Cowboys and UFOs
If you haven’t seen The Adventures of Country Brisco Jr., you’re missing something.
It’s a fun show. Not a classic. But there’s still plenty of good storytelling plus enough science-fiction gimmicks to satisfy the imagination. With a lot of heart to it. A western backdrop filled with cowboys, horses, and a UFO?
The show stars lantern-jawed Bruce Campbell as Country Brisco Jr.—bounty hunter for hire and a real hoot as the Harvard graduate, lady-smooching, gun-totting hero who always finds himself on the side of justice. More often he finds himself in a heap of trouble.
The series offers an excellent cast ensemble with Julius Carry who’s always funny as the bounty hunter rival Lord Bower (Laaaawwwarrd Bowler, that is), John Astin as an inventor Professor Warwick, Christian Clemenson as Socrates Poole… and as the parched-faced mastermind John Bly is Billy Drago—who is actually in real life a really nice guy!
You can’t forget Comet the horse. This four-legged beastie is sometimes overly sensitive and quite possibly the guy always getting Brisco out of a tight squeeze.
You’ll find it all here with good action sequences and enough humor to keep this series a lightweight, entertaining saga. Plus an over-all story arc about a spiky orb that may or may not be sent by alien beings to fulfill a destiny of the lone cowboy County Brisco Jr. who in turn set out to finish his father’s work. Bringing in the John Bly gang.
There’s a pretty good string of stories. Some of the highlights include the first few episodes using S-F gadgets such as a steel tank that crushes towns which a metal grace. There’s also “Senior Spirit”—a terrific tale about father and son bonding and gun polishing. Bruce Campbell brings all his trademark skills and crack-up faces from the Evil Dead movies to the small screen. Another good one is “Brisco for the Defense.”
There are some hilarious moments throughout the series you have to watch out—small, fun moments like Brisco, acting as sheriff, pulling over two speeding horsemen and putting them through a drinking/driving test. Several inventions were thrown in such as the motorcycle, the rocket and hot air balloons.
This really reminds me of the grandfather of wild west/science fiction genre back in the 60s—the Wild Wild West starring William Conrad and Ross Martin lasting from 1965 to 1966. In fact, both shows share many common elements in its love for gadgets and tongue-in-cheek gunfights.
I enjoyed the fact that they used a gadget from the pilot episode, the rocket, to destroy the steel tank in “No Man’s Land.” Look for a couple of Star Trek connections in that episode such as Denies Crosby and the guy who played Khan’s son from Star Trek II: The Wraith of Khan.
The disc set boasts the entire 27 episode run of the series, plus booklet with the Campbell notes alongside which are a crack up to read. You can never really get away from the signature humor courtesy of Campbell and his misfit gang of heroes and sidekicks.
The eight DVD set was released on July 18 for the selling price of $80 at the local Best Buy stores. $65 if you’re an early bird like myself who got it during the first week of its release. Yeah, I'm a geek. Sue me.
But you won't regret getting this.
It’s sadly an underrated show. It’s been overlooked by both the audience and the network—cancelled after never really getting its feet off the ground.
But it’s still cult goof. A smallish gem. Take a ride into the wild west Campbell style and treat yourself a lot of laughs. It’s like Captain Horatio Hornblower in the western. Though plenty o’ creative sparks to it. Now did anyone ever figure out what the hell’s that orb is really for?
It’s a fun show. Not a classic. But there’s still plenty of good storytelling plus enough science-fiction gimmicks to satisfy the imagination. With a lot of heart to it. A western backdrop filled with cowboys, horses, and a UFO?
The show stars lantern-jawed Bruce Campbell as Country Brisco Jr.—bounty hunter for hire and a real hoot as the Harvard graduate, lady-smooching, gun-totting hero who always finds himself on the side of justice. More often he finds himself in a heap of trouble.
The series offers an excellent cast ensemble with Julius Carry who’s always funny as the bounty hunter rival Lord Bower (Laaaawwwarrd Bowler, that is), John Astin as an inventor Professor Warwick, Christian Clemenson as Socrates Poole… and as the parched-faced mastermind John Bly is Billy Drago—who is actually in real life a really nice guy!
You can’t forget Comet the horse. This four-legged beastie is sometimes overly sensitive and quite possibly the guy always getting Brisco out of a tight squeeze.
You’ll find it all here with good action sequences and enough humor to keep this series a lightweight, entertaining saga. Plus an over-all story arc about a spiky orb that may or may not be sent by alien beings to fulfill a destiny of the lone cowboy County Brisco Jr. who in turn set out to finish his father’s work. Bringing in the John Bly gang.
There’s a pretty good string of stories. Some of the highlights include the first few episodes using S-F gadgets such as a steel tank that crushes towns which a metal grace. There’s also “Senior Spirit”—a terrific tale about father and son bonding and gun polishing. Bruce Campbell brings all his trademark skills and crack-up faces from the Evil Dead movies to the small screen. Another good one is “Brisco for the Defense.”
There are some hilarious moments throughout the series you have to watch out—small, fun moments like Brisco, acting as sheriff, pulling over two speeding horsemen and putting them through a drinking/driving test. Several inventions were thrown in such as the motorcycle, the rocket and hot air balloons.
This really reminds me of the grandfather of wild west/science fiction genre back in the 60s—the Wild Wild West starring William Conrad and Ross Martin lasting from 1965 to 1966. In fact, both shows share many common elements in its love for gadgets and tongue-in-cheek gunfights.
I enjoyed the fact that they used a gadget from the pilot episode, the rocket, to destroy the steel tank in “No Man’s Land.” Look for a couple of Star Trek connections in that episode such as Denies Crosby and the guy who played Khan’s son from Star Trek II: The Wraith of Khan.
The disc set boasts the entire 27 episode run of the series, plus booklet with the Campbell notes alongside which are a crack up to read. You can never really get away from the signature humor courtesy of Campbell and his misfit gang of heroes and sidekicks.
The eight DVD set was released on July 18 for the selling price of $80 at the local Best Buy stores. $65 if you’re an early bird like myself who got it during the first week of its release. Yeah, I'm a geek. Sue me.
But you won't regret getting this.
It’s sadly an underrated show. It’s been overlooked by both the audience and the network—cancelled after never really getting its feet off the ground.
But it’s still cult goof. A smallish gem. Take a ride into the wild west Campbell style and treat yourself a lot of laughs. It’s like Captain Horatio Hornblower in the western. Though plenty o’ creative sparks to it. Now did anyone ever figure out what the hell’s that orb is really for?
posted by K.M. Paters at 8:48 PM
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