Paul Colt's Blog, page 40
March 31, 2018
Rawhide
Rawhide was the brain child of Charles Marquis Warren. Warren was no stranger to hit TV westerns. The writer/director producer put his fingerprints on the inception of Gunsmoke. He loved the cattle drive storyline, often compared to another long running series, Wagon Train. He based the series on the 1866 diary of an actual trail boss. Rawhide’s drives headed up the trail from San Antonio Texas to Sedalia Missouri and later Abilene Kansas. Warren eventually sold Rawhide to CBS who put it on the air as a mid-season replacement in 1959.
Warren conceived the characters and assembled the ensemble cast the series rode to popularity. Eric Fleming played Trail Boss Gil Favor, a tough, competent, get-it-done, straight shooter. Warren discovered Clint Eastwood as ramrod Rowdy Yates. Eastwood would go on to super-stardom. They were joined by Paul Brinegar as the cook Wishbone, Sheb Wolley as scout Pete Nolan, and drovers Steve Raines as Jim Quince, Rocky Shahan as Joe Scarlet and James Murdock as Mushy.
Episodes titled “Incidents” revolved around people, places or events the crew encountered along the trail. Production mixed on location outdoor action with sound stage camp and interior scenes. Dust, wind and trees gave the show an authenticity many other TV westerns of the time lacked. Scripts took on dashes of intrigue with titles like “Incident with an Executioner” and ‘Incidents’ having to do with a Druid Curse, the Murder Steer legend, St. Elmo’s fire, a gypsy wagon and haunted hills. The line-up of guest stars gave me a couple of smiles. It included Bob Steel, one of my all-time favorite boyhood B western heroes; and Julie London, my earliest recollection of smokein’ hot crush. Others included Robert Culp, Dan Duryea, Buddy Ebsen and Barbara Stanwyck.
The show had a great run for three seasons. How could it not with the caliber of cast, writing and directing? So what do you do with a hit TV series if you are CBS? You don’t lose your genius Charles Marquis Warren; but that’s what they did. Warren was succeeded by a producer-director revolving door to four years of ratings decline.
Next Week: Bonanza ‘59-‘73
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Ride easy,
Paul
Warren conceived the characters and assembled the ensemble cast the series rode to popularity. Eric Fleming played Trail Boss Gil Favor, a tough, competent, get-it-done, straight shooter. Warren discovered Clint Eastwood as ramrod Rowdy Yates. Eastwood would go on to super-stardom. They were joined by Paul Brinegar as the cook Wishbone, Sheb Wolley as scout Pete Nolan, and drovers Steve Raines as Jim Quince, Rocky Shahan as Joe Scarlet and James Murdock as Mushy.
Episodes titled “Incidents” revolved around people, places or events the crew encountered along the trail. Production mixed on location outdoor action with sound stage camp and interior scenes. Dust, wind and trees gave the show an authenticity many other TV westerns of the time lacked. Scripts took on dashes of intrigue with titles like “Incident with an Executioner” and ‘Incidents’ having to do with a Druid Curse, the Murder Steer legend, St. Elmo’s fire, a gypsy wagon and haunted hills. The line-up of guest stars gave me a couple of smiles. It included Bob Steel, one of my all-time favorite boyhood B western heroes; and Julie London, my earliest recollection of smokein’ hot crush. Others included Robert Culp, Dan Duryea, Buddy Ebsen and Barbara Stanwyck.
The show had a great run for three seasons. How could it not with the caliber of cast, writing and directing? So what do you do with a hit TV series if you are CBS? You don’t lose your genius Charles Marquis Warren; but that’s what they did. Warren was succeeded by a producer-director revolving door to four years of ratings decline.
Next Week: Bonanza ‘59-‘73
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Ride easy,
Paul
March 24, 2018
Laramie
When Robert Fuller got a casting call for Laramie he read the script. He loved it. The role of Jess Harper, a Shane like character with a past suited him. When he asked for the part he was told John Smith was under contract to play that part. Not interested then, Fuller said. He left the interview thinking the conversation over. His agent called that night. The producer wanted to see him in the morning. Fuller tested for the part and we all know what happened. John Smith slipped into the role of Slim Sherman, who along with his younger brother owned the ranch and stage stop where Harper went to work.
