I watched Death Valley Days and Wyatt Earp today on Grit which were a couple of my favorites which also includes Gunsmoke. Most of the old westerns were good really. I have to record a few to watch later in the evening when the usual tasteless garbage is on. Care for any?
I liked most of them. Rifleman's a favorite and would be good for teaching ethics today as it was in the 50's-60's if kids watched it. There was a place for guns for the good. Now there are only super powers. Which makes more sense? A solid defense item or a pretend one?
It won't be long before it will be zombie cowboys n Indians. I have three tasteless favorite re run series every evening at bed time. I usually fall asleep with a smile and a final laugh. A couple years ago I was using my decoder on an older TV and I was able to get a couple great channels that had the old western favorites. A couple of my favs I had to go online to see if the stars were still kicking. I think it was Laramie that was back in the old black and white days and the young guy that was the star later played that doctor on emergency. Anyway I read last year that he was in his early 90s and living on his ranch still doing well. I miss not being able to watch Andy Griffith every evening but I do know how to watch him if I wanted to stream on this computer. I never get tired of that show. He and Don Knots just made me laugh so hard in no time for sergeants, especially when Andy twisted his testing tool to separate the rings then handed the thing to Knots. Now that was a good movie.
Have you looked into getting a Roku? You can get just about anything you want through your computer wifi.
Many of these shows are on my radar screen, since I get MeTV via my roof antenna. I just saw a commercial for Have Gun/Will Travel with Richard Boone. That was a quirky kind of western. The main character's name was Paladin, which was a legendary knight dating as far back as the 8th century. He was more of a philosopher than a gunfighter. Gene Roddenberry (creator of Star Trek) wrote a bunch of episodes. The baritone who sings the theme song (Johnny Western) toured with Johnny Cash for a while. I wish they would rerun Johnny Yuma-The Rebel (Nick Adams.) I always liked Adams. Branded with Chuck Conners was another one I liked, but only went 2 seasons, so I guess there's not much rerun value there. Bat Masterson was another favorite (Gene Barry.) I had a Bat Masterson derringer-in-the-belt-buckle when I was a kid...you pushed out your gut to make the thing pivot out.
I've watched so many Gunsmoke episodes, I don't know if I have missed any. Two actors from Gunsmoke are still alive, Buck Taylor and Roger Ewing. Heck, yesterday, I believe I seen a very young Johnny Cash in an episode. I watched all of them as a kid and somewhat older. We have MeTV as well as INSP and get many of the old western shows on each. I remember seeing both Ward Bond and John McIntire as the Wagon Masters on Wagon Train. Robert Fuller was on Wagon Train and then, much later, was one, of two, ER doctors in Emergency (Squad 51) tv show. I also watched Death Valley Days, The Rebel, Maverick (with both Jack Kelly (Bart Maverick) and later James Garner (Bret Maverick). Have the dvd movie-remake of Maverick, starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner. Hilarious movie with some old western tv stars in the poker tournament as well as a few country-western singer greats, like Clint Black. Actually, I go all the way back to watching Sky King! Have the dvd movie, The Gambler Returns, that has numerous old tv western stars in it, including Chuck Connors of Rifleman fame. Have an entire wall (pictures) dedicated to these old western with the pictures of the western stars as well as their horses.
I can switch my TV from cable to air and get about 12 stations from Baton Rouge. With a good outdoor antenna I could get a lot of TV. I only have a cheap little RCA antenna in the window of the front bedroom and run a cable outside to this room. It is hard to get year round reception due to seasonal changes, full trees etc. In winter when there are less obstacles it gets better reception and if you get it just right you can get Lafayette stations as well.
I had one of those indoor RCAs for several years so I could watch the local news. It got pretty good reception considering the patio door did not face in the direction of the transmission source. When I got rid of my satellite tv 6 years ago I put an antenna on the roof and dialed it in with the help of a website called TVFool. You enter your address and it lists all of the stations you can receive sorted by signal strength, telling you the style of antenna you'll likely need. It also gives compass headings for each transmitter so you know exactly where to point your antenna. There's a map feature that charts the lines of transmission to your house. Tons of info and advice on that site. I'm 30 miles from one transmission cluster with another station 30 miles behind it offset by 50°, and then a cluster at the state capital 50 miles away, offset 145°. I've been able to dial in 44 stations on a consistent basis with the help of that web site...and there are trees right by my house directly in both paths. UHF signals are different than VHF. I installed one of these: Antennas Direct model #DB8E I adjusted the offset while on the ground, then mounted the assembly on the roof...they combine into a single cable output. It can mount in an attic if the signals are strong enough in your area. I didn't even bother testing an attic installation, given my location. I started out with a single large antenna of the same "bow tie" style, pointing it at the far-away market. The signal from the stronger market hit the backside and gave me "good enough" reception. But I figured I'd take the money I was saving by not having satellite tv, and I upgraded my installation. One reason I got the DB8E was to avoid using a rotor. I did not want the inconvenience, nor did I want the risk of failure.
I'll check out the link. This new digital transmission is line of sight and has a pretty narrow window to get good reception. When I do use that little RCA pointing at Baton Rouge the stations are pretty awful as far as entertaining but they are crystal clear, they make this paid cable look terrible. I don't pay anything for it and years ago I did have it so that is why my connection on the street pole still has TV hooked up. I had Internet turned back on from this provider after leaving them for a couple years and using the telephone company. The phone company had good speed but the style modem they used was terrible, if you go off line you cannot get it turned back on by resetting etc the serviceman would have to go to the nearby switch house and manually turn you back on. Naturally the thing would go off on a Friday and you were without anything until Monday. I had it turned off. The only reason I still have that decoder is because I bought it after having internet turned back on. The cable guy told me I should be able to get every channel the provider is transmitting if I have the proper selector which I do not have. I should get that 265 channels or what ever it is using that decoder but I was never able to get it to connect. I probably did it wrong and should try again even tho the provider since then sold out to a new company and also they recently did away with that federal law that stopped them from forcing people to pay for a decoder, now they have to rent again depending on which company you use. The cable here is terrible and about 45 years old and it is rural so you can imagine the service.
Yeh, "My hips are killing me" is not exactly the utterance of El Caballero Macho. On the other hand, long days in the saddle probably made the erect stance a welcome relief.
So as I watch these things, I feel guilty that their clothes are cleaner than mine are. How do they do it? Everyone comes off of the dusty trail looking like they just walked out of a Cavender's or a Painted Cowgirl wearing their new purchases and carrying their old stuff in a bag. Even the gingham is fresh. damn
After my husband's surgery recently, he watched a lot of old black and white shows in the afternoons. I got to see Rowdy Yates (Clint Eastwood) on Wagon Train while I was cooking dinner the other day.
It's interesting to see how they ran actors & actresses through those shows as a way to launch their careers.
I just thought of a couple of other shows, "Cheyenne" (Clint Walker) and "Stoney Burke," (Jack Lord).