TV Westerns

[Sardondi]

We took off on some wonderful old tv westerns in the Singularly Unattractive Actresses/Actors thread. I've forgotten how. But this deserves its own thread, since there so many westerns in the 50's and 60's.

My favorites when I was very young were probably the Warner Brothers lineup. I remember four shows which were like cousins. They were already in syndication when I discovered them in the 60's, or at least some of them were. The undisputed leader of the WB shows was the great Maverick, 1957-62. There were literal cousins written into the show. In addition to James Garner's hilarious Bret Maverick, there were semi-regular appearances by his cousin Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly). Later Garner was replaced by Beau Maverick (Roger Moore, after Sean Connery turned it down!). Maverick was a wonderful, wonderful show, and may have been the first western to add a tongue-in-cheek take to the western, as well as occasionally breaking McLuhan's fourth wall to look at/address the tv audience. It was a little bit adult, with some stylish dress and, uh, a lot of "romance" going on. I'd like to think some of its episodes would wear well today.

There were 3 other WB shows which had very much the same feel as Maverick, and IIRC even had some crossover appearances among them. Cheyenne starred the massive Clint Walker (The gentle giant from The Dirty Dozen. How the hell did a guy get that huge in the days before steroids?). Cheyenne actually began running first, starting in 1955, and ran the longest at 8 years.

Another WB show with a beefcake lead (was there some hidden target demographic WB was shooting for?) was Bronco, starring Texas A&M football player Ty Hardin (okay that was his Hollywood name - I forget what his real name was). Bronco Layne was supposed to be a cousin of Cheyenne's Cheyenne Bodie (don't you love those cowboy names?) The gimmick about his show was that he met famous western characters as he rode through the west looking for good to do. Cheyenne actually ran first and longer than any of this group, from 1955-63.

The final show related to Maverick was Sugarfoot, and in lead Will Hutchins viewers finally got a physically unimposing hero. Sugarfoot borrowed from several movies and characters. The hero, Tom Brewster, was a young lawyer (a la Ranse Stoddard from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) in the Oklahoma Territory who didn't carry a gun and instead roped (!?!) bad guys. He didn't drink whiskey but ordered "sarsaparilla with a dash of cherry" (or should that have been a dash of sherry?). These characteristics were borrowed from the likes of Will Rogers, Destry, Randolph Scott and other movies and actors.

There were other WB westerns (Colt .45, Lawman, The Alaskans, of which I was only vaguely aware of Lawman) didn't seem to have the interconnectedness of the Maverick shows. And they didn't have the success. But I loved those Maverick shows, and still can hear the theme songs. They're not nearly as good as, say, the Rawhide theme, and they sound a lot alike, but I still loved them.
Maverick -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8955uhpXNFk
Cheyenne -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h9rUNf64cw
Bronco -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXvuX8xiu_E
Sugarfoot -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wblOUBVH4sg

There are many, many other westerns to remember, and we will.

[ItsOver]

Excellent summary, Sardondi.  "Lawman" was actually one of my favorites.  John Russell, as Marshall Dan Troop, just had the look that said "Lawman" for me.  Kind of a hybrid Clarke Cable and Kurt Russell, in his role as Wyatt Earp in "Tombstone," with that bad-boy 'stache.  No Noory porn 'stache here  .  Russell would have crushed Jorch just by glancing at him.








"Lawman" also had it's lovely version of "Miss Kitty," with Lily Merrill as the proprietor of the Birdcage Saloon.  Dan and Lily got off to a rocky start but were becoming pretty much inseparable in the last days of "Lawman," but nothing formal.  I'm sure a modern day version would have had several marriages, separations, questionable children, and numerous affairs in the same period.





It's always interesting to look back and see what eventual Hollywood names guest starred in these series.


"Lawman's" hit-parade included:


Chad Everett (pre-"Med" days)


Martin Landau (pre-"Mission" days)


Dawn Wells (pre- well, let's just say "Island" days)


Adam West (pre-"Bat Cave" days)


Fortunately, no overwrought appearance by William Shatner.  No doubt prepping for appearances on "The Twilight Zone."  Enjoy, Jorch. 

[General Johnson Jameson]

Hulu has a good selection of Westerns for people that live in mudhuts with no cable.
My fav- The Rifleman

[coaster]

I'm a big fan of westerns. My favorites are Cheyenne and Rawhide.

[Sardondi]

The Rifleman was a big favorite of mine, but I remember even as a kid thinking it had  a different vibe to it. It felt close to depressive. Lucas McCain (the great Chuck Connors) always seemed unhappy and very demanding of his son, Mark (Johnny Crawford), who was always on the brink of tears. It felt brooding and dark to me, I guess because Lucas was a widower. Still it felt a little creepy. Same with another of my favorites, The Rebel, starring the actor with the perfect Hemingway name, Nick Adams, who was a former Confederate soldier, Johnny Yuma. Maybe Yuma had a case of undiagnosed PTSD.