The cast included Robert Crawford, The Rifleman’s Johnny Crawford’s brother as Andy Sherman and composer Hoagy Charmichael as old hand Jonesy. Charmichael and Crawford were replaced after seasons one and two respectively; but in the chemistry between Smith and Fuller, NBC had a winner. In fact Laramie dominated its time slot until ratings dipped in the final season.
The show ran 123 episodes over four seasons and featured a stellar cast of guest stars. Notables you may remember include Claude Aikens, Robert Blake, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Dan Duryea, Brian Keith and Lee Van Cleef. You just can’t miss with talent like that. In its third season, Laramie led the NBC line-up into the new world of living color. NBC’s iconic peacock introduced that first color show and has been the network trademark ever since.
Following Laramie’s final season, Fuller signed on to scout for Ward Bond’s Wagon Train in the role of Cooper Smith. Fuller knew Bond from his days on the Universal Studios’ lot. Fuller and Smith had their dressing rooms on a section lot known as Whiskey Row also inhabited by Bond, Lee Marvin and a few others, given to ending their workdays in the company of pals and adult beverages. Frat boys will be frat boys.
Next Week: Rawhide ‘59-‘65
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Ride easy,
Paul
The cast included Robert Crawford, The Rifleman’s Johnny Crawford’s brother as Andy Sherman and composer Hoagy Charmichael as old hand Jonesy. Charmichael and Crawford were replaced after seasons one and two respectively; but in the chemistry between Smith and Fuller, NBC had a winner. In fact Laramie dominated its time slot until ratings dipped in the final season.
The show ran 123 episodes over four seasons and featured a stellar cast of guest stars. Notables you may remember include Claude Aikens, Robert Blake, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Dan Duryea, Brian Keith and Lee Van Cleef. You just can’t miss with talent like that. In its third season, Laramie led the NBC line-up into the new world of living color. NBC’s iconic peacock introduced that first color show and has been the network trademark ever since.
Following Laramie’s final season, Fuller signed on to scout for Ward Bond’s Wagon Train in the role of Cooper Smith. Fuller knew Bond from his days on the Universal Studios’ lot. Fuller and Smith had their dressing rooms on a section lot known as Whiskey Row also inhabited by Bond, Lee Marvin and a few others, given to ending their workdays in the company of pals and adult beverages. Frat boys will be frat boys.
Next Week: Rawhide ‘59-‘65
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Ride easy,
Paul
March 17, 2018
The Rebel
Andrew Fenady passed away year. I remember how he regaled us with stories from his work with Nick Adams on the Rebel and John Wayne on the classic film Chisum. One never knows when one might land in the right place at the right time. That first Western Writers convention began a magical week for me.
Nick Adams was an aspiring actor when he met Fenady. Adams persuaded the writer to create a TV series for him. Fenady came up with the story of a defeated confederate soldier in search of himself on the western frontier following the war. Fenady, Adams and director Irv Kershner sold the series to ABC where it ran for two seasons, seventy six episodes.
Fenady brought a thoughtful self-searching side to Johnny Yuma as a character. Johnny Yuma was a Rebel. He was a proud young man who’d tasted bitter defeat and found the courage to move on. He made no secret of his allegiance to the confederacy in the cap and belt he wore with his cap and ball Colt dragoon. His distinctive weapon was a pistol-gripped sawed off double-barrel shotgun. The role Fenady crafted was custom made for Nick Adams.
Fenady numbered among his favorite Rebel episodes one entitled ‘Johnny Yuma at Appomattox.’ Johnny wasn’t ready to surrender at Appomattox no matter what the generals thought. He hid himself in the courthouse attic, intending to assassinate General Grant and prolong the war. When Grant offered Lee generous terms, Johnny gives up the plot in tears. The war was over. It was a heck of a plot for a thirty minute TV show. It’s why writers like Andy Fenady win Owen Wister Awards and enshrinement in the Western Writers Hall of Fame at the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody Wyoming.
Fifty plus years later Fenady returned to that scene at Appomattox to launch a book he titled, Destiny Made Them Brothers, Kensington Publishing 2013. The book was a Western Writers of America Spur Award Finalist that year. Andy was kind enough to sign a copy for me. I was pretty proud of my entry that year. As I recall, I signed a copy for him. One never knows when one is likely to wind up in the right place at the wrong time.
Next Week: Laramie ‘59-‘63
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Ride easy,
Paul
Nick Adams was an aspiring actor when he met Fenady. Adams persuaded the writer to create a TV series for him. Fenady came up with the story of a defeated confederate soldier in search of himself on the western frontier following the war. Fenady, Adams and director Irv Kershner sold the series to ABC where it ran for two seasons, seventy six episodes.
Fenady brought a thoughtful self-searching side to Johnny Yuma as a character. Johnny Yuma was a Rebel. He was a proud young man who’d tasted bitter defeat and found the courage to move on. He made no secret of his allegiance to the confederacy in the cap and belt he wore with his cap and ball Colt dragoon. His distinctive weapon was a pistol-gripped sawed off double-barrel shotgun. The role Fenady crafted was custom made for Nick Adams.
Fenady numbered among his favorite Rebel episodes one entitled ‘Johnny Yuma at Appomattox.’ Johnny wasn’t ready to surrender at Appomattox no matter what the generals thought. He hid himself in the courthouse attic, intending to assassinate General Grant and prolong the war. When Grant offered Lee generous terms, Johnny gives up the plot in tears. The war was over. It was a heck of a plot for a thirty minute TV show. It’s why writers like Andy Fenady win Owen Wister Awards and enshrinement in the Western Writers Hall of Fame at the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody Wyoming.
Fifty plus years later Fenady returned to that scene at Appomattox to launch a book he titled, Destiny Made Them Brothers, Kensington Publishing 2013. The book was a Western Writers of America Spur Award Finalist that year. Andy was kind enough to sign a copy for me. I was pretty proud of my entry that year. As I recall, I signed a copy for him. One never knows when one is likely to wind up in the right place at the wrong time.
Next Week: Laramie ‘59-‘63
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
March 4, 2018
The Rifleman
Dick Powell saw series potential in Sam Peckinpah’s Sharpshooter episode for Zane Grey Theater. His Four Star production company producers auditioned numerous prospects for the lead. They thought they’d found their man professional baseball player turned fledgling actor, Chuck Connors. Connors turned down the offer. When the Four Star team saw Connors opposite Tommy Kirk in the Disney film Old Yeller they made a second sweeter offer Connors accepted.
Connors played widower Lucas McCain caring for his young son Mark (Johnny Crawford). Lucas imparts life lessons to the boy set against the background of life on the frontier and the unsavory characters found there. Second chances became a recurring story line in the father son relationship and the lives of those they encounter.
The rifleman carried a Winchester rifle with a cocking lever modified to a circular shape that allowed the weapon to be cocked with a one handed spin. The trigger guard included a lever to trip the trigger when the cocking cycle completed. The combination allowed McCain to famously fire the weapon in rapid succession, likely coining the expression ‘Shoot from the hip’. One source suggested the rifle was a model 1892, curious for a show set in the 1880’s. Hey it’s Hollywood, anything is possible.
Supporting cast included Paul Fix as alcoholic crippled city marshal Micah Torrance. Romantic interests over the series included Joan Taylor as storekeeper Miss Milly Scott and Patricia Blair as hotel owner Lou Mallory. The show featured as impressive list of guest stars including Lee Van Cleef, James Drury, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, James Coburn and Sammy Davis Jr. to name but a few.
The show ran five seasons on ABC from ’58-’63. Over those years the show stood up to some heavy competition including Arthur Godfrey, George Burns, Laramie, Father Know Best and the Price is Right. Ratings hit the wall in season five. The Rifleman drew the queen of spades in a time slot opposite CBS’ juggernaut, I Love Lucy.
