S1 • E1
A newspaper reporter quits his job and travels across America by motorcycle.
S1 • E2
S1 • E1
At a camp for children with autism, Jim befriends Johnny: a young autistic boy who is known as "The Runner."
S1 • E2
Old-timer Alex invites Jim to use his ranch to work on his damaged bike with the hopes that Bronson will repair his Rudge Ulster; a bike that has been garaged since 1946 due to Alex's wife's hatred of motorcycles.
S1 • E3
Knowing that Bronson is short on cash, lonely widow Monica offers him a job on her guest ranch. During Jim's stay, Monica's teenage daughter Lori becomes quite enamored with Jim; and so does her mother.
S1 • E4
www.jimbronson.com - Jim rounds the corner and a widowed woman (Hattie) is beating up her car with a tree branch, he gives her a ride home, and works on her small farm. He befriends and old miner named Abner and listens to stories of the Mother Lode which is right under their feet. The golden age which Hattie remembers is rapidly running out of time in her memory, as the doctor of the mountains revealed to Jim. In and effort to help, his bike is damaged and repairs are undertaken by Abner and himself in the old blacksmith shop. Jim displays in the episode he can play the piano, and sings a song for Hattie in the parlor of the cabin she has lived in for the last 50 years. As the moment of darkness befalls Jim and Abner, Jim hears the blacktop calling and Abner offers to cut Jim in on the Mother Lode profits. Abner finds courage in Jims advice to dig and the two are set for a renewed appreciation for life and the gifts which life provides to those whom remain. This episode touched on ones dreams and the darkness of growing old without those whom we have loved around us.
S1 • E5
www.jimbronson.com - Jim is visiting a ranch which is owned by Morgana who is a lost love of Jim's from five years ago. Also at the ranch is and injured bull fighter (Miguel) who is recuperating from a bullfight. Jim is questioning the morality of killing a bull for sport. Morgana is Jessica Walters and in a bathing suit, she is beautiful. Morgana's younger sister, Lane Bradbury, falls for Jim and cannot stop kissing him. As Jim takes on lessons in learning how to spin the cape, which is called a capote, Miguel pursues the mechanics of hill climbing on a motorcycle. Both have much to learn and they discover that each is and art not to be taken lightly. As Miguel recovers from his injury we see he is a man of pain and knows that life is short and can change with the spin of the capote. As Jim sees only pain for the creature Miguel see the life of his being and with this Jims despair places him amongst the mustangs in his quest for the long lonesome highway. This episode touched on the eternal triangle of love and the web men and women can be caught up in as middle aged and young adults, as well as older men and women trying to recapture a love or a feeling that was there or never was. Jim motoring past the Mustangs on his iron horse is and awesome feeling!
S1 • E6
www.jimbronson.com - Jim befriends a pregnant girl in a rain storm while looking for a friend in the mountain community, and then he strangely finds him. While dodging and chasing the goats on the road of a hill top farm, Jim stumbles upon a girl named Mary. She is with child and Jim helps her round up the bearded creatures. Later that day the rains come in a torrent of drops. As if in a manger Bucky finds Jim caring for Mary during the rain storm. We learn that Bucky is and old friend of Jims and was a priest in San Francisco but with a clouded view of life; he fled to the seclusion of the mountain stronghold. With a scorn of love for Mary and their unborn child, he is tormented by his lack of faith in himself to realize the reality of life and the misfortunes which come with it. However as the new baby draws near, the reality of the blessing which have been bestowed are then clear and Jim sees a way in which he can continue on his quest for comfort on the long lonesome highway. This episode touched on the morals of the child un-wanted and the religious implications we have in our lives, we either see the light or the sun never shines in our life.
S1 • E7
www.jimbronson.com - Jim motors into a small town, and is hit on his bike by the man who owns the whole town including the sheriff. The bus at 3:13 PM the next day is bringing in a person from the towns past, everyone is worried. Years ago a young guy named Clay got into trouble and was turned in to the police by one of his best friends. His girl then marries another guy. Over the next two decades prison tamed Clay and the rage he may have felt towards the guy who turned him in to the cops has faded. The rub here is that the towns people do not know that Clay is a changed man. Everyone thinks when the bus arrives that Clay will start to reek revenge on everyone from the past. Of course they get a big surprise, and Jim has helped several of them understand the concept that time heals, and this is the medicine Jim is looking for in his own life on his ride down the long lonesome highway. TCB addressed many issues, in fact each episode encompassed a topic of the day or a sign of the times, this episode touched on the many tongues of the town. As we grow up we can be a victim of hate, deceit, and love. All are in the episode, and with all the fears that go with it. But faith in people and trust in judgment can overcome, as it did here at about 3:20 that afternoon in Olathe Colorado. The 3rd Annual reunion of Bronson Garage will be in June 2011 in Olathe/Montrose Colorado.
S1 • E8
www.jimbronson.com - Jim picks up a beautiful blonde hitchhiker named Valerie, little does he know that her husband is watching and then follows them. Jim befriends a retired newspaper line-a-type operator named Oliver, who loves to talk to people rather than a read the words backwards on a machine. The Indians in the area are upset that the valley they once lived in is now a lake. Valerie is married to a very jealous shoe salesman, who is suffering from a post traumatic stress situation after the Vietnam War. Jim gives a cute girl a ride on his bike and discovers she is a simpleton in her regard for others, he realizes the plight of the American Indian and sees how his involvement with the Valerie has somehow made her realize her own self and not to play the game her husband keeps leading her into. The long lonesome highway calls Jim from the troughs of a triangle. Filmed in Montrose Colorado area. The 3rd Annual reunion of Bronson Garage will be in 20-25 June 2011 in Olathe/Montrose Colorado.
