Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Another thing going against westerns is that today's most successful money makers tend to be special effects driven. Bigger and bigger explosions, flashy light displays, wilder and more impossible car chases and stunts, none of that is the currency of a western. There is only so much you can do in 19th Century setting, and if you try to do too much you wind up with a stinker like the "Wild, Wild West" movie. Making a western these days is an under employment of all the computer and graphics wizards a studio has on hand.
There may be one opening for reviving those morally upright westerns of the '50's and '60's. That would be a sudden surge of animated westerns. Since the targeted audience is kids, you can serve up a straight forward good guys/bad guys tale.
Another thing going against westerns is that today's most successful money makers tend to be special effects driven. Bigger and bigger explosions, flashy light displays, wilder and more impossible car chases and stunts, none of that is the currency of a western. There is only so much you can do in 19th Century setting, and if you try to do too much you wind up with a stinker like the "Wild, Wild West" movie. Making a western these days is an under employment of all the computer and graphics wizards a studio has on hand.
There may be one opening for reviving those morally upright westerns of the '50's and '60's. That would be a sudden surge of animated westerns. Since the targeted audience is kids, you can serve up a straight forward good guys/bad guys tale.
I guess that's why I miss movies and television of yesteryear so much. I prefer plot over special effects any day. Today's movies and TV shows seem to cater to special effect over plot.
I guess some people can only be entertained if they don't have to think, and can just watch things explode.
On Saturday's I can catch episodes of these westerns on TV in my area:
1. The Deputy
2. Wanted Dead or Alive
3. Rawhide
4. Wagon Train
5. Gunsmoke
6. Bonanza
7. Hopalong Cassidy
8. The Lone Ranger
9. The Rifleman
10. The Big Valley
On Saturday's I can catch episodes of these westerns on TV in my area:
1. The Deputy
2. Wanted Dead or Alive
3. Rawhide
4. Wagon Train
5. Gunsmoke
6. Bonanza
7. Hopalong Cassidy
8. The Lone Ranger
9. The Rifleman
10. The Big Valley
Same here, thanks mostly to MeTV, INSP, and Cozi TV. However, many areas don't have access to those channels, which is sad. The few other channels that still sometimes show westerns (such as TVLand), chop them up so much they aren't even enjoyable to view.
I don't know... assuming from the tone I'm guessing this thread isn't filled with young people lamenting so I guess one observation I'd make is that I don't think I would want to watch much of any early tv series that much... (with the notable exceptions of "The Honeymooners" & "The Twilight Zone") because time has marched on & we know the world wasn't like that or life so neat etc... Nostalgia is ok for a show or 2 here & there but that's plenty for me.
But I have started watching the old western movies again (thanks TCM!) after decades of not watching & really enjoy them probably because they have a bit more depth to the plot & characters than a 24 minute tv episode. And this is where I guess I will disagree with the original poster because my favorite western movie, & one of my top 5 movies of all time, is "The Searchers" & that is fantastic & PC....
But I remember with fondness my Davy Crockett cap & my Nellybelle jeep & Saturday mornings with Gene, Roy & Hoppy...
But I remember ...... my Nellybelle jeep & Saturday mornings with Gene, Roy & Hoppy...
I watched Roy Rodgers as a kid and even then wondered exactly how Dale Evans' cafe stayed in business. The only customers she ever had were Roy, Pat and the local sheriff, and sometimes there might be a couple of bad guys sitting at table listening to the conversation between Roy and the Sheriff about the gold shipment coming in on the stage the next day. The bad guys would exchange knowing looks, and make a hasty exit to go plan their robbery. I never saw Roy, Pat or the Sheriff ever pay for anything.
And why was Dale Evans always referenced by the bad guys as "Rodgers' dame" when in fact there was no romantic relationship between them which was ever revealed.
I don't know... assuming from the tone I'm guessing this thread isn't filled with young people lamenting so I guess one observation I'd make is that I don't think I would want to watch much of any early tv series that much... (with the notable exceptions of "The Honeymooners" & "The Twilight Zone") because time has marched on & we know the world wasn't like that or life so neat etc... Nostalgia is ok for a show or 2 here & there but that's plenty for me.
But I have started watching the old western movies again (thanks TCM!) after decades of not watching & really enjoy them probably because they have a bit more depth to the plot & characters than a 24 minute tv episode. And this is where I guess I will disagree with the original poster because my favorite western movie, & one of my top 5 movies of all time, is "The Searchers" & that is fantastic & PC....
But I remember with fondness my Davy Crockett cap & my Nellybelle jeep & Saturday mornings with Gene, Roy & Hoppy...
Frankly, Hefe, I can't watch much that ISN'T old anymore. There is just so much tripe on television anymore, that I find the old shows comforting. I do watch "Big Bang Theory" and "Mike & Molly", but pretty much everything else I watch is in reruns.
I'll agree with you on one thing...."The Honeymooners" never gets old.
The one TV series I would love to catch is The Naked City. I never watched it first time around, maybe I was too young? But I saw a show recently detailing all the future big stars that got their first break on that show, it's an amazing list! I think it's because it was shot in NYC & all the actors who were in the Broadway theatres could act in it, plus I believe it was the first series to extensively use real NYC locations & not studios, which I would also like to see, but I don't know if it has ever been re-released.
I was a huge fan of The Rebel back then, Johnny Yuma....
The Honeymooners... true genius.
I recently referenced Andy Devine on another thread as someone who I thought of recently from his kiddy show, but wasn't he a sidekick on Roy Rogers or some other show?
The one TV series I would love to catch is The Naked City. I never watched it first time around, maybe I was too young? But I saw a show recently detailing all the future big stars that got their first break on that show, it's an amazing list! I think it's because it was shot in NYC & all the actors who were in the Broadway theatres could act in it, plus I believe it was the first series to extensively use real NYC locations & not studios, which I would also like to see, but I don't know if it has ever been re-released.
RetroTV was rerunning Naked City for awhile (don't know if they still are), and MeTV is showing it late at night. It actually had two formats, with different leads. There was a short run of a half-hour series with James Franciscus. Then it returned with a basically new cast in an hour format. I saw both, and the half-hour was far and above the better of the two. In the hour series, the lead was a real pantywaist of a cop (Adam, played by Paul Burke). It was interesting to see all the guest stars, but Burke made it pretty hard to watch.
Although it is set in the modern day with modern day criminal issues, FX's JUSTIFIED is basically a Western.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