Next Week: The Rebel ’59-‘61
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Ride easy,
Paul
Connors played widower Lucas McCain caring for his young son Mark (Johnny Crawford). Lucas imparts life lessons to the boy set against the background of life on the frontier and the unsavory characters found there. Second chances became a recurring story line in the father son relationship and the lives of those they encounter.
The rifleman carried a Winchester rifle with a cocking lever modified to a circular shape that allowed the weapon to be cocked with a one handed spin. The trigger guard included a lever to trip the trigger when the cocking cycle completed. The combination allowed McCain to famously fire the weapon in rapid succession, likely coining the expression ‘Shoot from the hip’. One source suggested the rifle was a model 1892, curious for a show set in the 1880’s. Hey it’s Hollywood, anything is possible.
Supporting cast included Paul Fix as alcoholic crippled city marshal Micah Torrance. Romantic interests over the series included Joan Taylor as storekeeper Miss Milly Scott and Patricia Blair as hotel owner Lou Mallory. The show featured as impressive list of guest stars including Lee Van Cleef, James Drury, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, James Coburn and Sammy Davis Jr. to name but a few.
The show ran five seasons on ABC from ’58-’63. Over those years the show stood up to some heavy competition including Arthur Godfrey, George Burns, Laramie, Father Know Best and the Price is Right. Ratings hit the wall in season five. The Rifleman drew the queen of spades in a time slot opposite CBS’ juggernaut, I Love Lucy.
Next Week: The Rebel ’59-‘61
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
March 3, 2018
The Rifleman
Dick Powell saw series potential in Sam Peckinpah’s Sharpshooter episode for Zane Grey Theater. His Four Star production company producers auditioned numerous prospects for the lead. They thought they’d found their man professional baseball player turned fledgling actor, Chuck Connors. Connors turned down the offer. When the Four Star team saw Connors opposite Tommy Kirk in the Disney film Old Yeller they made a second sweeter offer Connors accepted.
Connors played widower Lucas McCain caring for his young son Mark (Johnny Crawford). Lucas imparts life lessons to the boy set against the background of life on the frontier and the unsavory characters found there. Second chances became a recurring story line in the father son relationship and the lives of those they encounter.
The rifleman carried a Winchester rifle with a cocking lever modified to a circular shape that allowed the weapon to be cocked with a one handed spin. The trigger guard included a lever to trip the trigger when the cocking cycle completed. The combination allowed McCain to famously fire the weapon in rapid succession, likely coining the expression ‘Shoot from the hip’. One source suggested the rifle was a model 1892, curious for a show set in the 1880’s. Hey it’s Hollywood, anything is possible.
Supporting cast included Paul Fix as alcoholic crippled city marshal Micah Torrance. Romantic interests over the series included Joan Taylor as storekeeper Miss Milly Scott and Patricia Blair as hotel owner Lou Mallory. The show featured as impressive list of guest stars including Lee Van Cleef, James Drury, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, James Coburn and Sammy Davis Jr. to name but a few.
The show ran five seasons on ABC from ’58-’63. Over those years the show stood up to some heavy competition including Arthur Godfrey, George Burns, Laramie, Father Know Best and the Price is Right. Ratings hit the wall in season five. The Rifleman drew the queen of spades in a time slot opposite CBS’ juggernaut, I Love Lucy.
Next Week: The Rebel ’59-‘61
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
Connors played widower Lucas McCain caring for his young son Mark (Johnny Crawford). Lucas imparts life lessons to the boy set against the background of life on the frontier and the unsavory characters found there. Second chances became a recurring story line in the father son relationship and the lives of those they encounter.
The rifleman carried a Winchester rifle with a cocking lever modified to a circular shape that allowed the weapon to be cocked with a one handed spin. The trigger guard included a lever to trip the trigger when the cocking cycle completed. The combination allowed McCain to famously fire the weapon in rapid succession, likely coining the expression ‘Shoot from the hip’. One source suggested the rifle was a model 1892, curious for a show set in the 1880’s. Hey it’s Hollywood, anything is possible.
