Television Review: LOVE THAT BOB: "Bob Gives S.R.O. Performance" (1958)

LOVE THAT BOB: "Bob Gives S.R.O. Performance" (Original Air Date: 3/4/58) Starring Bob Cummings as Bob Collins, Ann B. Davis as Schultzy, Rosemary deCamp as Margaret, John Archer as Bill Lear,  Dwayne Hickman as Chuck, Marjorie Bennett as Mrs. Niemayer.  Special Guest Star Tania Velia as Herself.  Written by Paul Henning, Shirl Gordon and Dick Wesson.  Directed by Bob Cummings.

Series overview of LOVE THAT BOB a.k.a. THE BOB CUMMINGS SHOW at this link. 

Arriving at home, Bob Collins finds himself getting the royal treatment from Schultzy, Margaret and Mrs. Niemeyer.  Oh, yes, they want something--Bob to play the lead in their charity play.  Uninterested in playing opposite one of the venerable ladies in the mahjong club, Bob successfully farms the starring role off on buddy Bill Lear and pats himself on the back for it.  Until he finds out that the leading lady is Tania Velia, recruited from outside the club's membership.

This discovery greatly increases Bob's enthusiasm for the cause.  In fact,  he feels so strongly about it he reconsiders taking on the starring role.  Unfortunately for him, Bill isn't willing to concede the stage (wonder why?) and the ladies in the club are unanimously in agreement to move forward with "Lover Lips" Lear.  So Bob graciously steps aside and offers sincere support to the actors by taking on the decidedly menial task of being stage manager.

Yeah, right!!

For all of his now-quaint pickup lines and theatrical mannerisms, Bob Collins might have been the edgiest sitcom character of his decade; Sergeant Ernest T. Bilko and George "Kingfish" Stevens provided his only real competition.  Bilko and Kingfish were money-hungry; Bob's appetite ran towards the carnal.  But what gave LOVE THAT BOB an extra bit of subversion was a creative team (led by Executive Producer George Burns and Producer Paul Henning) that allowed the protagonist to often succeed in his nocturnal quests--even as he's officially receiving his "comeuppance".  Matter of fact, in Bob Gives S.R.O. Performance, he isn't rebuked at all, if you ask me.

Collins manipulates the ladies into accepting boring non actor Bill Lear as a romantic lead, and friend Lear into giving up his evenings and taking a long cab ride out of his way to rehearsals.  When the gig turns out to have unanticipated fringe benefits, Bob tries to weasel his way back in with tricks and double talk.  He later resorts to ruining an entire night's rehearsal (for a charity performance, mind you) and blatantly misrepresenting himself to an aspiring starlet at least fifteen years his junior ("Oh, yes, I've literally made hundreds of pictures") while plying her with wine.  Bob's punishment for his transgressions?  The ladies and Lear decide not to interrupt Bob--instead they sell tickets to the real show in progress.  So Bob sweeps the blonde beauty off her feet in front of 260 paying customers, not only getting his heart's desire but looking like a bigger stud than ever to a large crowd.  Yeah---paybacks are Hell, huh? 

The understudy!

LOVE THAT BOB offered a "who's who" of up and coming starlets like no other show of its era.  Within a single month in 1958, Angie Dickinson, Patricia Cutts, Joi Lansing, Lisa Gaye and Tania Velia all appeared as Bob's dates (fella gets around!).  Twenty-three year old Velia was making her television debut in Bob Gives S.R.O. Performance, eponymously playing a fictional version of herself (as Ingrid Goude and Anna Maria Alberghetti would in other episodes). 

Hold it!  I don't think Tania's likin' this picture!

A Yugoslavian refugee, Velia was reported to be a member of the Olympic swimming team who refused to return to her native country after a competition in Austria in 1955.  Fluent in six languages, Velia (born Tanja Ivelja in April 1935) sought asylum in the U.S., arriving in May 1956.  For Tania's introduction to American viewers, director Cummings gave her quite a showcase.  Starting with her legs, all that we saw of her as she stepped out of the shower to answer Schultzy's phone call.

Mr. Hefner on the line....

