What are your top 5 favorite shows from the 1960s? (1 Viewer)

[Gary OS]

Guys, I'd almost be willing to wager my home on you both enjoying The Fugitive. It really is the an incredible series.


Gary "I've never shown an episode of that series to anyone who didn't absolutely love it" O.

 

[TravisR]

I, too, am curious about The Fugitive but have the same reservations as do you. I'd really like to sample the series first *or* get a "really" good deal. While it suffers from music substitution I may pick up S1V1 from Amazon as it can be purchased fairly inexpensively (under $10 used) and should make for a good sampler.

I think that's a good plan for anyone that is curious about The Fugitive. If you like what you see, pick up the series set and pass the S1V1 set on to a friend or family member who likes classic TV.

Also, if you've got ME-TV, it's on at midnight on Sunday nights. I'm sure they're edited but at least it's an inexpensive way to sample the series.

 

[Roy Wall]

I, too, am curious about The Fugitive but have the same reservations as do you. I'd really like to sample the series first *or* get a "really" good deal. While it suffers from music substitution I may pick up S1V1 from Amazon as it can be purchased fairly inexpensively (under $10 used) and should make for a good sampler.

You are gonna become oh so hooked....

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Peter M: I would have thought that someone with such an impressive collection from the 1960s would have already collected The Virginian on DVD. Any particular reason that one missed the cut for you?

Mostly because I had to learn to like westerns, in general. When I was a kid to my early teens, I had no real interest in westerns (either TV series or movies), apart from The Wild Wild West, but that was more of a 007-style spy show in western garb. They'd be on (late-era Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Big Valley, Branded), I'd glance at them, but wouldn't be drawn into them. I tended toward liking more fanciful and exotic stuff, and stories featuring horses, saddles and six-shooters, while not part of my everyday life, seemed sort of humdrum to me back then.

The Magnificent Seven (the 1960 film) was my gateway drug. I forget exactly when I first caught it on TV, probably in my mid-teens during the 1980s, but that super-western, even in pan & scan on local TV, grabbed my attention. Probably the case of seeing the right thing at the right time at the right age. From that, I graduated to Clint Eastwood's 'Dollars' trilogy, and I was done for. I started to search for what were considered top westerns using film guides and TV listings. Cinemax used to run a lot of older movies back then, so I soaked up most of my westerns from there, as well as on TNT, when that network first started up and was like an early version of TCM with commercials.

Anyway, that bled over a bit to western TV series, mainly Rawhide. When F/X started up as a network in 1994, Rawhide was one of the classic series they initially had in rotation. I gobbled that up. I had heard about Maverick, prior to the big-screen Mel Gibson version, so when TV Land began, I caught as much of that, Have Gun Will Travel and The Westerner as I could. For some reason, I still pretty much ignored Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Big Valley and The Rifleman, and only dabbled in Wanted: Dead or Alive. I don't think The Virginian was even being re-run while I was watching this other stuff, or it just flew under my radar.

Encore Westerns, which I finally got, after a move, around 1997, started running The Virginian at some point. I caught that one episode, "It Tolls for Thee", partly because I was taping it for a friend who specifically pointed it out to me, and partly because of the Lee Marvin and Samuel Fuller credits. Why I didn't watch any more of them, I don't really know... probably because I was more focused on watching/recording other series and films. The extra length of the episodes and the long run of the series might've been a little daunting to me, too, at the time.

As far as blind-buying on DVD, usually I have to see enough of a show first, via rental/broadcast/streaming, to get a taste of what it'll likely be like for the bulk of its run. Some obscuro shows I'll take a chance on, if I can't see them any other way, but only if the creative artists involved have done other things in the past that I've really liked, and if the premise sounds promising. Since The Virginian pops up now and then, outside of having to buy seasons sight unseen, I'm content to wait until I can try it out first. Your posts on the show have made it sound a lot more interesting to me, rather than the ho-hum also-ran to Gunsmoke and Bonanza that I had long assumed (without evidence) that it was.

