RANT: The new Lone Ranger

[Chun-tzu]

Please tell me this is not a pilot!

My understanding is that it was a pilot, but that WB decided not to order any episodes just yet. They, too, must have realized it wasn't working.

Thanks for the Ranger trivia, Max and Wayne. I had no idea there was a connection between the Lone Ranger and the Green Hornet!

 

[WayneLigon]

My understanding is that it was a pilot, but that WB decided not to order any episodes just yet. They, too, must have realized it wasn't working.

Thanks for the Ranger trivia, Max and Wayne. I had no idea there was a connection between the Lone Ranger and the Green Hornet!

Some interesting links:
Lone Ranger Timeline
Green Hornet Origins
A Lone Ranger Faq

 

[Villano]

I don't get WB (or UPN for that matter), so I missed it. I read something online that said it starred the cast of Dawson's Creek. Is that true or were they being sarcastic?

Either way, it sounds terrible.

 

[takyris]

I was under the impression that there are, in fact, Native American martial arts. The practice and teachings of such were different than we think "martial arts" would be, but they still taught fighting styles.

Mind you, I'm not saying that what the Long Ranger did was accurate and the result of a ton of in-depth research into this overlooked field of study. I didn't watch the show, mostly because it sounded stupid. But saying "Indians didn't do martial arts" is slightly too simplistic.

-Tacky

 

[Chun-tzu]

I don't get WB (or UPN for that matter), so I missed it. I read something online that said it starred the cast of Dawson's Creek. Is that true or were they being sarcastic?

The Lone Ranger was played by Chad Michael Murray, who appeared in a few episodes of Dawson's Creek. He's very much the "Dawson's Creek" type, in age, looks, haircut, and so on.

I was under the impression that there are, in fact, Native American martial arts. The practice and teachings of such were different than we think "martial arts" would be, but they still taught fighting styles.

Martial arts is a very general term, and I wouldn't have minded unarmed combat, per se. But it was martial arts in the "kewl" style. Tonto's grabbed by some guy from behind, and he does a backward flip over him (in slow motion, of course) and flips him. In the big fight at the end, the Lone Ranger is on an overhang and maybe 10 feet above the bad guy, and he does a leap kick. This is martial arts done wrong.

Compare that to, what was the movie, Young Guns, I think. Lou Diamond Phillips is a bad-ass knife fighter in the old West. THAT works.

 

[takyris]

Ah. Yeah, that sounds bad. That sounds way bad. Never mind. I retract any potential defense.

-Tacky

 

[Tsyr]

Since when do Indians know some kind of mystical "Indian" karate. That has been a disturbing trend in western themed shows lately.

No...

...It's been a disturbing trend in ALL action shows/movies lately. From Buffy (Vampire-Fu!) on. Martial arts are "in" right now. I cheer any time I see something that looks like people who don't know what they are doing just whacking at each other.

At *least* buffy was able to poke fun at itself over the Vampire-Fu bit, in one of the earlier episodes this season.

 

[Silver Griffon]

An opposing view humbly submitted

OK, I admit the martial arts thing as it was done did not belong. It probably was an influence from Brotherhood of the Wolf, but I liked that movie. It was good action-adventure fun. And I think that we have to forgive a little when it comes to WB's obsession with pretty people. Why? Because it lets us look at pretty people!
Tonto's sister was hot!
Seriously, though, the Lone Ranger deserves a comeback. It was one of the coolest TV shows ever. I grew up watching reruns of the original series in both B&W and color. I think this version is more acceptable than most modern reworks of classic TV series. Here are a few counterpoints to some of what has been said here in no particular order:

Clothing: Actually, I thought the clothing for the most part was fairly good. The people in the background and minor characters had the best "period" wear in the show, but the main characters weren't as far off as you might think either. I believe what you are seeing is the fact that modern styles borrow from the past, especially in the last decade or so. Its a backlash against the absurdity of the eighties. I saw no clothing or set prop that did not exist in the old west.

