What did you watch this week in classic TV on DVD(or Blu)? (2 Viewers)

[The 1960's]

Wagon Train (1959-1965) HD Stream​

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Wagon Train recently celebrated it’s 64th Birthday. It first aired on September 18, 1957 and concluded on May 2, 1965 and ran for 8 seasons on the NBC Network. In it’s first season it became number one in the Nielsen ratings.

It’s stories featured the journeys of a wagon train as it leaves post-Civil War Missouri on its way to California through the plains, deserts, and Rocky Mountains. It attracted many of the biggest television stars of the era. The series influenced the development of Star Trek. In 1966 Gene Roddenberry said he pitched Star Trek as "Wagon Train to the stars", referring to the concept of a recurring cast on a long journey with famous guest stars becoming the focus of various stories. In his March 11, 1964, initial pitch document, he wrote, "Star Trek is a Wagon Train concept—built around characters who travel to worlds 'similar' to our own”. The show initially starred supporting film actor Ward Bond as the wagon master who was replaced after his death in 1960 by John McIntire. Robert Horton was the scout who was replaced by Robert Fuller when Horton opted to leave the series.

The series was inspired by Wagon Master (1950) directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., and Ward Bond and by The Big Trail (1930) directed by Raoul Walsh and starring 23-year-old John Wayne in his first leading role and also featuring Ward Bond in a prominent supporting role. (Partially from Wikipedia)

S07E05 The Robert Harrison Clarke Story (Oct.14.1963)​

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Director ... William Witney
Writer ... Gene L. Coon

Cast (in credits order)
John McIntire … Christopher Hale
Robert Fuller … Cooper Smith
Scott Miller … Duke Shannon
Frank McGrath … Charlie Wooster
Terry Wilson … Bill Hawks
Michael Rennie … Robert Harrison Clarke
Brian Keith … First Sgt. Gault
Henry Silva … Ram Singh
Randy Boone … Randy Boone
Royal Dano … John Bouchette
George Keymas … John Warbow
William Bryant … Capt. Jeterman
L.Q. Jones … Ike Truman
Jan Arvan … Chief Oopaknah
Dean Williams … Grider
Rees Vaughn … Lt. Crane

Music ... Morton Stevens

Wagonmaster Chris Hale (John McIntire) and Cooper Smith (Robert Fuller) along with British journalist Robert Harrison Clarke (Michael Rennie) and his dear friend, Sheik Ram Singh (Henry Silva) accompany John Bouchette (Royal Dano) a civilian surveyor for the Army when they come across an Army troop that has been massacred except for two survivors. His arrogance towards the members of the Wagon Train and his preconceived notions about the American frontier would soon be shattered.

Superbly written by Gene Coon, this particular episode plays out like a motion picture with a budget to match and an all-star supporting cast which includes Brian Keith, Henry Silva, Royal Dano and Randy Boone. Every actor clicks together as though they had performed as a troupe for an extended period of time. Perhaps one of the very best western adventures I have ever seen. I’d been trying to decide which adventure to feature from this seventh season. After making my choice it came as no surprise to me when I discovered that IMDb assessed this episode a 9.0, a rating rarely given there. This was the only color season of the series and each story ran 77 minutes long which made these epics rather than episodes. It aired on Mondays at 8:30-10:00 PM on the ABC Network.

At an initial budget of $100,000 (equivalent to $965,000 in 2021) per segment, Wagon Train episodes cost over 40% more than most contemporary hour-long Westerns, allowing it to film on location in California's San Fernando Valley and afford its expensive guest stars. (Wikipedia)

The video clips and images in this Photo Commentary are from the newly remastered prints of Wagon Train Season Seven and all are breathtaking.​

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[The 1960's]

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Spoiler Alert: The following post of this photo commentary contains images that are spoilers to the storyline.​

 

[The 1960's]

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[ScottRE]

I have seen precious few episodes of Wagon Train, I'm sad to say, but did watch this one (thanks Neal) and it was one of the best oaters I've seen in a really long time. The writing by Coon is sharp and the characters all have time to breathe and grow thanks to the expanded running time that season. I found myself actually touched by it as the story neared the climax. If i had any criticism, it was the era's habit of switching from locations to soundstages in the same scene. No effort was made to try to match the lighting so interiors always looked (and sounded) exactly like what they were. I know it was hard back then to match lighting and the story and performances swept me away, so it's all good.

