If you guys are so upset about “sanitized” 50s westerns, you all should check out The Rifleman which was produced by...Sam Peckinpah. I used to keep a pad next to me on Saturday mornings a few years ago to keep track of how many men Chuck Conners blew away in the first ten minutes. The show was criticized for its violence.
Some claims are just too wrong to respond to. ‘Gunsmoke’ featured stories where the hero failed to save the day, involved prostitution, rape, failed redemption, opium addiction, etc.
And I can’t think of recent ‘realistic’ Western that show that shows a ‘realistic’ “human waste ditch running through the town”.
I loved the Rifleman! Did as it ran and now when I see re-runs. For a complete video compilation of all of the Rifleman’s shootings, go to YouTube and type in: ‘The Rifleman. The Complete Rifleman massacre’. You will love it if you used to keep track during the show! Check out the young Vic Morrow, (Among the other guest stars you will recognize), in the first clip!
I always think of this Python sketch when discussing anything Peckinpah LOL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeYznvQvnsY
The Rifleman is on Amazon Prime. It’s interesting that God is referred to often. They sure wouldn’t write a script like that today.
Chuck Conners’ rifle was designed to kill as many people as quickly as possible.
No one needs a rifle like that. Except government officials that run society.
I am not really bothered by the lack of realism in 50's westerns, or in movies. Well, I guess I get a little annoyed with the fact that so many of them are shot on sound stages, and you can see the cyclorama in the background when someone rides into town. I see movies and TV shows as heightened reality. Lack of realism for me would be if a guy in a western could fly or walk on walls. I just think it would have been interesting to see a long-running show depict the passage of time in some way, sort of like the movie versions of Cimmarron.
If you really want to see a lot of violence in a 50's western, watch the episode of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp when he first comes to Dodge City at the beginning of the second season (Season 2, episode 2 - "Dodge City Gets a New Marshal"). Earp kills more guys in that episode than the real Wyatt Earp killed in his whole life.