Outlaws

"Outlaws" was a very charming show while it lasted. It was the "A-Team" with Western attire and time-travel mixed in. Maybe the upcoming Summer 2011 movie "Cowboys & Aliens" will have the same Western-plus-SF charm.

Things I remember:

Rod Taylor talking ruefully about how everyone he ever knew (a century ago) was now dead and buried.

Also, the time the team rented horses at an urban-park riding stable so they could chase the fleeing bad guys: "Now don't run the horses," the stable manager admonished. "Yeah, right," our heroes replied before galloping off at top speed. (Because horses are for running. Every horse person knows that.)

But the thing I liked best in "Outlaws" was the music score by Joseph Conlan. It was an exceptional Western score, with many facets--rousing action, wistfulness, Americana. I always try to champion this score, and hope someday one of the soundtrack CD companies specializing in old scores will give it a chance.

The TV movie 'Outlaws' and its ensuing TV series are an interesting example of how a good idea for a one-off story can't always be sustained as an ongoing series.

The TV movie kicked off in the Old West, in 1886 ... actually rather late for the Old West, since most of the legendary desperadoes had died or retired by this point. Lawman John Grail is trying to arrest four tough hombres, not worried about the fact that he's outnumbered. Suddenly a weirdly glowing blue ring drops out of the sky and envelops the five men and their horses. Next thing they know, they've travelled into the future precisely one hundred years. (Which ought to tip off the audience that the time-hole is somebody's invention, not a fluke of nature.) None of these men have criminal records in the year 1986, so Grail -- with surprising ease -- convinces them to become crime-fighters.

As I say, an interesting idea for a one-off. Over the course of a weekly series, this idea became difficult to sustain. None of these men have Social Security numbers or other I.D. in the year 1986. How are they going to earn a living, much less find a place to stable their horses? What happens when they run out of bullets for their 19th-century firearms? It would be more plausible if all of them -- including honest Grail -- became criminals in the modern era, as they've got to eat, and they have no way to earn a living honestly.

In its brief run, 'Outlaws' managed to get considerable mileage out of the 'fish out of water' theme. Richard Roundtree was authoritative and plausible as 'Ice', the most cold-blooded of the bandits. Rod Taylor, alas, was more plausible when he was fighting Morlocks and Tippi Hedren. There was some extremely annoying dialogue, not least the steady anachronisms in the speechifying of these 19th-century varmints who sounded like they'd been raised in the late 20th century. There was also a *really* annoying mantra which the bandits implausibly recited, exactly the same way every time, whenever they began a new adventure.

I must disagree with a previous IMDb poster who said that the Outlaws never attempted to return to their own time. In one episode, an outlaw snatched a lightning-rod and rode his horse back and forth in a thunderstorm, goading the lightning to strike him ... and either kill him or return him to his own time. That was the single most believable scene in 'Outlaws'.

Annoyingly, we never do get any explanation for the time-hole, nor who sent it, nor why. It was clearly just a dramatic device to put these hombres into our modern age.

Yeah, I saw it. I remember it as being quirky and unusual. It's a slick joke including Rod Taylor in the cast of time travelers, and the Lieutenant was one tough hombre herself. I even recall one memorable scene when the cowboys just take their time and shoot down these guys with Uzis. The commentary suggested that you had to aim first before shooting. Very enjoyable.

The plots weren't really all that great when you get right down to it.

What I really watched it for, for the few weeks it lasted, was the character interaction and the excellent actors who worked on the series.

I've always enjoyed Christine Belford since her days on "Banacek"; Rod Taylor, of course, has always been a joy (where is he lately?); William Lucking I liked from the time I saw him playing Babe Ruth in an episode of "Voyagers!" in the 80s; Charles Napier is one of those faces most recognize without knowing who he is (anyone remember him playing Adam in the episode The Way to Eden on Star Trek?); Richard Roundtree has remained one of my favorite actors over the years; and Patrick Houser managed to hold his own among all those illustrious performers.

Every so often I pull out my tapes and revisit this silly guilty pleasure just for fun.

An enjoyable little romp, using the now well-established "flashback" mode (Highlander, Forever Knight) to explore the characters' pasts. The time travel element is never really explained or rationalized, and the group never really bothers to try getting back to their own time. Most of the plots milk the cowboys' unfamiliarity with the 1990's for all its worth, or contrasts their behavior with our own. Although it's more a matter of contrasting their "movie cowboy" attitudes with our own. Added realism was injected by the characters were always getting wounded and injured in their A-Team shootout-type antics.