 

[BobO'Link]

Well... I couldn't let the Gunsmoke S1 for $9.95 deal go by so I ordered a copy. I mainly remember watching some of the hour length programs so it'll be interesting to see this first season. If it holds true to 50s form for dramas there'll be a lot of story packed into that short half hour.

I currently have a used copy of The Fugitive in my Amazon cart trying to decide if I should go ahead and pull the trigger simply because I've already overspent a bit this month on DVDs.

Of course it'd help some if I'd just avoid forums and threads like this one, eh?

 

[benbess]

Mostly because I had to learn to like westerns....Since The Virginian pops up now and then, outside of having to buy seasons sight unseen, I'm content to wait until I can try it out first. Your posts on the show have made it sound a lot more interesting to me, rather than the ho-hum also-ran to Gunsmoke and Bonanza that I had long assumed (without evidence) that it was.

I had to learn to like Westerns too. As I kid, I would avidly watch The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Gilligan's Island, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, etc, but then when the theme for Bonanza came on, or Chuck Connors as The Rifleman started blasting his way across the street, I would almost always turn the television off.

The first time I saw a Western and actually enjoyed it was my senior year in HS, in 1983, when I was hanging out with some friends during a gaming convention in a crowded hotel room, and they had The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly on the TV in the background. My jaw practically dropped because of the stylized look, surreal action, and most of all because of the astonishingly great music by Ennio Morricone. That made me realize that I'd probably dismissed Westerns too easily, but I didn't do much about it. I think I caught some of the Magnificent Seven on TV too, and liked it as well. And in 1989 I saw Lonesome Dove, which became, as for you, one of my my favorite miniseries of all time.

Then, when I met my future wife in 1991, we discovered that we'd had opposite tastes in TV as kids. Where I was turning the TV off at the sounds of the theme to Bonanza, she was turning the TV off at the sounds of the theme to the Twilight Zone. She loved Westerns and grew up with them, and I felt that to understand her better I needed to understand Westerns better. And so I slowly started adding Westerns into my cultural mix. One of the first movie Westerns she introduced me to was She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, which is still one of my favorites.

That's a slow warm up for how I eventually discovered The Virginian. I think it is the most ambitious of all the TV Westerns of the 1960s. It's not usually action packed, although there are a few exceptions among the many episodes. But anyway, my suggestion, for what little it's worth, is to keep watching for it when you can, and then consider picking up the first season. The Virginian's first season can now be purchased for as little as $20 some places, which is really a deal, because it's really 30 little Western movies of varying kinds in that package....

 

[Roy Wall]

I simply love all this westerns discussion.

 

[Roy Wall]

Guys, I'd almost be willing to wager my home on you both enjoying The Fugitive. It really is the an incredible series.

Is that all, Gary...just your house....I mean really???

 

[benbess]

I couldn't pass up the bargain of Gunsmoke either. But I decided to try volume 2 of the 7th season, which is the first hour-long season iirc. I think that's from the 1961-62 TV season. It was 10.99. I hate the whole "split season" thing, but at this price it seemed fair enough for 18 episodes—which is around the number of episodes for a full season of some shows today.

 

[Ejanss]

Guys, I'd almost be willing to wager my home on you both enjoying The Fugitive. It really is the an incredible series.


Gary "I've never shown an episode of that series to anyone who didn't absolutely love it" O.

Without a hard-disk Netflix subscription, I'm just wondering where I can watch it.
Although I have these old traumatic fears that I'm going to look at David Janssen and see not Harrison Ford, but Bill Bixby.

 

[BobO'Link]

I couldn't pass up the bargain of Gunsmoke either. But I decided to try volume 2 of the 7th season, which is the first hour-long season iirc. I think that's from the 1961-62 TV season. It was 10.99. I hate the whole "split season" thing, but at this price it seemed fair enough for 18 episodes—which is around the number of episodes for a full season of some shows today.

