(no subject)

[shadowkat]

Watching Breaking Bad - second season at the moment. Today while watching Pioneers of Television : The Western - realized why I despised Bonanza, and my mother who lived Westerns was never that into Bonanza - it was written and created by a misogynist - who stated that he didn't want any women characters, that there were too many Westerns and tv shows about mothers and wives, and he wanted one about father's and son's only with no women cluttering things up. Women characters never survived. (Jeeze.) Also found out that The Wild Wild West was canceled not because of ratings, but the US State Senate told CBS that they should cancel it for violence. It was too violent for audiences. (Ironic that, particularly since five years earlier, Senator Bird in a rousing speech in the Senate, convinced CBS to save Gunsmoke - his favorite Western.) The Government has less influence over television now than it did back in the 1960s, which is sort of interesting.

Oh, Harry Groener is on Breaking Bad. And he's incredibly gaunt. He looks ill. And almost unrecognizable.

Comments

[local-max.livejournal.com]

I've only watched about three episodes of Bonanza--it was having a marathon one day. My mom and I watched it. And those episodes have become running jokes ever since. We found the show horrible in increasingly funny ways.

Anyway, one of the three episodes was a great example of the misogyny of which you speak. The episode featured one of the brothers (Michael Landon, maybe?) going out with this woman. The other brothers and the father were suspicious of her. And as the episode went on, it was discovered that she actually was a gambler. She gambled all the time, and gambled savings away. Rather than stating that she might have a problem and might be dangerous, or might need help (which would be reasonable), the brothers and father just told the in-love brother repeatedly that she was "no good" because she's a gambler. As if to drive the point home, there was one scene of her gambling, and she actually turned out to be the worst gambler in the world--she literally lost every single hand. Eventually it was decided that, yes, she was no good, and so she and the in-love boy broke up. It's funny because it's so sad.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

From what they said on the program - the best thing that came out of that series was Michael Landon - who ironically, wrote, directed, produced and set up a family drama Western show aimed entirely at young women, the exact opposite of Bonanza. "Little House on the Prairie". Everyone loved Michael Landon. Just as everyone loved Barbara Stanwyck - who headed "The Big Valley" - which was also the opposite of Bonanza.