GANGWAY, LORD! THE "HERE COME THE BRIDES" BOOK: A BEHIND-THE-SCENES HISTORY OF (AND EPISODE GUIDE TO) THE 1968-70 ABC-TV SERIES (HARDCOVER EDITION) by Jonathan Etter
This comedy Western television series aired for two seasons on the ABC network from September 25, 1968 to April 3, 1970, yet fans still celebrate the episodes.
A stellar cast of regulars included Robert Brown, Bobby Sherman, David Soul, Mark Lenard, Bridget Hanley, and veteran star Joan Blondell, who received two Emmy award nominations for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series (1969 and 1970).
Memorable guest stars included Cicely Tyson, Jane Wyatt, Edward Asner, Majel Barrett (Star Trek), Barry Williams (pre-Brady Bunch), Marge Redmond and Madeline Sherwood (both known as regulars on The Flying Nun), Bernard Fox (Dr. Bombay of Bewitched), Lynda Day George, Bob Cummings (The Bob Cummings Show), Daniel J. Travanti and James B. Sikking (both later known for Hill Street Blues), Larry Linville (M*A*S*H) and Billy Mumy (Lost in Space).
Through interviews with most surviving cast members, guest stars, writers, and directors, discover in depth profiles of the series' creators, stars, and guest stars. 642 pages. Illustrated.
"I don’t care about the show — the few episodes I’ve seen were lousy — but I really liked Etter’s The Here Comes the Brides Book: A Behind the Scenes History of the 1968-70 ABC TV Series from those crazy folks at Bear Manor Media (they’ve got to be crazy to publish books like this… but I love them for it). So why did I like the book if I could care less about the show? Because it’s packed with fascinating information about other shows. For instance, William Blinn, creator of Here Comes the Brides, spends a lot of time in the book talking about writing the TV series Bonanza and Shane….and that’s great stuff. And Brides’ star Robert Brown talks about almost starring in Hawaii Five-O, and his work on the unsold pilots The Yellow Bird with Carroll O’Connor and Colossus with William Shatner, among others. So it’s for those golden nuggets that I was willing to slog through seemingly endless, pointless chapters about actress Bridget Hanley (who?) and her marriage to director E.W. Swackhamer, or the tragic details of Mark Leonard’s multiple melanoma that took his life long after the series was over. The book desperately needed a good editor, but I’m glad it didn’t have one, because it’s the stuff that had nothing to with the show, that should have been cut, that I liked best. But if you are one of the dozen living fans of Here Comes the Brides, you will absolutely love this book. Every episode is examined in-depth and ever regular and guest cast member, and almost every crew member, with the possible exception of the caterer, are interviewed about their lives and careers."
- Lee Goldberg