I've often wondered if that's part of the reasoning for presenting older series that way. If so I can *partly* understand but those older shows should have already made back their production costs several times over and any further sales should just be gravy. Those newer ones still need to "pay the bills" so to speak. It still screams *gouging* to me...

While I don't let that stop me from purchasing a series I truly want I still resent every dollar spent over what I feel should be a "fair" price for such series. At those sale prices Gunsmoke came in way under. I typically purchase at a rate no higher than $.50 per half hour unless it's from the BBC as even their sale prices don't get that low.

 

[BobO'Link]

I don't think I every had to "learn" to like westerns. Mom says I'd sit on my rocking horse wearing my guns and hat while watching The Lone Ranger as a kid. I vividly remember that show and tended to like just about any western I ever saw. I *do* remember being somewhat overwhelmed with the number of them in the early 60s and got more selective but that's also when I discovered a love for comedy programs and they started taking over a lot of my viewing. It didn't hurt that many westerns from that era were more "adult" in nature, which helped me to cut down too, but I still watched several.

I *loved* the open for The Rifleman and would practice that move with my toy rifle. Because of the varying nature of the releases for that one I've never purchased anything with an episode. I should pick up one of the less expensive sets to see if I still like it after all these years. I *did* purchase the Timeless release of Branded the Complete Series Chuck Connors starred in - it is another of those I really liked as a kid. It's still sitting unopened.

Bonanza is one of those shows I never really watched much during the original runs. I'm pretty sure it conflicted with something else on Sunday evenings. Later in life the TV station I worked for ran it every afternoon so I had opportunity to see lots of the episodes during that time. I discovered I liked it pretty well and it wasn't as "cheesy" as I'd thought when a kid. The obvious studio look of many of the outdoors sets kind of bothers me but I try to ignore it and appreciate just what they did to make them look authentic. Of course they weren't the only series that fell into that trap to save money. At least Bonanza had some good stories to go with those fake looking set pieces.

 

[Gary OS]

The obvious studio look of many of the outdoors sets kind of bothers me but I try to ignore it and appreciate just what they did to make them look authentic. Of course they weren't the only series that fell into that trap to save money. At least Bonanza had some good stories to go with those fake looking set pieces.

Watch out, Howie. You're beginning to sound like me.


Gary "love westerns - one of my favorite genres" O.

 

[benbess]

Watch out, Howie. You're beginning to sound like me.


Gary "love westerns - one of my favorite genres" O.

By any chance, Gary, would you be willing to do just a ranking of your top 5 favorite Westerns of the 1960s?

 

[Jeff Willis]

Watch out, Howie. You're beginning to sound like me.


Gary "love westerns - one of my favorite genres" O.

Same here.

Ben, here's my top 5. Gary will post his soon.


Big Valley Even though it came after the B/W years which are considered by many to have been the golden age of Westerns (I agree with this exception), it's one my top "rewatchibility" shows. Casting was superb, imo.

The Rifleman A growing-up holy grail series which holds up well for me. it's also in my top list of opening themes. I couldn't forget this opening without a memory-wipe

Rawhide Great outdoor location scenery. I preferred the earlier seasons in this series with Sheb Wooley as the trail scout.

Black Saddle Probably for Peter Breck in the starring role. He's also a costar in the Big Valley.

Have Gun Will Travel More great location scenes



Gunsmoke I really like Gunsmoke's B/W seasons but the color seasons kept this one out of my top 5 list.

Wild Wild West is the same. If it had been a 1-season series or had started sooner in that decade, I'd have included it in the 5.


Encore playback for the Rifleman....

 

[Ron1973]

Watch out, Howie. You're beginning to sound like me.


Gary "love westerns - one of my favorite genres" O.

Gary, I got tuned into something by a friend at church. We were discussing guitarists (I'm a bluegrass flattop picker and he's a bass player) and I brought up Duane Eddy. He said his favorite song was The Ballad of Paladin which I had never heard Duane play. For your listening pleasure:

 

[Gary OS]

By any chance, Gary, would you be willing to do just a ranking of your top 5 favorite Westerns of the 1960s?

