this noteworthy for the 1880s setting, it was radical for Hollywood of the early 1960s. While the message was clear, it was neither heavy-handed nor universal. A certain amount of xenophobia drifts around North Fork, however, forcing McCain to defend the right of a Chinese immigrant to open a laundry ("The Queue") and the right of an Argentine family to buy a ranch ("The Gaucho"). This racial liberalism does not extend to villains, however. The Mexicans in "The Vaqueros" are indolent, dangerous, and speak in the way of most Mexican outlaws in Westerns of the time. Another fundamental value of the series is that people deserve a second chance. Sheriff Micah Torrance is a recovering alcoholic and McCain once gave an ex-con a job on his ranch ("The Jailbird"). Royal Dano appeared as a former Confederate soldier, given a job on the McCain ranch, who encounters the Union soldier who had cost him his arm in battle. The soldier, now a general, arranges for medical care for the wounded former foe, quoting Abraham Lincoln's orders to "Bind up the Nation's wounds." In retrospect, The Rifleman holds up better than most Westerns of its era, partly because Connors fit so well into the role (his gravestone reads "The Rifleman") and partly because the father-son interactions between Connors and Crawford seem genuine. And the Lucas McCain character has an angry, vindictive streak that makes him more human. The lighting and camera angles give the program a mildly artistic look. The excellent musical score, one of the most remembered aspects of the program, was composed by Herschel Burke Gilbert. Most importantly, however, the show was created and initially developed by a young Sam Peckinpah... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rifleman |
Re: The best Western series was....
Your forgetting "The Adventures of Brisco County Junior." Starring Bruce Campbell, that show was great. It wasnt around very long but really great show. You all should download the torrent of it, i dont even know if it's out on DVD.
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Re: The best Western series was....
Kung fu sucked. Everyone was waiting for the dude to come out of slow motion and actually look like he could fight, but it never happened. That said, sometimes the story lines were very good.
My nomination is Have Gun Will Travel. Before Gunsmoke dragged on too long, it was also often very good. |
Re: The best Western series was....
I'm shocked there's been no mention of "How the West Was Won." This show, starring James Arness as Zeb Macahan and Bruce Boxleitner as Luke Macahan was just perfect...at least in the mind of a 13 year old Swedish boy when it was repeated on Swedish television. The original show started as a mini-series in 1977, and continued as a serial in 1979. Surely someone else remembers it.
[img]http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5xdJ1CJFUCMAdBqjzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTA4NDgyNWN 0BHNlYwNwcm9m/SIG=123k0nbvc/EXP=1159996873/**http%3a//img200.exs.cx/img200/381/macah78p4bq.jpg[/img] Swede |
Re: The best Western series was....
From the early years:
Hopalong Cassidy Gene Autry Roy Rogers Favorite show was Hopalong. Bill Boyd had it down. Best production was Roy Rogers, with Dale Evans, Nellie Belle, Trigger, Bullet, and comical sidekick Pat Butrum (sp?). As a sidekick, Butrum was second only to Gabby Hayes. From the Classic years: Rawhide Maverick Wagon Train Have Gun. I may have liked these the best because the characters were always going somewhere, they weren't in a settled place as werethose in Gunsmoke and Bonanza. Oddball entries: F Troop Wild Wild West |
Re: The best Western series was....
[ QUOTE ]
I'm shocked there's been no mention of "How the West Was Won." This show, starring James Arness as Zeb Macahan and Bruce Boxleitner as Luke Macahan was just perfect...at least in the mind of a 13 year old Swedish boy when it was repeated on Swedish television. The original show started as a mini-series in 1977, and continued as a serial in 1979. Surely someone else remembers it. [img]http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5xdJ1CJFUCMAdBqjzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTA4NDgyNWN 0BHNlYwNwcm9m/SIG=123k0nbvc/EXP=1159996873/**http%3a//img200.exs.cx/img200/381/macah78p4bq.jpg[/img] Swede [/ QUOTE ] ....nice call. You're absolutely right. It had completely slipped my mind. Thanks for reminding me. |
Re: The best Western series was....
This thread makes me realise how sucky British TV used to be, as we didn't get some of these great-sounding shows at all. The Rifleman for example, or even later ones like the Bruce Campbell one, I'm sure we didn't get.
Would you guys consider 'The Little House on the Prairie' as a 'Western'? cos it rocked when I was 7 |
Re: The best Western series was....
[ QUOTE ]
This thread makes me realise how sucky British TV used to be, as we didn't get some of these great-sounding shows at all. The Rifleman for example, or even later ones like the Bruce Campbell one, I'm sure we didn't get. Would you guys consider 'The Little House on the Prairie' as a 'Western'? cos it rocked when I was 7 [/ QUOTE ] .....hmmmmm? Well, it was set in the frontier 'West', but I always considered it more of a 'Western' version of Father Knows Best meets Ozzie & Harriet. |
Re: The best Western series was....
i think "gunsmoke" would make most lists of classic westerns. but, "have gun will travel", "rifleman", and several others may be hampered by the small number of years they ran................b
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Re: The best Western series was....
You guys liked Gunsmoke? I watch it some times on Nick at Night and find it so boring. Good guys/bad guys. Marshall Dillon was always out of town for part of the episode, probably because of schedule conflicts. The only good part of the show was good natured scowling Festus.
Bonanza at least was slightly humorous. -J |
Re: The best Western series was....
Gunsmoke did suffer tremendously from it's star constantly being a no-show.
And like any long-lived show, it did play out its themes and characters after a while, but then just kept on going anyway. |
Re: The best Western series was....
Not one mention of "The Young Riders"
Show about the Pony Express This show had it all. |
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