{"id":6830,"date":"2023-03-04T08:10:38","date_gmt":"2023-03-04T08:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mostlywesterns.com\/?p=6830"},"modified":"2023-03-19T08:59:09","modified_gmt":"2023-03-19T08:59:09","slug":"best-tv-westerns-1950s-1960s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostlywesterns.com\/best-tv-westerns-1950s-1960s\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best TV Westerns of The 1950s & 1960s – My Childhood Faves Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A few years back I wrote an article on my favourite John Wayne films<\/a> I saw as a snot-nosed kid. I thought it was time to revisit those halcyon days of childhood again but this time consider the TV Westerns I saw when I was young as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shows in question are listed in order of when I saw them on British TV as opposed to when they first aired in America. For example \u201cCheyenne\u201d debuted in 1955 on U.S. TV but I saw \u201cBoots and Saddles\u201d, which debuted in 1957 before \u201cCheyenne\u201d aired on TV over here in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lone Ranger<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We can recall it like it was yesterday, the first bars of the \u201cWilliam Tell Overture\u201d playing over the opening credits of \u201cThe Lone Ranger\u201d TV show, then the words no cowboy fan growing up in the late 1940s \/ 1950s worth their salt is ever going to forget; \u201cA fiery horse with a speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty hi-yo Silver \u2013 the Lone Ranger. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Hi yo Silver away!\u201d We\u2019ll leave you masked LR fans to fill in the rest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Lone Ranger\u201d started out as a radio show in the early 1930s, eventually morphing into the full-blown TV show we baby boomers, all still knee-high to a grasshopper, loved so much, hitting the trail in 1949 and running for five seasons and a total of just over two-hundred episodes until 1957. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you are all well aware the main role was played by Clayton Moore with Jay Silverheels, a genuine Mohawk, taking on the role of faithful companion Tonto. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to a rather vague contractual dispute Moore was replaced halfway through the run of the show by John Hart for a total of fifty-two episodes, Moore then returning to the role for the remaining seasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each half hour program would feature the masked man and his noble Native American companion doing battle with the bad guys, with numerous episodes featuring familiar faces such as Hank Worden, DeForest Kelley,  Ray Teal, James Arness, Lee Van Cleef, Martha Hyer, Harry Carey Jr. and Glenn Strange, Strange playing the villain in the very first episode of the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moore and Silverheels also hit the big screen in a couple of movies, \u201cThe Lone Ranger\u201d, released in 1956 and \u201cThe Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold\u201d, released in 1958. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later on, in 1981, most people steered well clear of \u201cThe Legend of the Lone Ranger\u201d as well as the most recent version featuring Johnny Depp as Tonto, although Arnie Hammer makes a halfway decent effort as the masked man. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels are the real deal. Accept no substitute. \u201cHi yo Silver away!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boots and Saddles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoots and Saddles\u201d debuted on American TV in September 1957, lasting for only one season and a total of thirty-nine episodes. The series was filmed in black and white with each episode running for approximately twenty-five minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Due to the short run of \u201cBoots and Saddles\u201d, it\u2019s not a TV Western that\u2019s generally remembered in the company of classics such as \u201cCheyenne\u201d or \u201cMaverick\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a shame because in general it was aimed at more of an adult audience as opposed to young children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It featured a number of regular characters including Jack (John) Pickard as Captain Shank Adams, Patrick McVey as Lieutenant Wesley Hayes,  Gardner McKay as Lieutenant Dan Kelly with John Alderson playing Sergeant Bullock. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was their job to maintain peace on the Arizona frontier in the 1880s whenever the local Apache tribes threatened unrest. The show was set in the fictional Fort Lowell, the set of which had been built previously for the 1953 Western movie \u201cPony Express\u201d starring Charlton Heston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guest stars on the show included Claude Akins, DeForest Kelley and Strother Martin. One of the named writers was Gene Roddenberry who of course went on to create \u201cStar Trek\u201d ten years later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it has yet to be released officially on DVD there are a number of clips from the program available on YouTube as well as two full episodes, \u201cQuiet Day At Fort Lowell\u201d and \u201cThe Obsession\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a personal level, I have a dim memory of seeing an episode, possibly called \u201cThe Lost Patrol\u201d, when I was a youngster which featured the character of Sergeant Bullock trying to get back to the fort after he and his patrol have been ambushed by the Apache. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He carries on his back one of the men wounded in the skirmish and eventually makes it to Fort Lowell in one piece only to realise that his companion had been dead all the time. Grim stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheyenne<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Debuting on the ABC channel in September 1955, \u201cCheyenne\u201d was not only the first Warner Bros TV Western shows to grace the small screen but was also the first hour long (including advert breaks) series made for television. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six-foot six-inch tall Clint Walker played the character of wanderer Cheyenne Bodie. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Having been raised by the Cheyenne tribe after the death of his parents, Bodie is depicted as a loner constantly on the move from one town to the next, skilled as a tracker and occasional army scout but mainly proficient in punching out the lights of the bad guys at the first hint of trouble, something which generally occurred at least once in each episode. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a number of the fight sequences Mr. Walker was usually required to shed his upper clothing in order to display his beefcake physique, which must have set hearts fluttering amongst his many female fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCheyenne\u201d attracted some great acting talent throughout its run, with James Garner and L.Q. Jones (as short-lived side-kick Smitty) appearing in the very first episode. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other episodes featured guest spots from the likes of Dennis Hopper, Angie Dickinson, Slim Pickens, Claude Akins and Ellen Burstyn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst the series doesn\u2019t appear to have attracted big name or soon-to-be-famous directors the writing credits include the likes of Alan LeMay, Richard Matheson and Dan Reisner along with uncredited contributions from Jules Furthman and William Faulkner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The calibre of the writing talent goes some way to justifying the reputation of the show when it came to the quality of the scripts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clint took a hiatus from the series in 1957 when he and Warner Bros engaged in a contractual dispute over the actor earning income outside of the show, in turn giving Ty Hardin the opportunity to appear as Cheyenne\u2019s country cousin Bronco Laine during Walker\u2019s absence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as introducing \u201cBronco\u201d to TV, Warner\u2019s also decided to screen the pilot episode of \u201cThe Dakotas\u201d at the end of season six of \u201cCheyenne\u201d in 1962, the show then debuting in its own right in January of the following year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walker actually returned again to the part of Bodie quite a few years after the final episode of the original series hit the airwaves. First off was a guest appearance in \u201cThe Gambler Returns\u201d, the fourth in the five TV movies in which singer Kenny Rogers played Bradie Hawks, a character based upon his hit single \u201cThe Gambler\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The TV movie also featured a few of Clint\u2019s TV Western contemporaries including Chuck Connors, Hugh O\u2019Brien and Gene Barry. David Carradine, as Caine from the \u201cKung Fu\u201d TV show, put in an appearance as well, Walker going on to reprise the character of Cheyenne one final time in a \u201cKung Fu\u201d episode entitled \u201cThe Gunfighters\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCheyenne\u201d is fondly remembered for its wistful theme tune composed by William Lava with lyrics by Stan Jones, who also provided the words to the song played over the opening credits to \u201cThe Searchers\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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