In the fall of 1969 I was in the US Navy going to a technical school that had begun several months before, and would go on for a few more months. School was 8 hours a day. At night we huddled in the TV room in our WWII vintage barracks, around an old 21" black and white, 25 guys trying to agree on one station, one show. Football, Star Trek reruns, and the World Series were no-brainers.
Bronson had to grow on us, and it quickly did. It was definitely a product of the era. Route 66 for the Vietnam generation. A precursor to Easy Rider. The great wide open. There was something to the show that grabbed you, if you were of a certain age. And 19, which was my age, was the right age. Everybody I knew who was of that age and who watched this show loved it. Not many others did.
But the creators of this show were a day late and a dollar short. I can't fault them too much though, because in those days many ideas were hatched on TV in an effort to glom onto the supposed youth market, but failing. It was a demographic that was on the move, and not sitting in front of a TV set night in and night out, week in and week out.
Our group finished school in December, 1969, and off we went, most of us to the fleet. Some to Vietnam. Others to other places, anywhere and everywhere around the world. We watched Bronson religiously for the first 2-1/2 months of its run. We never saw it again. At least I know I haven't. But strangely it is nevertheless remembered by those who had the good fortune to catch it while they could.
I don't know why it doesn't pop up in reruns, somewhere on cable once in a while.
Bronson had to grow on us, and it quickly did. It was definitely a product of the era. Route 66 for the Vietnam generation. A precursor to Easy Rider. The great wide open. There was something to the show that grabbed you, if you were of a certain age. And 19, which was my age, was the right age. Everybody I knew who was of that age and who watched this show loved it. Not many others did.
But the creators of this show were a day late and a dollar short. I can't fault them too much though, because in those days many ideas were hatched on TV in an effort to glom onto the supposed youth market, but failing. It was a demographic that was on the move, and not sitting in front of a TV set night in and night out, week in and week out.
Our group finished school in December, 1969, and off we went, most of us to the fleet. Some to Vietnam. Others to other places, anywhere and everywhere around the world. We watched Bronson religiously for the first 2-1/2 months of its run. We never saw it again. At least I know I haven't. But strangely it is nevertheless remembered by those who had the good fortune to catch it while they could.
I don't know why it doesn't pop up in reruns, somewhere on cable once in a while.