Bob Hug

Stoney Burke/The Wide Country

I’d surely love to see both of these dramas, which were originally broadcast in the 1962-63 season and used the rodeo as a backdrop, get an official studio release but I’d be shocked if that happened. Both had excellent casts; “Stoney Burke” had Jack Lord, Warren Oates, Bruce Dern, and Bob Dowdell (pre-“Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”), while the “The Wide Country” had Earl Holliman and Andrew Prine. Of the two, my guess is that “Stoney Burke” might have a better chance given the higher profile cast, and it was also made by Leslie Stevens’ Daystar Productions, the same company that made “The Outer Limits.” These just beg for a release from one of the independents.

Michael Alden

Re: Stoney Burke/The Wide Country

Both fall into the early 60s pit of quality 1 hour black and white dramas languishing in the vaults. While this era was abundant with quality shows, they unfortunately have been relegated to the storage warehouses due to them being black and white and also not having had much exposure in a very long time. I think you could take all of the forgotten and buried show from the 1960-65 time period and put together a network that would be better than anything on the air today, broadcast or cable.

michael_ks

Re: Stoney Burke/The Wide Country

Well, I'd like to think that my "dream network" would be. And it could even be done exclusively with television series not yet released on DVD. To wit:

Monday

7:00 pm The Invaders
8:00 pm T.H.E. Cat
8:30 pm Route 66
9:30 pm Hong Kong
10:00 pm Saints and Sinners

Tuesday

7:00 pm The Fugitive
8:00 pm The Green Hornet
8:30 pm Way Out
9:00 pm Thriller
9:30 pm Five Fingers
10:00 pm The Lieutenant

Wednesday

7:00 pm The Untouchables
8:00 pm Naked City (1st season)
8:30 pm Sea Hunt
9:00 pm 12 O' Clock High
9:30 pm The Rebel
10:00 pm Trackdown

A couple of shows are outside the '60-'65 range. I'll leave it up to others to fill in the rest of the week's prime time line-up.

I've never heard of "The Wide Country", but have always been intrigued with "Stoney Burke" because it was a Leslie Stevens production and the fact that Dominic Frontiere was the principal composer. In fact, some of his cues were used in OL-63.

Bob Hug

Re: Stoney Burke/The Wide Country

Michael, "The Wide Country" was broadcast the same year as "Stoney Burke," though I'm unsure if it went head-to-head. In any event, the link below will take you to a fan site that will give you the basics of the show (young Johnny Williams did the theme music). As a youngster I was allowed to watch "The Wide Country" on a regular basis but only recall seeing a few episodes of "Stoney Burke," which really deserves some sort of revival given the talent both in front of and behind the camera. It drives me crazy that quality, well-written and acted dramas like these sit idle in the vaults.

http://www.geocities.com/akeeney274/index.htm

Bert Greene

Re: Stoney Burke/The Wide Country

I'm quite fond of both series. For a brief while, CBN used to rerun "Stoney Burke" back around 1987, late at night. I'm glad I managed to tape most of the episodes. Having Warren Oates and Bruce Dern as regulars sure added color to the proceedings. A really good series. As for the "The Wide Country," I've only seen about five or six episodes, but I liked it a lot. It seemed a tad more "Route 66-ish" in its approach, whereas "Stoney" really concentrates a lot on the rodeo milieu. Both would be great to see on dvd, but I'm not holding my breath. It's such a shame these types of shows never really get revived. The quality in tv-drama from back then is often quite amazing.

Michael Alden

Re: Stoney Burke/The Wide Country

Thursday
7:00 pm Trials of O'Brien
8:00 pm Sam Benedict
9:00 pm The Eleventh Hour
10:00 pm The Nurses

Friday
7:00 pm Tightrope
7:30 pm Honey West
8:00 pm Cain's Hundred
9:00 pm For the People
10:00 pm Coronet Blue

Saturday
7:00 pm Calvin and the Colonel
7:30 pm My Living Doll
8:00 pm The Defenders
9:00 pm Channing
10:00 pm East Side West Side

Sunday
7:00 pm Kentucky Jones
7:30 pm Hennesey
8:00 pm Bus Stop
9:00 pm 87th Precinct
10:00 pm Target: The Corrupters

Jeff#

Re: Stoney Burke/The Wide Country

I saw it on CBN too (the entire series), but on Saturday afternoons in the mid 1980s.

Stoney Burke was an OK show, but nothing great. It was notable for featuring talented character actors who had already been doing films and TV for years (Lord and Oates) and a newcomer at the time (Dern) -- before any of them became famous. But other than that it was kind of average. Stoney never did win that much-coveted championship rodeo belt buckle either.

michael_ks

Re: Stoney Burke/The Wide Country

Thanks for the link, Bob. Still another show I'd love to be able to see if only for the appearance of some of my favorite character actors (Ed Nelson, Michael Ansara, Claude Akins). Do you by chance have this book on TV westerns? It would seem to be very comprehensive--should have some good information on SB and WC, although perhaps no better than what the net provides:

http://www.oldwestshop.com/The_Offic...n_Round_Up.htm

Bob Hug

Re: Stoney Burke/The Wide Country

I don't have the book, but it looks like something I might want to get down the line. I wonder, though, whether SB and/or WC would be in this book as they were modern day westerns and don't really fit with the likes of "Bonanza," "The Lone Ranger," etc. -- the shows that focused on the "old" West. Another (relatively) modern day Western that comes to mind is the John Bromfield series of the late 1950s set in Arizona, "Sheriff of Cochise" (later "U.S. Marshal") that reminds me of a Westernized version of "Highway Patrol." A few public domain episodes of this series are floating around on DVD.