Oh, how I miss late 70s/early 80s TV drama!
I have a confession to make.
Ever since I posted my eye candy Valentine's collages in February ( here, here, and here), I just couldn't shake the short-lived series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers out of my head. In no time I began surfing, searching for clips, websites, photos, anything. Even though I hadn't watched the show since its original run (1982/83), some of its scenes have remained fondly stuck in my memory all these years. Despite how busy life was/is with work, my dad, and the dogs, I would make time in the wee hours of the night to surf for 7B47B. And what did I find? That, just my luck, practically no fandom exists for it at all. There are a few clips on YouTube, but not the ones I was after. I found one lone fic posted about a decade ago (not even fanfiction.net has a category for it LOL); a pretty much inactive Yahoo group with maybe about 30 members and; empty LJ & DW communities. Despite how little there is though, I was pointed to a guy selling poor quality DVDs made from old VHS recordings of the first and only season (he was open about the quality). Of course I couldn't resist and got them at the end of March. The quality is pretty lousy, but no worse than my Lancer tapes which I cherish.
And I love these too! So much for rose-colored glasses, I've actually been pleasantly surprised at how much I'm enjoying them. For anyone (most of you?) unfamiliar with the show, this is largely why it appealed to young ladies back in the day:
For me, these 3 were specifically why I watched:
I had been madly in love with Richard Dean Anderson as Jeff Webber on General Hospital so had been thrilled to find out he had a new series, especially a contemporary western/family drama. That Peter Horton was in it too was an added bonus. I don't think I knew Roger Wilson at that time but, as was often the case with fickle me, I may have started watching for RDA but Peter and Roger as Crane and Daniel McFadden completely stole my heart.
Anyway, assuming you're still with me, back to info about the show. Based extremely loosely on the musical/movie of the same name, the series in fact only had one bride - Hannah - who married the eldest of the 7 McFadden brothers (RDA's character, Adam), who ranged in age from 12 to 27. Having lost both parents about 10 years before, they all lived under one big roof on their struggling cattle ranch, with Adam as head of the family. I know… it sounds like a bad fic, doesn't it? *g*
Long before Glee could lay claim to being a TV series that blended humor and drama with a musical score, 7B47B did this as well. Well, maybe not as well, per se ;). There's impromptu dancing and singing and, though it doesn't make me cringe as much as I thought it might nearly 30 years later, I would've rather they stuck with the drama, laced with their wonderful light touches. Having said that, when they did weave the music in seamlessly (thanks largely to Roger's and Peter's considerable talents), I loved it then and I love it now.
So, why am I going on about this show? Two reasons: First, because of the brothers' relationships. OMG, is it a joy to watch these gorgeous men interact! They must have had a blast doing the show and, like Jared and Jensen who are isolated up in Vancouver, I can't help but think that these young men shooting the show in northern California created a genuine bond, at least for the duration of the season. And, here's where my subject line comes in. I know - finally!…
Back then, at the tail end of the good ol’ days of canon-provided h/c (waves at Starsky & Hutch, et al), we actually see the brothers showing affection for each other in many ways, even giving each other hugs (without one of them having died and been resurrected first *eg*). For this reason alone, this old show is heaven for me. See what I mean…
Along with the hair tousling, face patting and arm grasping we have above, there is also tons of patting of backs, bellies, legs, along with things like jacket tugging, horseplay, affectionate nicknaming/name calling, you name it.
Did I mention hugs? I can't even think of all of the others I left out!
{C}{C}{C}{C}{C}{C}
Look, we even have bedside chats and hand squeezing! Even big sister(in law) Hannah gets in on the act with, in this case, a tender, comforting kiss to the top of Daniel's head. Something her stoic husband - Col. Jack O'Neill himself! - does with the younger boys on more than one occasion!
And, lastly, we have 12 year old River Phoenix in his first role. His acting wasn't stellar at this age but he sure was adorable. And his character Guthrie definitely brought out the tender side in his big brothers…
Okay, I know my OCD got a little carried away here but, since I was looking for a few images to make icons out of, I decided to start snapping some shots of the h/c and demonstrated affection. BTW, these images aren't true screen grabs but only actual photos I took of my monitor as I was playing the DVDs. The quality of the DVDs is better than these - not by much, but better.
I mentioned there was a second reason I'm going on about this show. And that's because, I have some good news. Sort of…
For the first time since November of 2008, I’ve actually written a fic from start to finish, and I can’t express just how happy/relieved/accomplished/amazing that makes me feel. I’ve actually had longer droughts but, this one has been damn depressing. And now I’ve been flying high from the moment I started writing, and finished, this past weekend \o/
Alas, leave it to me - or, shall we say, my muse - to decide to write something based on a TV show so obscure, it doesn’t have a fandom! Yup, no surprise by now I'm sure, it's a 7B47B fic ::head desk::
But, since it does have gorgeous brothers and it does have hurt/comfort and angst I’m going to be posting it here. In hopes that a few of you might just decide to check it out. Besides, it’s my lj, where else am I gonna put it?
If this made you curious at all and you want to check out the fic, I'll be posting it very soon along with a very short episode clip, since the fic is episode related. And, since maybe only 3 or 4 of you on my flist remember the show (and maybe one remembers the ep), the clip will help with the fic's setup.
You know, the last time I had a long fic drought, the death of my mom and the soon after acquisition of my Lancer DVDs and subsequent discovery of SPN brought my muse back to life. These 7B47B DVDs came to me shortly before I lost Dyna and here I am writing again. Funny how life takes these turns. Here's hoping an alive and kicking muse will start talking Winchester to me again too ;).
P.S. For anyone interested in the 7B47B DVD's, just mention that in the comments below and I'll reply with the contact info.
