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archetI can reliably trace my first ever significant tv boy-crush to Lt. Myron Goldman via the late 80's, early 90's series, Tour of Duty. However, and just like the Emperor said to Vader in his creepy-whisper voice, “There is, ah-nuh-ther.” The same year, the same night, TOD aired, another show also debuted which was actually the lead-in show for TOD, and here we have a tie for my (significant) first ever tv boy-crush/s. He was always there, just sorta got lost in memory for a bit.
Enter: Matt Hawkes, High Mountain Rangers, circa 1988. High Mountain Rangers was a family adventure series revolving around Jesse Hawkes (Robert Conrad), a former ranger and mountain man, and his sons Matt and Cody Hawkes (played by Conrad’s actual sons, Christian and Shane Conrad). Matt, the eldest, leads a team of ‘rangers’ - wilderness search and rescue law enforcement officers and often clashes with his father, mostly over the care and feeding of his 15 year old little bro, Cody. Cody lives with Jesse on the mountain as basically a shut-in due to dad’s dim view on modern society. Adventures ensure involving escaped convicts, bears, a defecting Russian skier, earthquakes, stupid, reckless hunters, a crazy ex-ranger, and that’s just what I remember off the top of my head.
HMR endured only a single season, thirteen episodes, before being canceled, and to my 11 year old self, was a cool, action packed adventure. Matt Hawkes was blond, tall, handsome, had a cool last name, often wore tight leggings, tall black boots and a bomber jacket (yeah this was often their ‘ranger’ uniform, but hey, it looked good) and did cool things on skis. Living in a pre-VCR era (at least in my house) I was able to view each HMR episode exactly once. As far as I remember, it never aired again and can only be found in the form of bad, bad resolution VCR recordings which several kind souls have posted on YouTube, which is where I rediscovered it quite randomly.
I won’t get into the series itself too much. It exists fondly in my 80’s childhood memory, though on a bit of re-watching...boy, is this some classic, 80’s cheese and cringe. Still, memory now jogged, I was enamored anew with the idea of Matt Hawkes. He’d remained buried in my pre-teen memory, and for whatever reason, decided to step forth. Next logical step? Seek out fic. There are fic out there, but oddly no m/m , which boggles the mind! Mainly, I was low-key petulant about that. I wanted to write, but I put it off. I’m incredibly rusty at any real attempts at writing, but Matt wouldn’t leave me alone. I started envisioning scenes in my head while driving to work, while at work, scenes told mainly from the viewpoint of Matt’s boyfriend. Of course, Matt didn’t have a boyfriend on the tv series, heh! So, I had to create him one...or rather, he created himself. I couldn’t envision Matt with any other character on the show, so ex-Marine Jody McKinnon manifested. I started writing with just a vague notion, and just wanting to have fun. Now, and per Word Doc, fifty pages in, I’m fairly astonished as fifty pages for me is MASSIVE. For me it’s on the scale of Egon’s Twinkie comparison in Ghostbusters, and like Zeddemore said, “That’s a big Twinkie.”
Unlike a trend that I’ve noticed in many HMR fics to set events in modern day (not a criticism just an observation) I’ve kept mine in the late 80’s...well, 1989. I wanted to keep some of the 80’s cheese. I want my guys to have that typical, magical ‘zing!’. I want there to be action, and a slow burn and some flirting amid hurt/comfort and a healthy dose of suspension of belief. I want all the pretty things, basically. I already know how this story ends, and am already envisioning a continuation for a sequel. These boys have taken full ownership of my muse machine and are captaining the ship.
I have zero expectation of readership, and am slightly curious as to what reception a m/m HMR fic might get, if it gets any, if any actual HMR fans should give it a whirl, since after scouring the internet I can’t find a single one. Anyway, for whatever reason, I’ve had more fun with this than I’ve had in years fandom-wise. And as a sidebar: I really want to create some cover art too, though, man, Christian Conrad has like, zero presence on the internet. Most of the pics from HMR aren’t great quality. He did continue to act somewhat, funnily enough guest starring on Star Trek Voyager, which was once my main jam, not that I recognized him back then.
