History, Media, Movies, Mysteries, TV, Uncategorized

How the West Wasn’t Won

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One of my friends, Jennifer, occasionally writes fan-fic.  I had never heard of fan-fic before she started writing it.  It’s just what it sounds like – “fiction written by a fan of, and featuring characters from, a particular TV series, movie, etc.”   There is actually an incredibly large fan-fic community – websites, writing groups, conventions and even awards. 

Most fan-fic writers focus on just one or two particular shows/movies.  Jennifer, who is a great reader of history and fantasy, writes from Lancer, a western that ran for two seasons in the late 60s.  She doesn’t have an answer as to why she chose Lancer – she says she can’t really remember what initially sparked her interest.

The “maybe I should watch the show that my friend has written for all these years” bug got into my brain.  We haven’t talked about Lancer for a few years and for some reason, my brain got Lancer mixed up with High Chapparal, another western from the same time period.  When I asked her if she had a DVD or video of High Chapparal, I was surprised when she said no.  But I didn’t ask and ended up finding the High Chapparal DVDs through interlibrary loan.  

As I was watching the very first episode, I texted her with some snarky comment about the wife/mother not lasting the first season and the following conversation was when we realized I was barking up the wrong western tree.  She laughed and said now she knew why I was asking about High Chaparral and I laughed now that I knew why she didn’t have a DVD or video of it!

I didn’t make it past Episode 4.  It was too stark and violent to my taste; I’m sure the makers were trying to make it “realistic” but I didn’t care for it at all.  And (SPOILER ALERT) the wife/mother didn’t even make it to the end of the first episode!   And Lancer didn’t do it for me either – a bit too much late 60s attitude applied to the 1870s.  After three episodes I decided that it wouldn’t damage my friendship with Jennifer if I didn’t watch another.  At least I now know enough about the background and the characters that if she ever asks me to read any of her fan-fic, I will have some clue to start with!

Are there any western tv shows or movies that you like?

43 thoughts on “How the West Wasn’t Won”

  2. I’m trying to recall the last western-themed show I watched and enjoyed. That might have been Lonesome Dove, and that must have been about twenty-five years ago. I haven’t seen any of the more recent movies or series.

    In the distant past, I saw a lot of western series—Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Wagon Train, etc, and enjoyed them, I guess. That’s what was available and the options were limited. I find now that series from the ‘60s and ‘70s are unwatchable. The pace is too slow and the scripts clumsy.

    Back when steampunk was popular, I tried watching a couple of episodes of Wild, Wild West, to confirm my sense that the show was an early expression of steampunk sensibility. Robert Conrad was impressive in his physicality—he did many of his own stunts—but the storylines were just plain silly.

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    1. …nevertheless, if I were going to choose a series for which I would write fan fiction, I think Wild, Wild West would be the most fun.

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        1. I was vaguely aware of the fanfiction phenomena—mostly in terms of storylines like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, but dipping into it is surprising. The pieces are, many of them, substantial and written for the pure enjoyment of the exercise. It’s not as if the series is going to come back to life and take up their stories.

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  4. I watched most of the usuals as a kid – Gunsmoke, Rifleman, Tombstone Territory, and the one that launched Steve McQueen – Wanted: Dead or Alive.

    Inexplicably, we ended up watching all the seasons of Deadwood, which was really dark – supposedly a more “realistic” look at the wild west. Joel had introduced it to us. The characters were well done, if often unsavory… great entertainment. (I thought there were more seasons, but Wiki says 3.)

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    1. Deadwood was excellent; we loved it. We didn’t see it when it first came out, but were introduced to it during a vacation to Mexico. The couple whose little house we were staying in were friends from Minneapolis, and the owned the series on DVDs.

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  5. back in the 50s I remember at age 2 wondering why the world was so obsessed with westerns wanted dead or alive,the rebel, Maverick,rawhide
    and palladin were the odd ones i remember
    my dad was a western fan and i enjoyed watching with him
    jimmy stewart and gary cooper gave john wayne a run for his money as best cowboy and saturday mornings with roy rogers and dale evans hopalong cassady and the lone ranger
    little big man is one of my favorites
    how the west was won and the unsinkable molly brown were up there too
    i suppose taking a charachtercand writing stories that continue the story is an interesting passtime bit i think id want it to be my charachter
    a fun genre those westerns
    thanks vs

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  6. The Dollars Trilogy was good fun at the drive-in theater. Dusk-’til-dawn.
    A Fist Full Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.

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  8. I’ve never been a big fan of westerns. I watched a little bit of Gunsmoke at work with an older guy who liked it a lot and just needed a little company.

    If I had to pick a western, I would pick Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves. I know the depiction of indigenous Americans wasn’t realistic, but I often like a movie or a show just because of the gorgeous scenery. This one had a lot of great scenery in it, and a pretty good story line.
    ~ Kristanon

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    1. I never watched Dances all the way through. When it became clear how it was going to end, I turned it off. Some things I just don’t need to see immortalized in film

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        2. Oh, I have read that, and it is great! Our Native friends have such sardonic senses of humor

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  9. Completely OT:

    I was just out on an errand and as I parked I discovered that a spider had taken up residence on my back-up camera. He looks as big as my fist on the screen.

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  15. There is a channel that plays westerns all day, and, I think, all night. It is frequently on in the common room in Sandra’s nursing home. I always sit facing her and not the tv, but all I hear behind me when that channel is on is shooting and people in jeopardy from violence especially on Gunsmoke and Bonanza. Oh, and bad acting. On other days, more often in fact, they play old western music. As bad as the western tv is, it’s better than the music.za

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