If there was one old fandom I could make bigger, I'd choose...
Alias Smith & Jones. Hands down.
When I subscribed to Netflix, one of the first things I did was start showing my little girl all the old shows I loved as a kid. I'd say, "Oh man, I used to love this show. Watch this with me - it's awesome." Twenty minutes in, we'd look at each other and agree, "This is crap," lol. She does like Starsky & Hutch (yay!) but as much as she giggles when we're watching - at their hair, their clothes, the cheesy music, their groovy slang expressions (lol) - I think a big part of what she loves about S&H is the retro camp of it all. That, and Starsky's tight pants amuse her muchly.
When I thought of Alias Smith & Jones, I was almost afraid to re-watch because I seriously - I mean SERIOUSLY - loved this show as a little kid and I didn't want the reality of it to spoil my happy memories (if that makes any sense.) But I couldn't resist; sent off for the first disc from season one, and oh god, I'm in love all over again. This show stands the test of time. Other than the same dated-sounding music that was typical of all shows from this time period, it really holds up. The dialogue between the leads is as cute as I remember; their chemistry is palpable; the dusty, dirty, gritty depiction of the Old West, while still very much Hollywood-sanitized, is better than many of the TV westerns from way back. Good stuff.
And I mean, look at the guys...Pete Duel had those dimples - those Jared-Padalecki-quality dimples that pop right out at the slightest hint of a smile - and the full, wide mouth and the gorgeous hair. And Ben Murphy, with his unbelievably blue eyes and his cute little ducky lips and his gorgeous ass that was nice and rounded with that cute little bubble-shape. As a little girl, I pretty much couldn't take my eyes off these guys when they were on my TV. And even then, I was totally aware of the bromance and I loved it. They were my first slash pairing, I guess. I loved the way they were completely loyal to each other and that they were a package deal - where Heyes went, the Kid followed. When Heyes is replaced as the leader of the gang, in the Pilot ep, there was no question of which way Kid would go - he follows Heyes right out of there. They're so joined at the hip that they're like an extension of each other - in that same Pilot ep, when robbing a train, Heyes says, "Stand and deliver," and the engineer answers, "Who says so?" Heyes looks at Kid with this big, goofy grin and says, "Kid Curry", and Kid looks back at him, grins, and says, "Hannibal Heyes."
They touched each other a lot - hands on shoulders or backs or knees, and they shared looks that rival some of those looks between Sam and Dean; those looks that are positively overflowing with chemistry. 'Exit from Wickenburg' (1x03) has some good examples of that. Some of them are small and easy to miss unless you're watching with a slasher's eyes, of course. In one scene, they're in a saloon, keeping an eye on the gambling; Kid is leaning against the bar, and Heyes walks up and joins him. Kid turns to Heyes, and they sort of lean into each other and Kid (who'd been standing around looking very intent and serious until this point) gives Heyes the sweetest smile, and even though Heyes' face is turned away from us, you can tell by the lift of his cheekbone that he's smiling hugely at Kid.
Another scene from that ep, one of my favorites, involves Kid explaining to a little boy why he won't teach him to fast draw (because there's always someone out there who's faster.) After the little boy's gone, they talk about it and as Kid's explaining, Heyes sits quietly, looking at Kid with this smile full of pure affection and admiration:
Re-watching this old show makes me realize that it's no surprise at all that I fell in love with Sam and Dean Winchester so fast - some of the basic elements that hooked me are the same. Kid and Heyes are on the lam so they travel from place to place, never settling anywhere, only on horseback instead of in a '67 Impala (and Heyes and Kid, like Sam and Dean, are even from Kansas). They have brief encounters with beautiful women, but they're always moving on, so the only constant relationship in their lives is with each other. And they can't tell people who they really are, but unlike Sam and Dean, they stick to the same alias each week - Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones. They even have a 'Bobby' of sorts, an old con man by the name of Soapy Saunders (and another named Silky O'Sullivan), who they call on for help from time to time. Like Sam and Dean, as they travel around, they share a hotel room. 'Exit from Wickenburg' shows them entering their hotel room (which appears to have only one bed; in at least one episode from season two, 'Something to Get Hung About', they're shown sharing a bed) and there's a man with a gun waiting for them; Heyes comments, "Pay two dollars for a room and you hope to get a little privacy," and of course, my brain starts filling in all the reasons that they need privacy because it doesn't take much to make me go there. Unlike Sam and Dean, there's not that intense co-dependency (which I do love about S&D.) If something happened to one of them, the other would be okay; they'd get by alone, but it's also clear that they would much rather not.