Fantastic grabs and very nicely done commentary on a top flight episode.

 

[SuperClark]

For those who have Starz the western channel will add "Lawman' to its weekday schedule starting Jan 2,2023.

STARZ

www.starz.com

 

[Jeff Flugel]

S07E05 The Robert Harrison Clarke Story (Oct.14.1963)

Superbly written by Gene Coon, this particular episode plays out like a motion picture with a budget to match and an all-star supporting cast which includes Brian Keith, Henry Silva, Royal Dano and Randy Boone. Every actor clicks together as though they had performed as a troupe for an extended period of time. Perhaps one of the very best western adventures I have ever seen. I’d been trying to decide which adventure to feature from this seventh season. After making my choice it came as no surprise to me when I discovered that IMDb assessed this episode a 9.0, a rating rarely given there. This was the only color season of the series and each story ran 77 minutes long which made these epics rather than episodes. It aired on Mondays at 8:30-10:00 PM on the ABC Network.​

Excellent post once again, Neal! Those HD caps do indeed look fantastic, with colors that truly pop! I'm envious of you guys living Stateside who have access to these wonderful HD remasters on cable TV. I haven't seen any Wagon Train episodes beyond S4, and certainly none of the color 7th season...judging from the clips and caps, this looks like a very good one. Love that cast.

 

[SuperClark]

Hey pardners/western tv show fans see you in a few weeks.on the Starz channel.

 

[Wiseguy]

Nelson, there is a region 2 release of all three seasons by Fabulous Films.

Happy Thanksgiving to you also.

And in region 4 from Madman as well.

 

[Flashgear]

Great posts about some big and more (now) obscure shows!

Nice post and screencaps Jeff for The Six Million Dollar Man and The Pretender! The latter show from the '90s was (as you said) a quite successful series at the time that I've mostly forgotten, but your screen caps show that this series looks quite good on DVD. Somewhat minimally reminiscent in theme to 1970's The Immortal, at least that's how I associate it. Michael T. Weiss was certainly good in it, and Andrea Parker hugely conflicting for me in combining cold calculating evil with bad-girl sexiness.

The Six Million Dollar Man was of course huge while I was still in H.S. Good ol' Lee Majors...hey, did you see that Kino-Lorber will be bringing out his 1968 feature film debut, the truly great Charlton Heston Western Will Penny on Blu-ray?

Such is the more ancient nature of my disc collection that I'm far more familiar with Wagon Train (and Lawman and 200 other TV Westerns, ha, ha!). Excellent screen caps Neal for that color season 7 Wagon Train episode! Good to know that so many vintage Universal/Revue Western series are available in HD for viewing now on Starz, which I can access with added subscription via my Amazon Prime. The onscreen 'bug', coming and going, doesn't seem to be noticeable. These certainly look brighter too, as you might expect from going back to new HD scans of original 35mm Technicolor film elements. I have the old TMG DVD set of Wagon Train season 7, and while they still look good in SD in circa 2000 era transfers, most (but not all) of the 32 episodes from that particular season were also cut by about 3 to 3:30 for the then-'Lone Star' Westerns channel in Canada. The other TMG DVD season sets of Wagon Train vary from just OK older tape transfers up to several seasons having much newer near CBS/P video quality (as with seasons 3 and 4). I think only the color season has cut episodes.

