TV Show Westerns - What are your favorites/least favorites and why?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by melstapler, May 24, 2015.

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  1. smilin ed

    smilin ed Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham
    I guess it was 'west' for the time it was set. I remember Custer; liked the way Crazy Horse was portrayed as a kind of equal, but I thought the show was as daft as hell. There are lots of Westerns I remember enjoying as a kid, but - Maverick aside - when I've seen them years later, they often seem cheap and nasty and just one step removed from Little House on the Prairie or, at best, those Audie Murphy or George Montgomery or Rory Calhoun type films of the 50s and early 60s - and I say this as a huge fan (maybe an obsessive one) of the Western. Even shows that still largely look good, like The High Chaparral, are marred by some awful acting and flat storylines. I recently watched the whole run of Alias Smith and Jones and by and large enjoyed it until Roger Davis took over. I suspect Pete Duel's charisma carried a lot of it. I've never seen The Westerner, so I ought to give it a go.
     
  2. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    As far as "The Westerner", I bought that on a whim... Never heard of the show until I seen it on display at Walmart: It was worth buying... If it's of any interest, in addition to the 13 episodes, it includes the "unofficial pilot" that aired as an episode on "Zane Grey Theatre", and some of the episodes have commentaries from Sam Peckinpah experts.
     
  3. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dixie
    I was perusing a Night Gallery episode list when my eye caught this:

    NIGHT GALLERY #24
    (Air date: January 26, 1972)

    THE WAITING ROOM
    Written by Rod Serling

    Host Rod Serling’s grim account of a gunman’s day of reckoning.
    What really stood out for me was the cast, sort of a reunion of sagebrush veterans:

    [​IMG]

    This may have been Barker's last role; he died later that year
     
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  4. hbbfam

    hbbfam Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chandler,AZ
    The best ten seconds in the history of TV Westerns:
     
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  5. bmasters9

    bmasters9 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fountain Inn, SC
    I have two favorites now: Have Gun and Wanted: Dead or Alive. I've seen two seasons' worth on DVD of Have Gun, and it's been the central character's (Paladin's) reluctance to fire unless necessary on the jobs that he was hired for that has been the draw for me here, while Wanted (I have the all-in-one of that; working on the second season now) is becoming one because Josh Randall (the late, great Steve McQueen) seems to have been the same way, IINM.
     
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  6. Luvtemps

    Luvtemps Forum Resident

    Location:
    P.G.County,Md.
    Wow,a good subject...Tales Of The Texas Rangers[maybe the coolest opening of any western]...Zorro[maybe the second coolest opening,a theme song to die for]...The Cisco Kid[aww Cisco-aww Poncho]...Cheyenne[my absolute favorite with the serious Clint Walker,and a killer theme song]...The Twenty Six Men[little remembered series about law in the Arizona Territory]...The Lone Ranger[hi ho silver away]...Bonanza[legendary series that almost got canceled].
     
  7. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dixie
     
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  8. Luvtemps

    Luvtemps Forum Resident

    Location:
    P.G.County,Md.
    Lancer was the worst,a Bonanza rip-off and poorly acted...but back to the good ones...Maverick[who was the tall dark stranger there,Maverick is the name]..Lawman[Dan Troop Smiled even less than Cheyenne]...Stagecoach West[good little series with Wayne Rogers long before he was Hawkeye's sidekick on MASH]...The Tall Man[good one with-Barry Sullivan]...The Deputy[Henry Fonda was so good he did TV and had a hit]...Rawhide[wow-Clint Eastwood and a cool theme song-rain an stormy weather can't hurt the leather]...Hotel DeParree[did Earl Holliman have the coolest hat or what?]...Tombstone Territory[good show that should've had a longer run].
     
  9. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI

    Yeah, I really like both of those shows as well: I have "Have Gun, Will Travel" seasons 1-3. Walmart had a set that featured seasons 1-4, but since I already had the first three, I wasn't about to spend close to $40.00 just for another season, especially when, with a little patience, I could probably buy the three remaining seasons that I need for that price.

    "Wanted: Dead or Alive"-I really like that one too, but only own season 1 on DVD... I don't know if I'll track down the other two seasons as individual sets, or if I'll search out the all inclusive/complete series set.
     
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  10. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    I've been on a "Rawhide" kick lately, currently watching season 4... I'm not sure if I like Pete Nolan's (Sheb Wooley's) replacement or not... Even watching old shows, it takes a while to get used to replacements sometimes...
     
  11. Luvtemps

    Luvtemps Forum Resident

    Location:
    P.G.County,Md.
    A cool western fact..Guy[Zorro]Williams appeared on[Bonanza]as Will Cartwright was actually offered the role of[Adam Cartwright]but was starring as[Zorro]..he turned down the role.
     
  12. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dixie
    Do you have a source for this? GW was under contract to Disney at this time. Perhaps WD turned down any offers.

    Along the same lines John Ford wanted Fess Parker for the co-lead in The Searchers, but Disney refused to loan him out. In fact he didn't even inform Parker of the offer, and FP only learned of it some time afterwards.
     
