Can We Talk 2

GetTV

         There is a TV channel carried by Dish and owned by Sony called GetTV. It runs very old shows, including Merv Griffith, and Judy Garland (I never knew she had her own variety show). Some of the shows I don't care for. Shows I used to like a lot now seem very unappealing to me, like The Equalizer. I've discovered some new shows, some that were around when I was just a baby, and some that were just lesser known.

         Restless Gun is a simple cowboy show, and I suppose a little bit of a formula. The good guy wins. There is little violence, despite the name. It's only a half hour, so it's difficult to build characterization. Another is Tombstone Territory which has a very catchy song, created by a New York ad man. The song has almost nothing to do with the show. It, too, is only a half hour, but I've seen it a few more times and have developed a feel for the town as they portray it. It's not at all like the real town with the O.K. Corral. It was probably more like small towns in the West without the notoriety. Restless Gun may have been made before I was born.

         Another one, a one season show from the early 70's, when TV was going through the "western purge", was Nichols. Nichols is a town in Arizona, built by a family of Nichols. Frank Nichols goes away to the Army for 18 years, but gets fed up when there is a new repeat action gun that kills many people faster than ever. So he goes back to his hometown in 1914, only to find out his family is long gone, and a new moneyed family has the power.

         He only goes by his last name, almost a man with no name (that was The Virginian). Ma Ketcham, the rich lady tricks him into being sheriff. The sheriff is played by James Garner. He's about 41 at the time. His love interest is Margot Kidder, 23. It's a 90 minute show and the stories I've seen are pretty good. Of course, Garner always plays a lovable part with a bit of subtle comedy. What's different is that he rides a Harley Davidson and never carries a gun.

         It makes for an interesting show with horses and automobiles sharing the roads and the parking spaces. The men still dress like cowboys and sit around saloons playing cards, but they climb into expensive cars to go out of town. It's like a little slice of life from that area before the Great War, when the Old West was gone, but not forgotten. I'm surprised that show hasn't been brought back before now. A lot of baby boomers probably saw it, or like me, they never heard of it.