“these old series had some deep writing in them”
That has really struck me about “Death Valley Days.” There have been a lot of racial (black, Indian, Chinese, early Californians [i.e., Mexicans]) themes that were treated very well and with dignity and respect. There have been a number of episodes dealing with women’s rights and careers. There have been some episodes dealing with government corruption at the local and territorial level. Many episodes address men and women in marriage on the frontier.
I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by the deep themes addressed.
A little thing I enjoy about the old series is that they don’t reshoot everything, if the actor tosses his hat towards something it can miss, if the star has a slight catch with his foot as he is walking or getting on his horse it stands and the scene continues, after all, they are minor and authentic.