But mainly I’m just excited to be creating, to be goofily having fun. I was positively giddy writing the moment where Matt and Jody meet. Maybe it’s the low expectation, no pressure. Maybe it’s because this world feels so ‘open’, since the series only last one season, there’s not a lot you have to adhere to. I’m pretty rusty at writing, but it almost doesn’t matter...(not that I want it to suck, mind) but it’s so cool to feel this way about writing again. So, I’m throwing this out into the world because it’s fun for me to think and ramble about. The current fic is about 75 % done and I’m looking forward to wrapping it up. Here’s hoping the muse keeps on giving!
Enter: Matt Hawkes, High Mountain Rangers, circa 1988. High Mountain Rangers was a family adventure series revolving around Jesse Hawkes (Robert Conrad), a former ranger and mountain man, and his sons Matt and Cody Hawkes (played by Conrad’s actual sons, Christian and Shane Conrad). Matt, the eldest, leads a team of ‘rangers’ - wilderness search and rescue law enforcement officers and often clashes with his father, mostly over the care and feeding of his 15 year old little bro, Cody. Cody lives with Jesse on the mountain as basically a shut-in due to dad’s dim view on modern society. Adventures ensure involving escaped convicts, bears, a defecting Russian skier, earthquakes, stupid, reckless hunters, a crazy ex-ranger, and that’s just what I remember off the top of my head.
HMR endured only a single season, thirteen episodes, before being canceled, and to my 11 year old self, was a cool, action packed adventure. Matt Hawkes was blond, tall, handsome, had a cool last name, often wore tight leggings, tall black boots and a bomber jacket (yeah this was often their ‘ranger’ uniform, but hey, it looked good) and did cool things on skis. Living in a pre-VCR era (at least in my house) I was able to view each HMR episode exactly once. As far as I remember, it never aired again and can only be found in the form of bad, bad resolution VCR recordings which several kind souls have posted on YouTube, which is where I rediscovered it quite randomly.
I won’t get into the series itself too much. It exists fondly in my 80’s childhood memory, though on a bit of re-watching...boy, is this some classic, 80’s cheese and cringe. Still, memory now jogged, I was enamored anew with the idea of Matt Hawkes. He’d remained buried in my pre-teen memory, and for whatever reason, decided to step forth. Next logical step? Seek out fic. There are fic out there, but oddly no m/m , which boggles the mind! Mainly, I was low-key petulant about that. I wanted to write, but I put it off. I’m incredibly rusty at any real attempts at writing, but Matt wouldn’t leave me alone. I started envisioning scenes in my head while driving to work, while at work, scenes told mainly from the viewpoint of Matt’s boyfriend. Of course, Matt didn’t have a boyfriend on the tv series, heh! So, I had to create him one...or rather, he created himself. I couldn’t envision Matt with any other character on the show, so ex-Marine Jody McKinnon manifested. I started writing with just a vague notion, and just wanting to have fun. Now, and per Word Doc, fifty pages in, I’m fairly astonished as fifty pages for me is MASSIVE. For me it’s on the scale of Egon’s Twinkie comparison in Ghostbusters, and like Zeddemore said, “That’s a big Twinkie.”
Unlike a trend that I’ve noticed in many HMR fics to set events in modern day (not a criticism just an observation) I’ve kept mine in the late 80’s...well, 1989. I wanted to keep some of the 80’s cheese. I want my guys to have that typical, magical ‘zing!’. I want there to be action, and a slow burn and some flirting amid hurt/comfort and a healthy dose of suspension of belief. I want all the pretty things, basically. I already know how this story ends, and am already envisioning a continuation for a sequel. These boys have taken full ownership of my muse machine and are captaining the ship.
