History Series / TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr

* WeirdWest: The series occasionally veers into light {{Steampunk}}. The Orb is straight up SufficientlyAdvanced Science with no clear limits to what it can do.

%% * MysteryArc

%% * DeaderThanDead: Specifically, being melted into a pile of ash.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: While certainly not stupid, Socrates often finds himself out of his element and struggling to keep up with Brisco and Bowler. Every once in a while however he manages to do something EXTREMELY brave and competent, often to the surprise of his friends.

* DoubleEntendre: Dixie is a master at these. Frequently Lampshaded by Brisco.

%% * AbsentMindedProfessor: Prof. Wickwire, naturally.

%% * AxCrazy

'''Breakstone:''' Trust me. On the inside...I am.

%% * DoubleEntendre: Multiple ones, coming over and over.

* ScaryBlackMan: Both played straight ''and'' subverted in Lord Bowler. He tries to be this trope and sometimes succeeds...when his own dimwittedness doesn't subvert the attempt.

%% * TwilightOfTheOldWest

* FiveBadBand: Big Smith has a very short-lived Five Bad Band in the pilot "You killed my four best men! Pete, Scratchy and....those other two." Of course TheDarkChick [[spoiler:Dixie Cousins]] falls for our hero.

Brisco is a graduate of Harvard Law School (with a theater minor) who is an implausibly accurate gunman, One-Liner King and ladies man with killer jawline and an almost permanent 5-o'clock shadow (Hey, it's Bruce Campbell, you expected something else?). He is smooth, quick-witted, durable, extremely creative and annoyingly hard to kill (he was even brought back from the dead once). After being hired by the "Robber Barons" of the Westerfield Club, Brisco (along with his horse, Comet) is immediately paired with the club's personal lawyer Socrates Poole (Christian Clemenson) who will be the middle man between them and their employee, Brisco. While searching for the escaped members of John Bly's gang Brisco obtains a reluctant partner in fellow bounty hunter Lord Bowler (Julius Carry), comes to know (quite well) a woman by the name of Dixie Cousins (Kelly Rutherford), slightly crazed scientist Prof. Albert Wickwire (John Astin) and a large number of guest characters. The secondary plot of the show revolves around a mysterious golden "Orb" which was uncovered by Chinese railroad workers and contains possibly mystical powers. Its true origin and purpose is something Brisco must discover.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Billy Drago. Cast and crew have described him as downright scary while in-character as Bly, but as a very nice person in real-life.

-->-- The tagline used by Turner Network Television when rerunning episodes of '''The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.'''

-->-- The tagline used during the original run on the {{Creator/FOX}} Network.

''The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.'' was a mid-nineties TV show which provided a unique mix of the classic western and science fiction genres similar to ''Series/TheWildWildWest'' TV series of the '60s. Created by Jeffrey Boam (screenwriter of ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' and ''Film/InnerSpace'') and Carlton Cuse (before ''Series/NashBridges'' and ''Series/{{Lost}}''), the series starred B movie and television icon Creator/BruceCampbell as the title character who, after the murder of his father (Marshall Brisco County, Sr, played by RLeeErmey) at the hands of the infamous John Bly gang, is hired by the wealthy members of the Westerfield Club to recapture John Bly (played by Billy Drago) and his gang of 12.

-->-- The tagline used during the original run on the {{Fox}} Network.

* AbsentMindedProfessor: Prof. Wickwire, naturally

* AndStarring: With Comet.
* AngryGuardDog

* ArrowCam
* ArtifactOfDeath: The broken orb.

* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning
* AxCrazy
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Big Smith]].
* BackToBackBadasses: Brisco and Bowler
* BadassBiker: A whole gang, really (yes, this is still largely a western show...largely).
* BadassLongcoat: Lord Bowler

* BarBrawl

* BettyAndVeronica: Amanda Wickwire and Dixie Cousins, at least in the pilot.
* BigBad: John Bly
** In the two-part SeriesFinale, [[GeneralRipper General Quarry]].
* BigEater: Sheriff Aaron Viva

** He's later shown BRUTALLY winning a pie-eating contest.

* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler:Almost!]]

