Os Violentos

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.

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.

The short lived story of white bounty hunter Earl Corey, who teams up with newly released slave Jemal David, to form an integrated bounty team riding the west of all criminals,both black and white, during the 1860's. Both characters are well rounded and bring the parts off quite well, making the whole thing believable. The arrangement is purely one of convenience, as there is actually no love lost between the two parties. the bickering by play between the two, sometimes simmering with racist overtones,is sometimes fascinating. this series was well written and was actually of the favorites ofthe day. It's short run could be more attributed to the ever changing racial climate of the day, as opposed to the actual quality of the series.

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.