THE HUNTRESS (2000-2001) – This Forgotten Television series is appropriate for Mother’s Day. Annette O’Toole and Jordana Spiro starred in what was basically a continuation of the Steve McQueen movie The Hunter. McQueen depicted the real-life bounty hunter Ralph “Papa” Thorson.
In 1994 Thorson was killed by one of his previous captures via car bomb. He also planned on killing Ralph’s widow Dottie Thorson and daughter Brandi. The two women carried on “Papa” Thorson’s bounty hunting business while simultaneously dodging assassination attempts by the man who killed their father and husband.
This actually happened and was covered in the True Crime book Deadly Games, written by Christopher Keane, who had also written The Hunter, on which the Steve McQueen film was based.
A made-for-TV movie titled The Huntress was produced in 2000 about the mother-daughter bounty hunters based on Keane’s book and launched the 2000-2001 series of the same title. The series ran for 28 episodes in the spirit of previous television dramas about real-life figures like Serpico, Elliott Ness and others.
Keane wrote or co-wrote nearly every episode.
THE HUNTRESS – This telefilm aired March 7th, 2000 with Annette O’Toole portraying Dottie Thorson and Aleksa Paladino playing Brandi Thorson. Paladino would be replaced by Jordana Spiro for the subsequent series. Craig T. Nelson played Ralph Thorson before his murder.
Alanna Ubach played another real-life character – Robin Ripley, a tough juvenile placed in Dottie Thorson’s temporary custody. The chemistry among the three actresses is great, with daughter Brandi focused and ready, mother Dottie struggling to adjust to bounty hunting and Robin providing extra street-savvy. Continue reading


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THE FOURTEEN-YEAR POKER GAME – This legendary poker game in all likelihood never really happened but has come to embody the early 20th Century wildness of Thurmond, WV. During America’s coal boom Thurmond attracted the wealthy including mine and railroad tycoons. It became such a hub of gambling, drinking, prostitution and partying that it’s been called the Las Vegas of its era.
A RECIPE FOR SEDUCTION (2020) – This 15-minute short was put together by KFC and Lifetime Television in what deserves to be recognized for the intentional comedy that it is! Yes, it would be even funnier if it wasn’t trying to be, but too many reviewers apparently miss the point.
MARIO LOPEZ plays a hunkified COLONEL HARLAN SANDERS of KFC fame. One look at the way he’s made up should have alerted grumpy critics to the fact that this thing is not to be taken seriously! Hell, his makeup is just a few adjustments away from making him a hunkified Orville Redenbacher, but we’ll never get to see THAT parody because of how badly misunderstood A Recipe for Seduction was.
COMMAND aka CAVALRY COMMAND – In the post-Civil War American southwest a cavalry captain and his young lieutenant clash over issues of command. Meanwhile, a conflict with Native Americans rages. Starring Everett Sloane and Ben Cooper.
THE FEAST OF BRICRIU (Fled Bricrenn) – The Book of the Dun Cow version of this tale is dated to around the 700s A.D. and is considered the forerunner of the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in British legends.
THE FACE OF MARBLE (1946) – John “He’s probably even in the Zapruder Film if you look hard enough” Carradine stars as a mad scientist who is trying to use electrical and chemical treatments to revive the recently deceased. Human and animal test subjects come back to life able to walk through solid objects and are controlled by John’s voodoo-practicing maid. William “One-Shot” Beaudine directed and Willie Best was on hand as the butler.
ACCOUNT OF AN EXPEDITION TO THE INTERIOR OF NEW HOLLAND (1837) – Written by multiple parties, with Lady Mary Fox, Richard Whateley and Lord Holland the likeliest authors. “New Holland” was an old name for Australia. In 1860 the novel was reissued under the title preface The Southlanders.
Southland boasts a population of roughly four million and is divided into eleven distinct regions which, though under one overall parliamentary government, enjoy a large amount of internal sovereignty. Some regions are republics and others live under a hereditary monarchy. In several of the republics, however, their chief executive figure is still called a king despite being elected.
U.S. President: Ulysses S. Grant Vice President: Vacant. Henry Wilson had died on Nov 22nd, 1875 and the 25th Amendment requiring a new Vice President to fill any such vacancy would not be passed until 1967. Speaker of the House: Michael C. Kerr Chief Justice: Morrison R. Waite