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I recently purchased a DVD set with 150 old 1950s television westerns for $10.00. Great stuff! Included are a few episodes of Annie Oakley, The Cisco Kid, Lone Ranger, etc. Just the thing for a nostalgic Baby Boomer like me.
While watching some of the same episodes I watched as a kid, I noticed several things that never occurred to me from my "kid prospective" when I first watched them in the 1950s. I have entitled my observation, "The Physics of 1950s TV Westerns".
1. When bullets hit any object, they always ricochet. This includes trees, rocks, wood, bare earth, anything, and everything.
2. When an outlaw is being pursued and they run out of bullets, they always throw the empty six-shooter at the "good guy" who is running after them. However, I have never seen them hit by the tossed six-shooter since they always duck at the last second.
3. When anyone gets into a fistfight, the "smack" sound is always the same and after repeated punches, no one's jaw is ever broken.
4. During a gun battle, usually among big rocks, they can fire their six shooters for hours without having to stop and reload.
5. Whenever anyone is stranded in the desert and runs out of water they always yell, "Its empty!", and angrily throw their empty canteen on the ground and keep walking. I've always wondered what they would do if they later found a water hole. They would have no way to store water for the remainder of the trek through the desert.
6. When the "bad guys" are finally apprehended and locked up in jail, there are never any bathrooms in them. I always assumed they "crossed their legs" until the trial or the lynching by the local town people, whichever came first.
Oh, well, now that I'm older and watch this kind of cool stuff, I mainly enjoy the nostalgia of watching some of the things from my childhood. I'm too busy being entertained to continually dwell on such things. On the other hand, I have to wonder...
While watching some of the same episodes I watched as a kid, I noticed several things that never occurred to me from my "kid prospective" when I first watched them in the 1950s. I have entitled my observation, "The Physics of 1950s TV Westerns".
1. When bullets hit any object, they always ricochet. This includes trees, rocks, wood, bare earth, anything, and everything.
2. When an outlaw is being pursued and they run out of bullets, they always throw the empty six-shooter at the "good guy" who is running after them. However, I have never seen them hit by the tossed six-shooter since they always duck at the last second.
3. When anyone gets into a fistfight, the "smack" sound is always the same and after repeated punches, no one's jaw is ever broken.
4. During a gun battle, usually among big rocks, they can fire their six shooters for hours without having to stop and reload.
5. Whenever anyone is stranded in the desert and runs out of water they always yell, "Its empty!", and angrily throw their empty canteen on the ground and keep walking. I've always wondered what they would do if they later found a water hole. They would have no way to store water for the remainder of the trek through the desert.
6. When the "bad guys" are finally apprehended and locked up in jail, there are never any bathrooms in them. I always assumed they "crossed their legs" until the trial or the lynching by the local town people, whichever came first.
Oh, well, now that I'm older and watch this kind of cool stuff, I mainly enjoy the nostalgia of watching some of the things from my childhood. I'm too busy being entertained to continually dwell on such things. On the other hand, I have to wonder...
On my next Blog entry, I will examine the topic of "Cartoon Physics".
Riding off in the sun set...
mike
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