(No pun intended, of course)
We had a weekend visit to my parents this past weekend, which is what brought this theory of mine to mind again. I call it the "Cartwright Curse" because I first noticed it while watching old Bonanza re-runs, but it's made an appearance on Gunsmoke as well, and I'm sure on The Big Valley and other westerns that I haven't watched recently enough to have examples of.
Someone seems to have put a curse on the Cartwright boys. Pay attention and you'll start to see it. Any time one of the boys (Papa Ben included) starts to spark a girl, she's doomed. It might be a runaway wagon, an Indian raid, an outbreak of typhus, or something else, but she's not long for this earth. Even if Little Joe, Hoss, or Adam don't propose marriage specifically, she'll likely be dead before the hour's up. I'm not sure how often it happened, but I'm surprised that the Cartwrights didn't give up on the idea of dating.
The Curse also spread to Dodge City at least twice. Newly O'Brien (my favorite side character when I was younger) finally meets a lovely young woman and falls in love. As expected, Patricia's dead by the end of the episode, the victim of a blood disorder. Unexpectedly, she actually lives long enough to get through the wedding, but then dies in Newly's arms later on. Poor Doc Adams didn't even have that much luck. He hires Dr Sam McTavish to cover his practice while he's gone. "Sam" turns out to be a female, she and Doc spend half the episode arguing with each other, she accepts his non-proposal, and then expires. I believe it was bubonic plague that time. I can only theorize that Kitty survived because she and Matt never actually got to the "dating" part of the relationship, as far as I can tell.
I'm almost certain that the Curse appears in The Big Valley as well. How could it not, with three sons (one being Lee Majors) and a daughter (Linda Evans) running around? They probably left a path of sorrow at least equal to the Cartwrights, although Little Joe might have been enough of a heart throb to count double. I've got the first season of Big Valley on DVD, so I'll have to pay attention as I watch the episodes.
I'm not sure which other Westerns fell victim to the Curse. I'd thought Rawhide, just because of Clint Eastwood, but then the herd probably didn't stay in one place long enough for any sparking to occur. And sadly, I can't think of any other oldies right now, at least none that I've watched recently.
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