Jenny's Top Ten Reasons that I Laramie

1. First and foremost, I love Robert Fuller as Jess.  I can't imagine any other actor playing Jess.  He is absolutely perfect as an ex-gunslinger haunted by his past.  I feel for him every time he struggles against his past.
   
   
2. Jess looks like a gunfighter.  When he draws his gun, you actually see him take the gun from the holster (not a cut scene where the gun is already in his hand).  It's poetry watching his quick draw.
   
   
3. I love the basic premise of the story.  A loner gunfighter who finds a home at Sherman Ranch.  Slim whose very different from Jess and disapproves of his old lifestyle, but understands and still sees the goodness in Jess.  Slim may do it in his own way, but he always comes through for Jess.  And Jess always comes through for Slim.  Their friendship is a big draw for me.
   
   
4. I love the fact that Slim and Jess are like brothers.  They have lots of friends (who can NEVER be trusted), but they never let each other down.  They watch out for each other as best they can.  You know each would die for the other.  Sidelight: I love the way Jess always takes the most dangerous task because he has no family, and Slim needs to be there for Andy
   
   
5. I love watching Jess act like a little boy when he's with Andy.  I feel like he's getting a bit of the childhood he probably never got to have.
   
   
6. Okay, like Annie, I just love the way Jess does that little jump to get on a horse, particularly when his arm is wounded, and he favors it.  I love that little hop step he does.  The man is pure poetry on a horse.  I proudly admit that I've watched him get on horses all day.  I love it!
   
   
7. I'm gonna cheat and copy Annie again on this one and the next one.  I love the way they all protected Andy and Mike.  No matter what, the kids' welfare was everyone's concern.
   
   
8. I liked the way Slim was so rigid in his belief of right and wrong.  Once in a while, he'd bend to help Jess, but he never abandoned his principals.
   
   
9. The biggest reason I like Laramie.  Have I mentioned Jess?
   
   
10. I love the way Jess and Slim take care of each other.  When one is hurt or in danger, the other jumps to their aid (aka, Jess going to Slim when he was shot in Man from Kansas, Slim taking care of Jess in Confederate Express, etc)
    
    How 'bout a few extra reasons I like Laramie because ten is just not enough (just don't tell Annie!):
    
11. From all accounts, Robert Fuller is a kind, decent, genuine person.  It's nice to love a character portrayed by a star worth admiring.
    
    
12. Stories that weren't predictable.  Sure some were, but more often I didn't always know that Jess was wrong or Slim was right until the end.  And a lot of times the resolution was totally unexpected (to me) as in the case of Duel at Parkison's where Slim didn't shoot that rotten old man.  I may be a Jess woman, but Slim certainly had his moments.  These endings were often far more satisfying than your usual shoot'em up ending.
    
    

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