It's also a lot of fun to watch and see if you recognize any familiar old faces - lots and lots of guest stars that were either already known, or would become better known in the future, appeared on the show. Hey, we have Lou Gossett, Jr. to thank for putting the boys together like this:
The downer to all of this is, of course, what happened to Pete Duel. As a young kid, I heard the news that he'd committed suicide but it didn't mean anything to me - I'd never experienced even the death of a family pet at that point. It didn't really register with me until I sat down one day to watch my favorite show and this strange guy calling himself Hannibal Heyes was standing there instead of my Hannibal Heyes, and I was pretty much done - got up and, probably, went outside to play. I've seen other people comment that the relationship between Heyes and Kid changed a lot - that they weren't depicted as being so close and that they bickered all the time, but I wouldn't know because I didn't watch - I don't remember ever sitting through an episode with Roger Davis as Heyes.
Strangely, in that last season (the 3rd) the narration that began each ep was changed from, "This made our two latter day robin hoods very popular..." to "This made our two Kansas cousins very popular...," and I believe the trivia goes that reference was made in two eps that season to them being cousins, which had never come up before. It makes me wonder if maybe there were complaints back in the day about this show depicting two handsome, single men who were devoted to each other, touched each other a lot, and routinely shared a bed, and voila...they became cousins!
Oh, and I forgot to say in that first paragraph - my little girl loves Alias Smith and Jones. She wholeheartedly agreed that this one wasn't crap. :D
TL;DR...in short, if anyone's interest is piqued, quite a few of the eps from season one are available for instant viewing right here:
At IMDB
As with most shows, it takes a few episodes to get into full swing, and for slash fans, I think the subtext starts really showing itself around ep 3.
When I subscribed to Netflix, one of the first things I did was start showing my little girl all the old shows I loved as a kid. I'd say, "Oh man, I used to love this show. Watch this with me - it's awesome." Twenty minutes in, we'd look at each other and agree, "This is crap," lol. She does like Starsky & Hutch (yay!) but as much as she giggles when we're watching - at their hair, their clothes, the cheesy music, their groovy slang expressions (lol) - I think a big part of what she loves about S&H is the retro camp of it all. That, and Starsky's tight pants amuse her muchly.
When I thought of Alias Smith & Jones, I was almost afraid to re-watch because I seriously - I mean SERIOUSLY - loved this show as a little kid and I didn't want the reality of it to spoil my happy memories (if that makes any sense.) But I couldn't resist; sent off for the first disc from season one, and oh god, I'm in love all over again. This show stands the test of time. Other than the same dated-sounding music that was typical of all shows from this time period, it really holds up. The dialogue between the leads is as cute as I remember; their chemistry is palpable; the dusty, dirty, gritty depiction of the Old West, while still very much Hollywood-sanitized, is better than many of the TV westerns from way back. Good stuff.
And I mean, look at the guys...Pete Duel had those dimples - those Jared-Padalecki-quality dimples that pop right out at the slightest hint of a smile - and the full, wide mouth and the gorgeous hair. And Ben Murphy, with his unbelievably blue eyes and his cute little ducky lips and his gorgeous ass that was nice and rounded with that cute little bubble-shape. As a little girl, I pretty much couldn't take my eyes off these guys when they were on my TV. And even then, I was totally aware of the bromance and I loved it. They were my first slash pairing, I guess. I loved the way they were completely loyal to each other and that they were a package deal - where Heyes went, the Kid followed. When Heyes is replaced as the leader of the gang, in the Pilot ep, there was no question of which way Kid would go - he follows Heyes right out of there. They're so joined at the hip that they're like an extension of each other - in that same Pilot ep, when robbing a train, Heyes says, "Stand and deliver," and the engineer answers, "Who says so?" Heyes looks at Kid with this big, goofy grin and says, "Kid Curry", and Kid looks back at him, grins, and says, "Hannibal Heyes."
