The obscure TV character Tom Hanks always dreamed of being: “That guy I wanted to emulate”
The 1960s were the definitive decade of Tom Hanks‘ life, opening America’s eventual dad up to the musical and motion picture influences that would shape his entire career, but his love for a short-lived TV series that barely made it into the 1970s without being cancelled might have slipped under the radar.
He briefly flirted with The Dave Clark Five taking the top spot as his favourite band of the ’60s, but once he fell in love with The Beatles, nobody ever came close. They’ve been the single biggest musical influence of his life, and even inspired his underappreciated directorial debut, That Thing You Do!
When it comes to film, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was a defining moment. The two-time Academy Award winner has never wavered from calling the iconic auteur’s sci-fi masterpiece the greatest movie he’s ever seen, and he’s seen it more than enough times to know that he won’t be changing his mind.
The ’60s also ignited Hanks’ fascination with space travel and World War II, and he’s made good use of his in-depth knowledge on the subjects in everything from Saving Private Ryan and Greyhound to Apollo 13 and The Moonwalkers, the documentary he narrated about humanity’s multiple trips beyond the stars. With that in mind, it makes sense that he dreamed of being a TV character who debuted during the decade. Just.
Premiering on NBC in September 1969, Quentin Tarantino’s future frequent collaborator, Michael Parks, played the title role in Then Came Bronson. The adventure drama wasn’t long for this world, though, lasting only 26 episodes before being axed after the end of its first season finale, which aired in April 1970.
Parks’ James Bronson is left devastated by the death of his best friend, played by Martin Sheen in one of his earliest roles, and decides to abandon his day job working at a newspaper to ride his trusty motorcycle around the country, stepping in to aid people in need of help in a series that basically lifted the tropes of the classic western, placed them on two wheels, and let the hero ride off into the sunset having made the world a better place by the end of every episode.
Hanks was only 13 when it hit the airwaves, but he was immediately hooked. “Did you ever watch the TV show Then Came Bronson?” he asked Rolling Stone. “Michael Parks as Jim Bronson, now that guy I honestly wanted to emulate. I wanted to be a friendly guy on a motorcycle who gave everybody a fair shake and yet always rode out of town at the end of the hour.”
He didn’t quite manage it, with “friendly guy who gave everybody a fair shake” about the only thing he’s lifted from Parks’ protagonist, seeing as Hanks hasn’t been known to show up in random places on the back of a Harley-Davidson to right wrongs before buggering off once he’d solved whatever problems needed solving. It’s a deep cut, with Then Came Bronson barely even qualifying as a cult classic, although the actor would likely disagree.
