Another Farewell

Sometimes TV just times out right so that your needs are fulfilled.

Back when I was a "tween," prime time was just moving away from Westerns, but in a last ditch effort to draw audience they had a few with big names and really hunky leads. That meant that by the time I was a teenager, they were reruning at 4 in the afternoon--before the 'rents came home, and I was alone in the house. My favorite was The Big Valley. Lee Majors and Peter Breck played prominent roles in my adolescent fantasies (and, well, hold up a picture of 30 something Lee Majors and a certain Duke, and listen to Majors's soft Kentucky accent sometime, and you'll see I certainly have a "type" preference).

A close second was Laredo (cast picture above). In terms of pure pleasure, I think I liked Laredo more. Where The Big Valley had the magnificent Barbara Stanwyck, Peter Long (who later was The Professor in Nanny and the Professor) and the aforementioned hunkos [yes, guys, and Linda Evans], the plots tended to be very serious. About half the time, Laredo was funny. Sure, it was usually the Neville Brand (Silver Star and Purple Heart, among others, btw) character who was funny, but there was enough other silly guy stuff to make me happy.

And then there was the anchor, Capt. Parmalee (far left in the photo). He managed to make sure the rangers did their jobs, showed a sense of humor (you could believe he used to "be like them"), and gave some stability. Which was an image I desperately needed at the time. So, there was a handsome daddy figure, Peter Brown (always easy on the eyes), and William Smith (far right in the photo) as Joe Riley [gorgeous at the time, who went on to play some really mean and nasty types]--who, frankly, was...often in my thoughts.

I read today that Philip Carey died yesterday at 83. Death is always a loss, but he lived a long and successful life, rarely going without work for very long. He had 5 children. Not a bad run.

Good-bye, Cap.' Thank you.