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The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. was a short-lived western television series with science fiction elements, starring Bruce Campbell as Brisco County Jr., an ex-Harvard lawyer turned bounty hunter. It could be considered a thematic descendant of the 1960s show The Wild Wild West, since it combined elements of the science fiction and Western genres. It was one of the few western shows aired in the 1990s.
For much of its run, the series revolved around County's quest to bring to justice the infamous John Bly Gang who murdered his father. Along the way, he gets into a series of seriocomic adventures involving fantastic villains, beautiful women, and a mysterious brilliant golden sphere known as "The Orb." The Orb's paradoxical nature and seemingly supernatural power is the driving force behind 2/3rds of the series.
The series featured a mix of tongue-in-cheek, self-referential humor (A running joke throughout the series was that County could actually understand the neighing of his beloved horse, Comet) and real drama, usually centered around County's troubled relationship with his late father and his growing fear that he will never be able to settle down.
In addition to Campbell, the show also starred Julius Carry as County's rival/partner Lord Bowler (a.k.a. James Lonefeather), and Christian Clemenson as his milquetoast sidekick Socrates Poole. Kelly Rutherford guest-starred in several episodes as County's love interest, Dixie Cousins, as did Billy Drago as his mysterious archnemesis John Bly, and John Astin as Professor Wickwire, an eccentric inventor who supplied him with wacky gadgets that were precursors to modern inventions, such as a motorcycle or a hot air balloon.
The series ran for 27 episodes from August 27, 1993 to May 20, 1994 on the FOX television network on Fridays at 8pm, otherwise known as the Friday night death slot, just before The X-Files which also made its debut in 1993.
Though the show only lasted one season, the series' majestic theme song composed by Randy Edelman found a new life as part of NBC's sports productions, namely during NBC broadcasts of the World Series and the Olympic Games (played while announcing the upcoming events).
The show was later broadcast in syndication airing on the U.S. cable channel Turner Network Television (TNT) from January 1996 to January 2001, but has only been rebroadcast sporadically since. The series is scheduled to be released on DVD in 2006. On November 16, 2005, AOL and Warner Bros. announced that the series would be included in their new In2TV online television network, and available for viewing online.
The series featured several notable character actors in cameo roles, including: R. Lee Ermey as the ghost of County's father; Sheena Easton as a rival bounty hunter; Jane Sibbett as a Norman Bates-like murderess; Terry Bradshaw as a rogue colonel who gives orders to his men like a quarterback; Timothy Leary as a Harvard Professor, and M.C. Gainey as Bly's right-hand man, who is seemingly killed in the pilot episode only to return later in the series with superhuman powers, courtesy of the Orb.
DVD Release
On March 28, 2006, Warner Bros. Home Video announced that a 8-disc DVD set containing the complete series of The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. would be released on July 18, 2006. The set is scheduled to include commentary tracks from Bruce Campbell and Carlton Cuse; an interactive menu of Brisco's signature references narrated by Campbell; The History of Brisco County, Jr. documentary; a feature called A Reading from the Book of Bruce; and another gallery hosted by Campbell focusing on the gadgets from the show.
Episode list
Each episode ran for 1 hour (with commercials).
SEASON I
| Episode | First airdate | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| "Pilot - part 1" | August 27, 1993 | |
| "Pilot - part 2" | August 27, 1993 | |
| "The Orb Scholar" | September 3, 1993 | |
| "No Man's Land" | September 10, 1993 | |
| "Brisco in Jalisco" | September 17, 1993 | |
| "Socrates' Sister" | September 24, 1993 | |
| "Riverboat" | October 1, 1993 | |
| "Pirates" | October 8, 1993 | |
| "Senior Spirit" | October 15, 1993 | |
| "Brisco for the Defense" | October 22, 1993 | |
| "Showdown" | October 29, 1993 | |
| "Deep in the Heart of Dixie" | November 5, 1993 | |
| "Crystal Hawks" | November 12, 1993 | |
| "Steel Horses" | November 19, 1993 | |
| "Mail Order Brides" | December 10, 1993 | |
| "A.K.A. Kansas" | December 17, 1993 | |
| "Bounty Hunter's Convention" | January 7, 1994 | |
| "Fountain of Youth" | January 14, 1994 | |
| "Hard Rock" | February 4, 1994 | |
| "Brooklyn Dodgers" | February 11, 1994 | |
| "Bye Bly" | February 18, 1994 | |
| "Ned Zed" | March 11, 1994 | |
| "Stagecoach" | April 1, 1994 | |
| "Wild Card" | April 8, 1994 | |
| "And Baby Makes Three" | April 22, 1994 | |
| "Bad Luck Betty" | April 29, 1994 | |
| "High Treason - part 1" | May 13, 1994 | |
| "High Treason - part 2" | May 20, 1994 |
External links
- TV.com Page
- The Ultimate Brisco County, Jr. Guidebook
- Charles McGrew's Brisco Page (archived on www.waybackmachine.org)
- Rosa's Saloon
- DVD Talk's Review of The Complete Series
1990s TV shows in the United States | Fox network shows | Science fiction Westerns | Science fiction television series | Steampunk | Western television series | TV shows produced/distributed by Warner Brothers
"The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr."