Westerns

I just watched a great episode of Gunsmoke.  While that may not seem like such a biggie, it kind of is.  See, none of the televisions in my home are even on. 

Actually, I’m in our home office, wearing my Web Publisher hat, hard at work.

Fortunately no one ever said work couldn’t be fun. I certainly never said it!

Thanks to TVLand.com’s Full Episodes of Classic TV Shows, you can watch a wonderful episodes of Gunsmoke, Andy Griffith, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hogan’s Heroes any time you…well, as Festus would say… feel the notion to.  And, no commercials!

Because I’ve seen these classic episodes probably a dozen times each, I’m able to work on one project while the episode is minimized in another window, entertaining me - kind of like an amazing radio show.  When a scene comes along that I know I want to look in on, I do so.  When watching Gunsmoke, I’ll drop whatever I’m doing when Festus saunters into town.  I especially love his scenes with Doc.  Their scenes are classic in every sense of the word.

 Festus and Doc were at their best in the episode I watched/listened to today: 

Miss Kitty:  Triplets.
Festus: And there’s three of them, too.

 
Festus:  Why, they ain’t no bigger than a tater bug, are they?

Miss Kitty: Aren’t they beautiful?
Festus: Miss Kitty, babies is about the most wonderfulest thing there is, but as far as being looksome, ain’t none of these that could pass without pushing.

Festus: Well, this one here, he’s kind of looksome, that’s clear to see.

Doc: You gotta howl once in a while, let people know you’re around.

The episode’s titled “Baker’s Dozen” and you should click through to TVLand.com’s Full Episodes of Classic TV Shows and search it out as soon as possible. Pour yourself a tall glass of Iced tea or a mug of coffee and grab a saucer of cookies.   (Fans of Andy Griffith will get a huge kick out of the Judge in this episode - you’ll probably recognize him right off the bat.)

You’re closer to Heaven than you realize.  This is Gunsmoke at it’s best.  While there aren’t the expected gunfights or white hats vs. black hats - it’s something I enjoy even more.  An emotional, funny episode that focuses more on the lovable characters.

After all, they’re what made Gunsmoke the amazing show that it was.  And is, thanks to channels like TV Land!

I’ve been a Little House on the Prairie fanatic since the first time I laid eyes on Melissa Gilbert’s Laura Ingalls.  As a little girl, the LHOtP books were my favorite books, so when the series premiered, I was fascinated by watching these beloved characters come to life.

During the day, I still catch old episodes on tv, and I’m still as transfixed then as I was now.  There’s nothing quite like escaping to a whole other time with a group of characters you’ve grown up with.

One of my favorite episodes of all time (in fact, if I was pressed, I’d say it was my very favorite), Sweet Sixteen, aired this morning on the Hallmark Channel.  I sat, eating a snack and drinking my Diet Dr. Pepper as I relived Almonzo and Laura’s declaration of love along with their first kiss.

And in true “me” fashion, I teared up when Laura realized that Almonzo loved her as much as she did him. 

Great stuff!

Beautiful Melissa Gilbert, 44, is NOW playing Ma Ingalls in the musical Little House on the Prairie.  It, appropriately enough, kicked off this month in MInneapolis.  Is that cool or what?  Click HERE for more pictures and information.

Up for a little Little House Trivia?!