I have zero expectation of readership, and am slightly curious as to what reception a m/m HMR fic might get, if it gets any, if any actual HMR fans should give it a whirl, since after scouring the internet I can’t find a single one. Anyway, for whatever reason, I’ve had more fun with this than I’ve had in years fandom-wise. And as a sidebar: I really want to create some cover art too, though, man, Christian Conrad has like, zero presence on the internet. Most of the pics from HMR aren’t great quality. He did continue to act somewhat, funnily enough guest starring on Star Trek Voyager, which was once my main jam, not that I recognized him back then.
But mainly I’m just excited to be creating, to be goofily having fun. I was positively giddy writing the moment where Matt and Jody meet. Maybe it’s the low expectation, no pressure. Maybe it’s because this world feels so ‘open’, since the series only last one season, there’s not a lot you have to adhere to. I’m pretty rusty at writing, but it almost doesn’t matter...(not that I want it to suck, mind) but it’s so cool to feel this way about writing again. So, I’m throwing this out into the world because it’s fun for me to think and ramble about. The current fic is about 75 % done and I’m looking forward to wrapping it up. Here’s hoping the muse keeps on giving!
no subject
Date: 2022-05-22 08:03 am (UTC)Well, I’ll definitely read what you write. *grin* Nostalgia ahoy!
(And yes, Matt Hawkes for the boycrush, indeed!)
~Kris
no subject
Date: 2022-05-22 03:41 pm (UTC)I'm glad someone else remembers this show. I hope you enjoy the fic! This first one is mostly just Matt and Jody. I hope to continue on with more installments, and bring in other characters from the show.
no subject
Date: 2022-05-22 02:27 pm (UTC)I'm thrilled that the bunnies have bitten you so hard!! And that you're having fun with it. If both the canon and the fandom is so small, maybe it's basically original fic? And you can do anything you want with it?
no subject
Date: 2022-05-22 03:58 pm (UTC)I think there's like, five HMR fics on Ao3. I've found more on fanficiton.net, maybe there's some elsewhere? I've found no 'slash' fic, which is unusual,nearly every fandom I've ever looked up has some slash somewhere. The fandom feels pretty small. The show itself was mostly an 'adventure of the week' format, almost stand alone episodes, and while there were things laid down having to do with Matt, Cody and Jesse of course, that threaded throughout the series, it was very bare bones. I think you could change a couple names and a details and absolutely call it an original if if one wanted.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-29 08:21 am (UTC)I very clearly remember one throwaway line hinting at Matt having some form of PSTD, but it was never really dealt with. They didn't even mention anything about the rangers anymore. Which, in my opinion, was a wasted opportunity for character building and storylines.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-29 04:37 pm (UTC)I do have a future storyline where Matt struggles with PSTD symptoms, I hinted in Bad Luck/Bad Guys of him having nightmares, and I envision him and Jody talking about his last year and how traumatic it was at some point, then in my future storyline...hmm...better not say too much! Except that there'll be an injury which involves his ex-boyfriend, and then a recovery where Jody will have to step up and watch over his boy. At least, that's what my muse is at right now, always subject to change! Right now in Angels they're in the wine and roses phase...all the tense hurt/comfort stuff is coming later as far as I can tell, :-D
no subject
Date: 2022-08-29 05:48 pm (UTC)As for the potentil of HMR, I totally agree. I would have loved more backstory. For example, how Tim and Robin came to Tahoe. To me, they put Jesse a little to much on the forefront.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-29 06:04 pm (UTC)Yeah, I feel like they had these bullet points of good ideas for the show, but never actually did anything with them. They should've kept Jesse as a ranger, and had Matt coming up in the service and then they could've had their all their clashes that way. That is one thing I liked in the show, how Matt had his own point of view and though I think he respected his dad, he was his own man and wasn't afraid of voicing his own opinions. I also liked how the brothers seemed to adore one another. I remember in one ep Cody kept saying he could feel that Matt was in trouble. I can't remember the ep title, I think it was the one where Matt fell into the frozen steam and almost died. Jesse and Cody ended up finding him on their snowmobiles.
Maybe if the show had continued we would've gotten eps featuring each ranger. That would've been cool!
no subject
Date: 2022-08-29 06:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-08-29 10:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-08-30 07:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-08-30 08:40 pm (UTC)