They touched each other a lot - hands on shoulders or backs or knees, and they shared looks that rival some of those looks between Sam and Dean; those looks that are positively overflowing with chemistry. 'Exit from Wickenburg' (1x03) has some good examples of that. Some of them are small and easy to miss unless you're watching with a slasher's eyes, of course. In one scene, they're in a saloon, keeping an eye on the gambling; Kid is leaning against the bar, and Heyes walks up and joins him. Kid turns to Heyes, and they sort of lean into each other and Kid (who'd been standing around looking very intent and serious until this point) gives Heyes the sweetest smile, and even though Heyes' face is turned away from us, you can tell by the lift of his cheekbone that he's smiling hugely at Kid.
Another scene from that ep, one of my favorites, involves Kid explaining to a little boy why he won't teach him to fast draw (because there's always someone out there who's faster.) After the little boy's gone, they talk about it and as Kid's explaining, Heyes sits quietly, looking at Kid with this smile full of pure affection and admiration:
Re-watching this old show makes me realize that it's no surprise at all that I fell in love with Sam and Dean Winchester so fast - some of the basic elements that hooked me are the same. Kid and Heyes are on the lam so they travel from place to place, never settling anywhere, only on horseback instead of in a '67 Impala (and Heyes and Kid, like Sam and Dean, are even from Kansas). They have brief encounters with beautiful women, but they're always moving on, so the only constant relationship in their lives is with each other. And they can't tell people who they really are, but unlike Sam and Dean, they stick to the same alias each week - Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones. They even have a 'Bobby' of sorts, an old con man by the name of Soapy Saunders (and another named Silky O'Sullivan), who they call on for help from time to time. Like Sam and Dean, as they travel around, they share a hotel room. 'Exit from Wickenburg' shows them entering their hotel room (which appears to have only one bed; in at least one episode from season two, 'Something to Get Hung About', they're shown sharing a bed) and there's a man with a gun waiting for them; Heyes comments, "Pay two dollars for a room and you hope to get a little privacy," and of course, my brain starts filling in all the reasons that they need privacy because it doesn't take much to make me go there. Unlike Sam and Dean, there's not that intense co-dependency (which I do love about S&D.) If something happened to one of them, the other would be okay; they'd get by alone, but it's also clear that they would much rather not.
It's also a lot of fun to watch and see if you recognize any familiar old faces - lots and lots of guest stars that were either already known, or would become better known in the future, appeared on the show. Hey, we have Lou Gossett, Jr. to thank for putting the boys together like this:
The downer to all of this is, of course, what happened to Pete Duel. As a young kid, I heard the news that he'd committed suicide but it didn't mean anything to me - I'd never experienced even the death of a family pet at that point. It didn't really register with me until I sat down one day to watch my favorite show and this strange guy calling himself Hannibal Heyes was standing there instead of my Hannibal Heyes, and I was pretty much done - got up and, probably, went outside to play. I've seen other people comment that the relationship between Heyes and Kid changed a lot - that they weren't depicted as being so close and that they bickered all the time, but I wouldn't know because I didn't watch - I don't remember ever sitting through an episode with Roger Davis as Heyes.
Strangely, in that last season (the 3rd) the narration that began each ep was changed from, "This made our two latter day robin hoods very popular..." to "This made our two Kansas cousins very popular...," and I believe the trivia goes that reference was made in two eps that season to them being cousins, which had never come up before. It makes me wonder if maybe there were complaints back in the day about this show depicting two handsome, single men who were devoted to each other, touched each other a lot, and routinely shared a bed, and voila...they became cousins!
Oh, and I forgot to say in that first paragraph - my little girl loves Alias Smith and Jones. She wholeheartedly agreed that this one wasn't crap. :D
TL;DR...in short, if anyone's interest is piqued, quite a few of the eps from season one are available for instant viewing right here:
At IMDB
As with most shows, it takes a few episodes to get into full swing, and for slash fans, I think the subtext starts really showing itself around ep 3.