MovieChat Forums > Wagon Train (1957) Discussion > Am a little surprised how much of a non-...

Am a little surprised how much of a non-action Soap Opera this is

posted 3 years ago by snepts (11123)
6 replies | jump to latest

I'm late to the TV Western appreciation club, but I like them (to varying degree) quite a lot.
I'm glad I get a steady diet of Gunsmoke on MeTV and also get a big kick out of Richard Boone on Have Gun-Will Travel. Really enjoyed Laramie when I ran into it on some Western channel, and most of them are enjoyable.
But I notice Wagon Train seems to always revolve around some personal conflict among the Train members, some kind of emotional situation that needs to be resolved with good sense and thoughtfulness, instead of bad guys getting ready to jump the good guys and some action to decide who prevails.
I prefer the action model, when it comes to a Western. Yes, we need to vary the approach and not follow a simple action formula, but all this drama between wives and husbands, fathers and sons, preachers and frontiersmen, etc., just isn't very fun to watch.
I thought Wagon Train was a venerable series in a Western vein, but it seems more like a Soap Opera done as a Western.

[–] joi2049 (5629) 2 years ago

The stories are "character driven" which is also why the show was the NUMBER ONE WESTERN back when it first aired.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagon_Train

Wagon Train is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). Wagon Train debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings

🤠

[–] April-151-CT (10210) 2 years ago

Robert Fuller 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

[–] snepts (11123) 2 years ago

They feature a lot of Robert Horton for the first few years, and apparently he and Ward Bond didn't get along at all.
Horton and Fuller are pretty similar but I can see how someone might like Fuller more.
I liked him on Laramie a lot, (an easy-going wise guy when he didn't have to use his fists), then when I saw he was a doctor on Emergency, I was impressed he had a bigger career than I might have thought at first.

[–] Costumer (1834) 2 years ago

Wagon Train was an anthology show. While it had a standard group of continuing characters, the intent was stories revolving around guest stars. At the time this was considered the most sophisticated form of TV storytelling. Drama was the basis of the show, not action.

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[–] snepts (11123) 2 years ago

I'm sure there are ways to frame it as doing what it sets out to, but it just isn't very interesting to watch, for me.
I don't think I'm some action craving dummy, and I'm glad for whoever enjoys the show. Just wanted to mention how surprised I have been after seeing a few episodes that this was the formula they followed.

But there was one episode with June Lockhart as the mother of a half-breed baby who gets pressure to leave the child with a nearby Indian reservation, and it was extremely touching how she argued to keep her child against a lot of push back. Almost makes me tear up just thinking about it.

[–] Costumer (1834) 2 years ago

Oh, I wasn't trying to denigrate your taste. Everyone's is different and none are right or wrong. I was just trying to give a little historic information on the show.

Author of the Sodality Universe
The Road from Antioch
In the Markets of Tyre
Flight to Lystra
The Theater at Ephesus
The Council on Jerusalem (coming 2023)