Then Came Bronson ..... soooo cool

Drive in car: Taking a trip?

Bronson on bike: Yeah.

Driver: Where to?

Bronson: I don't know. Wherever I end up, I guess.....

Then Came Bronson was an American TV show which originally aired on NBC at 9pm on Wednesday nights between 24 March 1969 and 1 April 1970 as a 98 minute long pilot movie and 26 subsequent 50 minute episodes. The pilot was released outside of America in cinemas. The present writer remembers watching it on Australian TV as a 15-16 year old in the years immediately following. It was seen by many as a very cool version of the hit cinematic release Easy Rider, though it had been conceived, and the pilot aired, prior to the release of that film. In the Bronson case it was the story of a single person - Jim Bronson - travelling around the US on a red Harley Davidson Sportster 1968-9 XLH900 motorcycle, wearing only a blue woolen cap, searching for the meaning of life after the death of a close friend. Starring Michael Parks (1940-2017), it developed a cult following through re-runs during the early 1970s and, despite this, only survived a single season. The present article is a personal look back at the show and its influence from the perspective of a non-American fan.

An introduction to Then Came Bronson, Buick Man,  6 August 2021, YouTube, duration: 11.02 minutes. 

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So cool

A concept which saw wide acceptance in the West during the late 1960s and early 1970s was that of cool. This arose out of the Beat scene of the late 1950s in which a quiet, knowing demeaning was seen as a positive trait and caused people to seek to engage and break through any cover put up by another. Those interests were obviously desirous of also being cool or attaining a cool persona if possible. The term was also one used in everyday language by young people, such as "That's so cool" or "Cool, man" which was popularised by TV shows such as the Beat generation's Toby Gillis (1959-63). So where does Then Came Bronson fit into this genre? Well, Jim Bronson was a man of few words; he was very much an individual and a loner; he was on a journey of discovery; and he spoke infrequently. As such, his persona was the epitome of cool.

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References

Wikipedia, Michael Parks, Wikipedia, accessed 20 March 2026.

-----, Then Came Bronson, Wikipedia, accessed 20 March 2026.

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Michael Organ, Australia

Last updated: 20 March 2026.

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