The TV Column

Wynonna Earp the Western equivalent of Buffy

Syfy’s new horror/adventure series Wynonna Earp stars Dominique Provost-Chalkley (left) and Melanie Scrofano as the demonbusting Earp sisters.
Syfy’s new horror/adventure series Wynonna Earp stars Dominique Provost-Chalkley (left) and Melanie Scrofano as the demonbusting Earp sisters.

In case you've missed it, there's a fun new series that has quietly set up shop at 9 p.m. Fridays on Syfy.

I apologize for letting it fly in under my radar.

Wynonna Earp, based on the IDW graphic novel series of the same name, debuted April 1. You can catch up with past episodes at syfy.com., but here's all you need to know.

Bottom line: Think Buffy with a Colt .45 Buntline Special instead of a wooden stake.

For those not up on their Old West lore (or the 1955-61 ABC Western starring Hugh O'Brian as Wyatt Earp), the famous Buntline Special with its 12-inch barrel was Earp's signature (but probably apocryphal) sidearm. Little did we realize that the famous pistol would one day be used to send a gaggle of demons back to hell.

The series follows the adventures of Earp's great-great-granddaughter, Wynonna, who returns for her uncle's funeral, recovers the magical weapon (nicknamed Peacemaker) from an old well and uses it to battle demons and other creatures in her hometown of Purgatory.

Purgatory, we soon discover, is an aptly named community.

Wynonna, who has a bad-girl past and an acerbic wit, is a reluctant hero. But demon protector is the role that Wyatt Earp's eldest heir is destined to play. The demons plaguing the town are Revenants -- the reincarnated souls of the 77 outlaws who were taken down by Wyatt back in the day.

Naturally, Wynonna (played by fetching Canadian actress Melanie Scrofano) has her own Scooby gang to help with the task of keeping the Revenants from escaping into the world.

There's Wynonna's spunky kid sister, Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley), who has an obsession with the Earp family legacy and really, really wishes she had been chosen to be the demon hunter instead of Wynonna.

And there's Deputy Marshal Xavier Dolls (Shamier Anderson). He's a dedicated, no-nonsense member of the U.S. Marshals' (fictional) Black Badge division who comes to Purgatory to investigate the Revenant problem.

And finally, there's Doc Holliday. Yes, the Doc Holliday, best bud of Wyatt Earp. He has been cursed with immortality. Holliday is played with marvelous Deadwood-esque panache by Tim Rozon.

For added diversity (and a little comic relief), there is a new police officer in town. Lesbian Nicole Haught (Katherine Barrell) has the hots for the very straight Waverly. It gets awkward.

Does all this sound like fun? Well, it should. The girls are cute; the guys are handsome; the banter witty; and the action satisfying -- especially when Wynonna dispatches a Revenant and a gaping hole opens up and sucks the demon kicking and screaming back to the burning fires of perdition.

Fair warning: The series is rated TV-14 for violence and language. The language is occasionally salty, but the violence can get graphic.

In Friday's fifth episode, "Diggin' Up Bones," Wynonna and Xaiver make a daring raid on the trailer park run by Bobo, the Revenant head honcho.

Western nostalgia. O'Brian's Buntline Special in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp was just one of several memorable weapons in the scores of TV Westerns of my youth. From 1949 to the late '60s, there were more than 100 Westerns on TV, with 26 prime-time Westerns in 1959 alone. Here are a few of the guns I remember.

Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors) carried a modified Winchester Model 1892 .44-40 rifle in The Rifleman (1958-63). The custom trigger allowed him to rapidly spray a stream of bullets at the bad guys.

On Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958-61), bounty hunter Josh Randall (Steve McQueen) used a sawed-off Model 1892 called a Mare's Laig.

Along with a Colt .45 single action Army cavalry model revolver and a lever-action Marlin rifle, "soldier of fortune" Paladin (Richard Boone) on Have Gun -- Will Travel (1957-63) had a derringer that came in handy.

On The Rebel (1959-61), Johnny Yuma (Nick Adams) "got fightin' mad, this rebel lad" with a sawed-off twin-barrelled shotgun. Note: The theme song was sung by Johnny Cash.

Yancy Derringer (1958-59) starred Jock Mahoney in the title role. He carried a sword cane, a four-barreled Sharps Derringer in his hat (another was up his sleeve) and a knife. His Pawnee sidekick, Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah, carried a sawed-off shotgun loaded with buck-shot.

In Johnny Ringo (1959-60) Don Durant used an eight-shot LeMat revolver, which had an auxiliary 20-gauge shotgun barrel under the regular barrel.

Finally, Gene Barry did more damage with his cane on Bat Masterson (1958-61) than with a gun.

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Weekend on 04/28/2016

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