The Rebel brings to mind an attitude in westerns which was quite common in the early 60's shows but which gradually lessened until it is rare in today's shows and movies: the "honorable foes" concept. While there were individual episodes involving racism, and surely some involving former Confederate soldiers who were racists, I can't think of any western which dealt with the Civil War which didn't treat the Confederate soldiers as honorable opponents.

I'm sure it had much to do with the ACW centennial of 1961-1965. I can recall just enough of that time and have read enough contemporary accounts to know that the country as a whole just about went crazy for anything to do with the Civil War as 1961 drew near. There was a great deal of magnanimity, even in light of the burgeoning civil rights movement. Today such an attitude of magnanimity, equality and honor is simply unimaginable...that is, if a western were to be made for one of the major networks, which is itself hardly imaginable. Maybe in some Louis L'Amour type made-for-tv movies and mini-series typically starring Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott were former Confederates not treated as the moral equivalent of SS guards at Nazi death camps.

But I'm trying to think of other westerns which had a "down" attitude to them, as if there was a Great Sadness in the hero's life, or perhaps he is accused (wrongfully of course) of a cowardly or immoral act (Branded!, also starring Chuck Connors, being the great example there. It also had a great theme song, which lent itself to wonderful parodies as well). Have Gun - Will Travel seemed to have a down feel to it. But then its star, Richard Boone, never seemed a real cheery guy. (I've used his character's wonderful line in Big Jake many times over the years -"Your fault, my fault, nobody's fault...").

Anyone else  have any Sad Westerns?

[stevesh]

I think Have Gun, Will Travel was the most 'literary' of the old westerns. I remember an episode which opened with a shot of a black woman in the middle of the street singing great gospel over the carcass of a dead mule. Sounds more like Twilight Zone.

Those shows were written a lot better, I think, than most TV today, at least when it came to dialogue. I saw an episode of Gunsmoke a while back where the character would today have said something like 'my wife and I have two young kids at home'. The actual line was 'and Molly with two at the breast'. That stuff impresses me.

[onan]

I was going to link a bunch of westerns I found on Youtube. Instead I found this, you guys may already know of it.


http://www.westernsontheweb.com/


Didn't see this on on their site.



Yancy Derringer: The Complete Series - Trailer

[Sardondi]

I was going to link a bunch of westerns I found on Youtube. Instead I found this, you guys may already know of it.

Wow. The first link looks huge. Is it mostly movie westerns? I know I've come across sites about TV westerns before, which I don;t have now, but I'm sure they'd be easy to find.

And Yancy Derringer! Yancy, starring longtime movie and tv stuntman Jock Mahoney, was different from the usual tv western. For one thing it was set in New Orleans, where Yancy was a foppish gambler, not a cowboy. Yancy didn't even carry a big Colt hogleg, instead using a tiny Derringer which he concealed. I particularly loved his silent companion, Pahoo, who IIRC was supposed to be Paiute or Pawnee. Seems he used a 10 gauge shotgun sawed off to about pistol length, which he carried across his back, in the style I later saw movie ninjas carry their katanas or wakizashis.

Good Lord, the show was not a particular success, and was only shown a couple of years. I only saw it in syndication in the 60's yet I still remember it. But then there were only three channels plus public television in those days, and there really weren't that many choices.

I think Have Gun, Will Travel was the most 'literary' of the old westerns. I remember an episode which opened with a shot of a black woman in the middle of the street singing great gospel over the carcass of a dead mule. Sounds more like Twilight Zone.

Those shows were written a lot better, I think, than most TV today, at least when it came to dialogue. I saw an episode of Gunsmoke a while back where the character would today have said something like 'my wife and I have two young kids at home'. The actual line was 'and Molly with two at the breast'. That stuff impresses me.

IIRC Paladin was quite the educated gentleman mercenary who was based out of a luxurious hotel in San Francisco, and was often seen there wearing ruffled shirts and other accoutrements of wealth. Did he also have a Chinese manservant there or some recurring character who took care of things in San Fran when he was out earning his keep elsewhere in the wild West?

[PB the Deplorable]

... when he was out earning his keep elsewhere in the wild West?

We watched a lot of these shows but I was pretty young so don't really remember too much except bits and pieces.  I know we always watched Gunsmoke.

Being a kid my favorites were Daniel Boone and the Wild Wild West - they had more of  a sense of adventure, at least to me.

F-Troop is another one I remember, and it's cartoon parody on the Underdog Show:  The Go Go Gophers

I think I remember a few 'Western' episodes on The Wonderful World of Disney

[Juan]

Did he also have a Chinese manservant there or some recurring character who took care of things in San Fran when he was out earning his keep elsewhere in the wild West?

