Who’s your favorite cowboy?
I grew up in the golden age of the TV western. From
1950 to 1968 several hundred cowboy opera’s were the prime staple of early
television. Not a night went by that you weren’t allowed to saddle up and ride
the romantic west. They filled the nights and ushered in the afternoon after
school time to accommodate mothers cooking supper.
I can remember putting on my turquoise skirt, vest,
and strapping on my pearl handled .45 to watch Annie Oakley. On Saturday
mornings, there was My Friend, Flicka, Fury of Broken Wheel Ranch, and of
course, The Cisco Kid which only lasted 4 seasons but produced 156 episodes.
That’s a lot of film folks. For every minute of filming there has to be a page
of dialogue.
What were the tropes these writers used?
Cowboy hero in his element on a ranch or out of his
comfort zone in town falling for a woman.
There was always a Fling, the cowboy or ranch owner involved
in a relationship with a woman to save her ranch, her herd, avenge her father
or brother’s death, but we always knew our hero would not get the girl. No, he
had to be available for next week’s adventure.
Cisco and the Lone Ranger often used disguise in order
to rat out the villain.
Law Enforcement – Well, we know that Gunsmoke falls
under that category. But who else remember Laredo about the Texas Rangers. And Cimarron
Strip which followed the adventures of Steward Whittman as the sheriff.
I don’t think my father ever missed an episode of Wagon
Train or Death Valley Days.
Bonanza premiered in 1959 and ran until 1973. It is
the second longest after Gunsmoke. It is said that Bonanza and Michael Landon
spurred the purchase of color TV sets because ladies wanted to see what color
his eyes truly were. There were 430 episodes filmed.
These shows spurred my desire to write westerns, ride
horses, and raise cattle. I have been so very lucky to have achieved some of
the dreams.
This brings me to what’s coming up. I am going to
release a new series in July. My love of Laredo, The Wild Wild West, Maverick,
Have Gun Will Travel and Gunsmoke have led to this series. I plan on following
four Texas Rangers are they struggle to find out who wants to destroy Texas.
Now, let’s see who is your favorite western hero?
Virginian
Trampas
James Joseph Horne
Matt Dillon
John Cannon
Buck Cannon
Montalito
Blue Boy
Jared Barkley
Nick Barkley
Heath
Ben Cartwright
Hoss Cartwright
Adam Cartwright
Joseph Cartwright
Paladin
Hannibal Hayes
Kid Curry
James West
Artemus Gordon
Cheyenne
Sugar Foot
Hondo
Shane
Until next time.....
Nan