Wagon Train represents real TV 'comfort food' in my ancient gather-the-family-around-the-tube memories. Good reliable TV Western that was sometimes great. Memorable supporting cast over the years (grizzled Frank McGrath, Terry Wilson, Denny Miller, Michael Burns) huge guest stars and prime leads in Ward Bond, Robert Horton, John McIntire and Robert Fuller...where NBC's Wagon Train left off as America's #1 rated show, Bonanza took over...with the extended 90 minute format in color trailblazed by Revue's sister show The Virginian, a retooled 1963-64 Wagon Train (with season one of The Outer Limits as a lead-in!) was sent out by ABC to try to pry viewers away from the Monday night CBS powerhouse sit-com lineup of The Lucy Show, The Danny Thomas Show and The Andy Griffith Show! Needless to say, Wagon Train would only find renewal for an 8th and final season going back to B+W on another night in fall 1964...in The Robert Harrison Clarke Story, a nice pairing of bigger names with good ol' Michael Rennie and Brian Keith...nice also to see two recently passed classic TV alumnus in Henry Silva and L.Q. Jones. The Gene L. Coon script seems to be inspired by the true-to-life 'lucky shot' by Trooper Billy Dixon at the second battle of Adobe Walls in 1874, though without any British nationals or colonials being involved. However, the vaunted 30-30 rifle didn't debut till 1895. If you care too, Michael Rennie's The Third Man TV series (a BBC/FOX co-production from 1959-62 on YT, Harry Lime resurrected as a good guy!) is very much a worthwhile discovery too.

 

[The 1960's]

I have seen precious few episodes of Wagon Train, I'm sad to say, but did watch this one (thanks Neal) and it was one of the best oaters I've seen in a really long time. The writing by Coon is sharp and the characters all have time to breathe and grow thanks to the expanded running time that season. I found myself actually touched by it as the story neared the climax. Fantastic grabs and very nicely done commentary on a top flight episode.

Excellent post once again, Neal! Those HD caps do indeed look fantastic, with colors that truly pop! I'm envious of you guys living Stateside who have access to these wonderful HD remasters on cable TV. I haven't seen any Wagon Train episodes beyond S4, and certainly none of the color 7th season...judging from the clips and caps, this looks like a very good one. Love that cast.

Such is the more ancient nature of my disc collection that I'm far more familiar with Wagon Train (and Lawman and 200 other TV Westerns, ha, ha!). Excellent screen caps Neal for that color season 7 Wagon Train episode! Good to know that so many vintage Universal/Revue Western series are available in HD for viewing now on Starz, which I can access with added subscription via my Amazon Prime. The onscreen 'bug', coming and going, doesn't seem to be noticeable. These certainly look brighter too, as you might expect from going back to new HD scans of original 35mm Technicolor film elements.

Wagon Train represents real TV 'comfort food' in my ancient gather-the-family-around-the-tube memories. Good reliable TV Western that was sometimes great. Memorable supporting cast over the years (grizzled Frank McGrath, Terry Wilson, Denny Miller, Michael Burns) huge guest stars and prime leads in Ward Bond, Robert Horton, John McIntire and Robert Fuller.

Thanks Scott, Jeff and Randall for all of your kind words. Lots of great tv history and your personal memories Randall. Reading your stuff is kinda like watching a lost 'comfort food' episode.

Let's not forget that Wagon Train had just about everything including a wonderful element of comedy as evidenced by this exchange from The Robert Harrison Clarke Story. (Begins @ 1:51 in the 2nd video clip I posted above)

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Charlie Wooster:
What are you staring at? That little spot was delicious.

Bill Hawks:
Man looks at you long enough he’s liable to get gangrene.

Duke Shannon:
I thought the grub was real good Charlie.

Charlie Wooster:
You liked it huh?

Duke Shannon:
Mm-hmm, especially the main course. Who taught you how to Fricassee gravel like that?

Charlie Wooster:
Them was dumplings!

Duke Shannon:
Oh, well them was good.

Charlie Wooster:
Well I’m glad somebody like it. That beaver that travels with that Mr. Clarke feller he stuck up his nose at it like I’d cooked it in Paris creed or somethin’.

Duke Shannon:
Ram Singh?

Charlie Wooster:
Maybe he does I never heard ‘em.

Cooper Smith:
That’s his name Charlie.

Charlie Wooster:
That’s a stupid kind of a name. Mr. Chris did you ever hear of anyone named Ram Singh?

Christopher Hale:
Hmmm? Oh that’s a, that’s a Shiek name Charlie.

Charlie Wooster:
Sick or no sick, it’s no kind of name at all.

Christopher Hale:
Explain it to him Bill.

Bill Hawks:
Can’t Chris don’t have a club.

