Remember When
Quote: TigerWuWestworld is kind of pseudo-period Western.
.
I meant on network TV, I don't consider
cable to be real TV. 6 episodes of a
show is not a 'season'.
Quote: EvenBobI meant on network TV, I don't consider
cable to be real TV. 6 episodes of a
show is not a 'season'.
Okay, well if you want to move the goalposts, then here you go, hotshot. This should cover everything.
List of Westerns on Television
Quote: TigerWuThis should cover everything.
Looks like it's been 25 years since
a network had a Western. In the
late 50's into the 60's, they were
on every night. My grandpa and
great grandpa read paperback
Westerns all day in their rockers,
and watched them on B/W TV
in the evenings.
They grew up in the late 1800's
when the Old West was a huge
deal. It was like science fiction
is today, it was all made up BS.
In the opening of Gunsmoke
there's a fast gun duel. That
was a staple in Westerns. In
actuality, there is not a shred
of evidence that ever happened
even once. Most people were
shot in the back in saloons,
if they were shot at all.
Quote: EvenBobLooks like it's been 25 years since
a network had a Western.
It's all just trends. Procedurals and reality shows have been the big thing for the last couple decades.
Quote: EvenBobLooks like it's been 25 years since
a network had a Western. In the
late 50's into the 60's, they were
on every night. My grandpa and
great grandpa read paperback
Westerns all day in their rockers,
and watched them on B/W TV
in the evenings.
"Deadwood" was on a little over 15 years ago. It was more true to life than the older westerns.
Westerns were a thing then because it was less than 100 years before but seemed like 500 what with all the changes. Thew west was where the adventure was. But the whole era was really only 20 years or so, starting in the late 1860s. By the early 1890s the frontier was closed and the adventure gone.
Lots changed as the 1800s came to a close. Even in my research I see how much more precise things became around then, how much more organized. It was as if the USA moved from being a teenager to an adult.
Old West stuff might be making a comeback!
Quote: AZDuffman"Deadwood" was on a little over 15 years ago. It was more true to life than the older westerns.
I was talking about network Westerns.
They're far too violent for TV now. And
expensive. Deadwood shut down mostly
because of the cost. And Milch was
bored with it.
Any time you work with horses on TV
now, the cost goes thru the roof. And
all the Western sets are long gone.
The interest just isn't there anymore.
Even Western movies are mostly gone.
Every Saturday we would go to the
double feature and one was always a
Western. 25 cents to get in and 25
cents for candy. The theater babysat
hundreds of unchaperoned kids for
4 hours. Imagine that today.
Remember when Bob had a regular spot on Saturday Night Live?
Quote: MDawgWasn't so VERY long ago, but remember when you could just slide a credit card in a "Twicket" kiosk at the airport and get on a plane with no ID? Show up for the domestic flight twenty minutes before departure, get on just fine and your checked luggage would make it onboard too.
Yeah, and you put on a suit or dress for the flight and after takeoff went upstairs to the piano bar in the bubble of the 747 (Pan Am, of course).
Quote: LovecompsYeah, and you put on a suit or dress for the flight and after takeoff went upstairs to the piano bar in the bubble of the 747 (Pan Am, of course).
TWA had that, too. My first flight was Dec. 1977, when I took a B747 from Chicago to London. We did dress up (college theatre tour) for the plane, and we did go upstairs, but I wasn't yet 21 so they didn't want me in the bar there. It was a beautiful circular staircase, and the lighting up there was like stars in a dark sky.
Someday I'm going to write the book about that trip. We were 4 lawless, scandalous, young American girls who cut loose from our chaperones for 3 weeks in London. (Granny sucks her dentures into a secret smile...)
Quote: MDawgWasn't so VERY long ago, but remember when you could just slide a credit card in a "Twicket" kiosk at the airport and get on a plane with no ID? Show up for the domestic flight twenty minutes before departure, get on just fine and your checked luggage would make it onboard too.
Really I'm just talking about pre 9/11. Could still do that as recently as early 2001. I believe it was SW Airlines had those twicket terminals all over the airport, just show up, slide your credit card (or anyone's credit card, is the point I am getting at), get on the plane, and they wouldn't even ask for ID.
Plus those were the days when I was flying to Vegas or Tahoe about every three weeks and I'd routinely show up within thirty minutes of departure with baggage to check, no problemo.
Quote: MDawgReally I'm just talking about pre 9/11. Could still do that as recently as early 2001. I believe it was SW Airlines had those twicket terminals all over the airport, just show up, slide your credit card (or anyone's credit card, is the point I am getting at), get on the plane, and they wouldn't even ask for ID.
