The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. was a series that ran on Fox from 1993 to 1994. It ran for 27 episodes. I did watch it when it originally aired, and cannot really remember if it got two partial seasons or one really long season, but that is essentially what the complete series consisted of. The story is centered around the titular Brisco County, Jr. (played by the wonderful Bruce Campbell, who is best known for the Evil Dead series of campy horror movies) as a lawyer turned bounty hunter back in the late 1800s. He is hired by a group of wealthy industrialists to capture a notorious outlaw named John Bly (played by Billy Drago) and works along with the mouthpiece of the group Socrates Poole (played by Christian Clemenson) and often joined by sometimes rival bounty hunter sometimes sidekick Lord Bowler (played by Julius Carey). Brisco is consumed with the advancement of technology and pursuing "The Coming Thing". To that end, a plot device known as "The Orb" was used to that was a futuristic device that Bly was trying to use to rule the world.

The show was a mix of procedural case-of-the-week with a larger story arc involving Bly and the orb that intertwined. The case-of-the-week aspect usually involved Brisco trying to capture one of the members of Bly's gang as he is trying to find Bly. The show also had a strong supporting cast which included Kelly Rutheford as Dixie Cousins, a love-interest for Brisco who was kind of a combination of the characters that Mae West played and Madeline Kahn's character from "Blazing Saddles", and John Austin (from the Addams Family) who played a kookie professor/inventor who would help Brisco from time to time.

For those who get the DVD set, the extras include a commentary track on the pilot episode featuring Campbell and the series creator. There is also a feature called Brisco's Book of Coming Things which referenced the various future ideas/inventions from the show. There is also a documentary that was a look back at the making of the show and the various cast members, a features on the various gadgets that appeared in the show, a Reading from the Book of Bruce, in which Campbell reads a chapter of his autobiography that mentioned the show, and a feature on the writers of the show. All in all, a very good collection of extras.

Overall, the series was very good and very unique. It was not a carbon copy of anything else that was on at the time which may have both helped and hurt the show. It had a very rabid fanbase, but not enough of one to ever get past the "cult following" category. It had a great mix of drama, action, and comedy and was a perfect blend of western and sci-fi/fantasy. It was very well written and acted, and the writers did a good job not overdoing the supernatural aspect of the show keeping the orb episodes infrequent so that they really advanced the storyline along. Chances are people reading this by now watched the show when it was on and are only looking to pick up the DVD, but if you have never seen the show and are trying to decide whether to watch it, I definitely recommend checking it out. It is a bit unsatisfying since the show never gets a great payoff (although the writers did have enough time from the cancellation announcement to make the season finale into a series finale, so fans did get an idea of what would have become of the characters), but still worth watching.

"The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." was one of the most entertaining and unusual shows to ever air on Fox or any other network for that matter. Led by the always affable Bruce Campbell, "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." was a highly entertaining western-adventure-comedy-sci fi series that borrowed elements from many different sources, such as 1930's serials with cliffhangers, "Mavarick", "Gunsmoke", "The Wild Wild West", and science fiction elements as well that focus mostly on the mysterious "Orb" which was introduced in the pilot episode.

Another unusual element was that the show only lasted one season, yet had a large 27 episode order which meant that at some point Fox, the network where the show aired had a great deal of faith in it, yet that disappeared at some point since they rather quickly renewed another show from that time, "The X Files". Why "Brisco" was cancelled is not very well explained, even in the DVD extras although I would have to figure that the sheer cost of producing a period television show in Hollywood played a role with the ratings not being very good.

As for us, we are left with 27 highly entertaining episodes that feature a wide range of characters, situations, action and adventure along with some good comedic moments as well. The focus of the season was Brisco tracking down the Bly Gang who killed his father (played ably by R. Lee Ermey). Brisco is hired by a group of wealthy men to find the gang and many of the episodes center on his bringing to justice each gang member. However, there are also other run-ins that Brisco has along the way.

Bruce Campbell is simply perfect as Brisco County, Jr., bringing with him his sharp wit, good looks and dry sense of humor. He is ably supported in the series by Christian Clemenson as Socrates Poole, Brisco's go-between with the wealthy group, Julius Carry who plays Lord Bowler, a rival bounty hunter who rather quickly becomes Brisco's friend and partner, and Kelly Rutherford as Dixie Cousins, Brisco's would-be love that manages to heat up the screen quite easily and has a wonderful rapport with Campbell.

Others worthy of mention are Billy Drago who plays Bly, the leader of the gang, John Astin, as crazy as ever playing Dr. Wickwire who invents all sorts of contraptions, John Pyper-Ferguson as Pete, a notorious outlaw whose piece you do not touch and Comet, Brisco's horse who is arguably the smartest character in the series.

Virtually all the episodes are excellently produced, well-written and wonderfully entertaining so much so that it is difficult to choose the "better" ones, although the pilot episode is very good. "No Man's Land" which introduces us to the unforgettable Swill Brothers and the Schwenke Sisters, "Riverboat" which feels like an old episode of "Maverick", and the two-part finale "High Treason" with Terry Bradshaw (yes, that Terry Bradshaw) playing the bad guy.