That view didn't escape screen Bob's notice, either, and the director elicits a laugh out loud moment via the trusty old "dream balloon sight gag" later.

Focusing on her gams was understandable, but Velia gets equal time for her other attributes.  A sultry singer, Tania makes a spotlighted entrance singing "Tame Me" to a leering Lear, and also elicits laughs as she initially erects an iron curtain of resistance for our photographer turned stagehand.  Twice a Playboy Playmate, Tania Velia later starred in THE FIEND OF DOPE ISLAND, toured the U.S. as a singer and recorded several Spanish language LP's during the Sixties.

Cockblocker of the week!

WHO WAS BLOCKING?

Schultzy, for her usual reasons.  We learn from her that Tania caught Bob's eye a couple of weeks before the play, and Schultzy knew this--but didn't tell him that she lives across the hall from Tania, since even after 125 episodes she's still pining for the boss.  Later, Bob tries to maneuver his way into driving Tania home from rehearsal--but guess who gets her in the car first?

DID BOB SCORE?

I'd say a resounding "yes" this time, after a slow start.  The last we saw of his titular performance, Bob appeared to be as big a hit with Ms. Velia as he was at the box office.  Not bad for a weeknight, and Bob says we shoulda caught him on the weekend before!

As I've noted previously, actor Bob Cummings was surprisingly assured behind the camera, and in Bob Gives S.R.O. Performance he again displays his knack for sight gags and his considerable skill in directing inexperienced actors.  The Henning/Gordon/Wesson team was a well-oiled machine throughout this fourth season, remarkably consistent at churning out laughs--particularly guilty ones.  Bob Gives S.R.O. Performance is yet another example of just how far producer Henning and director Cummings could go within the bounds of the obligatory circa 1958.  (**** out of four)

Publicity still for the episode

Bob Gives S.R.O. Performance is available, along with 39 other episodes (4 per DVD) at Shokus Home Video.

Television Review: HONDO: "Hondo and the Eagle Claw" (1967)

"Your lives are meaningless compared to Hondo!"






HONDO: "Hondo and the Eagle Claw"  (1967 ABC-TV/MGM/Batjac Productions) Episode 1; Original Air Date: September 8, 1967.  Starring Ralph Taeger as Hondo Lane, Noah Beery Jr. as Buffalo Baker, Kathie Browne as Angie Dow, Gary Clarke as Captain Richards, Michael Pate as Chief Vittoro, Buddy Foster as Johnny Dow, William Bryant as Colonel Crook. Guest starring Gary Merrill as General Sheridan, Jim Davis as Krantz, John Smith as Ed Dow, Victor Lundin as Silva, Robert Taylor as Gallagher, Michael Rennie as Tribolet.  Teleplay by Andrew J. Fenady.  Directed by Lee H. Katzin.

Series Overview and Introduction to our episode guide for the ABC TV series HONDO at this link

Traveling through Arizona territory with his dog Sam, half Apache/ex-Rebel Hondo Lane is surrounded by "blue belly" cavalrymen as he drowns his sorrows after yet another bar fight.  But the soldiers aren't coming to jail him--he's been summoned by his old Civil War adversary, General Sheridan.  Army brass is ready to offer Hondo a job as a scout aiding an effort to establish peaceful co-existence (and a treaty) with the tribe Lane once lived with.

It's an unusual request, since Hondo's Apache wife was killed years earlier in an army raid (Lane's motivation to fight against the North).  Hondo's battlefield exploits with the 7th in Texas became legend, but this isn't just an olive branch to a formidable foe. Lane's former father in law Vittoro is now the Chief of the Apache Nation, making Hondo the most trusted Army liasion possible to the tribe's leader.

While Lane respects Colonel Crook based on his knowledge of the man's history, Fort Lowell's Captain Richards isn't initially sold on the General's idea.  Even less thrilled to see Hondo's arrival at Lowell is Ed Dow, proprieter of the general store.  You'd think Ed would be grateful to the new scout after Hondo rescues Mrs. Dow and son Johnny from renegade Apaches (killing two) on his way to the Fort.  But no, the surly Mr. Dow only sees Lane as a wanted man with a price on his head--which Dow plots to collect, not knowing that those revenge seeking renegades (led by Silva) plan to get to Hondo first.

