The Outcasts

I am not a Westerns fan or I would surely give The Outcasts a rating of 8 to 10. I am also not Black and when I first watched this show in the late 60's, I hardly caught the complex racial overtones. However everyone loves an antihero. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly had been released only two years before, perhaps the greatest Western ever made, partly because the hero was no longer the perfect "knight without armor." Clint was Clint because he had "attitude"! Now seeing a totally self-confident Black man in a white cowboy world immediately placed Jemal (Otis Young) in a similarly counter-cultural stance. Jemal did not light his matches on a stranger's sideburns--but he only needed to breathe to convey the same message. He and his partner Earl (Don Murray), a former slave owner, would end their little quarrels by shooting cigars out of each other's mouths, etc. And when the two got together, nobody but nobody could stand in their way. So in my young mind, this was just a totally cool and refreshing version of the standard TV Western. Now 40 years later, I recently discovered the Netflix free streaming that includes many old TV shows. Not remembering the exact name of The Outcasts, I had a difficult time tracking it down. Not prominently listed under TV Western nor under Black TV, and there seems just nothing except black horses and black hats when I search "Black TV Western." Netflix does not have this show nor is it even available on DVD. Possibly there were politics involved in dropping and forgetting this show. Even some Blacks might not like the idea of a Black bounty hunter at a time when just being Black was enough to be posted for a bounty. Sure The Outcasts was unreal but no more than the average TV Western, not to mention "Kung Fu." Ah well, all TV Westerns in 1968 were on the way out, replaced by Star Trek and spy thrillers. Only the good die young. Perhaps The Outcasts successfully spoke its full message in its one season. Nonetheless that one season certainly should be more available today on DVD.

Producer Ben Brady was one of the great pioneers in the history of television. Not only did changed the face of it,but brought on some of the best television shows ever made. Ben Brady was one of the first producers who brought to television one of the greatest courtroom dramas of all time "Perry Mason". He also was responsible for bringing television's first psychological western "Have Gun,Will Travel",as well as bringing three great landmark shows that became groundbreaking programming for ABC. In September of 1963,he brought to television the award-winning science fiction/horror anthology "The Outer Limits" that became one of the biggest hits for the network. In September of 1964,he brought to ABC television's first-ever prime time soap serial "Peyton Place" that launched the careers of Ryan O'Neal and Mia Farrow. "Peyton Place" became one of the monster hits for that network. In October of 1965,Producer Ben Brady along with pioneer television producer Quinn Martin were responsible for bringing to ABC one of the greatest cop shows of all time "The F.B.I." that became one of the greatest police/crime drama series of it's day,and brought a once struggling network ABC to acclaim status.

On September 23,1968,producer Ben Brady along with Leon Tokatyan brought to television another groundbreaking series,and this time around it's a western that became one of the most controversial shows of the season. "The Outcasts" was deadly simple and effective. It dealt with two bounty hunters,a white southerner named Earl Corey(Don Murray)who was a former slave owner who had lost everything during the Civil War and was reduced to being a bounty hunter just to make a living. His partner was a former slave named Jemel David(Otis Young)who along with Earl rid the West of all criminals both black and white during the mid-1860's,after the Civil War. However,this was no sappy can't we all get along type of show. Suffice to say,Jemel and Earl despised each other,but they were forced to stay and work together for survival in a hostile,cold,brutal,and unforgiving environment that was the Old West.

Jemel on the other hand was just about angry and displeased with the world around him in just about each and every episode. The show itself was bluntly about tension and in some episodes a lot of strong themes. There were episodes within this series where Jemel and Earl ride into a new town in which Jemel got into some trouble for something he didn't do,and his partner Earl had to decide whether he should side with the white guys,or defend his partner despite the fact that Jemel really hated his guts. It was up to Earl in just about other every episode to get Jemel out of a tight situation.

Needless to say,the show lasted one season on ABC-TV and was canceled on May 5,1969 after 26 episodes. If ABC had put this series in a different slot,it would have blossomed,since the network had "The Outcasts" on Monday nights opposite CBS' top-rated sitcom "Mayberry,RFD" not to mention up against the Number One show on television,"Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In". The series was just too raw and too controversial for audiences at the time to take. And considering the series premiered just months after the sudden deaths of Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr. and Robert Kennedy,and with the country over the boiling point with it's urban riots,violent protests,not to mention watching American soldiers being killed in Vietnam every night on the network news. For it's short run for the 1968-1969 season,"The Outcasts" was not the show television audiences wanted to see. It also made history as having Otis Young as the first black actor to star in a TV western,three years after Bill Cosby made television history for "I Spy". Some episodes were very controversial in their own right. One episode dealt with the pair wound up on a former plantation where an ex-slave(Roscoe Lee Browne) was still rooting for the Confederacy(Season 1;Episode 18 "Gideon" aired:February 24,1969). The hate and contempt Jemel had for Browne burned a hole through the screen. Other episodes during this series run had the same impact. And he wasn't the only angry black man on television. For further proof,see Linc Hayes of "The Mod Squad" who was even madder at the world and the society around him.

I really enjoyed all of the previous comments.This was a good western.It reminds me of Ned Blessings of the late 80's.I thought Otis Young and Don Murray were really good actors along with the late Gloria Foster.She never really got her appreciation in the Mannix series.Murray had a recurring role on Knots Landing.The only show I saw Young in was the Last Detail with Jack Nicholson.I would like to see this on DVD or VHS tape.It would be nice to have an address of the copyright holder to get them to publish the show on DVD,VHS or laser disc.This show really showed how the old west was really made too,so that children can grow up with a good historical perspective of American history.Sammy Davis starred also in a movie about a bounty hunter with Ernest Borgnine looking for a kidnapped girl of a rancher.

I used to watch this series when i was 10 years old, never seen a better western series, too bad they don't make this kind of movies anymore. I wonder what happened to all the producers of the 60's. Today's producers should learn some lessons from their predecessors and reconsider what they are feeding to the people instead of promoting meaningless shows that are good for trash cans. Does anyone know where to purchase these old series? I have searched many places but had no luck. It would be nice to see these old movies and take a trip back in time when television was worth watching and when sex was not the only thing in the mind of the producers in order to sell their products. These people have no talents to create good shows, so their last resort is sex and they use that in their movies to sell their product.

I have seen probably half of the 26 TV episodes. My comment is in the form of a question. Are the TV episodes on VHS tape/DVD; if so where may I acquire these episodes.

I consider this TV series one of the better westerns TV series produced at the time. The series was ahead of its time based on the social culture at the time. I thought the series was well produced and directed. If I'm not mistaken the series lasted all of one season. I thought that the series was good enough for someone with insight could produce a full length movie with intelligent writing.

Thanks much.