The Great American WESTERN Thread

[ZipZop]

Aloha!

I am a big fan of Westerns. Mostly classic TV Westerns from the 50s and 60s, but also the classic movies.

I suppose it was because growing up in the 60s, my grandfather always had a Western on TV. Back then, most of the TV entertainment in the evening consisted of Westerns. They were the thing to watch. I guess I never outgrew them. It's wonderful to me to see them coming back. H&I Television (Heroes and Icons) has their weekly early morning run of "Good Guys at Sunrise" where you can watch;

"Cheyenne" with Clint Walker
"Wanted Dead or Alive" with Steve McQueen
"Have Gun Will Travel" with Richard Boone
"Rawhide" with Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood
"Maverick" with James Garner
"The High Chaparral" with Leif Erickson

I also like the original "Gunsmoke" 30 minute black and white shows before the series went color and expanded to 1 hour I thought the 1/2 hour shows were better. Most of the Westerns that I really like are in Black and White and are 30 minutes.

I have purchased the complete DVD set of "Have Gun Will Travel" because I really enjoy this show, and it is very hard to find ON DEMAND anywhere online. It ran for many years and Richard Boone was actually a neighbor of mine when I was in my late teens and early 20s. He taught Drama at a local college near me, and I really enjoyed his acting in that series. I can say that in real life, he was a rough and tumble guy, just like his character. There is a fairly famous story about one of his students approaching him in his Drama class and asking;
"Mr Boone, I really liked you in "Have Gun Will Travel". May I please get your autograph?"
Boone responded, "How about I carve my initials in your forehead with my pocket knife?"

"Encore Westerns", a division of STARZ Network offers many old Western TV shows and movies. I enjoy them. Some of the old long standing TV Westerns can be seen there including "Death Valley Days" if you remember that one. Many can be ordered-up online or ON DEMAND on your cable set. Amazon's Prime Video has many Westerns available for ON-DEMAND ordering, as does ROKU.

And lately I have been enjoying "Tales of Wells Fargo" with Dale Robertson. This was, IMO, a very well produced show with most scenes actually being portrayed outdoors instead of in a studio.

I haven't even touched on Western MOVIES. Maybe in another post.

Mahalo!

-Zip