Ever since I posted my eye candy Valentine's collages in February ( here, here, and here), I just couldn't shake the short-lived series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers out of my head. In no time I began surfing, searching for clips, websites, photos, anything. Even though I hadn't watched the show since its original run (1982/83), some of its scenes have remained fondly stuck in my memory all these years. Despite how busy life was/is with work, my dad, and the dogs, I would make time in the wee hours of the night to surf for 7B47B. And what did I find? That, just my luck, practically no fandom exists for it at all. There are a few clips on YouTube, but not the ones I was after. I found one lone fic posted about a decade ago (not even fanfiction.net has a category for it LOL); a pretty much inactive Yahoo group with maybe about 30 members and; empty LJ & DW communities. Despite how little there is though, I was pointed to a guy selling poor quality DVDs made from old VHS recordings of the first and only season (he was open about the quality). Of course I couldn't resist and got them at the end of March. The quality is pretty lousy, but no worse than my Lancer tapes which I cherish.
And I love these too! So much for rose-colored glasses, I've actually been pleasantly surprised at how much I'm enjoying them. For anyone (most of you?) unfamiliar with the show, this is largely why it appealed to young ladies back in the day:
For me, these 3 were specifically why I watched:
I had been madly in love with Richard Dean Anderson as Jeff Webber on General Hospital so had been thrilled to find out he had a new series, especially a contemporary western/family drama. That Peter Horton was in it too was an added bonus. I don't think I knew Roger Wilson at that time but, as was often the case with fickle me, I may have started watching for RDA but Peter and Roger as Crane and Daniel McFadden completely stole my heart.
Anyway, assuming you're still with me, back to info about the show. Based extremely loosely on the musical/movie of the same name, the series in fact only had one bride - Hannah - who married the eldest of the 7 McFadden brothers (RDA's character, Adam), who ranged in age from 12 to 27. Having lost both parents about 10 years before, they all lived under one big roof on their struggling cattle ranch, with Adam as head of the family. I know… it sounds like a bad fic, doesn't it? *g*
Long before Glee could lay claim to being a TV series that blended humor and drama with a musical score, 7B47B did this as well. Well, maybe not as well, per se ;). There's impromptu dancing and singing and, though it doesn't make me cringe as much as I thought it might nearly 30 years later, I would've rather they stuck with the drama, laced with their wonderful light touches. Having said that, when they did weave the music in seamlessly (thanks largely to Roger's and Peter's considerable talents), I loved it then and I love it now.
So, why am I going on about this show? Two reasons: First, because of the brothers' relationships. OMG, is it a joy to watch these gorgeous men interact! They must have had a blast doing the show and, like Jared and Jensen who are isolated up in Vancouver, I can't help but think that these young men shooting the show in northern California created a genuine bond, at least for the duration of the season. And, here's where my subject line comes in. I know - finally!…
Back then, at the tail end of the good ol’ days of canon-provided h/c (waves at Starsky & Hutch, et al), we actually see the brothers showing affection for each other in many ways, even giving each other hugs (without one of them having died and been resurrected first *eg*). For this reason alone, this old show is heaven for me. See what I mean…
Along with the hair tousling, face patting and arm grasping we have above, there is also tons of patting of backs, bellies, legs, along with things like jacket tugging, horseplay, affectionate nicknaming/name calling, you name it.
Did I mention hugs? I can't even think of all of the others I left out!
{C}{C}{C}{C}{C}{C}
Look, we even have bedside chats and hand squeezing! Even big sister(in law) Hannah gets in on the act with, in this case, a tender, comforting kiss to the top of Daniel's head. Something her stoic husband - Col. Jack O'Neill himself! - does with the younger boys on more than one occasion!
And, lastly, we have 12 year old River Phoenix in his first role. His acting wasn't stellar at this age but he sure was adorable. And his character Guthrie definitely brought out the tender side in his big brothers…
Okay, I know my OCD got a little carried away here but, since I was looking for a few images to make icons out of, I decided to start snapping some shots of the h/c and demonstrated affection. BTW, these images aren't true screen grabs but only actual photos I took of my monitor as I was playing the DVDs. The quality of the DVDs is better than these - not by much, but better.
I mentioned there was a second reason I'm going on about this show. And that's because, I have some good news. Sort of…
For the first time since November of 2008, I’ve actually written a fic from start to finish, and I can’t express just how happy/relieved/accomplished/amazing that makes me feel. I’ve actually had longer droughts but, this one has been damn depressing. And now I’ve been flying high from the moment I started writing, and finished, this past weekend \o/
Alas, leave it to me - or, shall we say, my muse - to decide to write something based on a TV show so obscure, it doesn’t have a fandom! Yup, no surprise by now I'm sure, it's a 7B47B fic ::head desk::
But, since it does have gorgeous brothers and it does have hurt/comfort and angst I’m going to be posting it here. In hopes that a few of you might just decide to check it out. Besides, it’s my lj, where else am I gonna put it?
If this made you curious at all and you want to check out the fic, I'll be posting it very soon along with a very short episode clip, since the fic is episode related. And, since maybe only 3 or 4 of you on my flist remember the show (and maybe one remembers the ep), the clip will help with the fic's setup.
You know, the last time I had a long fic drought, the death of my mom and the soon after acquisition of my Lancer DVDs and subsequent discovery of SPN brought my muse back to life. These 7B47B DVDs came to me shortly before I lost Dyna and here I am writing again. Funny how life takes these turns. Here's hoping an alive and kicking muse will start talking Winchester to me again too ;).
P.S. For anyone interested in the 7B47B DVD's, just mention that in the comments below and I'll reply with the contact info.