TV’s Greatest Westerns

Uh-huh… Branded, 48 episodes… starring Chuck Connors as Jason McCord.

It’s gotten better with age, but at the time it ran, its foundation bordered-on silliness. McCord is a cavalry-officer who’s protecting his commanding officer’s honor by taking blame for his cowardly blundering, which led to a massacre. But the audience (me) was never convinced that the friendship was that deep. Friendship doesn’t work like that. Because the point of the series was McCord roving the West, proving he’s not a coward.

You don’t take the blame for cowardice when you didn’t have to, then try to prove you’re not a coward. :o

Anyhow, the actual episodes were usually tense, viable, and outdoors-y. Lots of them involved McCord being taunted by precocious gunslingers… who usually ended-up with a .45-slug in their bio-metabolism. The writers had to avoid having Connors wield a rifle, for obvious reasons, so it’s refreshing to see him bandying a 6-gun from a holster. There was really no direction for the series to go, though. Where The Rifleman would rank as a 9-out-of-10 for ‘greatness’, Branded is about a 7-out-of-10.

What does everybody think of HELL ON WHEELS? It moves a bit slow like molasses in winter, but I enjoy it. Looking forward to the fourth season.

I love " Hell On Wheels". I think the story and characters are terrific. The writing and acting are top notch, it can be a bit slow, but it’s worth it.

I’ve been watching a lot of HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL on the Western show. I had forgotten about much I enjoyed this show as a child. It’s held up relatively well.

The Outcasts was always a solidly entertaining show… starring Otis Young and Don Murray as bounty-hunters. -A black guy and a white guy… who were often fistfighting and trading barbs among each-other as frequently as they did with killers-and-criminals. It only aired for one season; '68-to’69, largely because it wasn’t ‘politically correct’, I think. TV/Hollywood wanted ‘harmony’ among race-relations at the time. Not realistic situational flareups. If Young walked-into a saloon and was ‘race-baited’ into fight, Murray would usually pour a drink and watch. If Murray was goaded into a fight because he ‘rode with a black guy’, Young would usually pour a drink and watch. Then they usually fought each-other later, for not helping or whatever.

Hollywood didn’t like that.

But that’s how it really was in the 1870’s west, I think. Especially in the world of bounty-hunting. If your partner helped make you money, you stayed a ‘partnership’ as long as it was convenient.

Hollywood would soon give us what it wanted: Kung Fu… an unrealistic anti-racism crusade.

Surprised no one has mentioned the mini-series The Sacketts. It’s a 1979 adaption of two Louis L’Amour novels (The Daybreakers and Sackett) and features Sam Elliott, Tom Selleck, Jeff Ostarhage as the main characters with performances from western vets Glenn Ford and Ben Johnson as supporting characters.

You should all check out Mr. Horn with David Carradine and Richard Widmark. It’s a TV movie about the life of Tom Horn. Both Mr. Horn and Tom Horn (the film starring Steve McQueen) used the same screenplay but two separate films were made, one for TV and one for cinemas, due to some disagreements between the producers and the writer apparently. I have the original UK pre-cert VHS, as well as a Canadian DVD bootleg. It’s definitely one of my favourites.

Some new and upcomings…

1930s, not classic western

Deadwood is rumored to get a reunion movie

has anyone seen this?

I liked this one a lot

Still need to catch up on this

was this ever any good?

My wife and I watched this series together and both really enjoyed it.
If you’re an Amazon Prime member it’s available for free.

Best thing about this topic: a guest appearance by a certain Sartana Django Ballads

Always a pleasure to read some of his old posts :wink:

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