* BoxingEpisode: "Riverboat"

* TheCasino
* CattlePunk

* AChildShallLeadThem

* TheCon: "Riverboat."
* ConMan: Brisco, occasionally. Not to mention con women (Dixie and Dolly Cousins)
* ContemplatingYourHands: Dr. Milo (Timothy Leary!) in "Stagecoach".

* CoolHorse: He can even open combination locks. And knows Morse code.
** So naturally, Brisco is inclined to quibble over small details.
* CountingBullets: Brisco tricks a young gun-shooter into wasting his bullets before he shoots of his gun-belt.

* CuteBruiser: Crystal Hawks
* DeadHatShot: In the Pilot [[spoiler: subverted in that the victim, Big Smith, survives.]]
* DeaderThanDead (specifically being melted into a pile of ash.)

* DeadpanSnarker: U.S Attorney Breakstone

* DeadPersonConversation
* DeathTrap: At least OnceAnEpisode. Maybe even more than that.
* DepletedPhlebotinumShells
* DeusExMachina: Usually via the Orb
* DisneyVillainDeath
* DistressedDamsel: Alternately played straight or subverted, depending on the damsel or episode in question.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything
* DoubleEntendre: Multiple ones, coming over and over.
* TheDragon: John Bly's whole gang can be traced to this trope but the main Dragon would have to be the character of Big Smith (M.C Gainey).
** In the two-part SeriesFinale, Colnel March is this to [[GeneralRipper General]] [[BigBad Quarry]].
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: And it's in Chinatown!

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The Swill brothers and the extended family are very protective of their own.

* EverybodyWasKungFuFighting: Except for Brisco, Bowler and Whip who were using GoodOldFisticuffs
* EvilMatriarch: Big Bad Momma Swill

* FauxActionGirl: Sheriff Jenny Taylor in "No Man's Land"...played by Denise Crosby, of all people

* FireForgedFriends: Brisco, Bowler and Socrates.

** TheBigGuy, Also usually Lord Bowler

* FriendlyLocalChinatown

* GadgeteerGenius: Prof. Wickwire, naturally, but also Brisco

* GentlemanThief: Jack Randolph
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** See JustForPun below.
** Not long after we meet Dixie Cousins in the pilot, we find that her boyfriend, Big Smith, calls her Dix for short. Now that in itself isn't really too impressive, but in conjunction with her last name, it's pretty funny.

* GoodCopBadCop: Given a certain twin German amazonian blacksmiths kinda twist. The good cop flirts, while the bad cop makes to beat the hell out of the person.
* GreenRocks: The Orb.
* [[DressHitsFloor Guns Hit The Floor]]
* TheGunslinger: Brisco, of course. Bowler's not that bad, either.
* HalloweenEpisode: The episode "Bad Luck Betty".
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Big Smith]]

* HistoricalInJoke:

* HometownHero: Brisco in "Showdown."
* HurricaneOfPuns

* IAmYourFather: Turned on it's head when the son reveals himself to his father instead.
* IdiotBall: Emilio Pena (Episode Brisco in Jalisco)

* IntellectualAnimal: Brisco's CoolHorse, Comet

* ItWasWithYouAllAlong

* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Pete Hutter, most definatly.

* LiteralCliffhanger: A humorous example as Brisco is hanging out a window with Socrates(who is holding onto Brisco's belt). There's a wagonful of sharp pointy things under them and a Chinese gangster stepping on Brisco's fingers.

* LoveAtFirstPunch: Attempted straight play in the Pilot with Amanda Wickwire...subverted in that she's PutOnABus immediately afterwards.
* LukeYouAreMyFather: In "Hard Rock," Whip to Hondo.
* MacGuffin: The Orb.

** Not to mention the [[spoiler: second orb]] in "Senior Spirit"
* TheMafia: Both Irish and Italian

* MaternallyChallenged: Subverted with Dixie in "And Baby Makes Three."

* TheMole: [[spoiler: Pena's second-in-command Aguerro]] in "Brisco in Jalisco" and [[spoiler: Rita Avnet]] in "Deep in the Heart of Dixie"

* MrExposition: Prof. Coles, Orb scholar
* MysteryArc
* NakedOnArrival (also Naked On Departure)
-->'''Lord Bowler:''' Dayum!\\
'''Brisco County Jr.:''' Now, it's just anatomy guys.\\
'''Lord Bowler:''' Yeah, it sure looks real good on her.
* NeverFoundTheBody: In the episode The Brooklyn Dodgers.
* NewOldFlame: Annie Cavendish for Brisco in "Showdown" and Lenore Raymond for Bowler in "Hard Rock".

