TV Themes #9 & Statistics #9

Today's TV theme, at #9 in our list, belongs the older show in the Top 10. It started airing even before I was born, in 1959. But since it ran for 14 seasons till 1973 and had countless reruns ever since, many of us have come to know it and love it.

The show was a Western, the saga of the Cartwright family, consisting of patriarch Ben (Lorne Greene), who had 3 sons from 3 different wives: Adam (Pernell Roberts), an architectural engineer with a university education who built the impressive ranch house, was the son of a New England woman who died within hours of his birth. He was the serious and responsible one. The middle son Eric (known to everyone as Hoss (Dan Blocker)), was the friendly giant: at 6ft4' (190 cm) and 320 pounds (145 kg) he was convincing as such. His Swedish mother also died when he was a child. Then Ben met his 3d wife in New Orleans and soon the family moved to Nevada, near Virginia City, were they founded their 10 000 square mile ranch, the famous Ponderosa. The third son Little Joe (Michael Landon) was born there. Joe was the romantic adventurer. The 3d wife soon died too and when the series started, there was Ben, a 3-time widower and his grown-up sons, half-brothers to each other.

The Western, a genre that, along with the Musical, showcased what was great and timeless in American cinema, was born as soon as American cinema was born. Wildly popular in the era of the Silents, it rose to high art in the 40s and 50s with directors such as John Ford and Howard Hawks, retained its popularity through TV in the 50s and 60s (Gunsmoke and Bonanza were the longest running series in the US) and had a brief cinematic resurgence from the mid 60s to the early 70s with Italian Spaghetti and American Revisionist Western. By the mid 70s, however, the genre had run out of steam: not even Oscar winner Dances With Wolves could help it make a comeback. Which is a pity, because, if anything, it would be very interesting to see the exploration of 19th century mythology under the 21st century gaze.

On a lighter note, I know that most viewers had a crush on Michael Landon. My personal favorite, however, was Pernell Roberts: so sexy! His departure from the series in 1965 was a blow to me.

The opening theme, set to the impressive image of a map of Ponderosa catching fire, was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, the multiple Oscar-winning composers of such classics as Mona Lisa and Whatever Will Be Will Be. It was orchestrated by David Rose (The Stripper) and arranged by Billy May (arranger for Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and other greats). In the pilot, the theme was actually sung by the cast, but in the rest of the series the instrumental version was used.

Here's the original:

And here's the most successful version, a #19 Hot 100 hit for Al Caiola in 1961:

Now, to our statistics: another good week, a healthy mixture of the old and the new. There's no moving the US and Greece from positions #1 & #2 respectively and Germany has settled nicely at #3. France, quite active lately, is at #4. A newcomer in the Top 10 sits at #5, hello India! Russia ties at #6 with 2 neighbors found in the Western extreme of Europe, Spain and Top 10 newcomer Portugal. At #9, it's another tie: Brazil and Cyprus - and they complete the Top 10 puzzle. Other visitors of the blog this week came from countries such as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kenya, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, the UK, Venezuela and Vietnam. Happy to have every one of you!

As for the all-time list, strange things are happening: no problem with the US and Greece, I don't see them relinquishing positions #1 & #2 anytime soon. Also Germany has a steady presence that rightfully puts them at #3. The problem is at positions #4 & #5: in the middle of the week Russia tied with Ireland (which has been inactive this week). Next time I looked, 2 visits had been subtracted from Russia leaving them 2 points behind. The same phenomenon happened a couple of days ago: Russia caught up with Ireland again and soon after 3 visits had been subtracted from Russia leaving them 3 points behind. As the Top 10 appears now, Ireland is at #4 and Russia is at #5, two visits behind. This doesn't make much sense to me. If anyone can enlighten us as to why this happened, please do so in the comments.

The UK is at #6 and Canada at #7. France has some distance to cover but is gradually catching up: for the moment it sits at #8. Cyprus have steadied themselves at #9 and Spain closes up the Top 10 at #10.

I will not leave you without my random song choice. Today we turn the spotlight on Mercury Rev, the Alt. Rock group from Buffalo, NY. Their song Holes is the first track of their 1998 album Deserter's Songs. It's a dreamy, lovely song.