High Chaparral Reunion
Sunday, October 18th, 2009
I found out that the cast from The High Chaparral was having a reunion this week, and I thought this would be great for a Retroflections’ story. I made the calls and arrangements to meet the cast and producer and headed out to Old Tucson to check it all out. As I walked underneath The High Chaparral sign at Old Tucson Studios, where the show was filmed, and onto the old set, it got me thinking….
My father helped build the set over 40 years ago. I remember as a little girl leaning on the post by the front of the ranch watching the set go up. Sometimes, after the set was built, we would go and watch the filming. Of course, I was excited to revisit the set that my father helped build so long ago.
The cast was there including Henry Darrow who played Manolito Montoya, Don Collier who played Sam Butler, Ted Markland who played Reno, and, of course, Rudy Ramos who played Wind. I spoke with each one of them, asking how they felt being back on the set, and you could tell by the looks on their faces, that they were back home. “Marvelous,” said Rudy Ramos, “It’s good to be back here and see so many fans.” Rudy was very grateful for his time with the series, which aired 98 episodes from 1967 to 1971.
I continued talking with the actors and spoke with the producer gathering details about the show. And then it hit me, the fans were everywhere, oozing their sense of excitement. I walked up to one gal and asked where she was from, “South Dakota,” she said, “We drove. I would not miss this for anything.” I thought that sure is a long drive to see these guys.
I asked another gal, where she was from, “This is my first time to the United States. I am from Australia. They started airing this a while back, and I just love it,” she said. I was amazed that someone would travel so far to be with their TV icons.
I continued to ask people where they were from and why they were here. They came from London, New Zealand, Ireland, and Guatemala to name a few. It was impossible to keep up with all the people, who had one thing in common, The High Chaparral. “The High Chaparral brought together cultures,” said Patryca Duran y Chaves, “Finally, the Mexican-American culture had Hispanic heroes.”
I asked Penny McQueen the organizer for the event what’s up with these diehard fans. Penny reminded me that she is one of these diehard fans. She said her mother told her, “It’s a TV show. None of these people are real, and you are never going to meet them anyway.” She is proud to have taken over organizing this event.
Penny said that The High Chaparral was a groundbreaking show using a live-action set. “It was realistic, and it made you feel like you were there.” McQueen stated that it was a show that integrated cultures together and did so much more, in fact; it was one of the most successful westerns on TV.
The fans amazed me. I went there to cover an old TV western and talk to the actors, but I spent more time with the fans, and their pure excitement about this show. These fans all stated they had one thing in common that bonded them all; they loved the show. I asked one fan how it felt to be here with her heroes and, with tears in her eyes, she said, “You are walking on sacred ground.” I smiled at her, tilted my visor, and headed off into the sunset.
I have a bird that loves to watch TV. In her room sits an old TV that she finds quite entertaining. She will let you know, in no uncertain terms, when there is something on she does not like. The other day I was feeding her some crackers (she loves goldfish crackers), and I looked at what was catching her eye on the TV. It was The Power Rangers. I caught myself mildly entertained by the cheesy filming and “plot” line. Millions of little kids love these guys, and I felt sorry for them because these Power Rangers were not at all like the real TV heroes we grew up with. Well as you know, this got me thinking….
. These manly superheroes were the manliest of all men. I knew the world would be safe with these great superheroes. They, unlike the Power Rangers, kicked villains butts without all the acrobatics. Don’t be fooled either. Just because they wore spandex tights and were light on their feet did not mean they were frilly heroes. Heavens no. They were filled with so much manly testosterone that their oozing muscles took perfect form in their spandex suits almost spilling out. There was Batman, not to be confused with Birdman, Superman, Aquaman, Ironman, Hawkman, Action Man, Radioactive Man, and Plasticman.
Not to leave the ladies out, us women had super heroes too. In fact, we had super-dooper heroes because we had both girl and woman heroes like Batwoman as well as Batgirl, Cat Woman and Cat Girl, Wonder Woman as well as, you guessed it, Wonder Girl and to top it off we had Super Woman and Super Girl.
I went on youtube today to fetch something, and I ran into an old clip of The Dating Game. It was interesting to watch a few moments of this show that first aired in 1965. I glimpsed at clips of a young John Ritter, Steve Martin, Farrah Fawcett, and even Michael Jackson as a young child asking three young girls questions. Although I felt old for a moment as I watched these clips, it got me thinking…
The 60s ushered in so many game shows that it would be impossible to watch them all. TV game shows like Beat the Odds, The Dating Game, Dream House, The Hollywood Squares, It Takes Two, Jeopardy!, Let’s Make A Deal, The Newlywed Game, Password, Reach for the Stars, Sale of the Century, Supermarket Sweep, What’s this Song?, and You Don’t Say all captured our attention as we played along. It was as if we were part of a never-ending contest.
I remember growing up with these game shows. I recall hearing “Will the real John Brown please stand up” in What’s My Line, or “You did not tell the truth, so you must pay the consequences.” In Truth or Consequences. And come on, how about “Come on down,” how can we not think of The Price is Right when we hear that phrase?
