keithdemonde

Whoever wrote the opening summary for this episode forgot to mention aside from picking up a blind hitchiker, getting a flat tire, and having a bunch of thugs stealing her car Julie was also bitten by a snake.

I vividly remember this episode for two reasons.This is one of my favorite episodes and the day this particular episode premiered on March 31st 1978 was my 12th birthday and I had a small birthday party with my family and friends and I remember watching this episode with my cousins eating cake and ice cream And being a born and raised New Yorker watching the old Times Square 42nd street was so nostalgic I was too young for the peep shows and porn movies but a few years later by the time I was 16 my friends and I were always hopping the train to check out the 3 for $3 Kung Fu movies and be able to sneak into a few peep shows and porno theaters as well Ha Ha! Those were the days growing up in New York City. A great performance by Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno and a good storyline.

Watching this episode just kept forcing me to focus on the character of gunfighter Reeves (Pernell Roberts) Although this was a decent episode worth watching being that Gunsmoke was famous for blending western drama with domestic issues which isn't a bad thing because i loved 90% of all Gunsmoke episodes from season 1 to season 20. I'm also a fan of Bonanza and my favorite Cartwright was the eldest boy Adam Cartwright played by Pernell Roberts. I like the character of Adam for his leadership, knowledge, independence and courage. And although i not alive when Pernell left Bonanza i did some research as to why he left the show from his self- dignity as an actor and a man having to call his father "Pa" being a man over 30 years old to being forced to wear his hair piece under his cowboy hat Blah Blah Blah! In my opinion they were stupid reasons to want to drop out of one of the most successful TV shows on the air at that time to doing guest spots on other westerns . And watching this episode was no upgrade for an actor who hated a show about a father and his three sons. It took Pernell 14 years to bring his name back to prominence with "Trapper John M.D" I didn't watch it because i never watched Bonanza at that time so i didn't know who Pernell Roberts was and i just didn't like the show for my age. I read that a lot of people in Hollywood at the time thought Pernell was crazy to leave such a successful TV western and to think he left for a higher or equal level of success elsewhere he was just regulated to being a guest star on other westerns TV shows so in my opinion he did nothing to throw in the face of Bonanza producer David Dortort that he's too good of an actor to play a grown man living with his father Ben Cartwright on The Ponderosa. He was just still a television actor becoming a television character actor popping up every now and then on other popular shows not having his own show for 14 years and not being quite successful in the theater (which he wanted to return to so he said) After leaving Bonanza although he didn't have to succumb to calling anyone "Pa" again and he didn't take off his hair piece till the mid 70's when he started to get gray haired. I will still admire Pernell Roberts as a wonderful actor on Bonanza and a good human being but i will always remain disappointed on how he turned his back on automatic success with Bonanza and having too much pride and personal dignity to just go to work, say your lines, and get your check and you never know, the producers may have eventually allow Adam Cartwright to address Ben Cartwright as "Father" and allow him to take off the hair piece at least by the tenth season. Instead there was no upgrade for Adam Cartwright leaving The Ponderosa. RIP Pernell...