Jess Harper + Cemeterything

Laramie (1959-1963) ♥

Rest in peace David “my opinion of the show is that it’s a love story between two men” Soul. You would have loved the scenes of male tenderness that play out in my head between you and your best friend. By the way thanks for taking literally every single available opportunity to gently stroke his face and/or look fondly annoyed by him. King.

a few notes on jess and roany in "glory road" :

when i first watched this episode i was impressed by the rather intense and kind of strange storyline for jess, especially considering it was only the second episode of the series! andy calls it like he sees it - and he's right - jess is very afraid of roany, so much so that he is willing to leave Sherman ranch peaceably (rather than say, physically fight roany to get him to leave) i think its quite interesting that the show allows jess to be "afraid" so early on (or at all, honestly) considering that he is, ostensibly, a fairly macho gunslinger-figure, and this is a western tv show made in the fifties (there is a bit of the 1950s "sad-boy" type à la james dean about jess, so perhaps the writers were tapping into that style of on-screen masculinity?)

anyway, we quickly learn exactly why jess is so afraid of roany - he is a reckless tyrant, extremely emotionally unstable, and prone to brutally violent outbursts - the show literally compares him to a rabid animal, seemingly docile one moment and vicious the next

but it's the tone of roany's interactions with jess that really get under my skin...there's a layer of uncomfortableness there that suggests jess is afraid of more than plain old physical violence from roany...

for instance, the bar scene - why have the writers phrased roany's threat in such a way? "almost anything" what, exactly, would jess be willing to do for roany to repay his debt? perform violent acts for him? fight or kill a man? or perhaps something else entirely, as the writers (and jess' stricken expression) seems to be insinuating here - something completely unmentionable

but just in case all that subtext wasn't unsettling enough, later in the episode roany even goes into jess' hotel room in the middle of the night to threaten him some more! jess is literally in bed, vulnerable, being coerced into doing something he doesn't want to do - going beyond the textual reasons for roany's late-night visit, the sexual overtones of this scene are pretty obvious (and again, placing jess in such a vulnerable position so early in the show is such a wildly interesting choice, i would love to know what influenced the writers to go this direction with his character)

+bonus for @harper-sherman, jess looking longingly at slim (and his lips) in the first pic :)

“I’m what?”

Hutch knows he isn't alway easy to love, but Starsky makes it look so easy. This fanvid is set to Make It Look So Easy by Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors. It also posted to AO3 here.

Little Joe Cartwright + Assorted Text Posts (Part 3)

David Soul as Detective Ken 'Hutch' Hutchinson and Paul Michael Glaser as Detective Dave Starsky in the groundbreaking and progressive for the era lgbtq+ themed episode of Starsky & Hutch entitled Death in a Different Place, originally broadcast by ABC on October 15th, 1977. During an interview with the Television Academy recorded on August 6th, 2014, Paul Michael Glaser discussed the close relationship he developed with his co-star David Soul: "My chemistry with David, interestingly enough, was very much about what happened in front of the camera. Off-camera we didn't have a whole lot to talk about. We'd see each other at a party, 'hey, how are you?', 'fine, how are you?', 'fine', and there was nothing more to talk about. It wasn't that there wasn't anything there, it's that I don't think either of us felt comfortable talking about it. And then the years went by and the last few years, when you've had a relationship that's existed that long, you can't help but to really care and love that person. David and I have become much more comfortable with understanding and acknowledging our feelings. At the time it was probably more difficult, but when we got on camera, it was all there. It was really interesting. We were kinda joined at the hip, so as uncomfortable as we might've been as younger men with our feelings, we weren't uncomfortable with them in front of the camera. We were joined in this destiny, we were joined to do the best we could possibly do with the show." Paul later stated about Starsky & Hutch during an interview with The New York Post's Page Six in 2021: “I think it’s important to understand that yeah, there’s homoerotic elements. I think the reality is David and I are for the most part, if you have to define oneself, as straight. But you have to be able to recognize there’s a part of all of us that is homoerotic. We see someone of the same sex that’s attractive, we either deny it or acknowledge that it’s there. Does that mean we’re going to have a homosexual relationship with that person? Not necessarily, but it becomes much more freeing to be able to acknowledge something that exists, maybe kid about it, play with it a little bit and move on. One thing David and I had and still have is a very deep friendship.”

Remembering David Soul... August 28th, 1943 - January 4th, 2024

Hoss: About Ellie McClure, no doubt. Adam: Uh, no doubt.

Bonanza S2E1 "Showdown"