TV Westerns

When I was growing up there were plenty of Westerns on TV. Guess they could be compared to today's glut of reality shows or CSI series or those singing/dancing talent competitions except the Westerns were in black and white and the actors weren't actors-they were our best friends; part of our family.
I think I was infatuated with every cowboy. When they rode off into the sunset I was right there with them. From Adam Cartright on "Bonanza" to "The Rifleman"-men were men; clearing and defending their land and tipping their hats to the women when in town. When they wore their leather chaps I melted. When they tied their 6-gun on and went after the bad guys I cheered.
As I've mentioned before Saturday night gave us Gunsmoke followed by Paladin. From Matt and Miss Kitty to that "Knight without armor in a savage land" Saturday night was a smorgasbord of boots with spurs and long dresses I wished I could wear.

When we played "Western" in our Chicken Coop Clubhouse I did wear those dresses; I did ride off into the sunset with those cowboys-after my work in our schoolhouse-turned-restaurant was done although some days I just had too much to do. It was really busy when a stagecoach stopped. The horses had to be watered. The people had to be fed and all rather quickly as the driver was in a hurry; had to make it to Dodge by sunset. That meant the stone eggs we scrambled and the twig strips of bacon we grilled and slices of leaf toast we toasted and the mud coffee brewing all had to be prepared and served-before the next stagecoach pulled up or the next Marshall stopped for a cup of mud coffee or the next cowboy in transit asked for the special-cardboard pancakes with homemade mud-maple syrup.

Thanks to those TV Westerns, we spent hours in our clubhouse enacting our own Western sagas. Difference was our scripts weren't written down. There were no lights, camera, action. Our scripts came soaring from imaginations intent on the moment flipping bark french toast or waving good-bye to patrons with full stomachs-on their way to Dodge before sunset.

Comments

  1. Karen Everett WatsonNovember 7, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    I still love the old westerns and watch regularly thanks to Encore Western channel - Cheyenne and Gunsmoke are two of my favorites! Clint Walker lives up in Grass Valley, Ca. We also watch "The Virginian" Who didn't grow up playing cowboys and indians?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Barbara Briggs WardNovember 8, 2011 at 10:01 PM

    There's just something about tumbleweeds rolling down a dusty main street Karen and the tall, dark, and handsome cowboy heading into the saloon!

    ReplyDelete

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