Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 21, 1993 TAG: 9309240353
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
``From our point of view, it's an adventure show that happens to be set in the West,'' Campbell says. He plays Brisco, a Harvard law graduate turned bounty hunter, in the new Fox Broadcasting series.
While viewers get horses, saloon scenes and villainous gunslingers, ``Brisco'' also mixes in dollops of science fiction and sly humor. It debuts at 8 p.m. Friday (on WJPR-Channel 21/27), with a special two-hour episode.
``We're dealing with a Jules Verne type of technology ... that helps with the adventure part of it,'' Campbell says. ``It's not just the story of a boy and his horse. It's a boy, his horse and his rocket.''
Given the western boomlet hitting television, the show may need a distinctive edge.
CBS' ``Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'' broke the long dry spell last year. The network is continuing its westward expansion with ``Ned Blessing: My Life and Times'' and the modern-day ``Harts of the West.''
``Brisco'' executive producers Jeffrey Boam and Carlton Cuse were working on the series before TV's western revival hit. Cuse says they wanted to create something different, a blend of the cliffhanger and horse drama.
``We've not treated the genre with the reverence other people have ... our goal is to go out there and really push the envelope on all of the conventions of the western,'' Cuse says.
That includes a tongue-in-cheek approach with a modern tone.
In one scene, the hero opens his hotel room door to find three fierce assailants, black-garbed Chinese tong warriors, instead of room service.
``I didn't order Chinese,'' Brisco tells them.
There are touches of mildly ribald humor involving saloon songstress Dixie Cousins (Kelly Rutherford, a standout in ABC's canceled ``Homefront'' for her Lauren Bacall turn as a sharp-witted siren).
``Do you like the bed?'' Dixie asks Brisco, who's paying her a visit. ``It comes from France.''
``Louis the 14th?'' Brisco asks.
``No, I think Louis was the ninth or the 10th,'' she says. ``But a lady never counts.''
The dashing Brisco is out to complete the work of his father, a legendary lawman who died trying to bring in the notorious outlaw John Bly (Billy Drago). Brisco Jr. goes to work for robber barons who want to crush Bly's gang.
Series regulars include Julius Carry as competing bounty hunter Lord Bowler and John Astin as Professor Wickwire, an eccentric scientist who contributes high-tech gadgetry to the cause.
It's the kind of fantasy, action and comedy mix that worked for ``The Wild Wild West,'' a popular 1960s series in which Robert Conrad and Ross Martin played undercover federal agents circa 1870.
``Brisco's'' premiere episode even has room for a touch of the supernatural, in the form of a mysterious orb that bestows incredible strength.
(If that sounds reminiscent of the mysticism found in the Indiana Jones movies, consider that Boam wrote ``Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.'')
``Someone described the show to me as being just under over the top,'' Cuse says. ``We have as much fun with the genre while at the same time maintaining the core of reality.
``At the bottom line, audiences have to care about Brisco County Jr.''
Cuse is also aware that the viewers, and members of Congress, are very concerned about violence on television. Critics have noted that ``Brisco'' includes shootouts and fights in an early evening time slot.
The series won't carry a violence warning under the new advisory system the networks have agreed to implement this fall.
``Obviously, it's a very hot issue at the moment but I don't think we really fall into the category of being a violent show,'' said Cuse. ``I think it's an action show.''
``To me it's very much like the old Republic serials of the '30s and '40s. The amount of action (in `Brisco') is probably slightly more clever and less graphic than what you would see in those serials.''
And, Cuse adds, ``I don't think that generation was corrupted by seeing those serials.''
Campbell, who comes to television after starring in a string of cult horror films such as ``Army of Darkness'' and ``The Evil Dead,'' says an effort is being made to downplay violence.
``That's why this character (Brisco) is so great. He can talk his way out of situations'' instead of shooting his way out, Campbell says. ``You've got to be much more clever.''
by CNB