S1 • E9
www.jimbronson.com - Jim gets hooked up with a junkyard guy named Bear, and naturally meets another beautiful blonde named Leona who everyone calls "Leon" and helps her in preparing her car for the demolition derby. Jim gives her his friendship to help her in working through the growing pains of a big brother and a small town. When Leona tries to enter the derby she is told by her brother she cannot, so Jim enters her car and drives it for her. He is doing pretty well and then, Billy leaves in the middle of the derby and drives out to the junkyard. Leona is there and steals his car and drives it back to the field and starts wreaking cars. Everyone thinks it is Billy, and she wins the cash prize. Jim drinks a congratulatory beer with her and then makes his way west on the desert highways into Arizona.
S1 • E10
www.jimbronson.com - In the heat of the summer, Jim rolls into a desert town in Arizona with no money, and ends up taking a job on and oil rig with four would be oil men with broken down equipment and one lonely wife. Filmed along the Apache trail outside Phoenix the sun was hot and the wind blew a warm breeze to spark the blood of the young bucks looking at the lonely wife. Jim helps her by taking a reduced salary in order for the group to be able to maintain the rig. However this eventually comes to a point and a lease investor shows up to pick up options and become a partner. Jim sees the futility of this operation and sells his share to a roughneck. And the setting sun on that ribbon of highway now is a much more welcome sight after the back breaking work as a roughneck on and oil derrick. The dreams people have, the all consuming dream is the point here, to the point of no return and the disregard that others may not share your dream or aspirations, love and patience here must abide.
S1 • E11
www.jimbronson.com - Jim finds a lost puppy and meets a beautiful blonde named Barbara, a lady nurse, who is filling in for the doctor who has recently died. As he spends the next several weeks with her he meets many of her patients who live in the mountain community. A touching story of how just one persons life touches so many others. Jim brings life to Barbara's world and when he decides to leave the phone rings and a milestone is on the other end, in that what the two of them are about to receive will be their whole world in the years to come. A baby boy has lost his parents and the town pastor must find a temporary home for him. In all the miles and all the girls on the long lonesome highway, Barbara kick starts a deep feeling and a lasting impression on Jim.
S1 • E12
www.jimbronson.com - Jim stops on the highway to help another biker. Jim tows him and his bike to the nearest gas station and helps pay for the repairs. The biker cannot repay Jim, so he borrows more money from Jim to gamble at pool, only to be hustled. The biker sure has and attitude! The episode is very much like today when traveling on the highway, you must take care in your vehicle. There are many out there who would, and will skin you for every dollar you have to fix it in the event that you break down on the long lonesome highway. TCB address many issues, in fact each episode encompassed a topic of the day or a sign of the times, this episode touched on the coming of age in the struggle for equal rights.
S1 • E13
Jim mentors an aspiring young pitcher and enjoys some time back on the baseball field.
S1 • E14
Jim ditches the motorcycle and takes to to a horse in order to visit old friends who are living in the wilderness.
S1 • E15
Bronson comes to the aid of an attractive young witch. He encounters her friends and their bizarre world of magic.
S1 • E16
www.jimbronson.com - Jim gets a job in a honky tonk bar and sings with the band, and then problems develop over songwriting credit. This is a great episode to see Michael Parks sing several of the songs he recorded on his "Long Lonesome Highway" LP album. In one scene James Hendricks (writer of LLH) plays guitar while Jim sings.
S1 • E17
Jim follows a van that sprayed him in mud, and soon accepts the artist-driver's ten dollar barn painting deal. When a giant nude is instead painted on a wall, several men each claim the subject was their wife - lawsuits forthcoming.
S1 • E18
Jim wanders into a small town and is invited to eat with an Amish family. He makes a big impression on them and offers them much to consider about their ways and lifestyle.
S1 • E19
Jim arrives in Reno to visit his cousin Eve. Because Jim is in town, Eve and her fiancé Len decide on an impromptu wedding. When Jim lends the couple money for the ceremony, trouble ensues.
S1 • E20
www.jimbronson.com - While driving down a lonely desert canyon road, Jim is attacked by Indians, complete with war paint, but they have traded in their horses for motorcycles. NOTE: The Boat-tail Sporty as first prize.
S1 • E21
www.jimbronson.com - High in the mountains, Jim meets a beautiful blonde painting the snow covered mountain. Her husband is a famous writer and is on the mountain and sees the two together. The husband invites Jim to climb with him in the days to come.
S1 • E22
www.jimbronson.com - Jim gets fired from a chemical plant. He then meets a girl who's dad owns a newspaper and he gets a new job. However the father has a drinking problem. Located in Pacific Grove, California, north of Big Sur, a place where Jim will eventually come to rest after his quest on the lonesome highway.
S1 • E23
Jim goes into a national park to get away from the noise of society and commune with Nature, not realizing that he's accidentally taken a wrong road as a major storm approaches.
S1 • E24
www.jimbronson.com - Jim helps and older gentleman on California's Highway 1 who is out of gas, Jim no sooner says good-bye when his bike breaks a chain. The man then returns the favor with a ride to get new parts. The adventure then begins with meeting people and meaningful talks about life, as they make the great circle.
S1 • E25
www.jimbronson.com - Jim is visiting his Uncle Herman, who has since remarried the beautiful Beverly Garland (a blonde of course) Herman has big money problems with his fishing boat, as well as his son's problem, Jim's cousin.
S1 • E26
www.jimbronson.com - Jim ends up at Lake Powell, out side Las Vegas, and gets a job as a handyman on a rich man's boat, and of course a beautiful rich (spoiled) daughter comes along with it!
Jim Bronson
William P. Lovering
Bucky O'Neill
Barbara Timmons
Tony Wade
Charlene Braden
Hattie Calter
Dr. Charles Hanrahan
Alex Halvorsen
Oliver Hidemann