Back in 2016, I posted my list of My Ten Favorite Western TV Shows for that year's Legends of Western Cinema Week. Well, five years have passed, and I've found some new favorites, so it's time to revise that list! And what better occasion than this year's edition of LOWCW, right? Especially since I'm giving away several of these shows in this year's giveaway! (Enter it here!)
1. The Big Valley (1965-69)
The adventures of the rich, influential Barkley family: wise matriarch Victoria (Miss Barbara Stanwyck); sensible lawyer Jarrod (Richard Long); hot-tempered charmer Nick (Peter Breck); sensitive tough guy Heath (Lee Majors); and bold little sister Audra (Linda Evans). Together or apart, they're always encountering excitement of one sort or another in and around the big California valley they own. I've reviewed my two favorite episodes: "A Time to Kill" and "Showdown in Limbo."
2. The Magnificent Seven (1998-2000)
A "found family" formed from seven archetypical loners: a volatile gunslinger, Chris (Michael Biehn); wistful bounty hunter, Vin (Eric Close); a cheerful ladies' man, Buck (Dale Midkiff); a snarky card sharp, Ezra (Anthony Starke); a former slave learning to be a doctor, Nathan (Rick Worthy); a doubtful religious man, Josiah (Ron Perlman); and an annoying tenderfoot, J.D. (Andrew Kavovit). They're hired by a circuit judge (Robert Vaughn) to clean up and protect a lawless town. You can read the list of my 10 favorite episodes here.
3. Cheyenne (1955-63)
Nomadic loner Cheyenne Bodie (Clint Walker) travels the west helping people, taking odd jobs, and doing the right thing wherever he can. Kind of like the Lone Ranger, but generally without a sidekick, and always without a mask.
4. The Rifleman (1958-63)
Widowed rancher Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors) and his son Mark (Johnny Crawford) contend with all the bad guys who seem irresistably drawn to the tiny Texas town of North Fork, where Marshal Micah Torrence (Paul Fix) is forever needing Lucas and his famous, specially modified Winchester to help stave them off.
5. Five Mile Creek (1983-85)
The daily lives of a band of strangers working together to run a small stage coach line and its way station in the Australia frontier. Through a variety of adversities and problems, they forge a "found family" that I have wanted to belong to for as long as I can remember. You can read my overview of the series here.
6. The Mandalorian (2019-)
A bounty hunter seeks to reunite an orphan with its family. Although this is part of the Star Wars universe, I consider it to be a western with sci-fi trappings, not the other way around. I reviewed the first eight episodes individually, and you can find links to those reviews here.
7. Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958-61)
Bounty hunter Josh Randall (Steve McQueen) is on a quest to earn money by capturing bad guys and delivering them to the authorities, with many moral dilemmas mixed in. This may actually be the strongest western show of all -- it has very few "so-so" episodes and manymanymany magnificent ones.
8. The Lone Ranger (1949-57)
John Reid (Clayton Moore) is the only survivor of an ambushed party of Texas Rangers. After the lonesome Indian Tonto (Jay Silverheels) nurses him back to health, the two embark on a crusade to bring justice, law, and order to the West.
9. Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993-98)
Intrepid woman doctor Michaela Quinn (Jane Seymour) moves to Colorado Springs, adopts three kids, romances handsome and sometimes mysterious Sully (Joe Lando), and generally works to eradicate disease, prejudice, and ignorance.
10. Zorro (1957-59)
The merry adventures of wealthy Spanish scion Diego de la Vega (Guy Williams) as he battles injustice, oppression, and greed in old California. It's superduper fun, appropriate for just about any age... and currently unavailable on DVD because of a distribution rights dispute :-( BUT you can watch the first few episodes in the form of the movie The Sign of Zorro on Disney+ now! Disney edited eight episodes together and released them to the big screen as a movie in 1958, and it is absolutely delightful.
Have you watched any of these? Do you have other favorites that I didn't list here? Let's discuss over a cup of coffee by the campfire, shall we?
Love this list.
ReplyDeleteI grew up watching Disney's Zorro (syndication) where I got an early crush on Guy Williams and found a hero.
Cheyenne - no mask, and often no shirt.
The Magnificent Seven - Andy Kavovit recently turned 50. I used to watch him as a teenager on As the World Turns!
I finally completed my set of The Big Valley DVDs and my sister immediately borrowed them.
I've been watching the serial Radar Men of the Moon (Commando Cody) on local television and Clayton Moore is a bad guy.
So glad you like it, Caftan Woman!
DeleteHaha, so true about Cheyenne often finding a reason to shed his shirt. Not that I've ever minded :-D
Oh my goodness, I have seen a few eps of Commando Cody because they used to put them at the beginning of Mystery Science Theater 3000 movies, and it is SO TRIPPY to hear Clayton Moore's voice coming from his unmasked face. Also, that show is a hoot.
I love The Mandalorian. Which makes sense, honestly, since I love fantasy Westerns and fantastical Westerns in general. Like, let's use the regular setting/aesthetic and themes, but add some MAGIC and SPACE STUFF, shall we?
ReplyDeleteKatie, it's so cool that you love that sub-genre! Very fun :-)
DeleteDALE MIDKIFF is really good in dramatic TV-Movies. I first saw him play the young JOCK EWING in DALLAS:THE EARLY YEARS and then ELVIS PRESLEY in ELVIS AND ME (with SUSAN WALTERS as PRISCILLA). This was in the 80s. My two favorite "DALE" movies are ANOTHER WOMAN'S HUSBAND (2000) made for LIFETIME and LOVE COMES SOFTLY(2003) for the HALLMARK CHANNEL. Dale should be a big household name. (He is a household name to me.) He has a great smile and is very easy on the eyes!
ReplyDeleteClassic TV Fan, I've seen Love Comes Softly, years ago, and I didn't even realize Buck in Magnificent Seven was played by the same guy until I looked him up on IMDB! That's awesome that you've seen him in lots of things :-) He is definitely a charmer!
DeleteWow, I didn't realize Dale Midkiff was in the Mag7 TV show! What a throwback. 😄
ReplyDeleteWe recently rewatched the first couple episodes of Dr. Quinn. Fun times.
Olivia, yes! And his character is such a sweetheart.
DeleteI haven't watched Dr. Quinn in years, but I own the whole series because I love it a ton. It was the first show I ever watched while it was airing!
So happy The Mandalorian made the list.
ReplyDeleteSkye, how could it not, right? <3
DeleteI've only seen 2 episodes of The Mandalorian, which is the only part of this list that I've seen. I feel like I would really love some of these, though!
ReplyDeleteChloe, I think you definitely would like most of these!
Delete"The Mandalorian" was such a nice surprise. If only Jon Favreau had directed the sequel trilogy, but oh well...
ReplyDeleteRebecca, oh, that might have been good! Or if he had written them, at least???
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