Gleefully incorrect, politically speaking. It makes fun of Indians, white people, gay people, military discipline, handicapped people (there's a near-blind guy as the fort's lookout), capitalism, the Beatles, and plenty more.Wildly uneven, comedy-wise. At its best (quite often) it's laugh-out-loud funny. Most of its best moments involve Larry Storch, and really, the program should have been called The Larry Storch Show. It's the perfect setting for him - his super-charged persona plays beautifully against low-key Forrest Tucker. He lets 'er rip, and when Larry Storch lets 'er rip, it stays ripped. I'm prepared to call his work here as good as any performance ever on a situation comedy (IMO). He can take a nothing line and make you laugh with his delivery and hamminess; when he's got a good line, you can count on him to make it sing and dance.Thanks to Decades TV for the all-weekend splurge or plunge or binge or whatever they call it. And thanks to Larry Storch for his genius.Two additional notes: (1) Great opening credits/theme song. (2) Melody Patterson (1949-2015) as Wrangler Jane is a wonderfully feisty proto-feminist. One of the interesting tensions of the show is, what the heck does she see in Capt. Parmenter?
... View MoreThis TV series was absolutely brilliant! I remember rushing home from school to watch it. ABC Australia had it on at around 5:00 pm. The whole set up was really clever. The "Hekawi" Indian tribe who always got lost! (As in where the heck are we!) {Get it! 'We're the Hekawi!'} Dobbs, the bugler who couldn't play the bugle. Bumbling Colonel Parmenter, who managed to solve problems, by using the only ability he had... bumbling. Sgt O'Rourke who was one of the classic "lead from behind" characters in any series. Corporal Agarn, who always got things wrong, and that was before he put his foot in it! Tropper Duffy, who survived the Alamo, if anyone wanted to listen. {BTW, history has that that there were only one or two survivors of the Alamo!} And, of course Wrangler Jane, the female lead and colonel Parmenter's love interest. The original forward, put it out there, female. An absolutely fantastic series. Only three seasons! Shame!
... View MoreA who's who from the old B westerns was the original draw....Bob Steele and Forrest Tucker in particular. Add to that Larry (Judyjudyjudy) Storch and his tag lines that come off like rimshots in a cheesy nightclub. "Bless you child." Guest appearances by the likes of Don Rickles and Harvey Korman. Corny shtick, but surprisingly still funny. And finally Ken Berry.....Two things. He's built like a gymnast, and his continuous pratfalls are reminiscent of Tati. But even better, he's a hilarious prototype of Mr. Rogers. That syrupy smooth in-control voice and persona.... leading to a string of utter absurdities....
... View MoreStrangely enough, I didn't appreciate this show when it first aired --- I was too young to get it! I caught up with it later on in early morning reruns (forget which channel) and from then on never missed an episode. This is brilliant vaudeville humor transplanted to the "old west", played for all it's worth by a great cast. Running gags ("Who says I'm dumb??), silly song references (Agarn bemoaning current morals: "In olden days a glimpsed of stocking was looked upon as something shocking..." etc), awful puns (the Roar Chick test) --- what's not to love, it's like the old Bob Hope/Bing Crosby road movies! I doubt it'll ever come back to regular TV but apparently it's available now on DVD so maybe I'll have to dust off the checkbook.....
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