Whatever happened to the Lone Ranger?

[dr_hermes]

@Master Wang-Ka

At least part of the problem, IIRC, in the 1981 movie/situation/lawsuit, was that Clayton Moore was lobbying like hell for the title role, which the producers thought he was much too old to play… and not without some justification.

On the other hand, they could hardly have done worse than Klinton Spilsbury. The guy makes Ashton Kutcher look like Robert Duvall.

I suspect at least part of the problem is:

(a) Westerns aren’t “commercial” these days unless they’re packed with expensive actors, at least as far as Hollywood’s concerned. They used to be the cheapest thing to make, filmwise. Are there still any of those “movie ranches” with little Western towns on them, out in the deserts of California?

(b) The Lone Ranger used those silver bullets of his to ice people left and right. Admittedly, he only killed BAD guys, but nowadays, a “clean-cut” hero simply doesn’t do these things. Unless they’re played by bodybuilders with odd European accents.

© For some reason, Jay Silverheels was the only actor ever permitted to play Tonto as something other than a stereotype and/or a complete moron. In every version I’m familiar with, other than the Moore/Silverheels stuff, Tonto mostly sits around, agrees with whatever the Lone Ranger says, and occasionally goes into town for no apparent reason except so the bad guys can catch him and kick the stuffings out of him…

  Where did you see the Lone Ranger ever kill anyone? I`ve taped maybe twenty of the old time radio shows, watched many Clayton Moore episodes (and his two feature films)and read several of the Fran Striker novels. I don`t recall ever seeing the Ranger shoot anyone dead. A silver bullet in the arm or shoulder, plenty of times... but he avoided killing anyone.

[widdershins]

I was a fan of the 70s/80s cartoon series. I even had the large action figure Lone Ranger, I remember crying when my grandmother’s dog chewed up the white rubber cowboy hat.

I may still have some of the tie-in action figures (80s G.I. Joe size) that were put out in the early 80s. I remember they had gun and knife holsters molded onto the bodies with open backs for “quick draws”. I think that’s how I lost most of the guns when they would fall out the back.

The live action TV show reruns aired on a local station where I live until probably the early 80s. I was such a fan of the cartoon series, I was one of those poor suckers who went to see the 1981 movie. I liked it then some what, I even remember getting mad at Johnny Carson for making fun of it while hosting the Oscars. Upon seeing parts of it years later on TV, I was shocked how bad it was, and Christopher Lloyd as the baddie, WTF?

As for “movie ranches”, the one in Old Tucson is still in operation (parts of Tombstone were filmed there) but it’s more of a tourist attraction that occasionally gets used for film work since westerns have declined in popularity so much.

[Bill Cosby]
Lone Ranger: Tonto, you go to town…
Tonto: You go to hell, kemosabe!
[/Bill Cosby]