Plus those were the days when I was flying to Vegas or Tahoe about every three weeks and I'd routinely show up within thirty minutes of departure with checked baggage, no problemo.
Yeah, we had jump privileges with America West and PSA, couple others pre-9/11. Show ATC ID and a pink cockpit access card, if the jump seat was open, it was yours. Those were the days..
Quote: beachbumbabs...Someday I'm going to write the book about that trip. We were 4 lawless, scandalous, young American girls who cut loose from our chaperones for 3 weeks in London.
Oohh Myyy.... "Coffee, Tea, or Me, Part Deux?"
Quote: AyecarumbaOohh Myyy.... "Coffee, Tea, or Me, Part Deux?"
Lol...
One thing that stood out on that trip. Michelle, a truly gorgeous black-haired beauty, got one of her new "friends" to pay for her to travel home on the Concorde, instead of with us peons on the B747.
Quote: FleaStiffPlanes? I recall a 727(?) that was descending VFR when he spotted a Cessna 182 Skyhawk and went into a climbing turn passing the now-diving Skyhawk close enough to count rivets. Obviously I survived it and went on to become a crisis actor in the great diabetes fake news scam.
When I was a student pilot I was doing my first flight into a big airport. I radio the tower and tell them I am a student and would like to land. The controller comes on and says be on the lookout for American xxx Heavy in front of me. He said just follow that DC-10 to runway 25 Left, then with a dramatic pause, "But, not too close". Duh, that DC-10 would have sent my Cessna 150 spinning out of control.
Quote: MDawg
Plus those were the days when I was flying to Vegas or Tahoe about every three weeks and I'd routinely show up within thirty minutes of departure with baggage to check, no problemo.
You can still do that at smaller, regional airports. You show up an hour early at those places, and you're waiting around at the terminal for 45 minutes.
Quote: TigerWuYou can still do that at smaller, regional airports. You show up an hour early at those places, and you're waiting around at the terminal for 45 minutes.
When I used to travel almost every week for work, I had it down to where I could get to the airport just as they were getting ready to close the airplane door. Amazingly, I only missed one flight for being late over many years.
That sounds like me (at least pre-9/11). The one flight I missed, the agent was able to get me on a direct flight on a different airline. I actually got to my destination earlier than if I had made my original flight!Quote: DRichWhen I used to travel almost every week for work, I had it down to where I could get to the airport just as they were getting ready to close the airplane door. Amazingly, I only missed one flight for being late over many years.
Quote: TigerWuYou can still do that at smaller, regional airports. You show up an hour early at those places, and you're waiting around at the terminal for 45 minutes.
A wonderful thing that is. Use one regular and you will never want to live in a hub city again.
remember when nothing was
open on Sunday in the Midwest.
Maybe a gas station here and
there, that was it. Now everything
is open except banks and the PO.
Even Amazon delivers on Sunday.
They have a cool app that shows
where your package is on the
truck, and where the truck is on
the map. You can watch, stop by
stop, as it gets closer to your house.
When it gets here I feel almost
guilty because I remember when
it was against the law to be open
on Sunday is some places. We
couldn't buy liquor here on Sunday
till the 80's. In the poor neighborhoods
guys would sell liquor out of their
trunk and they always had customers.
It was a tradition and everybody
enjoyed the community feeling of
it.
Quote: EvenBobYou have to be at least 60 to
remember when nothing was
open on Sunday in the Midwest.
Maybe a gas station here and
there, that was it. Now everything
is open except banks and the PO.
I am amazed that even the State Stores (PA owner liquor stores) opened on Sunday and now even on 4th of July. I am old enough to remember when lots of places were closed Sunday, then limited hours. Now just a few places. Times have changed.
Quote: FleaStiffPennsylvania didn't even say liquor store, it was package store.
That one is before my time. "State Store" is what they called them pre-1990s. One is clearly visible in the movie "Slap Shot." You could not browse the shelves pre-1980s, even to the 1990s in the smaller ones. You walked to the counter and ordered. I told a younger cashier about those days, she was amazed.
Today they call them "Wine and Spirits Store" but many people still say "State Store." I will give them credit in that they do train the clerks pretty well. They can usually answer questions pretty well. They will get you unusual stuff from another store free of charge, though you have to wait for it to daisy-chain across the state depending on where it starts as they courier the store-transfers from place to place. My order took a few weeks but I was in no real hurry.
Useless Trivia: Commonwealth of PA is the largest buyer of booze in the nation and I believe the planet.
