La légende d'Hawkeye

I had the pleasure of watching this show about five years ago.I remember it starred one of my favorite Native American actors,Rodney A. Grant.He was very good here,although not always privileged by the writers.Lee Horsley was totally unfamiliar to me before this and i was quite satisfied by his work.Stories were good and exciting and the actors didnt fail in their task,i.e. recreating the old time people and all their good and bad sides.Same can be said about the creators of the show.They managed to create a good 18th century America and nice tales.

I watched the show regularly when it was initially syndicated. It wasn't sold very well and the expectations for it apparently weren't high as in this area it was on Saturday afternoons when there wasn't a college game to televise. Maybe they thought the show would be targeted for young children but it really wasn't. The leads were very good and Lynda Carter proved to be beautiful to look at even all covered up 1700s style clothing. If you like this time period and have a chance to catch one of these episodes you should check it out. Each episode was a stand alone but like anything else if you could see it play out over a few episodes you get a better feel for the characters. I was very disappointed when it was canceled, I thought with this entertaining of a show it would find an audience but it probably was buried and not promoted in other markets as well as the local one here. Too bad.

I really enjoyed it I'm on episode 11 I watched it for three nights in a row to get to that episode 11 and that's how much it interested me I'm certainly sure I'll watch the rest of it and I'm sad that it's come to an end unfortunately.

We looked forward to this show when it was originally broadcast. Well written, tremendous cast led by Horsley and Carter, and the cinematography was outstanding. The mixture of history, literature, humor, and memorable characters were much better than many series on TV today. We've mentioned the show to quite a few people, who never saw it, which perhaps explains why it was canceled. I remember that it was on at different times, probably syndicated, which made it hard to find. I particularly remember recommending it because it was good family fare. We were very disappointed when it was canceled. We'll keep looking for it as a DVD release.

I found this series quite intriguing. To be honest, I watched for the first time because, well, I like looking at Lynda Carter (so, sue me). Turned out to be surprisingly appealing. (I've never read the book, nor seen the Daniel Day-Lewis movie.) Some of what I found interesting...

One: How many TV series are set during the Seven Years War (aka the French & Indian War)? I can't think of any. Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett were both set 20-30 years later.

Two: An attempt was clearly made to not portray Natives in that stereotypical manner so common previously. Not always successfully, perhaps, but the Indians were referred to by their own national names, Delaware, Huron, etc. The clearly racist British tended to call them "savages", but that's in keeping, historically. Chingachgook was portrayed by actual Omaha Rodney A. Grant, and most of the Delaware and Huron characters appear to have been played by actual Native Americans. (Hey, baby steps.) Three: It was portrayed a little too prettily, especially Lee Horsley, who was just way too pretty, particularly his hair. But, y'know, TV.

Four: I can't quite nail down where this was set. I could find no reference to a "Ft. Bennington" from that period. There is, of course, Ft. Benning, but that's in Georgia (and much later). There was a "Bennington campaign" as part of the Revolution, but, again, that was 20+ years later. From references to Saratoga and Albany, I'm surmising that it's the upper Hudson Valley, where, to the surprise of many downstaters like myself, the Hudson is very fordable. Maybe somewhat to the West and South of the Lake George area, but East of the Adirondacks.

Five: I find myself somewhat baffled by the characters of Peevey and McKinney. The characters appear to behave like adolescents, but the actors were in their mid-20s at the time. If the characters were that old, why aren't they in the militia, or conscripted by Capt. Shields? If they're actually teenagers, where are their parents? If orphans, where do they live? Where were they six or seven years earlier, when they would have been in single digits? Enquiring minds want to know.

Six: I wish the image quality were better. The focus seems a bit soft. No one would have noticed pre-HD, but... Seven: Hawkeye is presented as sort of a "white savior", protector of Natives and colonists alike. Again, 1994 TV. Some slack may be justified.

Eight: Many of the episodes deal with modern philosophical issues, particularly regarding ethics, war, and racism.

There was only one season (22 episodes). I suspect that it didn't succeed because it was a little too philosophical; this was the era, recall, of Hercules and Xena. There's not nearly as much action (read: blood) in Hawkeye. I also feel Chingachgook was under-utilized.

One odd thing, I've noticed a number of actors whom I recognized from SG-1, which was 5-6 years later. Indeed, Gavin Sanford (Capt. Shields) was a semi-regular (he played a Tok'ra). Not difficult to imagine, but notable nonetheless.

As of this writing, it's available on Tubi and CoziTV. A couple of episodes each weekend might be a comfortable frequency.