First off, I love Jeff's list. Mine will differ only slightly with his. My favorite 60's westerns (where at least half of the series filmed in the 60's) are:

1) Rawhide - As Jeff mentioned, the outdoor location shots really make this such a treat to watch in HD (expect S1 & S4, which were not remastered for some crazy reason). Eric Fleming really makes this for me, much more so that Eastwood. And the ensemble cast was excellent as well. One thing this series did better than any other, imho, was the "spooky" factor. Whether it was the S1 "Incident with the Executioner", the S2 "Incident of the Haunted Hills", or any one of many others, this series was able to produce a tangible suspense with eery scenery and background music. This is, by far, my favorite western of all time.

2) Have Gun, Will Travel - Another series that is just beautiful to watch. Going up to Bend, Oregon to shoot on location yields some incredible scenery and really gives this show a feeling of "reality" as opposed to the westerns that are more set bound. And of course, the key to this series is it's star - Richard Boone - and it's writing. As with Rawhide, the dvd releases suffer from a lack of remastering (especially S2 & S3). As an aside, this series produced one of my all time favorite Christmas episodes, "The Hanging Cross."

3) Big Valley - Jeff said it all with this series. The cast is fabulous and the writing is top-notch. It's a truly fantastic western.

4) The Rifleman - It's impossible to keep this one off the list, even though it does make use of sound stages far more than I prefer. But the cast and writing is solid so this one comes in here.

5) Gunsmoke - I hate to be so unoriginal by picking probably the most well-known westerns but... they are the most well known because they are the best, imho. I didn't care nearly as much for this show after it went to color. Especially the last five or so years.

Honorable mentions:

Stoney Burke - once more, I have to rave about the location shooting.

Wide Country - Again, I just enjoy some of the outdoor scenery in this one.

Wild, Wild West - like Jeff, I strongly preferred the 1st season. It got just a little too campy for my tastes when it went to color.

The Dakotas - hoping we get this one soon. A solid western all the way around.

Daniel Boone - like WWW, I strongly preferred the 1st season that was shot in b/w.

Wagon Train - the early seasons are the best in my book.

Whispering Smith - another western that had the plug pulled way too early.


Gary "if I got a chance to see some of the other 60's westerns that haven't gotten much play, the list would undoubtedly expand that much more" O.

 

[Gary OS]

Gary, I got tuned into something by a friend at church. We were discussing guitarists (I'm a bluegrass flattop picker and he's a bass player) and I brought up Duane Eddy. He said his favorite song was The Ballad of Paladin which I had never heard Duane play. For your listening pleasure:

Ron, that is awesome!!! Thank you so much. I'm saving that one to an MP3 file right now!


Gary " " O.

 

[benbess]

Gary OS: Great list. Thanks. I think I've only seen maybe a couple of episodes of Rawhide. If I were to get just one season, since the second seemingly wasn't remastered, would the second be a good place to start?

I'm puzzled by the absence of The Virginian. Is that one you haven't yet seen much of, or has something else kept it off of your list?

 

[Gary OS]

Gary OS: Great list. Thanks. I think I've only seen maybe a couple of episodes of Rawhide. If I were to get just one season, since the second seemingly wasn't remastered, would the second be a good place to start?

I'm puzzled by the absence of The Virginian. Is that one you haven't yet seen much of, or has something else kept it off of your list?

Yes, I think the 2nd Season of Rawhide would be a nice place to start seeing as how S1 wasn't remastered. If you liked what you saw with S2, then I'd encourage you to eventually go back and get S1 because there are some standout episodes in that initial season. But beginning at S2 isn't going to hurt you any.

The Virginian is one that I never really cottoned to. Not sure why. The longer running time doesn't help, that's for sure. It's almost like committing to watching an entire movie with each episode. I guess it just didn't have the same "feel" to it as the others that I like a lot. Not sure why, but that's my perception.


Gary "perhaps down the line I'll give that series another try" O.