Monday Movie Madness: Walker, Texas Ranger(s)

Hello, Posse!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We definitely ate too much here for the holiday dinner, but we also ended up spending a lot of time walking (no pun intended given the show title today) this week so things balanced out.

Today I want to talk to you about a very popular western TV show and it's current reboot. Walker, Texas Ranger first hit TV screens in 1993 staring martial arts legend, Chuck Norris. This show captured the audience's attention with it's great action sequences and a surprising number of explosions for a TV "cop" show.

Walker, Texas Ranger was based in the film Lone Wolf McQuade, also starring Norris as a former Marine turned Texas Ranger. While Norris' character does get a name change, the storyline is similar. The TV show first hit TV screens in 1993 but only consisted of three pilot episodes that first year. The show did run for eight more full seasons with 23-27 episodes per year and is still running in several countries in reruns.

There are several things that set Walker, Texas Ranger apart from other cop shows of this time. The series was noted for its moral core values it promoted. The characters were often shown doing community service using marital outs as a way to connect to the community. Martial arts was also used as the primary means of law enforcement. The show also avoided showing characters using drugs. These things really struck a chord with audiences looking for more "wholesome" entertainment.

The show follows Cordell Walker (Norris), a former Marine, who joins the Texas Ranger Division of law enforcement. He works to protect Dallas, TX with his partner James Trivette (Clarence Gilyard Jr., Die Hard, Top Gun), a former Dallas Cowboys football player. The two have different approaches to law enforcement. Walker relies on marital arts and the values he learned growing up on the Indian Reservation with his uncle Ray (Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman, Dances With Wolves, Hidalgo), while Trivette relies more on modern technology. Both often seek out advice on cases from retired Texas Ranger, C.D. Parker (Noble Willingham, City Slickers, Last Boy Scout).

The show ended in 2001 which brings us to the reboot, Walker (2021) starring Jared Padalecki of Supernatural fame. In this reimagining of Walker, Texas Ranger we once again see lawman Cordell Walker (Padalecki) trying to save Texas from the bad guys. In this reboot series, Walker's wife is murdered sending him into a personal spiral. He volunteers to go on a long term undercover mission to escape the pain in his real life. The problem is, he lost connection with his children in the process. Now Walker needs to reconnect with his family and build a new life for them all.

Walker began its second season in October 2021. Many fans of the original series have found this new incarnation to be lacking in the use martial arts they loved from Norris' version and missing a lot of the action/explosions from the original. However, it is finding a new audience.

Movie Snack Recipe

For today's snack recipe we are going to Australia for Lemon and Paprika Polenta Chips by Australia's Best Recipes. I personally love polenta so this is a recipe I am dying to try. I think it will be our movie snack this coming Friday. I plan to try finsihsing it off in the air fryer instead of deep frying in oil and will serve then with either a marinara or salsa or even both.

So that is it for today. Next Monday we have one more Texas Ranger themed movie to share then we starts are western Christmas movie selections. What are your favorites? We would love it if you would share your suggestions.

Great Entertainment

Remember, many great western movies (and TV shows) started out as great western books! If you are looking for wholesome entertainment, why aren't you reading my Into the West Saga Serial Collection (<---click to view books). Parts one through six are available now on Amazon.com and BN.com. I'm currently writing the final installment of this saga, part seven, Into the West: Family Ties. It's currently set for a Spring 2022 release.

Don't forget, you can join my mailing list and never miss out on news or upcoming release dates. Just go to our subscribers page (<--- click here) and give us your name and email address. When you join up, you get to read the first chapter of Into the West: The Orphan Train for free. If you haven't read my books this is a great way to try them out with no risk to you or if you have Kindle Unlimited the entire Into the West Saga Serial is available to read free with your subscription.

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You know what time it is now, posse! It's time to grab your snacks and settle in for another great western show!

Enjoy!

Stephen

Please Note: I am no longer using my social media scheduler so the times I post these blogs to my websites will vary until I get things sorted out. Thank you for understanding.