[Dave Scarpa]

I'm enjoying HBO's Deadwood on DVD and while certainly not a conventional TV Western it has me pining for all those great classic westerns from the 50's and 60's. many of these shows are on DVD from the Minor League Publishers like Brentwood and the like but they are mostly the PD stuff. And the the major Players Like Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Rawhide, The Big Valley , High Chaperral, Wagon Train and Wild Wild West are absent. It was Nice Paramount is releasing Have Gun Will Travel because its a show I had heard about but never seen due to almost no syndication. I've loved it so far but we need more.

[Scott Kimball]

HGWT Season 2 is coming in May.

[Jeff Willis]

I heard that! I am wondering about the Westerns as well. I'm a Big Valley fan and want that one bad. I have WWW thru Columbia House ($ ouch) because I couldn't wait for the season sets. I'm also waiting for "Alias Smith & Jones".

[Charles H]

Is WILD, WILD WEST still active with Columbia House? I have not received anything after Volume 15 a couple of months ago.

[Jeff#]

I only have the first 10 DVDs of Wild Wild West, Charles, because I haven't purchased 11 through 15 yet. Are there still 3 episodes on each disc for those? And are they all 2nd season? It's good to see that CBS Video had been duplicating the shows in order, at least by original broadcast dates.

46 out of 104 WWW episodes is almost half of the series on DVD already.

[Charles H]

Volume 11 begins with "The Night of the Big Blast" (10/7/66) and Volume 15 concludes with "The Night of the Gypsy Peril" (1/20/67). There are still three episodes on each disc.

[Greg_S_H]

I think it's a sure bet that anything available via Columbia House will eventually be released as a season set. They already have the episodes transferred, and they have a reasonable sales forecast. I figure if a show was performing poorly for CH, it would be dropped before too many volumes were available.

[Bert Greene]

Add me to the chorus of those wanting to see more westerns. Haven't really thought about what I'd want most ("Have Gun, Will Travel," one of my favorites, is actually being done). "Rawhide" would be nice. There have been rumblings about "Maverick," which is another gem. I'd like to see "Zane Grey Theater" for its variety, and the fact I've not seen too many episodes over the years.

I met Robert Fuller last year, and it instilled in me a desire to see "Laramie" again. Don't recall too much about it. One western series I've never seen is "Tales of Wells Fargo," which had a healthy run in the late-50s. "Wagon Train" would be nice to see, but I'm afraid episodes from the first season or two can a bit too leisurely-paced, if my memory is correct. What about "Trackdown" with Robert Culp? Or "The Rebel" with Nick Adams? Those would be nice. Heck, I'm even forgetting "Wanted: Dead or Alive" with Steve McQueen. Surely that would be a good candidate. Ditto for the aforementioned "Alias Smith and Jones." The initial season of "Laredo" was good fun, too. Oh, and another really neat Warner Bros. entry was "Lawman," with John Russell. Lots of possibilities to wistfully mull over! Hope they are not as futile as I'm inclined to believe.

[Jeff#]

Many of those westerns I discovered in 1980s cable TV reruns as well VHS tape trading during that period.

Rawhide and Maverick were both released on tape from Columbia House in the mid 1990s, but I'm not sure how far they got with Maverick. Rawhide is a CBS Video release, so it may already be on DVD in the same form as Wild Wild West.

Their are few Maverick episode available in stores, and you might find them for as little as $1 on VHS in a clearance isle. On DVD the only episode I know of is "Duel at Sundown" because it guest starred Clint Eastwood before Rawhide. That one is found on a 2 disc collector's edition of the Oscar-winning Eastwood western Unforgiven.

Tales of Wells Fargo starring Dale Robertson was originally a 1/2 hour B & W show for the first 4 years. When NBC increased the budget, it expanded to 1 hour and was filmed in color beginning in 1961 when Jim bought a ranch and hired old timer William Demarest as the foreman, while he continued on assignments for Wells Fargo. The ranch setting and also a widow and her 2 young daughters who lived at a neighboring ranch didn't help the show, so it was also the final season. Ironically, I never saw any of the 30 minute shows, and only 1 of the ranch episodes.

[Lutz Koch]

Columbia House released 25 VHS tapes of Maverick (50 episodes), including all of the episodes featuring Bret and Bart together, most of the Bret solo episodes, some of the Bart solo episodes, but none of the Roger Moore episodes.

Of the episodes that WB released, only "Iron Hand" and "The Bundle from Britain" did not duplicate any CH releases, the latter being the only Roger Moore Maverick episode released so far.

I sincerely hope that WB makes good on their recent announcement of Maverick DVDs. I really love this show.

[Jeff#]

I think "The Bundle from Britian" was the first episode of Maverick with Roger Moore as Beau Maverick. However, while still under contract to Warner Bros. Moore did guest star on the show two years earlier in "The Rivals" in a different role, and he appeared with both James Garner and Jack Kelly.

[Joseph Bolus]

I *loved* all the Bret and Beux Maverick (James Garner and Roger Moore) solo eps, as well as the Bret and Bart combo episodes. But, for the most part, I was pretty bored with the Bart Maverick solo eps.

Still ... I'll spring for the entire series when it's released. According to "The Digital Bits" and the "TVShowsOnDVD" sites, Maverick will be coming to DVD "later this year"! Can't wait!

Now ... When are we getting "Briscoe County Jr."??

[Gregory V]

I am most anxious to see the old western comedy, Pistols n Petticoats, starring Ann Sheridan (who died in 1967 during production) released on DVD. The entire series was only 26 episodes, and they have released many short run series. If they can release "The Tick", why not this one????????