Age: Historically speaking, the main characters in this show are a little too old if anything! A cowboy/gunslinger/etc. in the old west was commonly a teenager or early twenties. Just like our D&D parties of adventurers. A 40 year old was an old man back then. As late as 1900 life expectancy in the US was 48.2 for a male and 51.1 for a female. A 24 year old male had lived half of his lifetime already. An american male's life expectancy didn't break 60 until circa 1940.

Superhero?: He** yes! The Lone Ranger is a superhero! Masked hero protecting the innocent and fighting evil. Duh.

Indian Mysticism: Again, I admit the martial arts thing was a bit bizarre, but I really thought that the Native American mysticism was a good addition to the story. It was never overly hokey or taken over-the-top as is so often done to the supernatural in mainstream TV. Silver as an Indian spirit guide was genius! I think that in 1949 when the original series first aired Native American mysticism and spiritual beliefs were not very widely known about. If they had been, we would have seen more of it in the show. In 1949 very few non-Native Americans could tell you what a "visionquest" was.

This is by no means an equal to the original series, but it was a lot better than I expected, and it would make an acceptable series IMHO.

You may now throw rocks and vegetables at me...

 

[Villano]

Since I don't get the channel, I was wondering if anyone has any links with pictures? I want to see if it "looks" bad.

 

[Chun-tzu]

Re: An opposing view humbly submitted

OK, I admit the martial arts thing as it was done did not belong. It probably was an influence from Brotherhood of the Wolf, but I liked that movie. It was good action-adventure fun.

Glad you liked it, but I just couldn't get into it. I wanted to. I don't think the martial arts was influenced at all by Brotherhood of the Wolf. It comes from the fact that that's how you do action for a "family" show. The problem is that it's not how you do action in a Western.

And I think that we have to forgive a little when it comes to WB's obsession with pretty people. Why? Because it lets us look at pretty people!

It's not the pretty faces that I had a problem with. It's that I see Chad Michael Murray, and I don't think action hero. Not at all.

Seriously, though, the Lone Ranger deserves a comeback. It was one of the coolest TV shows ever. I grew up watching reruns of the original series in both B&W and color. I think this version is more acceptable than most modern reworks of classic TV series.

Well, lots of reworks suck, and don't last very long. Personally, I've never found it to work when they take an established hero and turn him into a teen, so that kids can identify better (or whatever reason they use). The latest Flash Gordon cartoon was terrible, IMHO. I don't think the Lone Ranger is a good choice to de-age.

Age: Historically speaking, the main characters in this show are a little too old if anything! A cowboy/gunslinger/etc. in the old west was commonly a teenager or early twenties.

Perhaps, but compare it to the genre of the Western. There are some younger faces in there (like in Young Guns, or Leonardo DiCaprio in The Quick and the Dead), but they're not the first actors you think about when you think of Westerns.

Indian Mysticism: Again, I admit the martial arts thing was a bit bizarre, but I really thought that the Native American mysticism was a good addition to the story. It was never overly hokey or taken over-the-top as is so often done to the supernatural in mainstream TV. Silver as an Indian spirit guide was genius!

I didn't have too much problem with the mysticism, although a series like this has to be very careful how they portray Native Americans. I thought they did okay in that respect, and having Silver as a spirit guide WAS a good idea. It reminded me of the Paladin's special mount.

This is by no means an equal to the original series, but it was a lot better than I expected, and it would make an acceptable series IMHO.

Well, like I said, I didn't think it was terrible. Probably most of my objections are that I didn't feel like I was watching The Lone Ranger. I'd say it wasn't even a Western; it was kind of a generic, modern action-adventure with Western trappings. It didn't feel like a Western to me, anyway, what with the martial arts and the relative lack of guns. If this were some other show, I might have liked it better.

If it gets picked up as a series, I might give it another try.