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WHAT WAS THE BEST EARLY WESTERN TV SHOW
- Thread starter gregg75
- Start date
Prais said:
"Kids?" That's funny. Actually, you'd have to be pushing 60 to remember TV westerns of the 1960s. I'm 58, and I'm only familiar with those very early westerns (Autry, Hopalong, etc.) from reruns. In my memory, most of Gene Autry's "TV" westerns were made for movie theaters in the 1940s, then broadcast later on TV. I remember Autry primarily as the owner of Golden West Broadcasters (KTLA, etc.) and the California Angels baseball team.
Assuming we're including 60s westerns, I agree with bpatrick - Maverick - especially the James Garner episodes. I get the Encore Western channel, which runs a number of old TV westerns, including Maverick, Bat Masterson, Rifleman, and The Big Valley. For what its worth, Maverick has aged the best, in my opinion.
Yes, kids. I'm 61, but I can vividly remember watching the 39 Honeymooners programs LIVE w/my dad in 1955. I can remember
Lucy, first run, and Groucho and Dragnet, too, from the 50's
The real golden age of the tv westerns was the early 60's when Warner Brothers produced Cheyenne, Lawman, Bat Masterson, Maverick Sugarfoot, and others for ABC. CBS produced Gunsmoke and Have Gun will travel and NBC had Bonanza and others.
BTW,
Just a few minutes ago I watched "Dead Mans Gun, a series produced by and (sometimes) starring Henry Winkler on the Westerns Channel. It's excellent.
Aside from the movies, Gene Autry did produce a few seasons of "made for tv" westerns, and I believe 2 seasons are in COLOR! Roy Rogers did too.
Lucy, first run, and Groucho and Dragnet, too, from the 50's
The real golden age of the tv westerns was the early 60's when Warner Brothers produced Cheyenne, Lawman, Bat Masterson, Maverick Sugarfoot, and others for ABC. CBS produced Gunsmoke and Have Gun will travel and NBC had Bonanza and others.
BTW,
Just a few minutes ago I watched "Dead Mans Gun, a series produced by and (sometimes) starring Henry Winkler on the Westerns Channel. It's excellent.
Aside from the movies, Gene Autry did produce a few seasons of "made for tv" westerns, and I believe 2 seasons are in COLOR! Roy Rogers did too.
Prais said:
Cheyenne - 1955-1963
Lawman - 1958-1962
Bat Masterson - 1958-1961
Maverick - 1957-1962
Sugarfoot - 1957-1961
Gunsmoke - 1955-1975
Have Gun - 1957-1963
Bonanza - 1959-1973
Wagon Train - 1957-1965
26 Men - 1957-1959
Branded - 1965-1966
Wanted Dead or Alive - 1958-1961
Broken Arrow - 1956-1958
Wyatt Earp - 1955-1961
I remember watching the majority of Westerns in the late 50's and this listing seems to bear that out. With the exception of Gunsmoke and Bonanza none of the most popular Westerns made it into the late 60's and the majority died before the mid-60's. Considering the early 50's had dozens of Westerns (admittedly targeted towards children) not listed here I would not consider the early 60's "the golden age of Westerns".
And, IMHO, both Bonanza and Gunsmoke were more akin to soap operas in a western setting than true Westerns.
And to the poster questioning the use of "early" - "early" is descriptive of the age of the genre, not the age of the viewer. Just as "oldies" does not mean music of the 1980's, "early" means the shows produced in the beginning of the genre.
The Lone Ranger is my easy choice. Many think of it as being shown on CBS on Saturday mornings. However, it was on ABC-TV from 1949-1957 on Thursday nights at 7:30 P.M. One source that I read advised it was the first ABC-TV Network show to make the Top Ten in ratings.
Re: WESTERN COMEDY APPLIES?
Should we add "F-Troop", a slapstick comedy show whose base was just after the Civil War, to this western festivities?
2 seasons on ABC in the mid 1960s. One in Black and White, and one in color. Produced by Warner Brothers.
Were there any other western comedies, besides individual episodes of "Bonanza" or "Gunsmoke" as referenced in previous posts. Would "The Real McCoys" apply?
Should we add "F-Troop", a slapstick comedy show whose base was just after the Civil War, to this western festivities?
2 seasons on ABC in the mid 1960s. One in Black and White, and one in color. Produced by Warner Brothers.
Were there any other western comedies, besides individual episodes of "Bonanza" or "Gunsmoke" as referenced in previous posts. Would "The Real McCoys" apply?
Prais said:
The Real McCoys was most definitely not a western. It was about a modern day West Virginia hills family transplanted to a farm in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles in the 'current day' - then the late 50s and early 60s. It was a forerunner to the "rural" CBS comedies that appeared a few years later.
In those post-World War II days (Eisenhower era), the San Fernando Valley was being developed with huge housing tracts and shopping centers, but there were still farms there in the 60s.
They recently re-ran The Real McCoys in the Bay Area. i could see that they actually filmed on some ranch or open space somewhere out in the San Fernando Valley. In outdoor scenes with Walter Breannan and Richard Crenna, you can see cars speeding by on the nearby highways and wide LA boulevards.
...for my money, the three best would be The Cisco Kid, Maverick and Wanted: Dead or Alive, in chronological order. And of the decade that followed, Branded (first season only) and The Guns of Will Sonnett are the only two series I'd consider to be comparable...
When I was a little boy The Lone Ranger was my hero. The Ranger and Tonto were great role models.
Surprised there's been no mention of "Death Valley Days".
landtuna said:
Dennis Weaver of McCloud fame, played the role of Chester. Ken Curtis played Festus Hagen. Two different actors; two different characters played the faithful sidekick roles to Marshall Dillon.
Also, "Bat Masterson" was on NBC.
If, by early Western, you mean pre-1955, when Westerns
that could appeal to adults as well as kids ("Gunsmoke,"
"Cheyenne," "Wyatt Earp") began appearing, then I'd have
to go with "The Lone Ranger" as the best, although my
personal favorite from the early '50s is "The Cisco Kid."
The spokesperson for 20 Mule Team Borax was Rosemary
DeCamp; she played Peg Riley on the Gleason "Life Of Riley,"
and later played Bob Cummings' sister on his popular '50s
sitcom (with Ann B. Davis and Dwayne Hickman).
If, by early Western, you mean pre-1955, when Westerns
that could appeal to adults as well as kids ("Gunsmoke,"
"Cheyenne," "Wyatt Earp") began appearing, then I'd have
to go with "The Lone Ranger" as the best, although my
personal favorite from the early '50s is "The Cisco Kid."
The spokesperson for 20 Mule Team Borax was Rosemary
DeCamp; she played Peg Riley on the Gleason "Life Of Riley,"
and later played Bob Cummings' sister on his popular '50s
sitcom (with Ann B. Davis and Dwayne Hickman).
My favorite TV western was "Wanted Dead or Alive." I loved the "Mares Leg" Steve McQueen used to carry. For those of you not familiar with the show, or guns, Mares Leg was the sawed off rifle McQueen's character Josh Randall carried.
"Stories Of The Century" (1953-56), a very early syndicated Western, won the first Emmys given to a Western series. One of the recurring characters was Matt Clark, a railroad detective played by Jim Davis, later known as John Ross "Jock" Ewing Sr. on "Dallas".
And what did you have to mention "F Troop" for??? I laugh out loud as I remeber the great writing, characters and especially the sight gags this show had.
And what did you have to mention "F Troop" for??? I laugh out loud as I remeber the great writing, characters and especially the sight gags this show had.
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