Peacemakers

When I was a small child it was the Age of Westerns. I remember many of the classics: Gunsmoke, Rawhide, Bonanza, Have Gun Will Travel, to name a few. In these days it is not exactly "cool" to admit you like the old shoot-em-ups, but I do.

Peacemakers satisfies that craving as well as my enjoyment of crime drama. The characters are interesting, the history is fascinating, and the atmosphere of the entire show invigorates and restores. It has been a long time since I found a series I never miss. There's been only one other in the last ten years.

The violence is not explicit (no blood packs exploding with gore everywhere), the situations realistically portrayed, the attitudes and prejudices of the times accurately shown, whether they are sympathetic to modern audiences or not. I recommend the show to everyone I know. It really is a fresh idea in a season where dullness abounds. Would I give it a ten? I wish the scale would go up to eleven!

This is a welcome addition to Wednesday night programming, even if it is on so late that I have to record it and watch it on Thursday mornings with my coffee. A very nice way to start the day. Yes, this series is top notch in every respect. I have just finished watching the Aug. 20 episode which covered the racism and bigotry our country has shown (shows) toward the Native Americans. The evidence used to id the female corpse along with the other forensic techniques and traits of human nature show that we really haven't changed in the past 120 years, have we? My ONLY negative comment about this show is that Amy Carlson is third on the billing, following Peter DeMeara. Ms. Carlson has a much longer career and list of credits to her name than Mr. DeMeara, yet she is billed third. I hope this series is a keeper for a number of years. For those of us who grew up in the 50's and 60's, westerns are truly missed, especially quality ones.

This show is outstanding. It combines a little bit of "Law and Order", adds a dash of "CSI", and tops it all off with the flavor of "Gunsmoke." Don't let the whole western theme fool you or scare you. Whether you are a fan of westerns or not, if you like crime shows, this show is an excellent view each Wednesday.

It's still early in this series, but so far I've been pleased with this show. I think the chemistry between the two main stars (Tom Berenger and Peter O'Meara) will make it an enjoyable "buddy" show; the forensic element of the stories are fascinating as well.

I am a fan of westerns and this one has an interesting angle: it is set during a time when some modern advancements are being introduced--electricity, the telephone, and some modern forensic techniques, like fingerprints and ballistics.

"Old-timer" sheriff Jared Stone (played by Tom Berenger) is a Civil War hero, and is very capable and experienced in his job. He's not accepting the advance of middle age very well (the first episode has him reluctant to get his first set of spectacles) and he's a little gruff at times. But he knows his stuff, and is a personable sort of fellow that is respected in the town.

"Hot shot" ex-Pinkerton man Larimer Finch (played by relative newcomer Peter O'Meara) comes off as a bit snobby and smug when he first meets Stone, but he's a good sort of fellow too. An Englishman who has been everywhere (speaks fluent Chinese) and is well-versed in the "modern" forensic techniques, he provides a good compliment to Sheriff Stone's old-timer wisdom. Finch is younger and has less experience than Stone does in many ways, but he can hold his own and proves to be a good partner in crime-solving.

So far the mysteries in each show have not been earth-shatteringly hard to crack (I often guessed "who dunnit" fairly early on) but the process these guys have to go through to get to the conclusion is interesting, indeed. The chemistry (sort of an "odd couple") of gruff, middle-aged Sheriff Stone and young, uber-educated Englishman Finch is fun to watch.

There are other characters in the show that are interesting, including the town mortician (can't remember the character's name) who is female (very pretty, of course!) and a former medical student. She's often called upon to do autopsies and perform other forensic-related duties. She's likeable and smart; it's nice to see an intelligent woman in a western show set in this era.

I like westerns, I like Tom Berenger, and even though I've never seen Peter O'Meara in anything before this, but I already like him and think his future as an actor is bright indeed. I think this series is going to be one I will look forward to seeing every week.

I wasn't going to tune into this one, but then I found out it is filmed on the old Maple Ridge "Bordertown" set, so I decided to check it out for some nostalgic value.

It is pretty similar to Bordertown in its character setup: you have a crusty, old-fashioned US Marshal teaming up with a more refined guy who also solves crimes but finds the Western frontier pretty uncivilized, and does everything by-the-book. Then there is a lady in the mix, not the doctor in this case, but close enough.

The New Stuff is the forensic angle that has already earned it TV Guide's "Western version of CSI." That is a bad reputation, when your show is like, another already-existing show set in a different time and place. Then again, I guess the joke is on TV Guide, because it's more like "Updated version of Bordertown, including Town." I think the forensic stuff is interesting but will play out quickly. This show will need more than that, and soon. (After all, you don't have to watch Peacemakers to get CSI... You can just watch CSI.) Also I can

do without the high-speed action sequences. That was novel in "Gladiator," but is now about as original as playing that annoying "Woo Hoo" song when you're trying to plug your show. Oh wait, Peacemakers does that, too. (Hey, while we're at it, how about some "Matrix" effects?)

The moral of the story is that the under-appreciated "Bordertown" has inspired yet another similar kind of show (You know who you are, Dr. Quinn and Due South) that seems to be OK, but will need some tweaking if it plans on staying long. I will hang around for a while and hope this one grows on me or shapes up to meet its potential.