• Melissa Gilbert (Laura) is the youngest person to receive a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
• Melissa’s the half-sister of Sara Gilbert (Roseanne’s Darlene) and sister of Jonathan Gilbert (Willie Olsen).
• She has dated both Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise.
• She has been married to actor Bruce Boxleitner since 1995.
• In the last episode, The Last Farewell, they really did blow up the town! Michael Landon (Star and Producer) didn’t want bulldozers to destroy the buildings, soo he wrote a story which gave the inhabitants the chance to say farewell to their town themselves.  The only building left was the most important one - the schoolhouse/church.
• Alison Arngrim (Nelly Olsen) and Melissa Gilbert are best friends. 
• Alison Arngrim first tried out for the role of Laura - when she didn’t get it, she auditioned for Mary.  When THAT failed, she tried out for Nelly and was hired immediately.
• When they were filming the kissing scene for the episode I sat glued to this morning, Melissa’s mother (Barbara) was on the sidelines crying “My baby!” so much that she had to be consoled! Dean Butler (Almonzo) has said that the first kiss between them was so nerve-racking for everyone, that there were chaperones on the set to make sure nothing unseemly was going on. I wonder which one they thought would be unseemly!
• Melissa Gilbert recalls that Michael Landon (”Pa”) had a unique way of inspiring child actors to cry when it was required. Apparently he would work himself up emotionally, face her with his eyes full of tears and ask her, “Do you know how much I love you?” to which she would get all teary and emotional in response.
• Melissa Gilbert named one of her sons after Michael Landon.
• Johnny Carson was a long-time friend of Michael Landon’s.
• Victor French (Mr. Edwards) was another of Michael Landon’s closest friends.
• Alison Arngrim (one of the most underrated talents ever) often fainted on the set of “Little House on the Prairie” because where the show was taped ( California’s Simi Valley) frequently saw temperatures over 100 degrees.
• After the actor who portrayed her husband on Little House, Percival, (Steve Tracy) died from AIDS, Alison Arngrim became an AIDS activist.
• Matthew Labyorteaux (Albert) and Patrick Labyorteaux (Andy) were brothers.
• Matthew was born with autism and a hole in his heart.
• In 1992, Matthew and Patrick appeared before a House sub-committee to plead the case of runaways and raised $11 million for youth shelters across America. They also founded the Youth Rescue Fund.
• Jason Bateman (James Cooper Ingalls) and Shannen Doherty (Jenny Wilder) went on to achieve household name status.
• Little House on the Prairie ran from 1973 to 1984.  Actually thanks to stations like Hallmark and TVLand, it’s still running, and touching hearts, today.

Be sure to catch “A Gunfighter’s Pledge” on the Hallmark channel tonight.  This original movie stars Luke Perry, C. Thomas Howell, Kim Coates, Jaclyn DeSantis, and Francesco Quinn.  Click HERE for a synopsis - If it’s as good as it sounds, we’re in for quite a ride!  While there, be sure to enter for a chance to win a 5 day/4 night trip for two to Sedona.

The Hallmark Channel will be showing the best of the west this month.  Ironically, their Western’s month coincided with my theme on the blog the past few weeks (A Fistful of Westerns).  When I decided to go with this theme after the Father’s Day one, I had no idea Hallmark was planning a move west, too.

Great minds?

July is Rough N Ready Month on the Hallmark Channel and the fun has already begun.  Every night this month, you can head west on a honda recliner.  To see the schedule, see the Hallmark Channel’s Rough N Ready Month Calendar.

By the way, this post may sound terrribly repetitive and familiar.  Don’t worry you aren’t losing your mind (if only the same could be said of me….sigh).  We had to move all of our blogs and sites (well over 30) to a larger server - the most recent posts were lost in transition.  So, I’m trying to backtrack on all of my blogs and repost what I’d lost.  Talk about a mental workout.  Calls for a trip to Starbucks. Make that two trips to Starbucks.

Magnificent Seven Art Print
Casaro, Renato
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One of the greatest of the greats, The Magnificent Seven, is on AMC today (3:15PM | 2:15C ). Check your listings for the time in your area.

The Magnificent Seven Art Print
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Did you know that The Magnificent Seven was inspired by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai (1954)? Is that fascinating or what? The Magnificent Seven were, of course: Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, Horst Buchholz, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, and Brad Dexter. What a line-up. The amazing thing is, the film was cast very quickly to beat an actor’s strike.

The Magnificent Seven Poster
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Did You Know? (Courtesy of IMDB)

Mexican censors required the peasants to wear clean clothes.

Yul Brynner was married on the set. The celebration used many set props.

James Coburn (Britt) and Robert Vaughn (Lee) were close friends for almost 50 years but this is their only film together.