Quote: AZDuffmanToday they call them "Wine and Spirits Store" but many people still say "State Store." I will give them credit in that they do train the clerks pretty well. They can usually answer questions pretty well. They will get you unusual stuff from another store free of charge, though you have to wait for it to daisy-chain across the state depending on where it starts as they courier the store-transfers from place to place. My order took a few weeks but I was in no real hurry.
But their new credit card terminals make the most annoying sounds.
Quote: AZDuffman
Today they call them "Wine and Spirits Store" but many people still say "State Store."
Huh? You have to go to a special
store to buy booze? Good god why.
I get all mine at Walmart, they have
one whole aisle that's nothing but
hard liquor and another that's wine.
"Useless Trivia: Commonwealth of PA is the largest buyer of booze in the nation"
The Amish are heavy drinkers. Don't they
have DUI laws for horse drawn buggies
there? I used go to a liquor store in
Middlebury IN and the guy told me by
far the Amish were his biggest customers.
Back door business, they run a tab, rush
in the back door and snatch the bag in
the rack with their name on it and are
gone before any neighbor see's them.
Quote: EvenBobHuh? You have to go to a special
store to buy booze? Good god why.
I get all mine at Walmart, they have
one whole aisle that's nothing but
hard liquor and another that's wine.
Until about 10 years ago, beer came only from a "beer distrubutor" and only in cases, except you could get 2 six packs as take-out from most bars. That has lightened up a tad, now grocery and C-Stores sometimes sell beer, but they seem to be selling it as a bar and take-out. You sometimes have to buy at a certain register. I have yet to buy beer from such a place.
There are a few places that sell wine, mostly either at a winery itself or their outlet stores. They might have it at a farmers market. Selection outside the State Store system is limited.
Booze you have to go to the state store. It has been that way since the end of prohibition. To be fair, they have come a long way, and they are brighter and never seedy as some liquor stores in some states are. But they are state owned. Have to balance that vs. some places where seedy stores crop up on every corner. I rarely buy booze for home so it is not a major issue for me.
"Useless Trivia: Commonwealth of PA is the largest buyer of booze in the nation"
The Amish are heavy drinkers. Don't they
have DUI laws for horse drawn buggies
there? I used go to a liquor store in
Middlebury IN and the guy told me by
far the Amish were his biggest customers.
Back door business, they run a tab, rush
in the back door and snatch the bag in
the rack with their name on it and are
gone before any neighbor see's them.
You people are lucky. No booze allowed at County poor house. Eviction at first offense.
In my state anyhow, most "fireworks" were banned by the 1970s. You had sparklers and those black snakes, that was about it. It was such a big thing to even play with sparklers. Maybe once in your life you took a family vacation to a southern or western state where the laws were less strict and you brought a bunch back. You tried to set them off without the cops showing up.
Now they have big tents all over.
Quote: AZDuffmanIn my state anyhow...
Wha? PA is the biggest supplier of NY rednecks by FAR. Everyone I know goes to Phantom.
Quote: FaceWha? PA is the biggest supplier of NY rednecks by FAR. Everyone I know goes to Phantom.
Now, yes. Pre-late-1980s not at all.
Quote: AZDuffmanNow, yes. Pre-late-1980s not at all.
I was so surprised to see fireworks being sold in BJ's Wholesale Club and WalMart in Philadelphia, lately.
Quote: FleaStiffSeminoles sell fireworks all over the place here but their use is illegal anywhere in the county.
There are huge roadside billboards advertising year-round fireworks retailers in Kentucky. Kaboom is not just for July y'all.
'Whiz-bangs' -- anything that files or goes 'boom' (bottle rockets, firecrackers, roman candles, etc.) -- were outlawed in FL in the late 70's. I remember as a kid, if our family vacation took us into Tennessee or South Carolina, we'd pick some up for the next 4th of July. Cops in our neighborhood never seemed to care when we set them off.Quote: AZDuffmanRemember when it was a big deal to get some "illegal fireworks?"
When the firework tents would showing up, you would have to ask the proprietor, "Where's the good stuff?" since all they were allowed to display was the tame stuff. This sometimes worked, sometimes not. Then, in the late 80's, IIRC, someone discovered a loophole in the law that would allow the use of banned fireworks for 'agricultural purposes' -- presumably scaring away wildlife from your crops, or some such as that.
Then, you started seeing the 'good stuff' return to the fireworks stands, but if you bought any, they made you sign a waiver attesting that you would only use them for 'agricultural purposes.' It all sounded a bit sketchy to me, and I never bought any of the 'good stuff' for that reason. Besides, Dad always had a pretty good stock of stuff that we had picked up from our previous vacation.