Writer Fenady lifted some dialogue directly from the 1953 feature (i.e. lines to the Dows about Sam) and is efficient in providing the exposition a pilot needs.  Hondo and the Eagle Claw sets the table briskly, with the next action scene never far away.  Producer Fenady cast top notch guest stars on a weekly basis, beginning here.  Genre stalwarts Jim Davis and Robert Taylor appear as miners (the former is unhappy with a lack of cavalry protection), with the latter getting some badassery with his fists and some family conflict as the biggest "name" in the cast at the time.  Michael Rennie plays a magnate eyeing the Dows' store, and Gary Merrill lends his usual gravitas to General Philip Sheridan (a role played by Fenady himself in the producer's previous hits, THE REBEL and BRANDED).

On his second go-round under contract to MGM (with stints at Paramount, Ziv and Fox in between) Ralph Taeger stepped into John Wayne's boots, given some of the Duke's original lines and the task of carrying the series.  A stoic, sturdy Humphrey Bogart soundalike, Taeger is very well cast as the laconic protagonist.  Beery provides cheery comic relief as Hondo's friend and fellow scout Buffalo. While nowhere near as imposing as Ward Bond, Beery's Baker is also supportive when necessary during the frequent fisticuffs.  In another small screen change, Browne (BONANZA) portrays a more refined Angie than Geraldine Page's. 

The nagging question with this otherwise well executed debut has to do with Hondo's introduction to Mr. Dow, which leads to the abusive husband's demise.  Ed Dow confronts Lane with a wanted poster--so why doesn't Hondo tell him about the full pardon he's already received from Sheridan?  Yeah, he's a man of few words, but Lane immediately told Captain Richards about it when the fort commander brought out the same poster earlier.  The reward is Dow's stated motivation when he and an accomplice ambush Hondo later, so this omission comes across as being a too-convenient way to set up Dow's death (and create a potential romantic interest for Lane by episode's end).

The tensest scene in John Farrow's film is also the most effective re-enactment from it in Hondo and the Eagle Claw.  Captured by vengeful Silva (whose brother Hondo killed while defending the Dows), Lane ends up staked in the desert and challenged with the Apache blood rite.  The ante is actually upped on TV's Hondo, who loses his shirt and also faces torture by hot coals instead of interrogation.  "Your dying will be slow and hard," Silva warns him.  (Well, if that happens, we won't have a second episode, now, will we?) 

RALPH TAEGER TRIVIA:

After HONDO's cancellation, Ralph Taeger's acting career stalled (he admitted years later that industry networking was not one of his strengths).  He made only sporadic TV appearances before leaving Hollywood for good, but not before he took part in a legendary classic.  In his penultimate television role, Taeger was cast in the infamous 1982 "lookalike drugs" episode from QUINCY, M.E.'s Hilarious Years, Bitter Pill.  Taeger is on the left (on the right, of course, the great Jack Klugman).

Taeger's appearance had changed considerably in 15 years.  Commendably, no denial of the aging process on his part.  Hondo Lane would have been proud.  Think Quincy could have used Hondo's help when he demolished Zagner's pill shop?

HONDO OPENED HOW MANY CANS OF WHOOPASS?

With his fists alone, five.  Hey, this was the tone setter.  Hondo punches two loudmouths through the window of the saloon and a breaks a table with a third before he even speaks.  Later, he dispatches poor loser Ed Dow at Buffalo's poker game and knocks a soldier into a water trough with a left hook, so Mr. Lane is a very busy man even before his showdown with Silva in the desert sun.

IS THE CANTINA STILL STANDING?

Fortunately for the oft-battered Fort Lowell cantina, Hondo's opening fisticuffs take place in an unnamed saloon elsewhere during a thunderstorm.  That locale suffers all the property damage--for now, anyway.  Part two will be a different story.

