Can We Talk 2

Westerns Making A Comeback

         There is a revival of interest in old westerns. GetTV, a channel owned by Sony, runs a lot of old shows, but has certain hours and seasons dedicated to very old westerns. I discovered Nichols, Tombstone Territory, Restless Gun, and Hondo on GetTV. I had never heard of them before. They're entertaining. INSP runs a lot of westerns and is responsible for getting me hooked on them about 3 years ago. Encore has a western channel, which runs a lot of mini-series.

         Of course, TCM and AMC still run classics with James Stewart and Audie Murphy, et al. I like the really old ones, and am thrilled to see some of these stars when they were very young. This past year, it seems they've pulled even older movies out than they had run previously.

         I've taken up reading westerns, too. There's a lot of mediocre ones. The Desperadoes was a great story, but not perfectly written. (It was written in the 1950's. My copy was printed in the 80's.) I just read one called The Streak by Max Brand, from the 1930's. It was surprisingly well-written. It was placed in the overlapping time of horses and autos. It had humor, realism, and psychological insight. It was quite enjoyable.

         It seems that a lot of people have misconceptions about westerns. I keep watching movies and reading books that defy the stereotypes. On the other hand, I've studied western lore and history so much on my own, that I can't help but pick apart some things I see or read as historically inaccurate.