Centinelas del bosque

The memories of watching the TV series "The Forest Rangers" as a young child are etched vividly in my imagination. The show ran from 1964-1966 which meant I was 3-5 years old when it aired. I'm amazed how much I remember about this series. In fact, I thought I dreamt the characters up until recently when I saw it re-aired for cable syndication. Indeed, much of my early life was spent fantasizing the life of a forest ranger: reporting forest fires or crimes to the square jawed officer Sergeant Scott(Gordon Pinsent); learning native lessons from Joe Two Rivers(Michael Zenon); listening to tales told in the thick Quebecois accent of Uncle Raoul(Rolland Bedard, they say, but I was sure it was Maurice Chevalier). These three characters, even today, represent the British, Indian and French people who may often fight for separate sovereignty at times but as "The Forest Rangers" shows, these three sub-nations work best when they work together. It is good to see the series picked up by a cable company. I hope the youth of today will enjoy it as much as I did in my youth.

I have uploaded all of season one to You Tube.

One of my favorite episodes is the Wolverine in season one. During the entire episode the characters are struck with fear with the possibility of encountering this vicious animal. Joe Two Rivers describes its ability to jump to a tree top and escape by the tops of the trees.

I saw it first run as a young kid. About 4-6 years old.

Re-watching it more recently, one sees things from a whold different perspective. Despite a rather simplistic set of stories, the message basically holds up.

Kind of a neat concept, the "Young Forest Rangers", a group similar to scouts, an auxillory troup of wardens, helping out Chief Ranger Keely (older brother of the lead Young ranger).

At the time, a lot of young Canadian actors were getting their start, many of whom have gone on to fame.

Never understood why when a series, simple as this one was, was filmed on FILM, rather than video tape, and the copies are in such good shape that no one has the brains to put them out on DVD. GO to : TVSHOWSONDVD.COM search for The forest rangers and vote to have it put out on DVD. You have to register but they do not send out any mailings, unless you want to be advised when certain shows are released. I remember one of my favorites was when the bad guys cut the phone lines to the cabin, and Zeek (?) had the idea to take the phone off the wall carry it into the bush find the phone lines and make a call from there , clever. (he he he he)

Horray for Joe Two-Rivers

This remains one of my all-time favorite TV shows. I recall it best when it ran as a feature of the CBC kids show, "Razzle Dazzle" with Al Hamel and Trudy Young. This kids show would feature other great kid's shows like "Skippy The Bush Kangaroo" and "Thierry La Fronde" too.

I can remember climbing off the homeward school bus one day and turning on my family's 19" black and white "Admiral" TV to see Rex Hagon (Pete Keeley) and Susan Conway (Kathy) appearing as guests of Razzle-Dazzle co-host Trudy Young. To that point in time, I really didn't know TFR was a drama! I was convinced what was on the show had to be reality! Being a kid you have strange perceptions - I thought people were only allowed to "act" in Hollywood, certainly not in the Canadian wilderness! When I realized that not only Americans could act, Canadians could too, I was so darned impressed!

The chemistry of the characters were what drew me to the show day after day. Pete and Chub (Ralph Endersby) always wanted to be the leader, but somehow, they'd eventually make up and get on with what had to be done. My favorite character was the wise native Joe Two Rivers (Michael Zenon), who always sent a chill up my spine with his familiar recant "Mebeeeee...mebee NAWT..." Of course, who could forget the stoic Sgt. Scott (Gordon Pinsent), a rather diminutive dude who still seemed to be able to scare us crapless even wearing a goofy hat, wide pants and a red serge.

I think everyone who ever heard it, loved the memorable theme music written and conducted by the great John Hubert Bath. The Forest Rangers always ended with that memorable flourish: Duh-duh-duh-dummmmmmm-dummmmmmmm-DAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! which concluded each episode. The same incidental musical pieces featured in TFR, also graced the 1958 movie "Wolf Dog," which I'll always love, but (sadly) you will probably never see.

My kudos to a Canadian gent named Clayton Self and his work on the TFR fansite - see the "miscellaneous" link at left. He also managed to put together a wonderful reunion for the cast and crew of the show. He was also instrumental in getting the series immortalized on an Imavision DVD series in 2007. Long live TFR in reruns.