VIDEO MONDAY - SWITZER-LAND IN THE WILD WILD WEST

Well....  usually I share an episode of a TV show on the weekends.  But I only just found out that yesterday, August 7th, marked the 89th anniversary of Carl Switzer's birth.  [He died in 1959.]  This being the month in which we celebrate the TV Western, I thought we might celebrate this iconic actor's birth with one of the six episodes of 'The Roy Rogers Show' in which he appeared.

Name doesn't ring any bells?  Then I find your lack of pop culture awareness disturbing.  I thought everybody would have recognized "Switzer" as the last name for Alfalfa of the "Our Gang"/"Little Rascals" shorts!

Switzer appeared in three episodes of 'The Roy Rogers Show' during 1952, and in 1955 he acted in three more episodes as well.  With each one, he played a different character:

- And Sudden Death (1955) ... Mike Moore (as Alfy Switzer)
- Quick Draw (1955) ... Dunc Wright (as Alfalfa Switzer)
- Dead End Trail (1955) ... Timmy Horton (as Alfalfa Switzer)
- Go for Your Gun (1952) ... Bob, Dale's Nephew (as Alfalfa Switzer)
- Shoot to Kill (1952) ... Elmer Kirby
- The Treasure of Howling Dog Canyon (1952) ... Clyde Stockton (as Alfalfa Switzer)

Ordinarily, I'd say that there was a cowpoke who was poking more than cows in the area of Mineral City about a quarter century before the series began.  At least a half dozen women could have fallen for his charms and eventually gave birth to his illegitimate sons.  And that would have included either Dale Evans or Dale Evans' sister-in-law.

But there's something odd about the series, which I will address during the "Who's On First" blogathon New Year's Day......

Today, we're going to showcase an episode out of sequence.  "Go For Your Gun" was the third episode of 'The Roy Rogers Show" in which Switzer appeared.  In it, he played Bob, the nephew of Dale Evans.  (Since no last name is mentioned, we don't know if he was the son of Dale's brother or her sister.)

Normally I would find it strange that she never noticed the facial similarity her nephew Bob had to the five other characters who came to Mineral City over those years.  I might have offered the splainin that Dale was a lady, and such topics as extramarital affairs were simply not discussed... even when they involved family members.

But again, the splainin I did come up with will have to wait until New Year's Day.......

So in the meantime, here's "Go For Your Gun"........

GO FOR YOUR GUNS

Happy trails to you!

And good night and may God bless Carl Switzer......