Aloha Gentlemen!

Not they they ever really went away, but I have noticed that classic TV Westerns are making quite a comeback on some Cable and Over-The-Air channels lately. Much to my pleasure.

I'm not quite old enough to remember the super hayday of Westerns in the 50s, but I do remember sitting with my grandfather in the 60s as a small child watching "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke" as well as reruns of "The Rifleman". What I have never seen until these new surge of reruns is the OLD Gunsmoke episodes (the half hour shows in black and white) where James Arness was very young and his deputy was Chester not Festus. I much prefer these over the 1 hour color shows that came later. I have also discovered "Wanted Dead or Alive" with Steve McQueen and "Have Gun Will Travel" with Richard Boone. I had never seen these before. I have even discoverd some more obscure series like "The Rebel" and "Trackdown" about the Texas Rangers.

As I mentioned, I of course remember "The Rifleman", "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke", but I have never seen shows like "Wanted Dead or Alive", so these are a treat to me. Watching a young Steve McQueen as a bounty hunter is a real kick. And Richard Boone playing a sort of Western James Bond gun for hire in "Have Gun Will Travel" is also quite enjoyable. I actually met Richard Boone before he died. I'm glad I am finally watching his series. And with only 1/2 hour to work with, these shows got right to the point quickly.

GRIT TV (over the air) shows a lot of great Westerns all day long including "Death Valley Days". Unfortunately, we just lost GRIT to some other station, so that is out for me. If you can get GRIT over the air, you are really set for classic Westerns. TV Land on cable shows some Westerns during the day, and every morning there is "Good Guys at Sunrise" on Heroes and Icons television (over the air and on cable) that shows a bunch of classic Westerns from 7 AM through Noon. If you happen to subscribe to Starz/Encore on Cable, Encore Westerns also shows quite a few of the old classic Westerns.

I had read that at one point at the peak of Westerns dominating TV (in the year 1959) that there were a whopping 26 Westerns appearing weekly on the three networks. That's amazing.

It's been quite a bit of fun discovering and re-discovering these. I'm not such a huge fan of the color one hour shows like "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke", but the old 1/2 hour black and white series I really am enjoying.

Mahalo!
-Zip