Here Come the Brides: The Complete First Season

It's Seven Brides for Seven Brothers…without the singing and dancing. It's also David Soul and Bobby Sherman on the cusp of teen idoldom as loggers Joshua and Jeremy Bolt, who, along with their buckskin-bedecked older brother Jason (Robert Brown), operate Bridal Veil Mountain in booming 1870s Seattle. To ensure the city's future prosperity, the Bolts make a deal with their nemesis and business rival Aaron Stempel (recurring Star Trek Romulan Mark Lenard) to bankroll an expedition east to recruit 100 “marriageable” women for the local bachelors. The catch—and premise of this rollicking series—is that if any of the women leave before a year is up, the Bolts have to turn over their land to Stempel. Kicking off ABC's Wednesday night schedule in the 1968-69 season (although perishing after a move to Friday nights the following year), the raucously entertaining first 26 episodes find these idealistic and hopeful settlers struggling to build a community. The various crises they face include prejudice in “A Jew Named Sullivan” (featuring future Hill Street Blues star Daniel J. Travanti); the absence of a doctor in “A Crying Need”; an overzealous sheriff in “Letter of the Law” (featuring John Marley, owner of the ill-fated horse in The Godfather); and voting rights in “Democracy Inaction” (and yes, that's Bruce Lee in “Marriage Chinese Style”). The more unorthodox romantic entanglements here include Jason's love for an Amish woman in “A Kiss Just for So” (with a pre-Brady Bunch Barry Williams as the woman's brother), and a Mormon who wants five brides for himself in “One to a Customer.” The season's most satisfying love story is between the shy and awkward Jeremy and Candy (Bridget Hanley), who is the independent and strong-willed leader of the brides. The colorful and comical supporting characters include Lottie (the venerable Joan Blondell), the saloonkeeper with the proverbial heart of gold; Captain Clancy (Henry Beckman), the salty mule boat operator; and charming Biddie (Susan Tolsky), the ditzyest of the brides. Not just for Sherman and Soul fans, Here Come the Brides is an unexpected '60s TV treat to have and to hold on DVD. Recommended. (D. Liebenson)