Supporting cast included Paul Fix as alcoholic crippled city marshal Micah Torrance. Romantic interests over the series included Joan Taylor as storekeeper Miss Milly Scott and Patricia Blair as hotel owner Lou Mallory. The show featured as impressive list of guest stars including Lee Van Cleef, James Drury, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, James Coburn and Sammy Davis Jr. to name but a few.
The show ran five seasons on ABC from ’58-’63. Over those years the show stood up to some heavy competition including Arthur Godfrey, George Burns, Laramie, Father Know Best and the Price is Right. Ratings hit the wall in season five. The Rifleman drew the queen of spades in a time slot opposite CBS’ juggernaut, I Love Lucy.
Next Week: The Rebel ’59-‘61
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
February 24, 2018
Lawman
John Russell brought a direct, no nonsense dedication to duty to Dan Troop that had to be authentic for an ex-marine. Warner Brothers’ producer Bill Orr liked the fit of everything about Russell for the role right down to monosyllabic lines of dialog. Orr softened the edges with the supporting cast, Peter Brown as Deputy Johnny McKay and the second season addition of pretty Peggie Castle as Lily Merrill, owner of the Bird Cage Saloon and purveyor of unrequited romantic tension. (Miss Kitty were you watching?)
Orr handed the Lawman over to the capable direction of producer Jules Schermer. He kept the scene spare and the dialog terse, giving and edge to the stories. Schermer and Russell made a good team. Russell and Brown clicked on screen and off where Russell mentored young Brown. Castle made a perfect fit in the ensemble chemistry.
The series ran good stories for four seasons and one hundred fifty six episodes. The first saw Troop hired as Laramie Marshal following the murder of his predecessor. Russell pins on his star and hangs a sign in the window, Deputy Wanted. McKay applies. Troop turns the eighteen year old down. He’s too young. Trouble comes when the men responsible for the former marshal’s murder returns to town. Troop determines to face them alone, in spite of McKay protest to help. Troop gets his man, but it takes a back-up shot from McKay to save him from the second. Johnny is hired and the partnership grows from there.
ABC bought the series. It aired on Sunday night opposite Ed Sullivan for most of its run. I suspect I missed a few episodes over that Sullivan-thing. The show was sponsored by R. J. Reynolds (Camel cigarettes advertised on TV! Really?) Fortunately the sponsorship day was saved by General Mills and Cheerios.
Next Week: The Rifleman ’58-‘63
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
Orr handed the Lawman over to the capable direction of producer Jules Schermer. He kept the scene spare and the dialog terse, giving and edge to the stories. Schermer and Russell made a good team. Russell and Brown clicked on screen and off where Russell mentored young Brown. Castle made a perfect fit in the ensemble chemistry.
The series ran good stories for four seasons and one hundred fifty six episodes. The first saw Troop hired as Laramie Marshal following the murder of his predecessor. Russell pins on his star and hangs a sign in the window, Deputy Wanted. McKay applies. Troop turns the eighteen year old down. He’s too young. Trouble comes when the men responsible for the former marshal’s murder returns to town. Troop determines to face them alone, in spite of McKay protest to help. Troop gets his man, but it takes a back-up shot from McKay to save him from the second. Johnny is hired and the partnership grows from there.
ABC bought the series. It aired on Sunday night opposite Ed Sullivan for most of its run. I suspect I missed a few episodes over that Sullivan-thing. The show was sponsored by R. J. Reynolds (Camel cigarettes advertised on TV! Really?) Fortunately the sponsorship day was saved by General Mills and Cheerios.
Next Week: The Rifleman ’58-‘63
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
February 17, 2018
Wanted Dead or Alive
Wanted Dead or Alive ran 94 black and white episodes from 1958 to 1960. A reform school graduate and ex-Marine, Steve McQueen came by his tough guy persona the authentic way. He put an edge on his character designed to cover over a boyish warm heart. He wandered the west tracking down bad guys on wanted posters. Along the way, he’d pause to settle a family feud, exonerate the innocent or locate and rescue a missing person.