I haven't bought fireworks in a long time, but there is a Phantom Fireworks store nearby. I've never been there, but I would assume they would have the 'good stuff.' I have no idea what the law is these days. For all I know, you still have to sign that waiver!
years ago. A friend in Des Moines
went full tilt and bought $50K
wholesale, rented a huge tent,
worked his ass every day of
the month they're allowed to
sell. Made $8,000 profit and
said never again.
Now everybody and their moms
brothers cousin is a fireworks
salesman and nobody is making
money. The big sellers have
moved in and undercut all
their prices. The people who have
their own factories in China
making their own name brand.
Quote: Joeman'Whiz-bangs' -- anything that files or goes 'boom' (bottle rockets, firecrackers, roman candles, etc.) -- were outlawed in FL in the late 70's. I remember as a kid, if our family vacation took us into Tennessee or South Carolina, we'd pick some up for the next 4th of July. Cops in our neighborhood never seemed to care when we set them off.
When the firework tents would showing up, you would have to ask the proprietor, "Where's the good stuff?" since all they were allowed to display was the tame stuff. This sometimes worked, sometimes not. Then, in the late 80's, IIRC, someone discovered a loophole in the law that would allow the use of banned fireworks for 'agricultural purposes' -- presumably scaring away wildlife from your crops, or some such as that.
Then, you started seeing the 'good stuff' return to the fireworks stands, but if you bought any, they made you sign a waiver attesting that you would only use them for 'agricultural purposes.' It all sounded a bit sketchy to me, and I never bought any of the 'good stuff' for that reason. Besides, Dad always had a pretty good stock of stuff that we had picked up from our previous vacation.
I haven't bought fireworks in a long time, but there is a Phantom Fireworks store nearby. I've never been there, but I would assume they would have the 'good stuff.' I have no idea what the law is these days. For all I know, you still have to sign that waiver!
Up here there was a loophole in Ohio that you could sell them to people taking them out of state. Stands showed up at the border, and IIRC they would ask for an out of state drivers license. I think PA eventually did the same thing and the stores were limited to borderlands for a few years. Now they are all over.
What I do miss is the "real" M-80s. Sort of. Never had any myself, high school buddy was blowing things up left and right with them. How he did not hurt himself remains a mystery. But didn't need M-80s for that. Guy my brother knows used hairspray or other home stuff to make a potato gun. Guy is now known as "Lefty."
I also had a classmate who lost some fingers and almost an eye when the homemade firecracker he made by unpacking the powder from a bunch of smaller ones blew up in his hand.Quote: AZDuffman...Guy is now known as "Lefty."
Did everyone grow up with at least one of these pyro guys?
Quote: AyecarumbaI also had a classmate who lost some fingers and almost an eye when the homemade firecracker he made by unpacking the powder from a bunch of smaller ones blew up in his hand.
Did everyone grow up with at least one of these pyro guys?
I think fire and explosions are part of the genetic makeup of any RBAM (red blood American male.) Some join the volunteer fire department. Others do other things. Control of fire is a feeling of power. Some though let it get out of hand. One goofball in my shop class burned down a barn somewhere. Dude was physically small, but have you ever met a true sociopath?
Ironically, somewhere around town here is one of the biggest fireworks makers in the USA, they had 1/4 or so of the 1986 Statue of Liberty show. Go figure.
Quote: AyecarumbaDid everyone grow up with at least one of these pyro guys?
I was that guy. Until I met that guy. Best friends since '96 =)
We've so many fire games. "Bag races" are when you get a hot one and whoop a plastic shopping bag over it in an attempt to catch the heat. Do it right and it goes like a hot air balloon. First over the trees wins. Or "Feed the beast". Object is to get as many trees into a hot fire as possible. Game ends when exhausted as you'll eventually get a fire that eats faster than you can possibly feed it. The number of full trees alight at one time is the record to beat from there out. With 5 guys humping our record is 7. Remains the nastiest conflagration any of us have seen. Or "Don't be a bitch". Toss in a full 12oz and wait. Last one to GTFO wins.
Now we're all dads. Our fireside fun now lies in tote lids and glass bottles. Fan it hot as you can and see who can stretch a beer bottle the longest without breaking it. Not quite as fun, but all 7 of our kids still have all of their original skins.
Quote: billryanHad a friend that was a firebug. He ended up burning down his house. A few years later, his brother was arrested for an arson for hire. He was studying to be a Fire Marshall at the time. Two other Volunteer Fireman I knew ended up being arsonists.
Eh, some of that in every field probably. Rescue people who want to be heroes by putting people in jeopardy and saving them. Perhaps there are even people who back up sewers so they can unclog them.
