Comments on: Gunsmoke, Lonesome Dove Top List of Greatest TV Westerns

By: Philosopher Jay

Philosopher Jay — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:55:08 +0000

This list looks pretty good. My two small quibbles is that “Kung Fu” should have been way higher (more like 10 than 37) and “Bat Masterson” was left off. Masterson should have been on the list just for the great theme song. You can hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRNImRxRNjc

By: jay

jay — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:31:09 +0000

I sometimes watch Gunsmoke on a nostalgia channel, because the only western I ever liked at all was Wild Wild West, which as was pointed out was a James Bond copy set in the west. ( Almost campy at times, but not quite Batman. ) Gunsmoke is fun to watch because they only show the later episodes when Arness had it in his contract to just show up at the end and kill or capture the bad guy. The guest stars were a who’s who of he-man actors of the time, and the stories were gritty. What we today would call a happy ending did not exist on the radar for those writers. Resolutions tended to be a hard and even fatal lesson for an ambivalent protagonist who ” learned too late ” such things as vengeance, grudges, frivolously wasting your life and not settling down with the soul mate you were supposed to have, were all stupid wastes of time. Miss Kitty especially was featured on those later episodes, and she was one tough cookie, the kind of women guys would want to watch their backs for them. Gunsmoke was a classic and classy TV show.

By: Chuck Collins

Chuck Collins — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:59:02 +0000

Exactly how does a show set in the modern day like “The Yellow Rose” qualify as a western?!! Hell, at that rate “Dallas” should have been #2!

By: Richard Steven Hack

Richard Steven Hack — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:06:00 +0000

I’m old enough to remember having seen most of those series. But I was never a big Western fan. My favorite was “Wild, Wild West” which was much more of a spy spoof set in the late 1800′s than a Western. Very few episodes even had horses in them.

Yancy Derringer was another one I remember was pretty good, although it only lasted 34 episodes. It was also a bit out of the ordinary, dealing with an adventurer/spy in New Orleans.

Yancy Derringer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yancy_Derringer

By: ABCFanatic

ABCFanatic — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:06:12 +0000

where’s Brokeback Mountain

By: Viper

Viper — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:28:51 +0000

I agree it is a good list. Not the exact order that I would have used, but close enough. Say, does anyone know where to find “The Rebel” on dvd?

By: Jeff G

Jeff G — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:45:31 +0000

I join Dee in thanking you for this posting. Very interesting and reminds me of some quality TV we have seen.

By: squiggleslash

squiggleslash — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:18:58 +0000

They don’t list Firefly?

By: Dee

Dee — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:59:56 +0000

Thanks for posting this. I wouldn’t have known about it otherwise. As a fan of the genre, I have to say it is a pretty good list. The only additions I would make would be the wonderful 1976 series “The Quest”, with Kurt Russell, and the comedy “Best of the West”.