Still Real After All These Years: The Real McCoys

 

I found out today that the final two seasons of The Real McCoys went on sale in August.  I also found out that they are sold out already.  Why did I just now find out about this Amazon, when you have a record of me buying the other four seasons?  Isn’t your “recommendations” supposed to be the best system on the internet?

So I just checked again, and they now say available in 5 to 11 days.  I guess that’s narrowing it down, right Mr. McFeely’s Speedy Delivery?

Season Six would be a curiosity piece at best since that was the year they killed off Kate and shipped the kids out, thus totally wrecking the show.  Even in the sixties TV Executives were a bunch of know-it-all dumbasses.  Decades later, and nothing has changed.  But I still want it, because I always like to complete a set of my Classic Series when possible. 

If you are unfamiliar with the series, as I’m sure many of you are Read On.

From Wikipedia, my favorite source of infallible information:

The Real McCoys revolves around the lives of a mountain family who originally hailed from fictional Smokey Corners, West Virginia. The McCoys moved to California and became dirt farmers.

The family consisted of Grandpa Amos McCoy (Walter Brennan); his grandson Luke (Richard Crenna), Luke's new bride Kate (Kathy Nolan), Luke's teenage sister Hassie (Lydia Reed), and his 11-year-old brother, Little Luke (Michael Winkelman).



The double-naming of the brothers was explained in the first episode by the elder Luke: Because their parents were so excited over the birth of the younger boy, "they forgot all about me!" Only Crenna was in every episode.



The McCoys' farm had previously been owned by an uncle, Ben McCoy, who died. The former West Virginians joined the Grange farm association and acquired a Mexican farm hand named Pepino Garcia, played by the Puerto Rican-born Tony Martinez.

In the episode which aired on January 8, 1962, Pepino becomes an American citizen and takes the surname name "McCoy".

The McMichaels, a brother and sister combination played by Andy Clyde and Madge Blake in twenty-nine and twenty-one episodes, respectively, lived on the hill not far from the McCoys. Amos McCoy and George MacMichael, both rather devious individuals, would sometimes quarrel, particularly over their games of checkers.



Kate was friendly with Flora McMichael, George's sister, and became involved with life in the community. Though still in her twenties, Kate served as a mother figure for Luke's younger siblings, Hassie and Little Luke, and one episode shows her bewilderment in trying to entice the children to take responsibility for their school studies.

Many episodes have a moral theme consistent with the conservative views of Walter Brennan, such as two 1957 segments entitled "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man" with Joseph Kearns, later of Dennis the Menace, and "Gambling Is a Sin," in which Amos allows a casino to advertise on McCoy property before the ethics of the matter is brought to his attention.

Other such episodes are "Go Fight City Hall", "The Taxman Cometh," "You Can't Always Be a Hero", "You Never Get Too Old," "Where There's a Will", "Beware a Smart Woman", "Money in the Bank", "How to Win Friends," "You're As Young As You Feel", "Honesty Is the Best Policy", and "Never a Lender Be".

I must have them.  So hopefully they’ll still be around come next pay day.  Season Two, after having been out of print for a while is now available with the same waiting period.  Season One is still showing “not available.”  But I suspect they may finally reissue it because the price gougers who were charging over $100 and they are nowhere to be found.

I highly recommend the series because after watching the first four seasons, I found them to be much more entertaining then I remember from back when I was five or six or eight or whatever it was.  Meaning, I didn’t really remember a damn thing about them except for the “divining rod” episode which is mentioned in the Wikipedia article.

And if nothing else, it is my honest opinion that Kate McCoy (Kathleen Nolan) was the hottest farm wife to ever grace your TV screen and that’s reason enough to own this set.  I’m sure you’ll agree.



Of the original cast, only Kathy Nolan and Lydia Reed survive.  Brennan died in 1974 at the age of 80, Crenna passed away in 2003 at age 76, and Tony Martinez in 2002 in Las Vegas at age 82.  Michael Winkelman, who also served in Veitenam, would die at the age of 53 in Riverside, California.

Anyway, if you’re familiar or curious, you might invest in at least a season or two because don’t count on them coming back if they disappear this time.  I’ve been waiting about five years or so for these final seasons so that should give you a clue.  And you won’t be shortchanged.  Although the price may seem steep, remember there were 30 episodes or more in a season in those days.  Plenty of entertainment in that deal.  Use the picture of the DVD set at the top of the page for a link.

Will Greatest American Hero Rise From The Dead?

The Greatest American hero was a show that ran on ABC from 1981 to 1983. It was initially quite popular but its growth was stunted when the usual network meddling sealed its doom. 

ABC moved it around in the schedule so often during its final season that it should have had a travel Visa.

Now Fox is considering reviving it. And with the right cast members it just might work. But we'll take a wait and see attitude as to whether it even gets done.  This has been talked about before in one form or another and nothing ever came of it.

I love the original series myself and own it on DVD. You can now buy it at a much much lower price than what I paid for it on Amazon originally. Turn off your ad blocking use the inserted ad if you're interested.  I may make five or ten cents in the process, which would be the first commission I’ve made in months.

The show starred William Katt, whom you may remember as Carrie's doomed date at the prom.  He also costarred with his mother Barbara Hale as the son of Paul Drake in the Perry Mason movies. And besides Carrie, he costarred in the movie First Love with Susan Dey.  (Use the links to see what I had to say about those films.)

The show also starred Robert Culp and Connie Selleca.

From Variety:

“Hero” had a bumpy run starting as a midseason entry for ABC in March 1981.  But the show remains well-loved among TV buffs for its offbeat mix of comedy and fantasy. The original starred William Katt as a goofy high school teacher who has an alien encounter in the desert one night that leaves him in possession of a red jump suit that gives him superpowers including the ability to fly.

In short order, he loses the suit’s instruction manual and falls in with an FBI agent who persuades him to help fight crime despite his trouble in figuring out how to work the suit. Robert Culp nearly stole the show from Katt in the role of FBI agent Bill Maxwell in the original series — a character so out-there he would occasionally be seen eating dog biscuits straight from a Milkbone box, without generating any comment from other characters. Connie Sellecca, future co-star of ABC’s “Hotel,” played Katt’s sympathetic girlfriend.

“Hero” was known to have been one of the prolific Cannell’s favorite shows from his long run in TV. It marked the first series to get on the air after Cannell struck out as an independent producer following his long tenure at Universal Television, where he co-created the indelible “Rockford Files” and worked on many other shows. Fox took control of the Cannell Prods. library in 1997 with its purchase of New World Communications. (Cannell died in 2010.)

“Hero” yielded a hit record for singer Joey Scarbury with its theme song “Believe It or Not.” But as noted in “The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present,” the series had the misfortune of giving Katt’s character, Ralph Hinkley, the same last name as John Hinckley, the man who shot President Reagan just two weeks after “Hero’s” premiere. The character’s name was hastily shortened to “Mr. H” in the classroom.

At one time there was talk of a theatrical feature based on the series but that never came about. Let's hope something comes of this. Let's also hope it's done as well as the original if it gets done at all. You know how these things go.  And like I said if you can catch the original please do so. You will be entertained.

The Variety article also talks about a possible remake of The Twilight Zone (again) and Remington Steele the show that launched the career of Pierce Brosnan. My thoughts? No, we don't need another rehash of the Rod Serling classic when the original is just that perfect. No, I don't care if they do Remington Steele or not.  I didn’t watch it then, I probably won’t watch it now.


There's also been talk this week of reviving Full House. Gag me with a maggot.