IT'S A DOG'S LIFE:

Sam growls at the bartender when he reaches for a gun instead of a bottle upon Hondo's two-fisted arrival.   Hondo consistently practices what might be considered tough love with his most loyal friend, insisting Sam catch his own dinner and warning little Johnny Dow not to pet him.  (More on the duo's dynamic in later installments.) Later, Hondo tells Sam to "get lost" in the desert, but for good reason---Silva just declared that he will kill "two white dogs".  Scene stealer Sam emerges from it all unscathed, which is the wisest of all of the changes from the 1953 original.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Hondo and the Eagle Claw is an effective introduction to the series and the challenges facing its terse titular character.  Fenady (BRANDED) and Katrin deliver the action expected from the source material, and the introduction of the Dows is as effective as the feature's.  This episode and Hondo and the War Cry provided the bulk of the footage for the feature Hondo and the Apaches, which was released theatrically overseas and ended up being the only Hondo Lane adventure that most would get to see on television in the 1970's and 1980's due to the much-noted scarcity of the original.   (*** out of four)


HONDO: THE COMPLETE SERIES is currently streaming at Warner Archive Instant.

MAVERICK Mondays: "The Spanish Dancer" (1958)

MAVERICK Mondays: Number 15







MAVERICK: "The Spanish Dancer" (1958 Warner Brothers/ABC-TV) Original Air Date: December 28, 1958.  Starring Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, Richard Long as Gentleman Jack Darby, Adele Mara as Elena Grande, Robert Bray as John Wilson, Tony Romano as Raoul Onate, Slim Pickens as Jed, Ben Morris as Harry, Mark Tapscott as Charlie, John Mitchum as Miner.  Directed by James V. Kern.  Teleplay by Robert Schaefer, Eric Freiwald and Robert Smith; Story by Edward Seabrook, Homer McCoy and Oscar Millard.


Dancer Elena Grande arrives to provide entertainment at the New Mexico mining town where Maverick and Darby have teamed to auction supplies to the prospectors.  The temporary salesmen both take a shine to Grande while she cuts a deal to perform at the saloon owned by a third potential suitor, Wilson.  Miss Grande holds a grudge against gringos and prefers to keep the business arrangement platonic (she's raising the money to build her own cantina).  Still, gringos Wilson, Maverick and Darby are undeterred: all three continue attempts to woo her.

In an effort to eliminate his competition, Wilson makes a $5,000 offer for the entire wagon of supplies.  That offer rejected, Wilson next attempts to bankrupt Maverick in a poker game--another failure that ends with Bart and Darby gaining control of Wilson's Blue Rock Mine.  When that mine turns out to be flooded, Wilson appears to have the last laugh--and Maverick's troubles deepen when Darby mysteriously disappears after publicly brawling with his business partner over Elena.

The Spanish Dancer is yet another winner from the landmark second season of MAVERICK.  Six writers collaborated on this twisting tale, which was re-worked as an episode of THE ALASKANS a season later (with future MAVERICK Roger Moore taking the Kelly role).

Efrem Zimbalist Jr.'s availability to play Dandy Jim Buckley became limited after 77 SUNSET STRIP premiered--in fact, he made his final MAVERICK appearance (Shady Deal at Sunny Acres) the month before The Spanish Dancer aired.  In anticipation of the inevitable, Richard Long was introduced as Gentleman Jack Darby, becoming the first and most popular in a long line of Buckley surrogates.

Gentleman Jack's debut, Alias Bart Maverick, established Darby as essentially the same character as Buckley: assuming Bart's identity to escape reward seekers.  It was a script that probably was could have been written for Dandy Jim and Bret and filmed with Bart and Darby by changing only the names.  After briefly (his cameo lasts 20 seconds) assisting Bart in Denver during the Shady Deal, Long is able to establish his own identity as Gentleman Jack in The Spanish Dancer.

Darby's romantic interest in Grande (and stated weakness for the titular "type" in general) is unique to his character--Buckley's mind was always on the money.   Much more honorable in this return trip, Jack Darby is Bart's amicable business partner here, with their friendly cooperation in a remote mining town recalling Bart's arrangement with Buckley in High Card Hangs.  At least, they're completely friendly until Elena's arrival.  Long was popular enough in the role to be the only recurring foil from the Huggins Era to remain after Coles Trapnell took over as producer for the third season (returning for The Goose-Drownder).

