thedoctorrr

Im in the UK and I vaguely remember the show from when it aired over here, decades ago when I was a kid. I'm currently watching reruns of it and, man, this is awesome TV. I love the opening title credits with Chuck Connors strolling down the street, firing off rounds from his rifle, swinging it round and then reloading it, all the while eyeing the camera, not looking away from the viewer. It is a cool opening. Connors is great as Lucas McCain, a principled widower and highly skilled sharpshooter trying to raise his boy, Mark, right on their spread. He may just be the best ever single dad in TV history. He constantly is giving Mark life lessons but he isn't without the occasional flaw, and even his flaws can be used as a learning experience for both of them- none of that toxic masculinity. And Johnny Crawford, hasn't so far, been annoying like a lot of children characters in TV shows can be. He comes across as just a good kid who loves his dad. I'm rounding out the first season and it's solid entertainment great support from Paul Fix as Micah, the town sheriff. And there's a couple of appearances by Michael Ansara as Sam Buckhart who would take the character into his own TV show, Law of the Plainsman. Highly recommended, and great for spotting those familiar supporting actors of that time too.

This a neat show where every episode promised intrigue and exotic locales around the globe. Cesar Romero played charming American diplomatic courier, Steve McQuinn, whose travels for the U.S. government regularly land him in some spot of bother. Admittedly the sets look samey when you watch a batch of episodes together, but the show is undemanding entertainment. What I found interesting is that McQuinn is an ordinary guy. He isn't a two-fisted hero that was de rigeur for shows like this at the time. Handsome and not without charm, McQuinn didn't indulge in fisticuffs, in fact in the episodes I've watched, he usually loses in a fight quite easily- but that doesn't stop him from offering help when required. Not a classic by any means, but a nice watch all the same.

William Bendix starred in this show as Fred Kelly who worked for the Overland stage company along with Doug McClure as Frank 'Flip' Flippen. Flip was raised by Indians and had a reckless streak in him which the gruff Kelly tries to keep in check. The episodes I've seen are very entertaining and are a sort of mix of The Tales Of Wells Fargo but with some of the humour of Laredo. It's the banter between the older, gruff Bendix and the very youthful McClure which makes this quite a fun show. For example, Flip isn't as tied to the job as Kelly and sometimes has notions of leaving the job- in one episode to get married! Kelly isn't above conning Flip into taking 'one last job' for the company which always leads to him staying on. The show had a short run, lost in the glut of TV westerns, although the trend was past its peak. An entertaining show nonetheless.