Alias Smith and Jones

This is the show that everyone grew up with, except me.  A couple of years back, my friend Deborah asked a group of friends, apropos of nothing, if any of them had ever heard of her favorite show from childhood?  Well, there was someone who had.  Well, the next thing you know, someone had managed to find us videotapes, and I found myself fascinated by this . . . well, okay show, with more-than-okay actors, one of whom made me giddy in a way actors oh-so-rarely do.  (And only then did I find out the guy was dead, leaving me wide open for one of those tragic-artist scenarios to which I am all too vulnerable.)   There was the camp appeal that everyone who was around in 1971 showed up in this show . . . I mean, everyone.  Burl Ives, Cesar Romero, Lee Majors, Juliet Mills, Lou Gossett, Jr., Sally Field, Judy Carne, Walter Brennan (as two different characters in the same season) . . . every blinkin' one of them.  Not to mention Patrick Macnee, in a John Steed velvet-collared jacket.  I think if you passed through Hollywood that year, you pretty much found yourself on this show.  And there were a lot of times when the show transcended its own limitations (this was, after all, back when tv was still, well, tv) -- largely due to the performances, but also due to writing that ranged from mediocre to "wow, that was really good!"

Anyway, Deb set up a website that pretty much covers everything you would ever want to know.  I've written for several sections of the site, but without a doubt my favorite is the Snarkathon.  This is where Deb and I sat down, watched the show and made cracks about it.  , and all the while I'd be madly taking notes.  Then I'd go home and write them up.  People who've never seen the show have found themselves amused by it, so check it out and see if things like False Eyelashes of the Old West make you laugh . . . .  Alias Smith and Jones

I've got to learn to size images.  But in the meantime, here's a picture that did the giddy thing to me.  It must be the pensive expression, the big brown eyes, the  "It is 1970 and I am in a rock band" haircut . . .