The Spanish Dancer was the only series appearance for Bray (LASSIE), who comes across as more of a sore loser than a powerful bully.  Bray's an acceptable adversary, but the real standout in the guest cast is Mrs. Huggins herself, Adele Mara.  Elena Grande is the most intriguing of her MAVERICK characters, and she gets a better showcase for her formidable dancing talents than she had in Seed of Deception.

The episode was the first of three MAVERICKs for both Slim Pickens (amusingly the Judge in the camp's court) and director James V. Kern, who excels at staging Bart's fistfights with Darby and his muddy wrestling match with Wilson.  Kern makes other visually interesting choices (i.e. bookending the episode with Mara's dancing silhouette).  The director would get his chance to stage a deception utilizing both Maverick brothers in the very next outing, Game of Chance.

HOW'D BART DO AT POKER?

A full house beats a flush, and gives him a $5,000 pot in the only hand we see.

WISDOM FROM PAPPY?

No wise fatherly advice this time around, though Bart has a line worthy of Pappy.  "Money can't buy you friends. Money can't buy you happiness. Money can't buy you peace of mind. Confederate money, that is."

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Nicely developed con game almost rivals Shady Deal at Sunny Acres.  The Spanish Dancer keeps the audience guessing about Elena Grande's true affections right up to the explosive denouement, which is one of the show's most memorable.  Bret and Dandy Jim aren't missed--Bart and Gentleman Jack handle this intriguing tale nicely without them, with the always stunning Mara in support and Pickens providing extra laughs.  (***1/2 out of four)

Gratuitous pic of Adele.  You knew this was coming.

MAVERICK currently airs Monday through Friday at 1 PM Central/2 PM Eastern without commercial interruption on Encore Westerns, and every Sunday night at 10 PM Central/11 PM Eastern on COZI TV.

HONDO (1967): TV's Unlikely Syndication Success

HONDO (1967 ABC-TV/MGM/Batjac Productions) Starring Ralph Taeger as Hondo Lane, Noah Beery Jr. as Buffalo Baker, Kathie Browne as Angie Dow, Gary Clarke as Captain Richards, Michael Pate as Chief Vittoro, Buddy Foster as Johnny Dow, William Bryant as Colonel Crook. Produced by Andrew J. Fenady.


Warner Archive Instant is a true reservoir of television history, with the likes of DAKTARI, 77 SUNSET STRIP and SURFSIDE 6 among the 1960's hits available.  The service also offers a wealth of prime time's unsung--shows like MAYA, LUCAN and THE MAN FROM ATLANTIS, all rarely seen since network cancellation.

One of WA's one season wonders is a little less obscure than the rest.  Premiering on September 8, 1967, it vanished from prime time for good by New Year's Eve that year.  But in between HONDO's brief life in ABC's Friday night lineup 48 years ago and its current Roku return, the hour-long western became perhaps the most unusual success story in U.S. television history.

In adapting the 1953 John Wayne vehicle for series TV, producer Andrew J. Fenady (THE REBEL) fleshed out Hondo Lane's backstory.  Like his big screen counterpart, he's half Apache and a widower who once lived with the tribe and his bride, Destarte.  However, TV's Hondo saw his wife killed in a Cavalry raid, and afterward the embittered Lane sought revenge against those he held responsible--the U.S. Army.  Hondo joined the Confederates and wreaked havoc on Union forces--as General Sheridan observed in the pilot, Lane "spent more time behind our lines than he did his own".  After the war's end Hondo wanders the southwest, still mourning his personal loss and often drunk, disorderly and arrested.  Lane's lone traveling companion is his equally scruffy and independent dog Sam.

It is when Hondo drifts back into Arizona territory that his old adversary Colonel Crook offers an olive branch, and a job with the U.S. cavalry.  Lane reluctantly agrees to operate out of Captain Richards' Fort Lowell and assist in peace talks with his former father-in-law who is now the Apache Chief--Vittoro (Michael Pate, reprising his film role).  