If I had a bone to pick, it would be about the sci-fi elements surrounding the "Orb" a mysterious object that may or may not be from the future which seemed to have powers of whatever was required from the script that week. However, the show did manage to effectively tweek many of the conventions of today with sly references that are very funny and helped keep the series fresh. If I have a single favorite scene, it would be the freeing of Brisco and others from a large safe by...well, let's just say he's even smarter than you might think...and Campbell's line just after they discover who their benefactor is after their release is one for the ages.

The DVD package itself is really nice, although one of the disc holders had lost a few of the holding pieces which means it slides around inside. Still, this series does come with plenty of good extras including the following;

- A booklet with episode recaps written by none other than Bruce Campbell himself
- "Brisco's Book of Coming Things" which shows off all the "futuristic" inventions of the series
- "The History of Brisco County" with interviews of Campbell, series creator Carlton Cuse, Clemenson, Rutherford and the now sadly departed Julius Carry.
- "Tools of the Trade" which is a short featurette gallery.
- "A Reading from the Book of Bruce" This is Bruce Campbell reading from the chapter from his book, "If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor" that recounts his experiences on Brisco. A really nice extra in the DVD.
- "A Brisco County Writer's Room" This features all the writing staff along with Cuse discussing their time on Brisco County.

All of the extras help make this a wonderful DVD package and one of the better ones on the market today. All of the episodes are wonderfully produced and still hold up very well.

As I was watching the episodes with a couple of friends, they could not believe that such an entertaining show was cancelled. I would have to agree, "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." remains one of the absolute best television series to never make it past a single season. If you enjoy westerns with a light comedic touch, then this is the one for you.

Greats better towards the end

I am currently watching the DVD’s which are in great working order. The outside package was well worn and fell apart as soon as I opened it up. But the pictures are very clear and I am enjoying this series. I am not sure I would recommend buying used.

I was one of the fans that signed the online petition some years before this was released to get Brisco County on DVD. Like my review for the DVD release of The Pirates of Penzance, waiting finally worked! And just in time too, my VCR tapes were about to snap. I bought it as soon as I was able.
There is no loss of quality in the transfer to DVD like I have experienced on other shows that were short-lived, intelligent and doomed to cancellation. The most obvious one that comes to mind is Due South. We finally got that on DVD and the transfer is so bad it makes me want to cry.
Not so here. The only technical flaw is the packaging, where the discs are one on top of the other. You must lay it down on a flat surface to take the discs in back out with any measure of care. Not a big deal - as I waited so long for this show - but still.
The graphic design of the packaging itself is very nice. So glad they didn't cheap up on that part.
As far as reviewing the show goes - what can you say? Part western, part drama, part Steampunk, part history lesson, part comedy, part sci-fi. A host of celebrities that fell off the map, now showing up here in little gems of guest-star roles (Timothy Leary was a hoot), and still more relatively unknown character actors that left a big impression (John Pyper-Ferguson as Pete Hutter - OMG).
Not to mention the regulars - perfectly casted and talented. I was a Bruce fan before this show started, which is why I was able to tune in from the beginning... but the second Julius Carry showed up I screamed "Omigawd it's Sho'nuff!!" and had a grin plastered on my face for the rest of the series. What a team Campbell and Carry made... More from them in other shows would have been welcomed. Rest in peace, Julius.
Christian Clemenson, John Pyper-Ferguson, Kelly Rutherford, John Astin, Billy Drago, Jeff Phillips and of course Comet, served to fill out the regular cast with more reliable talent than I have seen gathered on one show since.
Like many shows & movies of it's kind - Twin Peaks, the aforementioned Due South, movies like Buckaroo Banzai, The Monitors and Until the End of the World... weird, captivating, out-there stuff that is nearly impossible to put into one genre and leave it there - Brisco County is hard to nail down. I suppose that's part of it's appeal.. but I have so many good memories of this show it is hard to describe why.
And it has Bruce. We *LOVE* Bruce. 'nuff said.
Either you get Brisco County, or you don't. If you get it, you love it, and if you don't... well, there's always reality TV and Friends reruns for those folks. ;)

This action/drama/comedy show is for people of all types. The writing is VERY creative, and the characters are all interesting/unique. A pleasure to watch this show -- again. First time was when I was a child. Now, as an adult, it's even funnier. Thank you to the actors, writers, set designers, & stage crew for making this show so incredible! (And thank you to Goodwill Books, Hillsboro, Oregon, for sending the DVDs so quickly. Packaged nicely! Condition was listed as "acceptable", but in my opinion, it was "very good" condition.)

Great show with great characters. I recommend it highly!

The closest comparison is probably the Wild Wild West from the 60's.

Do you love puns? You will love this show. Do you hate puns? You will probably hate this show.

It's a fun, light-hearted action comedy.

Brisco County was steam punk before anyone was talking about steam punk. It has a running storyline through the series involving Brisco hunting down the Bly gang because they killed his father. But, rather than just being your traditional "hunt down the man who killed my father, wife, brother, etc." western, it adds an element of steam punk fun with some inventions from a friend and the mysterious orb. The stand alone plots are entertaining.

Brisco's interaction with "boss" Socrates and rival bounty hunter Bowler are always great fun. The villains and other characters he meets are also fun and interesting.