Set in the American West of 1893, the series follows its title character, a Harvard-educated lawyer-turned-bounty hunter hired by a group of wealthy industrialists to track and capture outlaw John Bly and his gang.

Bruce Campbell plays Brisco, who is joined by a colorful group of supporting characters, including Julius Carry as fellow bounty hunter Lord Bowler and Christian Clemenson as stick-in-the-mud lawyer Socrates Poole.

John Astin plays Professor Wickwire, an inventor who assists Brisco with anachronistic technology including diving suits, motorcycles, rockets, and airships.

Impressed by the duo's work on the script for the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Greenblatt suggested they develop a series that bore the tone and style of vintage movie serials.

All ten of the gang members are captured or killed, and Brisco's pursuit of Bly, who is seeking the Orb for its supernatural power, frequently puts him into contact with the object.

[14] In his first mission, Brisco also meets Professor Albert Wickwire (John Astin), an eccentric scientist who returns to help many times during the series.

[5] The second half of the series includes many episodes with Whip Morgan (Jeff Phillips), a young cardsharp whose attempts to assist Brisco and Bowler often end up causing trouble.

Much of the series is devoted to the science fiction plot surrounding the Orb, and it is this mix of the Western genre with fantasy that has helped Brisco maintain its cult status.

Some of these out-of-time technologies were archaic renderings of those prevalent in the 20th century, and two film researchers, Cynthia Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper, suggest that followers of the show may be puzzled that such inventions, so useful in their own lives, are not exploited further.

[5] The writers made it a point to insert scenes mirroring the pop culture of the 20th century, from the apparent invention of the term "UFO" in the pilot episode to the appearance of a sheriff who looks and acts like Elvis Presley.

According to Cuse, Bob Greenblatt, an executive at Fox Broadcasting Company, engaged him and Boam to develop a television series "because of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".

[12] When the series was being promoted in the summer of 1993, Fox Entertainment chief Sandy Grushow said that if Campbell "isn't the next big television star, I'll eat my desk".

"[3] As the series progressed during its broadcast season, the writers received frequent notes and directives from Fox network executives calling for increases and decreases in the science-fiction, comedy and traditional Western elements.

The rocket car seen in the pilot episode was built by special effects coordinator Kam Cooney and was a working vehicle with an internal combustion engine and throttle controls.

[12] Two of Carry's prop guns – rifles whose barrels were sawed-off in fashion of the Mare's Leg – were later reused in the science fiction television series Firefly.

[51] Hoping that more viewers would follow Brisco as it progressed, Fox approved producing an entire season of the show, despite post-pilot low ratings.

Ironically Brisco, with its off-kilter humor, wouldn't have been developed on any other network, yet the appeal of 'Westerns' was still rural – not the side Fox's urban bread was buttered on.

[97] Some critics, such as Walter Goodman of The New York Times and David Hiltbrand of People, found the supporting characters "weakly cast" and not as strong as Campbell in the lead.

[92][98] Other reviewers praised the overall look of the show, such as Todd Everett of Variety, who approved of the "strong comic-book visual style" and the pilot's high production values.

[100] The pilot's science-fiction plot elements were appreciated by New York magazine, which wrote favorably about the "millenarianism" of the show, including Brisco's use of a rocket to travel on railroad tracks.

[102] Diane Werts of Newsday similarly said that Brisco "just about hits the bulls eye" with its "sharp wit" and "thrill a minute" action, although she noted that the pilot was over-packed with characters and subplots.

"[105] The magazine twice listed Brisco as a family-friendly TV program: "Back when some of us grew up, Westerns were synonymous with great family entertainment, but – let's be honest – some of them were dull as dust.

"[106][107] The Wall Street Journal reviewed a host of Westerns from 1992 and 1993 and said that Brisco was "the most sheer fun of the bunch", calling it "a period piece with slick production values and a mix of drama and humor, fast pace and high camp".

[108] In an article on the 1993 television season, the Toronto Star's Greg Quill wrote that Brisco was a program that represented "American TV craft at the top of its form".

[109] In contrast, Elvis Mitchell of Spin magazine gave Brisco a scathing review, calling the show's premise a "tedious... rickety gimmick".

"[113] Chicago Tribune's Scott Williams praised Brisco for its "strong supporting cast" and "superb physical comedy and crisp dialogue".

Senator Byron Dorgan singled out Brisco as the most violent show on television based on a study at Minnesota's Concordia University, in which students watched 132 hours of network and cable programming,[116] during the week of September 28 to October 4, 1993.

[118] The Los Angeles Times printed a story about Senator Dorgan's efforts to elicit a response from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with the title "Fox Tops Tally of Violence on Major TV Networks Media: Study of a week of prime-time shows also lists 'Brisco County' as bloodiest series.

Darling reviewed the show, describing it as "a witty, multiracial Western that tempered its fisticuffs with fantasy, its innocence with irony, and its romantic vision of the Old West with an abiding New World faith in the future's infinite possibilities".

[22] In its 2006 gift guide, the Christian Science Monitor gave Brisco a positive review, saying, "Folks, there are so few comic sci-fi/Westerns, they should be celebrated, not canceled prematurely.