Yul Brynner made sure he always appeared taller than Steve McQueen in the film. He even made a little mound of dirt and stood on it for their shots together! McQueen casually kicked at the mound every time he passed by it.

According to Eli Wallach’s autobiography, Yul Brynner had a major problem with what he considered to be Steve McQueen trying to upstage him. According to Wallach, McQueen would do things when on screen with Brynner to draw attention to his character. Examples: Shaking the shotgun shells, taking off his hat to check the sun during the hearse scene, and leaning off his horse to dip his hat in the river when the Seven cross into Mexico.

Brynner was supposedly so worried about McQueen stealing his thunder that he hired an assistant to count the number of times McQueen touched his own hat when he (Brynner) was speaking!

Priceless. I’m going to watch for that next time I watch the movie.

The Magnificent Seven Poster
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By the way, AMC’s website has a completely cool tool. You can search through the guide of movies and shows for the month, find the ones you want to watch, and sign up for e-mail reminders. They, then, will let you know when the show you want to see is coming up. If you’re like me, you’re tired of great movies passing by - this way, they’ll never get past us again!

I love that a lot of today’s fashion features throwbacks to the golden age of Hollywood’s glamour and mystique. Click HERE to read about a business that makes gorgeous silk hankies. You won’t believe how lovely these little beauties are!

By the way - this has absolutely, totally NOTHING to do with fashion or glamour, but did you catch High Plains Drifter last night? Clint Eastwood’s a big, big favorite of mine, and this movie’s one of his best. Something about the characters, the scenes…everything, I just love it. I only watched a little of it, though, because my beloved St. Louis Cardinals were playing, and God knows they need all the support they can get this year!

One of John Wayne’s best movies, “The Cowboys” is on TCM tonight. Check your local listings for the time in your area - I believe it comes on at 10:00 Eastern.

The Cowboys co-starred Roscoe Lee Browne, Robert Carradine, Bruce Dern, Colleen Dewhurst, Alfred Barker Jr., Nicolas Beauvy, A. Martinez, Norman Howell, and Stephen R. Hudis.

After his cattle drivers abandon him to search for gold, rancher Wil Andersen (John Wayne) is forced to take on a lively group of young boys as his drivers in order to get his herd to market in time to avoid financial damnation. The boys learn what it means to work like a man, and Wil feels more useful than ever, but none of them realize that a gang of cattle thieves is stalking them.

They leave as schoolboys and return as cowboys.

John Wayne with Rifle on Shoulder
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“Knock. Knock.” - One word pulling double-duty, but it was one of the best moments and lines in all of motion picture history. No actor on the planet could have delivered it quite the way John Wayne did!

John Wayne Wearing Chaps
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Everybody loves John Wayne! He had such an original way of delivering his lines - and so many of them were classics. Below are a few:

“Well, there are some things a man just can’t run away from.” - Ringo Kid (Stagecoach)

“All battles are fought by scared men who’d rather be some place else.” - Capt. Rockwell Torrey (In Harm’s Way)

“This kind of war, you’ve gotta believe in what you’re fighting for.” - Colonel Madden (Back)

“Out here a man settles his own problems.” - Tom Doniphon (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance)

“Every time you turn around expect to see me. ‘Cause one time you’ll turn around and I’ll be there, and I’ll kill you, Matt.” - Tom Dunson (Red River)

“Republic. I like the sound of the word.” - Col. David Crockett (The Alamo)

“Out here, due process is a bullet.” - Col. Michael Kirby (The Green Berets)

“Sorry don’t get it done, Dude.” - John T. Chance (Rio Bravo)

“A lot of guys make mistakes, I guess, but every one we make, a whole stack of chips goes with it. We make a mistake, and some guy don’t walk away - forevermore, he don’t walk away.” - Sergeant John M. Stryker (Sands of Iwo Jima)

“I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted, and I won’t be laid a hand on. I don’t do these things to other people and I expect the same from them.” - John Bernard Books (The Shootist)