Le proscrit

I was but a wee lad of 3 when this show captured some of my brain cells for ever. I remember the title song, and the ripping of his insignia rank, and his sabre being broken. VERY strong images, not unlike the rat patrol and for that matter ANY tv show of the mid-late 60's. The story lines are only sketchy. The fact that the character was given short shrift legally and thereby justice wise haunt me to this day. As a young child my belief in our american justice system stems from these images... Life has sailed down other waters.... for as I have gone through our educational system these idealized morality shows hold the same power, but the promise of a just ending is always infinitely more difficult to achieve. Most of the hard edged shows like this one are not oft replicated... They attempt to acomplish the same storylines today with modern settings, but most late night crime dramas play like soap operas as opposed to the tone and vector of "perry mason" I would like to see this and other series released in their "Entirity" and not edited and slap dashed to be politically and religiously correct, for to alter their impact in that way is to denigrate who and what we are as a nation and a people. Besides what impact other than simple historical and entertainment can these beloved series wield today? Except to offer heroes who truly can not be "bought" to skew the viewing public into another course of attitude, except fond rememberance, and a ready made source of topical discussion.

Branded was no masterpiece that's true, but as a little boy in the 60's, I thought it was great. It had Cowboys, Indians and adventure. You "critics" kill me! We had two or three channels back then and most of us didn't own a color set. This show served a purpose. It entertained. Superman stunk also, but we loved it! Don't tell me you think "The Andy Devine Show" was quality programing. I only saw it in re-runs, but I remember it was rather poorly made. My sister and I still watched it after school. (Ya gotta love Ignatz!) Don't over work everything just to hear yourself talk. Just sit in quiet misery while the rest of us enjoy 30 minutes of pure fantasy.

The lone survivor of the Battle Of Bitter Creek, an Apache massacre of U.S. cavalrymen, Chuck Conners is falsely court-marshaled for cowardice and desertion. Dishonorably discharged, he's forced to roam the west, taking on odd-jobs, while enduring cruel taunts and unprovoked violence, proving his manhood time and again.

Branded is pretty high-concept for a fairly low-budget thirty-minute show, with a lot of early episodes (under the supervision of series creator Larry Cohen) dealing with the nature of cowardice and what exactly makes a man a man, as well as Connors' attempts to keep the secrets of Bitter Creek, his encounters with various friends and relatives of his deceased men and the inevitable vengeance-seekers among them.

The first season is the more cerebral and ambitious of the two, with much of the action taking place primarily in town and leading to some anticlimactic conclusions to some of the episodes. The second season finds the series upgraded to color, with a bigger budget and better- staged action scenes. It's a bit of a trade-off though, with Connors' past (and the participation of Cohen) pushed to the back-burner. There's still some quality scripts, though in the spirit of a more conventional western series. It does however, provide a serviceable ending to the series.

One of the show's strengths, over only two seasons, is it's virtual army of old and new guest stars: Johnny Crawford, Burt Reynolds, Bruce Dern, Noah Beery, Beau Bridges, Lee Van Cleef, Dick Clark (!), Jay Silverheels, L.Q. Jones, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Cesar Romero, Iron Eyes Cody, James Best, Pat O'Brien, John Carradine, John Ireland, Claude Akins, Burgess Meredith, Martin Landau, Angelo Rossito, Pat Wayne, Dick Miller, Victor French, etc.

As the show ended, the producers gathered much of the crew, Connors and Branded guest stars Michael Rennie and James MacArthur for the feature, Ride Beyond Vengeance. Fans of this should definitely check it out.

As a "Rifleman" fan, I wasn't impressed with this series too much, even though I've always liked Chuck Connors' work.

The premise, a man who was thought to have abandoned his cavalry brothers in cowardice - but not really, gave the opportunity, like Star Trek, Route 66, The Fugitive and other t.v. shows, for the main character to roam from town to town, place to place, etc., to meet other people and help them deal with whatever crisis they happened to be facing at the time.

The theme song was great and gave opportunity for some wag to come up with alternative lyrics... "Stranded, on the toilet bowl. What do you do when you're stranded without a roll?"

In the moral and cultural wasteland of the 60's, this show was like pure poetry: a distillation of the best of the west. "Branded" is the story of a wandering loner/knight errant who must right wrongs everywhere he goes while on a quest after a seemingly unobtainable goal. Economical, hardboiled, the product of years of testing the action and adventure formula, "Branded" is a summing up of everything that ever worked for motion picture audiences dating back to the first silent film western. Unusually taut performances from the mature Chuck Connors in a role that was tailor made for him. Each episode introduces a new set of characters. No ensemble cast baloney and no hack writing. What I wouldn't give for a show this good today!