Cast as an ex-rebel soldier, Josh Randall cut a colorful character. He packed a sawed-off Winchester mares leg with the lever fashioned in a loop for a simultaneous fast draw cock to set the bad guys on lethal notice. His cartridge belt loops were filled with high-powered cartridges the Winchester couldn’t chamber but they sure looked good. He rode a black horse named Ringo that threw him once a week and bit him on bad behavior. McQueen said, “Good thing he likes me.”
Actor Wright King joined McQueen as Deputy Sheriff Jason Nichols and Randall’s sidekick for eleven episodes in season two. The two made a good pairing on screen and off, but when King’s character began to bleed into a copy of McQueen’s Randall, the partnership flattened out and King left the show gracefully.
Wanted Dead or Alive launched Steve McQueen’s film career. He went on to play a variety of roles with numerous film credits to his resume. One of those films, Tom Horn, for me ranks right up there with the best of them. Tom Horn is a complex character. He’s an assassin. He’s a character made for McQueen. Under that hard shell there lurks some vestige of integrity. A man who stood by what he did and wouldn’t testify in his own defense.
Tom Horn was I believe McQueen’s last major project. He directed. His pursuit of perfection delivered, but at a cost that hurt the profitability of the picture. That said, if you haven’t seen it (plenty of people haven’t), it’s well worth the watch.
Next Week: Lawman ‘58-‘62
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
Cast as an ex-rebel soldier, Josh Randall cut a colorful character. He packed a sawed-off Winchester mares leg with the lever fashioned in a loop for a simultaneous fast draw cock to set the bad guys on lethal notice. His cartridge belt loops were filled with high-powered cartridges the Winchester couldn’t chamber but they sure looked good. He rode a black horse named Ringo that threw him once a week and bit him on bad behavior. McQueen said, “Good thing he likes me.”
Actor Wright King joined McQueen as Deputy Sheriff Jason Nichols and Randall’s sidekick for eleven episodes in season two. The two made a good pairing on screen and off, but when King’s character began to bleed into a copy of McQueen’s Randall, the partnership flattened out and King left the show gracefully.
Wanted Dead or Alive launched Steve McQueen’s film career. He went on to play a variety of roles with numerous film credits to his resume. One of those films, Tom Horn, for me ranks right up there with the best of them. Tom Horn is a complex character. He’s an assassin. He’s a character made for McQueen. Under that hard shell there lurks some vestige of integrity. A man who stood by what he did and wouldn’t testify in his own defense.
Tom Horn was I believe McQueen’s last major project. He directed. His pursuit of perfection delivered, but at a cost that hurt the profitability of the picture. That said, if you haven’t seen it (plenty of people haven’t), it’s well worth the watch.
Next Week: Lawman ‘58-‘62
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
February 10, 2018
Bat Masterson
Back in Dodge City’s Queen of the Cow Towns heyday, Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp worked as lawmen in the toughest town in the west. There they became lifelong best of friends. Ironically the Bat Masterson series concept grew out of ABC’s successful Wyatt Earp series. NBC was in the market for its own western hero.
Gene Barry was hand-picked for the role of Bat Masterson by executive producer Fred Ziv after a cattle call audition. Barry turned the role down. He began his career as a concert violinist and singer. Experiences on the Broadway stage led to roles in film. He had no interest in TV. Ziv persisted, eventually enticing Barry to play the unconventional western hero.
The Bat Masterson TV series was based on a biography written by Richard O’Connor. I’ve not read that particular biography; but I’ve read others in the course of researching an upcoming book. I’d have to say the series was ‘loosely’ based on what we know about W. B. ‘Bat’ Masterson. The dapper Bat Masterson played by Berry, styled the character in a dark suit, jaunty derby hat and gold knobbed cane. There is historical precedent for that treatment, though the cane was not a dandified affectation as TV portrayed it. Bat needed it. He walked with a limp owing to a gunshot wound received in a dispute over the favors of a dance hall girl.
Gene Barry’s Bat was portrayed as a ladies man. That was somewhat exaggerated. Bat liked women. He lived with a couple in his younger years. He later settled down with common law wife Emma and, other than one somewhat sensational philander, he remained faithful to her for the rest of his life.