Hey Boy.  Try to get away with that today.
BTW, a good number of episodes were written by Gene Roddenberry.

[HorrorRetro]

Check your local non-cable/satellite stations for Me TV.  Their line up, which is obviously free, contains a lot of classic westerns.  They have:  The Rifleman, Wagon Train, Wild, Wild West, The Rebel, Gunsmoke, Daniel Boone, Bonanza, Big Valley, etc. The rest of the lineup is mainly vintage shows.  It's the main station I watch.

http://metvnetwork.com/programs.php

Affiliates:
http://metvnetwork.com/wherewatch.php

[Morgus]

Actually on Maverick, Bart was Bret's brother not cousin.
The english cousin was Beau Maverick.

Many of these old B&W westerns are playing now on the Encore Westerns channel.
They have carried Maverick, Bronco, Sugarfoot, and other WB westerns.
They also currently show Gunsmoke and Have Gun will Travel.
They used to show The Virginian (a very early 90min color western series before there were many color sets out there) and other channels now show it.

The Me-TV channel carried on many local broadcast TV stations as a sub-channel, runs The Rebel on Saturday mornings now, also Branded and The Guns of Will Sonnett.
They also carry The Rifleman daily as well as the Wild Wild West.

[Morgus]

IIRC Paladin was quite the educated gentleman mercenary who was based out of a luxurious hotel in San Francisco, and was often seen there wearing ruffled shirts and other accoutrements of wealth. Did he also have a Chinese manservant there or some recurring character who took care of things in San Fran when he was out earning his keep elsewhere in the wild West?

Yes Paladin had a Chinese assistant at his home base hotel in San Francisco, he was called "Hey Boy"
One season, the actor took another acting job on a TV show and replaced by a Chinese lady assistant called "Hey Girl" 

On the Encore Westerns channel I saw they had an episode of Have Gun will Travel with a small appearance by a very young Billy Mumy (probably one of his earliest roles) who a few years later would become Will Robinson on Lost in Space.

[PB the Deplorable]

...  a small appearance by a very young Billy Mumy (probably one of his earliest roles) who a few years later would become Will Robinson on Lost in Space.

And, heh, go to guy in perpetuity for all thing Twilight Zone on a radio program called Coast to Coast AM with George Noory

[Sardondi]

And, heh, go to guy in perpetuity for all thing Twilight Zone on a radio program called Coast to Coast AM with George Noory

Billy Mumy has spent more time on the radio on C2C talking about his one role on Twilight Zone than he ever had screen time in his entire career.

[BigDave]

I was going to link a bunch of westerns I found on Youtube. Instead I found this, you guys may already know of it.


http://www.westernsontheweb.com/


Didn't see this on on their site.



Yancy Derringer: The Complete Series - Trailer

That website is cool,I just watched "The Great Train Robbery" from 1903

[Sardondi]

I'm also thinking about the "most respected westerns". Death Valley Days ran for an amazing 24 seasons, 1952-75. But it wasn't the usual kind of show, because it didn't have a regular cast. Instead, it was an anthology series and had a regular host who introduced the tale for the night. (Ronald Reagan even hosted a couple of seasons.) It was famously sponsored by "20 Mule Team Borax", a detergent.

King of the usual western with a regular cast was of course Gunsmoke, which ran 20 years. But Bonanza was second at 14 seasons. Then The Virginian and Rawhide were on many years. These were loooong seasons too, with from 22 to 39 episodes a years. For example, Bonanza had some 430 episodes in its run. Many episodes was great if the actors' contract called for pay per episode. But I'm betting the studios, always tight with  a dollar, paid them per season. 

I'm thinking of show themes and opening sequences, and will post on that later.

[General Johnson Jameson]

But I'm trying to think of other westerns which had a "down" attitude to them, as if there was a Great Sadness in the hero's life, or perhaps he is accused (wrongfully of course) of a cowardly or immoral act (Branded!, also starring Chuck Connors, being the great example there. It also had a great theme song, which lent itself to wonderful parodies as well).

Thanks for throwing that one into the mix. Man, I barely remember it though.

[ACE of CLUBS]

Many 'real' cowboys in my family, and a few that went into the pro rodeo circuits.  Was going to go pro myself until I suddenly came to my senses ......  That said, I look at the 'westerns' with a critical eye.


There are so very few 'Hollywood cowboys' that can even marginally ride a horse .... Yule Brynner comes to mind.  Looks like a sack of spuds lashed to a pack saddle.  There are many more like him, and it's amusing because Hollywood has the most amiable, smoothest, unassuming horseflesh you'll ever find.


There are/were some horsemen in Hollywood however ..... some very fine horsemen.  A few,  Slim Pickens, Ben Johnson, Richard Farnsworth, Robert Redford, and James Caan.   


