This was first published May 3, 2011. Plus some updated commentary at the end for you to read…
My day started early with an ambulance call, so I’m ready for bed! After my return home this morning, the rest of the day seemed very uneventful, and yes, I start to worry about my topic for the evening.
Then while I’m doing dishes… I turned on my little tv. I’ve never had a tv in my *kitchen* before, and half the time I forget it’s there.
I skip those reality shows. I’m not a big fan. Though I do root for Kirstie Alley, just cause I want her to show that big girls *can* dance. But seeing how she did on the headlines on Yahoo the next morning is usually good enough.
Top Gear on BBC is a hilariously good choice most of the time, even if you’re not crazy about cars.
I’m not a fan of Taylor or Carrie, so those music videos are out.
What*to*do*what*to*do.
Well, looky there. Tom Selleck is on in Quigley Down Under.
Aha. The topic of the night is… No, not hunky, good looking dream date ohmygoodness<squeal> kinda guys, those are tales best told over a campfire in select company! Westerns. The movie genre will little or no demand. Supposedly.
My mom once told me that watching westerns with me was no fun after I married a rancher, because I’d say “You don’t do that…” and it was true. I grew up on Rawhide and Lancer and Cimarron Strip and Bonanza and Wagon Train and Roy Rogers and The Rifleman and every other western out there. I was a tv watching fool back then!
Now that I can tell who can REALLY ride a horse… or rope… or whatever… I’m mighty picky about the westerns I approve of. Which is also hard, because there are so few! But Quigley… yup. That’s a good one. Watched it a zillion times. Rent it though, because tv will edit out some good scenes. When she says, “The Comanches came!” towards the end, I’m usually crying… then when he turns around at the end before he rides off, oh, my goodness! I LOVE that. Any western Tom Selleck is in is a good one, Monte Walsh, Crossfire Trail. The guy does cowboys quite well… <sigh>
My family’s all time favorite is probably McLintock with John Wayne, but the Duke in The Cowboys is UP THERE. I want a book on John Wayne quotes just to pack in my pocket. I think he’s right there with Mark Twain as my all-time-favorite-people-I’d-like-to-remember-their-quotes!
Well, I now see that this topic is another perhaps best told over a dying campfire… when we have a couple of hours… so… What’s YOUR favorite western… or do you have one? Did you ever play Cowboys and Indians? What part of ranchlife do YOU find interesting? Remember, send me a question and you’re entered to win a Wyoming Wildflower mug! Answers on Thursday.
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Updated thoughts as of 2022. Unfortunately, I guess I got what I wanted. Westerns are popular. Well, hey, I’m a huge fan of Longmire, so, I’m GUILTY. C.J. Box’s books are now on tv… Yellowstone hit the airwaves and BAM, it took off. There’s Reservation Dogs and Open Range and Outer Range and Hell on Wheels and Justified and Walker and 1883 and The Ranch. A bunch more. If you think about it, it’s been growing in popularity. Now everyone wants to *be* a cowboy. Only a few have the money to do it and it’s changing this country. I definitely regret wanting that popularity because I didn’t understand the sad consequences.
There still is nothing wrong with Quigley. John Wayne’s The Cowboys has just turned 50 years old.
Find me here!
I also grew up on TV westerns in the 50’s and 60’s. Gunsmoke is #1, then
Wagon Train, The Rifleman, and Laramie. I’m still a fan and am grateful
for retro-TV stations that carry them. My favorite western-movie star/just plain movie star is James Stewart. Good topic for comments today.
I was a Gunsmoke fan on radio and TV. John Wayne in the cowboys–Oh Yes!!! Threre’s a kid (in glasses) that makes me think of my dad. He was a Wayne fan big time. Thanks to you , Carol, I’m a Longmire fan now.
I am a diehard John Wayne fan. Not only because I always wanted to live out west on a ranch, but because his image invokes memories of my dad and I sitting in the solarium on Sunday afternoons and watching anything the man was in. And Quigley? Oh yeah!
I’m with you Carol. Westerns were the main thing on UK TV in the 50s/60s. In black and white at my house but oh how I loved Trampas from the Virginian. I’m glad Longmire is out there- TV or book, love them both. John Wayne in the Alamo – always end up in tears, as in Shenandoah ( yep, Trampas was in that one).
Didn’t have a TV growing up in the 50s but remember going across the street to my best friend’s house and watching Westerns, like Gunsmoke and Wagon Train. Now our cable TV offers so many stations including ones that show the old Westerns. I agree John Wayne and Tom Selleck were the best. More recently, I enjoyed Hell on Wheels and Longmire. Still like the shows where the good guys win.