Bat Masterson ran for three seasons, a total of one hundred eight episodes. Despite high ratings, the show ended after three seasons. Barry wanted out. He found TV a grind. In only three seasons Gene Barry came to personify Bat Masterson for most of a generation.
Next Week: Wanted Dead or Alive ’58-‘63
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
Gene Barry was hand-picked for the role of Bat Masterson by executive producer Fred Ziv after a cattle call audition. Barry turned the role down. He began his career as a concert violinist and singer. Experiences on the Broadway stage led to roles in film. He had no interest in TV. Ziv persisted, eventually enticing Barry to play the unconventional western hero.
The Bat Masterson TV series was based on a biography written by Richard O’Connor. I’ve not read that particular biography; but I’ve read others in the course of researching an upcoming book. I’d have to say the series was ‘loosely’ based on what we know about W. B. ‘Bat’ Masterson. The dapper Bat Masterson played by Berry, styled the character in a dark suit, jaunty derby hat and gold knobbed cane. There is historical precedent for that treatment, though the cane was not a dandified affectation as TV portrayed it. Bat needed it. He walked with a limp owing to a gunshot wound received in a dispute over the favors of a dance hall girl.
Gene Barry’s Bat was portrayed as a ladies man. That was somewhat exaggerated. Bat liked women. He lived with a couple in his younger years. He later settled down with common law wife Emma and, other than one somewhat sensational philander, he remained faithful to her for the rest of his life.
Bat Masterson ran for three seasons, a total of one hundred eight episodes. Despite high ratings, the show ended after three seasons. Barry wanted out. He found TV a grind. In only three seasons Gene Barry came to personify Bat Masterson for most of a generation.
Next Week: Wanted Dead or Alive ’58-‘63
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
February 3, 2018
Yancey Derringer
Yancey Derringer lasted one season. What happened? The show had all the right stuff. The premise started with a short story written by Richard Sale in the thirties. It featured a southern aristocrat impoverished by the war who returns to reconstruction era New Orleans. At the time Sale was a popular pulp writer. He and his writer wife Mary Loos teamed up to turn the story into a TV series for which they got twenty-five percent of the show. Executive producers Warren Lewis and Don Sharpe held fifty percent. Jock Mahoney signed on to star as Yancey Derringer for which he too received twenty-five percent of the show. So far so good.
Derringer, a former Confederate officer is a dashing riverboat gambler respected as a southerner who never surrendered. New Orleans, like much of the reconstruction south is under federal administration overseen by former Union Army officer John Colton (Keven Hagen). Colton recruits Yancey to assist him as a special undercover agent. Derringer agrees to be Colton’s “Huckleberry”, believing the nation must reunite. Sale brings the language of the old south to his scripts, using terms like ‘huckleberry’, as in ‘I’m your guy’.
Derringer makes a wonderful sleuth. As episodes unfold Colton seeks Derringer’s assistance with some problem or threat. Yancey goes on the case armed with three four-barreled pepperbox derringers, one in his vest, one in his hat and where else would a gambler keep one, up his sleeve. Yancey is backed by a sawed-off shotgun toting, knife throwing, mute Pawnee Indian, Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah (Wolf who stands in water) played by X Brands. Communicating in authentic sign language, Yancey and Pahoo dispose of the assigned problem, usually by unorthodox or illegal means resulting in Yancey’s arrest.
More aristocrat than impoverished, Yancey owns the Sultana riverboat and lives on a plantation called Waverly. His myriad romantic interests most often return to Madame Francine (Frances Bergan) proprietress of an exclusive New Orleans gambling hall. His favorite haunts include former lover Mei Ling’s Miss Mandarin’s Sazerac Restaurant. So amid all this elegance, intrigue, and character potential, what went wrong? The sponsor wanted a comedy. How sad is that?
