There is something in the western. For a long time it was one of the most popular genres in the entertainment landscape in the United States. From the 1930s to the 1970s, millions of Americans flocked to theaters each year to see stars like John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, and Clint Eastwood take on the bad guys. Louis L’Amour, the most prolific author of Western novels in history (and my personal favorite) has sold 225 million books. The western dominated television in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, with approximately 120 television series produced. The record for the longest running primetime television show (1955 – 1975) is still held by gun smoke, a western starring James Arness as US Marshal Matt Dillon. However, that record may soon fall, as several shows include, believe it or not, The Simpsons, are on the verge of equaling or surpassing that record. I suppose nothing more clearly illustrates the changes in our society in recent decades than the mind-boggling fact that Homer Simpson may soon accomplish what dozens of evil outlaws couldn’t do for two decades: defeat Matt Dillon.

The heyday of the western has come and gone, but the western hasn’t gone off into the sunset. It is an indisputable fact that since the 1980s fewer movies and television shows produced have been Westerns. However, every once in a while some brave soul in Hollywood takes a chance and turns out to be one. Like a monster in an old B-grade movie, the western refuses to die.

Though few and far between, the television western has yet to be buried on Boot Hill.

  • In 1988 CBS gave us Paradise, a prime time television series starring Lee Horsley as Ethan Cord, a gunfighter who takes over raising his sister’s four young children after her death. It was an excellent show and was more family oriented than a shooter, but it managed to work with a lot of action due to the circumstances of Cord’s past. It ran for almost 3 seasons.
  • In 1989, CBS had a big hit with the made-for-TV miniseries. lonely dove, which was based on Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that spent 20 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. It is the story of retired Texas Rangers Gus McRae, played by Robert Duvall and Woodrow Call, played by Tommy Lee Jones, who undertake the first cattle drive from Texas to Montana. Widely regarded as one of the best miniseries ever, lonely dove it was not only critically acclaimed; It was a great audience success. Over the four nights it aired, it earned an average rating of 26.1 with a 39% audience share. It also won 7 Emmy Awards, 1 Peabody Award, and 2 Golden Globe Awards. Praised for its gritty realism, lonely dove It showed that we still like a good western and if Hollywood produces one, we’ll see it in large numbers. Apparently, even actors aren’t immune to the captivating spell of a good western. Robert Duvall commented that of all the roles he’s played (and that’s a considerable number considering he’s been acting since the early 1960s) his favorite was Gus McRae.
  • In 1998, CBS took a risk again by broadcasting the television show in prime time. The seven magnificents, based on the classic 1960 film of the same title starring Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen. As a huge fan of the original movie, I have to admit that I watched the show’s pilot episode prepared to condemn it as a cheap rip-off and an insult to the excellent movie it’s based on. I could not have been more wrong. Not only was it a great show, but the clever character adjustments paid homage to the original. The show starred Michael Biehn as Chris in the role of Yul Brynner and Eric Close as Vin in the role of Steve McQueen. Unfortunately, the network kept bouncing off the show as it often does and it never managed to find an audience. It disappeared in 2000 with only 22 episodes produced. It’s 2008, so I’m guessing CBS should launch a Western TV series this year if the pattern holds. Cross our fingers.

Theatrical movies haven’t been completely devoid of westerns since the 1970s, either.

  • the 1980s – the long riders (1980), pale rider (1985) and silver (1985)
  • The 1990s – Dancing with Wolves (1990), tombstone(1993) and Wyatt Earp (1994)
  • The years 2000- crossfire trail (2001), open Tidy (2003) and 3:10 to Yuma (2007)

This is by no means a complete list. I have just chosen a few examples for illustrative purposes.

Now we come to the heart of the matter. Why hasn’t the western died out? I have a theory about why the American people are always receptive to westerns.

The western resonates with us. It is perhaps the most unique form of American storytelling.
We Americans are simple people. We like our direct entertainment. Good guy versus bad guy works for us. Europeans call us blunt and simplistic. Maybe we are. Maybe they just don’t understand a good old-fashioned face-to-face approach to solving a problem. Nuance is for sissies. We did not build this nation with nuances.

The western is the ultimate morality play. There is no place for moral relativism. It’s about good versus evil and no one sits on the fence. We like the idea of ​​good standing up to evil and defeating it. In this post-9/11 world, I think most Americans understand the need to take a stand against evil and defeat it.

Nothing typifies the American spirit like the western. Rugged individualists who face adversity with courage, dignity, a “can do” attitude, and just plain determination is a concept anyone can admire.
Westerns remind us of what it’s like to face hard times without complaining about how hard life is. When drought, floods, or grasshoppers took over crops, people drowned them and kept looking forward to better times next year. When a rancher shot a wolf or a cougar after his cattle, PETA did not sue him. If a woman had to wield a rifle to defend the house while her man was away, she didn’t seek a therapist afterward or drop the kids out of school for counseling.

We like our heroes. Whether it’s Superman standing up for truth, justice, and the American way, Jack Bauer hunting down terrorists, or our brave troops in the military fighting to defend our nation, we love our heroes. We need them. Our heroes are extensions of ourselves. They stand up for what is right. They protect us. They defend the weak. Due to the very nature of the settings and circumstances in Westerns, there are more opportunities for heroic behavior than in more civilized and sedate settings. The western ends up producing heroes.

We are proud of our country. We are proud of what we have achieved in just over two centuries. We are proud of what it took to forge this desert nation. We are proud of what our country represents. Even the things we’ve done in our history that we can’t be proud of, like our mistreatment of the black man and the red man, can lead us to feel proud because we address those horribly unfair situations and try to make them right. We have admitted that we have done wrong and progressed as a society. We’re not perfect, but we should be given credit for being honest about the darkest chapters in our history. I believe in a world where slavery still exists in the 21st century and certain nations rewrite the history of World War II to absolve themselves of the blame. The United States of America deserves not to be judged too harshly.

I think these factors explain the affection of the American people for the western. I think this is a lasting love story that will never end. I believe there will always be a place for a good western on the American entertainment scene, whether it be in the form of a book, television show, play, or feature film. Yes, there is something in the western.