Once upon a time, the guy who played Ash from the Evil Dead movies and Sho Nuff from The Last Dragon played cowboys and science adventurers in what would become one of the odder cult hits on Fox. That would be The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., whose single season across 27 episodes gave us Bruce Campbell as the titular wise-cracking bounty hunter on the trail of weird West criminals.
As it went on, the series got stranger and more cosmic, making its cancellation after its first season all the more unfortunate.
The pilot’s been online for about a month now, courtesy of YouTube user Jones Bob, offering a glimpse at what was so weird and interesting about the show. A lot of it is right there in the 93-minute pilot: Campbell nails the character early on, and his cantankerous rapport with fellow bounty hunter Lord Bowler (Julius Carry) feels easy and unforced.
Enjoy it, because we’ll never get another like it.
I also loved this show. And I also own the DVD set. Why does Fox hate just plain good shows in general, as does SyFy (SciFi((sorry Wil Wheaton)).
I remember my delight when I stumbled across this inspired weirdness. As I recall, R Lee Ermey was Brisco Jr’s the famous lawman father. Perfect.
It actually took me a couple of episodes of thinking, “Where do I know this guy from?” at the beginning of “Burn Notice” before the coin finally dropped in the slot. (Had the same experience as one of the handful of people watching “Miami Vice” from the pilot on, trying to place Don Johnson. Four ep’s in, I startled my mother across the living room by suddenly slapping my forehead and blurting out, “Of course–‘A Boy and His Dog’! Gah!”)
Another awful case of a show being cancelled too early, in my opinion. And if the theme song sounds familiar, that’s because it’s still being used by NBC Sports to this day (not as much as in the 90s, but I know I heard it at least once during the recent Olympics).
Loved this show!
Keen Eddie…. Human Target…. Almost Human…… I still think fringe only lasted as long as it did because Anna torve is Rupert Murdoch’s niece and in the back of some guys mind they didn’t want to be the guy to pull the plug on it.
to be sure though there are dozens of great shows killed for lack of a champion at the network and just as many crap shows that survive by inertia alone
I don’t know if this is true, but I heard that Fox had a revolving door of TV chiefs, so the person who green lit Brisco, wasn’t around for the full season. I have the DVD’s of Brisco, Firefly, the Ben stiller show, and Action. There have been a lot of of talent on Fox shows, but fox lets them move on. #NoPatience
Actually, a podcast about this show just started up!
http://introbrisco.blogspot.ca/
The question isn’t “Why does Fox hate sci-fi westerns so much?” but rather Why Does FOX Hate All Shows That Aren’t ’24’ or ‘Glee’?
This and Jack of All Trades were the bomb!
I’ve watched this with my dad!
Make a movie version? Much as I would love to see such a thing, the time is 20 years past. Julius Carrey is dead. The chemistry of Brisco and Bowler is a lot of what made this series work. Bruce Campbell is getting a little long in the tooth to play Brisco. Kelly Rutherford is pretty well-preserved, but also a bit old to be the sexy young saloon singer. Yes, they could recast it, but I cringe at the thought of a High School Musical version of Brisco County.
Hey Hollywood try making a movie version of this show. Now you got a series! And SCIFI network why have you not rerun this series?
Bearclaw?
MY FAVORITE SHOW.
Why does Fox hate sci-fi westerns so much?
One of my favorite shows, ever. I own the entire season (series) on DVD and watch it every once in a while for a refresher. Bruce Campbell at his finest, with a GREAT library of supporting characters.