Next Week: Bat Masterson ’58-‘61
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
Derringer, a former Confederate officer is a dashing riverboat gambler respected as a southerner who never surrendered. New Orleans, like much of the reconstruction south is under federal administration overseen by former Union Army officer John Colton (Keven Hagen). Colton recruits Yancey to assist him as a special undercover agent. Derringer agrees to be Colton’s “Huckleberry”, believing the nation must reunite. Sale brings the language of the old south to his scripts, using terms like ‘huckleberry’, as in ‘I’m your guy’.
Derringer makes a wonderful sleuth. As episodes unfold Colton seeks Derringer’s assistance with some problem or threat. Yancey goes on the case armed with three four-barreled pepperbox derringers, one in his vest, one in his hat and where else would a gambler keep one, up his sleeve. Yancey is backed by a sawed-off shotgun toting, knife throwing, mute Pawnee Indian, Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah (Wolf who stands in water) played by X Brands. Communicating in authentic sign language, Yancey and Pahoo dispose of the assigned problem, usually by unorthodox or illegal means resulting in Yancey’s arrest.
More aristocrat than impoverished, Yancey owns the Sultana riverboat and lives on a plantation called Waverly. His myriad romantic interests most often return to Madame Francine (Frances Bergan) proprietress of an exclusive New Orleans gambling hall. His favorite haunts include former lover Mei Ling’s Miss Mandarin’s Sazerac Restaurant. So amid all this elegance, intrigue, and character potential, what went wrong? The sponsor wanted a comedy. How sad is that?
Next Week: Bat Masterson ’58-‘61
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
January 27, 2018
Wagon Train
Wagon Train ran eight seasons and two hundred eighty four episodes. Beside Bond and his buddies the original cast included Robert Horton as the scout Flint McCullough. The cast changed in 1960 with Ward Bond died suddenly. He was replaced by John McIntire as wagon master Chris Hale. Horton left the cast in 1962, followed by two forgettable replacements, before Robert Fuller took the part of scout Cooper Smith for the final two seasons.
The show followed the adventures of a wagon train making its way west from Missouri to Sacramento. Each episode titled one of the regular characters or a person or family traveling with the train. The title character or the wagon train community would encounter some problem to be resolved over the course of the episode.
The regular cast were given back stories that found their way into episodes. Major Adams served in the Union Army along with his Sergeant, Hawks and private, cook Wooster. They served under Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant. Flint McCullough’s character was orphaned at an early age in Wyoming, where he was adopted by mountain man Jim Bridger. He served for the Confederacy in a guerilla outfit raiding in the west. The characters war backgrounds were occasionally revisited in flashback if it suited an episode story. At other times these backstory experiences might be tweaked to better suit the storyline of a particular episode. Viewers appeared not to notice or care.
Historical context for the episodes wandered back and forth over the years following the civil war. There was no chronologically correct progression of events from one story to the next, but audience popularity seemed not to notice or care. The show debuted on NBC and grew to become a ratings success before a move to ABC for what became its final two seasons, a flirtation with color and a move to a Sunday night time slot all precipitated a ratings decline ending in the show’s cancellation.
Next Week: Yancey Derringer ’58-‘59
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
The show followed the adventures of a wagon train making its way west from Missouri to Sacramento. Each episode titled one of the regular characters or a person or family traveling with the train. The title character or the wagon train community would encounter some problem to be resolved over the course of the episode.
The regular cast were given back stories that found their way into episodes. Major Adams served in the Union Army along with his Sergeant, Hawks and private, cook Wooster. They served under Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant. Flint McCullough’s character was orphaned at an early age in Wyoming, where he was adopted by mountain man Jim Bridger. He served for the Confederacy in a guerilla outfit raiding in the west. The characters war backgrounds were occasionally revisited in flashback if it suited an episode story. At other times these backstory experiences might be tweaked to better suit the storyline of a particular episode. Viewers appeared not to notice or care.
Historical context for the episodes wandered back and forth over the years following the civil war. There was no chronologically correct progression of events from one story to the next, but audience popularity seemed not to notice or care. The show debuted on NBC and grew to become a ratings success before a move to ABC for what became its final two seasons, a flirtation with color and a move to a Sunday night time slot all precipitated a ratings decline ending in the show’s cancellation.
Next Week: Yancey Derringer ’58-‘59
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
