Review of Have Gun - Will Travel

If there was ever a western that verily defined an era, this was it. Remember that in the 50s westerns were a dime a dozen. Aaron Spelling, who fostered a Hollywood dynasty years later (Charlies Angels) broke into the game by selling TV a package of forgettable westerns that he produced so cheaply (in Ringo, for example, he made the lead actor sing his own theme song)that it was impossible NOT to make money. But this show was not of that ilk. HAVE GUN was different. The scripts, acting, direction, tone were all highbrow (for the day). Boone was an older, seasoned, actor who made this character his own and held his own with the young upstarts (think Clint Eastwood) of the day. Details were given care -- in one episode Boone suggests to an antagonist that he withdraw from the gunfight not only because he (Boone) is faster but because he has the better gun! (Boone's gun is rifled, with a longer barrel, making it more accurate but also potentially slowing the draw -- critics of the era used to joke that Boone had the slowest draw on network TV). In short, this excellent series is something that no producer currently grinding out a living in Hollywood will be able to resist trying to re-create, and therefore ruin. Only a matter of time.