In other changes, Fenady renamed the Lowes (now the Dows) and moved Angie and her son from a ranch to Fort Lowell's general store.  Hondo rescues them from renegades in the pilot episode, but Mrs. Dow's abusive husband Ed is shockingly ungrateful.  However, Mr. Dow's surliness is short-lived, and (SPOILER ALERT!) so is he--the storekeeper's greed costs him his life by episode's end.  A mutual attraction between widower Lane and widow Dow is soon obvious, but slow to develop since both are still in stages of the grieving process (obviously, "anger" took awhile for Hondo). 

The task of following legendary John Wayne in the title role went to sturdy Ralph Taeger.  Never the most expressive performer, Taeger's understated approach made him very well cast as the brooding, unpoised Hondo Lane.  Taeger's stoicism was countered amusingly by Noah Beery's animated take on Buffalo Baker.  Baker had been played by burly Ward Bond in the film; for the HONDO series, Fenady made Buffalo a more traditional sidekick.  The physical contrast between 6'3" Taeger and 5'11" Beery assisted this goal as effectively as their respective acting styles.

Healing, redemption and revenge were recurring themes of the scripts, and the premise of gruff loner Lane seeking closure with his past while trying to prevent present (and future) bloodshed lent itself to many interesting scenarios.  In addition to dealing with Apache renegades and would-be bounty hunters in the opener, Hondo and Sam would meet bandits, land grabbers, crooked politicians, vigilantes and con men.  Would Taeger's third try (after KLONDIKE and ACAPULCO) at headlining in prime time be the charm for the actor?

Hey, Gary Clarke DOES look a little like Stuntman Mike!

Not in 1967--at least, not on Friday nights at 8:30 ET.  CBS' GOMER PYLE, U.S.M.C. was a ratings juggernaut (3rd overall) and NBC's STAR TREK had already established a devoted following in its second season.  With few viewers left over for the freshman ABC entry, HONDO premiered at 77th place out of 91 shows in the opening Nielsen report, with the slow start resulting in a quick hook from the network in mid-November after only nine shows had aired.

Could HONDO have succeeded in a better time slot?  In an era that saw the less interesting IRON HORSE (also on ABC) and LANCER make it to sophomore seasons, it seems very possible.  Slow builds weren't that uncommon--MANNIX was a mere 65th out of 91 shows in that same report.  Despite the subpar early Nielsens, HONDO seemed to be well received by the few who were watching in the fall of 1967. 

Broadcasting's November 6, 1967 issue reported HONDO was among the top five new programs in TVQ ranking.  Viewers also voiced strong support to syndicated columnist Clarke Williamson.  In the February 8, 1968 edition of Top View Williamson remarked that "the axed HONDO scored the highest (approval) rating of all Westerns (82.5), even topping venerable favorites GUNSMOKE (79.6) and BONANZA (78.5)"!  The column featured a number of letters received from viewers across the country praising the show as one of TV's best and panning ABC's cancellation. 

CANCELLED???  Lemme at 'em!!!!

In a subsequent Top View (March 6, 1968) Williamson wrote that 79 percent of all readers polled voted to bring HONDO back, including a majority of all age groups--the only freshman series on the 1967-68 Fall schedule to receive such broad support.  The columnist wrote that ABC programming executives were notified of the poll, but predictably, to no avail.  No wonder ABC was in last place annually throughout the decade.

They'd better study it!

Even before the series left the air there were indications that word of mouth was favorable for this Friday night underdog.  Syndicated columnist Ernie Kreiling reported in his December 21, 1967 A Closer Look at Television that "ironically, once ABC cancelled HONDO its ratings started to rise"; Kreiling opined that the network's cancellation "might have been hasty". 

