OSW: Legend (1995)

Between MacGuyver and Stargate SG-1, Richard Dean Anderson has done other work. One such show being Legend, a series about a cowboy that aped the popular series The Adventures of Brisco County Jr that had just finished (and got a second season, so that won’t be on this list either). Also between shows, and in this one, is John de Lancie as a mad scientist type. RDA plays Legend, a rather larger than life cowboy, or so he’s portrayed in dime store novels as written by Ernest Pratt… the actual character RDA is playing with Nicodemus Legend as his book hero. However, Ernest soon gets caught up as being his character, and gets into various adventures, with the aforementioned mad scientist Janos Bartok helping him.

The adventures were fun, in the style of Brisco, although without the more over the top science fiction elements. RDA and JdL are clearly having fun as well, although it is the lack of real oomph to this series, indeed too much fun, that spells the doom for it. After low ratings and a change in network management, bye bye.

This did have a companion book series (although I never read them, or indeed even knew about them), so technically it did live beyond it’s one season tv life… but not on screen, so it’s here for only having the one season.

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