A perfect example of a one season show. It was funny, well acted and the plot, though flawed (which one isn't?), were weird and engaging!Bruce Campbell is brilliant as Briscoe, though Billy Drago steals most scenes he appears in. The supporting cast is excellent, from Bowler to Socrates.This is a sci-fi, fantasy western with old time serial style cliffhangers. If fun is your forte, then this show is a must see. If, however, absolutely everything must make sense, then avoid this. It is chaos incarnate and one of the most enjoyable shows I've ever seen. Oh, did I forget to mention......time travel!!! Find out for yourselves. 9/10 for Briscoe!

The pity of this series is that it was short-lived. Still, 27 episodes isn't a bad run.The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. is a western series with a lot of humor, bizarre characters, and several bits of science fiction. If this mix sounds familiar, think "Wild, Wild West". However, this isn't just an imitation.Brisco County Jr. is the son of Brisco County Sr., one of the great bounty hunters of the western territories toward the end of the 19th Century. Sr. is killed by the Bly Gang and Jr. (also an accomplished bounty hunter) swears revenge. (Sr. later shows up later, at least once, as a ghost.) Aside from the Bly gang, Brisco has a number of shoot-ups with the Swill brothers (Will, Phil, Bill, Gil, and Ed) – not to mention the Swill sister (Lil) – and of course the Swill mother (Ma). His companion through all this (first a rival bounty hunter and later a partner) is Lord Bowler. On occasion there are encounters with yet another bounty hunter, Dixie Cousins. There are also regular appearances by Briso's main contact with his employers (some western robber barons), Socrates Poole. Special mechanical needs in several episodes are met by Professor Albert Wickwire. And then of course there's Comet the Wonder Horse.One of the reasons this series works is its casting. Brisco is played by the veteran actor Bruce Campbell. Campbell, who is vastly underrated (perhaps because he doesn't get asked to do Shakespeare or Scorsese), has before the age of 50 appeared in 92 films and TV series, produced 16, directed 7, written 3, and done just about everything else in film except sell the tickets. He brings to his role here a professional and keenly calculated sense of timing and of humor – not to mention very athletic performances.Brisco's partner, Lord Bowler, is played by the accomplished Julius Carry. Barely over 50, Carry has appeared in 58 films and TV series (mostly the latter). His performance here is characterized by athleticism, bluster, humor, and authority. In addition to Carry's star turn, the producers of the series have regularly cast black actors in roles not tailored to nor requiring African-American actors. For a long time after black actors began to appear in mainstream films, they only got roles specifically race-oriented. It's Hollywood's great strength that they have done a lot toward moving away from that sort of pseudo Jim Crowism.Third in the series' trilogy of stars, playing Socrates Poole, is the delightful and talented Christian Clemenson. Not yet 50, Clemenson has appeared in 60 films and TV series. He's currently doing a bang-up job in "Boston Legal" as the socially handicapped Jerry Espenson. As Poole, he's an Eastern tinhorn who's not doing a bad job of adapting to the rough-and-tumble of the Old West.Other actors in smaller roles are talented and believable. As Professor Wickwire is the fabulous John Astin, whose 140 acting credits include various stints as Gomez Addams and Professor Gangreen (you know, the Killer Tomato movies). All of the people appearing here are a pleasure to watch; not a dud in the bunch. Billy Drago is outstanding as the crazed John Bly and manages to look every inch the psychopath Bly is. Drago is a well-represented film veteran, with 90 films (including some TV work) to his credit.The various episodes are well plotted, full of action and humor, witty lines, good character byplay, and the Orb. The Orb (of which there are 3, although 1 is destroyed early in the series and another vanishes into the future ... I suppose some oversensitive spoilsport might consider this a "spoiler") is an extraterrestrial spherical device consisting of a number of blue rods each with a gold end. The Orb has a number of interesting powers and can also confer powers and abilities. The attempts by Bly to get an Orb for himself and the efforts of Brisco to prevent this form the backdrop of many episodes.The production values of this series are very high. Scenery, sets, costumes, livestock … everything is exactly as it should be. Photography is clear and colorful. Most episodes are about 44 minutes; the pilot is 2 hours. The last 2 episodes constitute a 2-part series cap. The scripts display a good deal of originality, if one credits the amount the series owes to its predecessors. I'm not a big fan of westerns in general because of their predictability. "Wild, Wild West" (the series and the film) is of course an exception, and so is the Brisco County Jr. series. I highly, highly recommend you get this set. It's 22 ½ hours of pure entertainment.

There were a lot of Briscoe County fans who went postal when it was canceled. I had mixed feeling about it. Yes, it was one of the best TV series of all time, but I'd seen too many other great series turn mediocre after the creative well ran dry. Given a choice between ending where it did and seeing it slip into formulaic mediocrity, I was satisfied. The original story arc was neatly wrapped up with lots of diverting side trips along the way.I've always been a big fan of shows that aren't easy to categorize. This was one such show. A western with elements of SF, overlaid with clever writing and wit without self-consciousness. Each character was eccentric in his/her own way and great fun to watch.There isn't a bad performance in sight! Bruce Campbell as Briscoe is perfect, as always. It's to his credit that the late Julius Carry as Lord Bowler was able to routinely steal scenes from him. Kelly Rutherford as Dixie does the best Mae West since the original. John Astin as Professor Wickwire is excellent, as usual. Billy Drago as John Bly has to be one of the creepiest villains ever, and John Pyper-Ferguson as Pete Hutter has to be one of the funniest and most bizarre villains of all time. All of the "minor" roles, stating with Comet "the wonder horse" are equally excellent.But what makes the characters stand out is uniformly excellent writing from a team of certifiable eccentrics in their own right. With the talent in front of and behind the cameras, everything just clicks!WB finally brought out a boxed set of DVDs and it's great! I just watched it again and felt compelled to update this review. The only sad note was learning of the death of Julius Carry this year. Highly recommended!

Bruce Campbell played Brisco County Jr, bounty hunter son of a much revered marshal who was gunned down by a smarmy villain by name of John Bly (Billy Drago). Brisco forms an uneasy alliance with Lord Bowler (AKA: James Lonefeather), a hulking Civil War Union soldier turned fellow bounty hunter, a lawyer, and a mad scientist played by John Astin in his various missions and personal quest for vengeance that often found him up against various technological advancements like motorcycles and also a funky alien gizmo that looked like a big gold orb with spikes and possessing various "magical" properties. Kelly Rutherford played Brisco's on again/off again girlfriend.Even though I wasn't big on westerns I was really excited when this show came on and I enjoyed watching it every Friday night. It had action, adventure, comedy, and the last episode actually had a naked time traveling FBI woman! (Sorry, had to get that out of my system)Despite its high entertainment value, this show got canceled while "The X-Files", which debuted the same year, went on to become one of Fox's longest running staples for reasons I can't fathom.