The December Nielsen ratings supported Kreiling's contention.  The first installment to air after the cancellation was announced, Hondo and the Comancheros, produced the best numbers since the start of the season with a 15.4 rating/26.1 share, beating STAR TREK's 12.7 rating/21.4 share on 11/10/67 .   The series finale (Hondo and the Rebel Hat) posted a 15.3 rating and 26.1 share on December 29th.  The second half-hour, after PYLE gave way to the CBS MOVIE, had shares of 26 and 28.6 in the final two airings (ratings of 15.4 and 16.6).  These numbers likely would have resulted in a full season order had they only arrived two months earlier. 

HONDO's overall rating had increased by 21% since the first September report, and its share was up by 19%.  The series had shown steady improvement but unfortunately, it was too little, too late--no reprieve was forthcoming.  Instead, the struggling network (which claimed only four of Nielsen's top 30 at the time) put HONDO in mothballs, where it remained for the next two decades.

From Hondo and the Sudden Town

Until the cable explosion of the Eighties, that is.  Ted Turner acquired MGM's television library for the launch of TNT on October 3, 1988.  That library was quickly mined: on June 3, 1989 TNT began a programming block of short-lived classic westerns on Saturday mornings, with THE TRAVELS OF JAMIE McPHEETERS (starring Charles Bronson and a twelve year old Kurt Russell) and HOW THE WEST WAS WON (with James Arness) joining HONDO in the lineup.

HONDO had the fewest episodes of the three, and lacked the star power of the others (Taeger was retired from acting and running a firewood business) but it was the show that caught on, attracting a loyal cult following that merited notice from the Wall Street Journal.  In the August 9, 1991 issue, a Journal article on TNT cited HONDO as "one of cable's most successful resurrections", ranking as the network's fifth-most watched regular program.

HONDO didn't stop there, remaining a staple of TNT's weekend for a full decade. On occasion, TNT aired two episodes back to back.  Quite a feat with only 17 installments available for viewing.  Four years after the Wall Street Journal article, Noel Holston wrote about the show's longevity in its second life in his Minneapolis Star Tribune column on May 26, 1995, citing the 500,000 viewers who were "getting up at 7 A.M. and watching every Saturday morning".  Holston estimated that the show was in its twentieth cycle--and even then, HONDO still had four more years left to run.

By May 28, 1999, when HONDO finally left the network's Saturday lineup, each segment had been shown on TNT thirty-one times.
 

Started him up, and he just wouldn't stop......

How did HONDO secure such a devoted audience so many years later?  My thoughts:

Batjac's business practices.  The original John Wayne feature was held out of circulation by his heirs for many years, rarely shown on television and unreleased on VHS until 1994, which only enhanced HONDO's status as a highly sought after Duke classic.  The film's scarcity was even central to the plot of two different MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN episodes, and that unavailability probably helped the HONDO series once it began airing for the first time in a generation.  Hondo Lane's adventures had a ready-made audience that remembered and missed the Wayne original, and that demographic was often in front of the TV watching westerns on Saturdays.

Sam.  Kids were also in front of the TV on Saturday mornings, and a live action series with a loyal, scene stealing dog helped attract pre-teens.  Particularly when Sam was edgier than most.  Rough, tough and self-sufficient like his owner, never far from the action, but not possessing the almost human powers of a Lassie that older children would find silly.  Sam and Hondo's relationship also had more bite (as in the original film, Hondo keeps telling Sam to find his own food!) than the often sappy human/animal bonds depicted in competing shows intentionally aimed at that age group.

Or, perhaps it's just because Marie Gomez guest starred on one of the 17 episodes; hey, a six percent chance of seeing her is reason enough to shake off your Saturday morning hangover and tune in, right? 


Marie Gomez in "Hondo and the Comancheros"

Of course there's also the most obvious reason: HONDO was a good show all along that just needed a fighting chance to be discovered.  Once TNT gave it that opportunity a generation ago, television's Hondo Lane belatedly found a following.  Now, HONDO has a chance to reach a new generation in the Roku Age.  We might even get the long-awaited DVD release of the complete series!  (Hint, hint)  As you've probably guessed by now, The Horn Section will be taking you through each episode in the coming months.

HONDO: THE COMPLETE SERIES is streaming via Warner Archive Instant if you'd like to follow along as the episode guide unfolds.