* NiceHat: In "Fountain of Youth," one of the pretty boy mooks compliments Bly's hat and asks where he got it. (The other mook asks what is wrong is with him.)

* NonHumanSidekick: Comet.
* NoodleIncident: An example from the episode "Hard Rock" where there's a buckboard wagon stuck in the side of the second floor of a building:
-->'''Brisco:''' What's with the buckboard?\\

** As Bowler explains his NewOldFlame to Brisco, he has to reveal his last name was originally "Lonefeather." When Brisco asks why he changed it, Bowler simply asks him which story he'd rather here at this point.

* OldMaster: Lee Pow, leader of the Scarred Foot Clan.
* OneLiner: A staple of the show.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou

* ParentalAbandonment: Episode: The Brooklyn Dodgers. Okay, actually [[spoiler: The children weren't abandoned, they thought both their parents were dead but their mother was still alive although she also believed they were both dead.]]

* ParentalFavoritism: In "Mail Order Brides," Ma Swill says that dearly-departed Gil was her favorite.
* ParodyNames:

* PianoDrop: John Bly arranges this as Brisco is chasing him, used as a Commercial Break Cliffhanger. Brisco shoots the pully clamp to stop it just before it hits him and his Girl Of The Week.
* PinkertonDetective

* TheProfessor: Wickwire and Coles
* PunBasedTitle: Almost every chapter title per episode (After the Pilot, always two there are: EX: "I'll be Sawing You in All the Old Familiar Places"; "When All is Zed and Done").
* PunchedAcrossTheRoom: Justified due to the [[DeusExMachina Power]] of the [[MacGuffin Orb]].
* PutOnABus: Amanda Wickwire, DesignatedLoveInterest of the Pilot.

* RailroadTracksOfDoom
* RecklessGunUsage:

* RecurringCharacter: Usually Dixie Cousins, the LoveInterest, or Prof. Wickwire, the ReluctantMadScientist and sometimes both.

* ReluctantMadScientist: Professor Wickwire, though he may be just a little unhinged. In "Socrates' Sister," he is forced by Jack Randolph and Pete Hutter to use his new dive suit for their scheme. In "Senior Spirit," Bly has him kidnapped to study an Orb and threatens a hostage to force his compliance.
* RetroactivePrecognition: Brisco and his obsession over "the coming thing." Which he runs into quite frequently, even when he doesn't know it (such as drive-thru windows and the hitchhiker's thumb.)

* {{Retirony}}: In [[spoiler:"Bye Bly" with Lord Bowler]] this was played straight [[spoiler:and then subverted.]]
** Best part: {{retirony}} is used exclusively for dramatic effect; [[spoiler: after Bowler does not die, he decides against retirement. He was thinking of retiring just so it would be extra poignant when he dies.]]

* RevengeBeforeReason: Generally averted with Brisco himself. He's hunting the men that murdered his father, but as personal as the loss was, he is content to bring them to justice.
** Played straight, however, when Brisco encounters the man responsible for his mother's death. Brisco takes two beatings when he tries fighting head-on as opposed to using his wits.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeVilified: "Brisco in Jalisco".
* RuleOfCool: One of the driving forces of the series, along with...
* RuleOfFunny
* RunawayTrain

* SealedEvilInACan: Or an Orb, in this case.
* SecretLegacy
* SexyDiscretionShot
* ShadowDiscretionShot
* ShakyPOVCam

* TheSheriff

** In "Riverboat" Brisco's gambler outfit is a duplicate of the one worn by James Garner in Maverick.
** One episode has John Astin's character remark that the John/John Quincy Adams family was said to be weird.

** One of the residents of No Man's Land is [[Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman Dr. Quintano, Medicine Woman]].

* SpinningPaper: Used in the opening credits to tell the pilot's back story of Brisco's Dad getting killed, Millionaires hiring his Son, and Lord Bowler on Brisco's trail as a competitive Bounty Hunter. After Brisco and Bowler became partners, that part was excised.

* SplitPersonalityTakeover
* StalkerWithACrush: Rita Avnet for Socrates.