The most true to life 'Hollywood cowboy' in his manner, the stilted movements, and the general mores of the Alberta cowboys is Robert Duvall.


I know this is thread drift but, ........

[onan]

Kung Fu, Dr. Quinn Medicine woman. Little House on the Prairie


I just remembered Longmire... think it is on A&E.

[Falkie2013]

Thanks for throwing that one into the mix. Man, I barely remember it though.

The Rebel with Nick Adams was another one that had a mix of sadness to it. As did poor Nick Adams himself, who couldn't deal with his career slide and killed himself.



www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQCDtiiTZw8

[Sardondi]

The Rebel with Nick Adams was another one that had a mix of sadness to it. As did poor Nick Adams himself, who couldn't deal with his career slide and killed himself...

I agree. The Rebel was one of the shows I had in mind when I thought of the overall sad vibe of a show. As a very small kid I didn't think anything about it, although now I suppose it was backstory about loss of family/land in the war which made him wander the West looking for good to do. Even The Rebel theme song was lugubrious, which I think was sung by a young Johnny Cash:

"The Rebel: Johnny Yuma" Theme Song

I agree as well that Nick Adams gave off a sad feel in his other screen appearances. Maybe the "Sal Mineo Trapped-In-The-Closet Syndrome"?

[Mind Flayer Monk]

I am also a big fan of the Rifleman.

[PB the Deplorable]

My first experience with a TV show cancellation - Alias Smith and Jones.  All the ones I've listed are as seen by a young kid, I'd probably think they were laughable today

[Eddie Coyle]

There are/were some horsemen in Hollywood however ..... some very fine horsemen.

        Most of the horsemen in Hollywood today are probably of the Kenneth "Mr Hands" Pinyan variety.

[PhantasticSanShiSan]

Many 'real' cowboys in my family, and a few that went into the pro rodeo circuits.  Was going to go pro myself until I suddenly came to my senses ......  That said, I look at the 'westerns' with a critical eye.


There are so very few 'Hollywood cowboys' that can even marginally ride a horse .... Yule Brynner comes to mind.  Looks like a sack of spuds lashed to a pack saddle.  There are many more like him, and it's amusing because Hollywood has the most amiable, smoothest, unassuming horseflesh you'll ever find.

...

Come on now.  One can only look so natural in a saddle when they are melding Russo-Romani-Shakespearian Ham with Beef Jerkied Classic Cowpoke.  Also, he supposedly had some back injury when he was younger.  I find him stiff in about anything he does.  Made him a natural choice for the robots in Westworld and Futureworld.

[Sardondi]

...There are so very few 'Hollywood cowboys' that can even marginally ride a horse .... Yule Brynner comes to mind.  Looks like a sack of spuds lashed to a pack saddle.  There are many more like him, and it's amusing because Hollywood has the most amiable, smoothest, unassuming horseflesh you'll ever find.

But you're talking about the original Taras Bulba, of the Don Cossacks!

...There are/were some horsemen in Hollywood however ..... some very fine horsemen.  A few,  Slim Pickens, Ben Johnson, Richard Farnsworth, Robert Redford, and James Caan....

And the former cowboy stuntmen like Ben Johnson and Richard Farnsworth, and professional rodeo-er like Slim Pickens, were true horsemen indeed.

[ItsOver]

I'm also thinking about the "most respected westerns". Death Valley Days ran for an amazing 24 seasons, 1952-75. But it wasn't the usual kind of show, because it didn't have a regular cast. Instead, it was an anthology series and had a regular host who introduced the tale for the night. (Ronald Reagan even hosted a couple of seasons.) It was famously sponsored by "20 Mule Team Borax", a detergent.

I wondered if somebody was going to mention "Death Valley Days."  I remember it well, with Ronnie doing the intro.  It looks like "20 Mule Team Borax" is still around.


http://www.20muleteamlaundry.com/about/what-is-borax/

[ItsOver]

......... professional rodeo-er like Slim Pickens, were true horsemen indeed.

My favorite Slim Pickens "ride." 





I get a big laugh every time I hear him doing the inventory of the crew's emergency survival kit.

[ItsOver]

Maybe I've missed it in this thread but no mention yet of one of my favorite old school westerns, starring "The King of Cool?"  The discussion of Nick Adams and "The Rebel" reminded me of "Wanted: Dead or Alive" which ran from '58 through '61, with Steve McQueen as bounty hunter Josh Randall.  It was actually a spin-off of a "Trackdown" espisode, which starred Robert Culp.


Similar to "The Rebel," Josh Randall was an ex-confederate but what many remember from the series was Randall's somewhat unique firearm, a shortened Winchester 1892 carbine, called the "Mare's Leg."