  13. bmasters9

    bmasters9 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fountain Inn, SC
    Per Have Gun, I have the first three seasons' worth (have seen the first two), and the first parts of the fourth and fifth; I'll have to sometime in the future get the remaining volumes from Amazon (hopefully there will be good prices on them; I got the first two [and the first volumes of the fourth and fifth] at the Wal-Mart in Simpsonville, and the third season from Amazon).

    And per Wanted, I got the 12-disc Special Edition all-in-one from Amazon, and that one has colorized versions of four first-season episodes, a comic book gallery, and featurettes, among other things.
     
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  14. Luvtemps

    Luvtemps Forum Resident

    Location:
    P.G.County,Md.
    Guy Williams said this in an interview,he also stated that he got the cold shoulder from the cast when he appeared as Will Cartwright,who was a cousin and was slated to replace[Pernell Roberts]who wanted out,but Micheal Landon didn't think that a new character was needed and Guy was out.
     
  15. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI

    Regarding "Have Gun, Will Travel"- I was able to pick up the first three (complete) seasons at Walmart last summer for around $10.00 a season... It was shortly after that they took the individual seasons off the shelves and put out the 4 season box I mentioned... Then a few months ago, they had the three individual seasons and still had the plastic case "box set" out too... They never had anything past season three as individual seasons, so I'll either go the eBay or Amazon.com route or see if Walmart.com has them available for purchase.

    That "Wanted-Dead or Alive" set you mentioned definitely sounds like the way I'll go when I get around to picking up the rest of that series... Regarding the colorized episodes: Are they "bonus features" or are the original B&W versions of the episodes not included?
     
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  16. Luvtemps

    Luvtemps Forum Resident

    Location:
    P.G.County,Md.
    Branded[Chuck Connors has never been cooler].
     
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  17. bmasters9

    bmasters9 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fountain Inn, SC
    The original B/Ws are there; the colorized ones are simply bonuses on the 12th disc, the bonus disc. The first 11 discs represent the series in the original B/W on CBS from 1958-61; some episodes are only 22 min. long, which leads me to believe they might have been the syndicated versions.

    And the last of the bonuses on that bonus disc is unrelated to Wanted, but does involve McQueen; it's The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery from 1959.

    More on that:
    The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery - Wikipedia
     
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  18. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    Walmart also has "Death Valley Days", and it's supposed to be a Walmart exclusive... I looked the series up online and seen that there were a few seasons put out and that season three was going to be out within a few days so I waited and went there on the release day-They didn't have it in stock! I had the kid in the electronics dept. check if they might have it, but not on the shelf as of that time and they didn't, but he looked it up on Walmart.com and seen thet the nearest Walmart with the series in store was one that's about 35 miles from here... Needless to say, I didn't run down there to buy it...

    Then a few weeks ago, I was in the store and went to look at their DVDs and they had "Death Valley Days" sesason 13 with Ronald Reagan as the host (and appeared in a few episodes) so I bought that... I just found it weird that they didn't stock the first three seasons locally, since the series is/was an exclusive for them...
     
  19. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dixie
    Somebody's got their wires crossed. GW was committed to Disney during this period, first shooting Zorro, then still under contract (and sometimes working at Disneyland) while WD spent two years trying to get an acceptable financial deal so he could resume production on Zorro.
    Guy was out b/c Roberts re-upped at the last moment -- the script was actually written for Adam to marry Kathie Browne (and move to a ranch nearby, in case PR was willing to do occasional guest shots). That decision radically altered GW's career. He could have been a regular on the biggest show on TV, but instead got stuck w/Lost In Space.

    GW mentioned Michael Landon being openly hostile to him (which surprised him, as ML had been friendly on a film they'd done a few years earlier). Apparently ML zealously guarded his turf against surrogate Cartwright sons: the late David Canary claimed ML was antagonistic to him as well.
     
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  20. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI

    I'd say you're correct about some of them being syndicated versions: I mean a half hour program from back then generally was 25 minutes of actual program, so if they're running 22 minutes, yeah, I'd say they were cut.
     
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  21. Luvtemps

    Luvtemps Forum Resident

    Location:
    P.G.County,Md.
    Ok, but that's basically what he said,as in[1959]when Bonanza started was also the last season of[Zorro]so maybe the producers were looking at that when considering Guy Williams,I think that Walt ran into trouble with the sponsors of[Zorro[when he changed netsworks-ABC to NBC].
     
  22. Luvtemps

    Luvtemps Forum Resident

    Location:
    P.G.County,Md.
    Sadly two big western series stars passed away during the run of their shows...Ward Bond[Wagon Train]..Dan Blocker[Bonanza].
     
  23. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    My favorite western on TV is Westworld (HBO). Not much of a western fan, but I love that show.
     
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  24. Dave Garrett

    Dave Garrett Senior Member

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    Wal-Mart's exclusive retail window for this series appears to be limited to a few months after initial release. Amazon has all four of the seasons that have been released so far - the first one's only available from third-party sellers, but they have stocked it in the past.
     
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  25. Dr. Pepper

    Dr. Pepper What, me worry?

    Just a quick nod to Rod Serling's western The Loner starring Lloyd Bridges. You can get the entire series for under $15. Best value around, for a truly unique western.
     
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