* SuperStrength: One of the benefits to the Orb.
* SupervillainLair
* TankGoodness: In "No Man's Land"
* TechnoBabble: The long-awaited explanation of the orb in "Bye Bly."
* TemporalParadox

* TenLittleMurderVictims: The Superlative Seven.

* TimeTravel

* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot
* {{Troperiffic}}
* TrueCompanions
* TwilightOfTheOldWest

* USMarshal: Brisco County, Sr.

* WillTheyOrWontThey: Brisco and Dixie. A SexyDiscretionShot strongly suggests they did in the Pilot and while they clearly have feelings for each other, they never really get together until near the end of the season.
* WittyBanter: This show practically crawls with it.
* WomanScorned: Part of the reveal to [[spoiler:"Brisco for the Defense"]].

* TheWorfEffect: Bowler gets a dose of this whenever some new character needs to be established as physically strong, like Crystal Hawks, or ned Zed.

* WrenchWench: Amanda Wickwire in the Pilot. The Schwenke sisters in "No Man's Land" and "Steel Horses."

* YoungGun: "Whip" Morgan

!!This TV Series Provides Examples of:

* BoxingEpisode: ''Riverboat''

** Subverted in ''Socrates' Sister'' where the titular sister Iphigenia Poole (Judith Hoag) helps accused forger Jack Randolph (William Russ), who claimed MistakenIdentity, to escape...guess what; [[TropeTelegraphing he was guilty all along]].
** Played straight in ''Crystal Hawks'' with Brisco himself the innocent accused.

* HalloweenEpisode: The episode of ''Bad Luck Betty''

* ILied: A villain does this to Pete Hutter in the episode ''And Baby Makes Three''

* IronicEcho: As a RunningGag throughout ''Socrates' Sister'', people keep commenting that Socrates is carrying "too much weight" during his ill-planned quest to rescue his sister. At the end of the episode, [[spoiler: after the rope that leads to Jack Randolph's diving suit snaps, dooming him to death by drowning]], Prof. Wickwire ruefully comments that there was "too much weight."

* JailBake: Played with in ''Socrates' Sister''. Iphigenia brings a "birthday cake" to Jack Randolph, but the warden lampshades how often people seem to have birthdays in jail and cuts the cake to pieces, only to find nothing in it. He and his deputies gleefully devour it themselves [[BatmanGambit and subsequently fall victim to the sleeping powder Iphigenia had laced it with.]]

** From ''No Man's Land'': [[Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman Dr. Rosa Quintano, Medicine Woman]].

* ScaryBlackMan: Both played straight ''and'' subverted in Lord Bowler. He tries to be this Trope and sometimes succeeds...when his own dimwittedness doesn't subvert the attempt.

** Subverted in ''Socrates' Sister'' where the titular sister Iphigenia Poole (Judith Hoag) helps accused forger Jack Randolph (William Russ), who claimed MistakenIdentity, to escape...guess what; [[TropeTelegraphing he was guilty all along]]

* BrotherChuck: Professor Wickwire's daughter Amanda is never heard from after the pilot.

* ButtMonkey: When at odds with Brisco, Bowler tends to wind up as this.

* CardSharp: Played to the hilt in one episode where Brisco is in a poker game and both he an his opponent are cheating extensively. At one point Brisco even reaches down to pet a dog and pulls an ace from its collar. Even the cigarette girl is in on it. Though Brisco's opponent has a hand of five kings, he concedes defeat to Brisco's five aces:

** Even more fun is that despite Brisco's obsession with the "coming thing," he's relying on classic low-tech cheating while the other guy has all kinds of steampunk gadgets to help him. And it's still Brisco who wins.

* CharacterAsHimself: "...with [[CoolHorse Comet]]" - actually played by four horses, each with a specific area of training (gestures, riding tricks, etc.)
** Bruce Campbell mentions on the commentary that there were a few times where he had to break it to an episode's director that a shot they wanted with Comet was impossible, due to requiring two different horses.

* BountyHunter: Aside from Brisco and Bowler, many other bounty hunters also appear in the show. Most notably in the episode Bounty Hunters Convention

* BettyAndVeronica: Amanda Wickwire and Dixie Cousins, at least in the pilot

* AirGuitar: Actually more like Dueling Air Banjos when Pete Hutter and Aaron Viva try to outdo each other while locked in a jail cell