Charlie Wooster:
Anyway he wouldn’t eat my grub, the nicest fatback in the whole barrel too. Do you know what he eats? I’ll tell you what he eats, Chicken feed. he’s got a whole bag of it! He a soaks it in some kind sour milk or something, phew, awful stuff!

Christopher Hale:
He’s a Shiek Charlie they don’t eat Pork for religious reasons.

Charlie Wooster:
I’ve heard of a lot of reasons for not eating my cooking but that’s the best I’ve ever heard.

Bill Hawks:
Chris whatever happened to Clarke how come he quit the hunt?

Christopher Hale:
He’s a hard man to figure. All that talk about shooting, hunting, I’ll have to admit shooting down scared Buffalo isn’t exactly sporting.

Cooper Smith:
Well maybe they can afford to hunt for sport over there, here we can’t. Got too many mouths to feed.

Bill Hawks:
Well I’ll tell one thing about Clarke Chris, one of these days he’s going to get uppity with somebody who isn’t as even tempered as we are.

Christopher Hale:
I dread the thought. Where you goin’ Coop?

Cooper Smith:
I thought I’d walk over there and take a look at that Elephant gun he’s got.

Bill Hawks:
You an Oxford man?

Cooper Smith:
Well I had it in mind once but I got tangled up with a Wagon Train, run by a man named Hale.

Charlie Wooster:
What’d you say this Clarke does Bill?

Bill Hawks:
Foreign correspondent. The Army saddled us with him. He’s a writer Charlie for a newspaper, in London, that’s in England you know.

Charlie Wooster:
Well what’s he doing over here. Why doesn’t he stay over there with dem foreigners?

Bill Hawks:
Explain it to him Chris.

Christopher Hale:
I can’t. I haven’t got a club either.

​

 

[SuperClark]

For fans of the Williams family in Lost in Space you can watch all 3 seasons free
if you are an Amazon prime member.in HD

See on Amazon

 

[Purple Wig]

Parted with a hard earned quarter for this record today. Good music for holiday shopping, getting romantic with the girl of your dreams, or lamenting the loss of the girl of your dreams (presumedly pictured on the cover) as the ice cubes clink in your glass of cutty sark on the rocks in your lonely, smoke filled room with the lights off. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard the melody to Bonanza picked out on a banjo. Usually Bonanza is the high point of records like these but here it’s the weakest so far, the Virginian easily bests it as I listen. Buying this record has rendered me so irrestible to women that I remain a coveted catch even once I start screaming at them to turn off that modern garbage they’re watching and settle in with me for a night of Laredo reruns and a 6 pack of Schlitz.

 

[Doug Wallen]

Well, this is what I watched over the Thanksgiving holidays. Some good stuff in there.

The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet
Wedding Anniversary (3.1) Ozzie and Harriet are faced with a decision of what to do on their 19th Anniversary, go out to celebrate or chaperon a party for Ricky.

Too Many Ties (3.2) Harriet decides that Ozzie downsize his closet space by getting rid of his overabundance of ties. I have never seen so many ties. The final solution was unique.

The Furnace (3.3) A very timely viewing. Since it is the time for seasonal weather changes here in Georgia, I can relate to this episode. My wife and I have differing views about what temperature to leave the thermostat. Thank goodness we no longer have to crawl under the house to light our pilot (but I do remember those days).

A Load Of Gravel (3.4) What happens when something is ordered and delivered to the wrong address? Ozzie finds out when he receives Thorny's load of gravel is dumped on his driveway. Thorny has decided to lay this one out with the excuse of a bad back. Ozzie's attempts to correct this through phone calls just doesn't work.

The Usher (3.5) David becomes employed as an usher at the local theater. Ozzie is so proud of David for getting the job over all of the other applicants. He is very surprised when he learns the real reason David was hired.

Come As You Are (3.6) This episode was so predictable in it's telling and I still laughed out loud at all of the gags that worked. The tag was priceless as I just imagined Ozzie and Harriet dropping everything and attending that party.

The Dipple Door (3.7) Reed Hadley. Ozzie and Thorny see dollar signs when Dipple invents a unique garage door opener. It is just a shame that they picked a con man to try and profit from their discovery. The cop assigned to the case is now familiar to me since I now have Public Defender in my library.

The Odd Bolt (3.8) Have you ever experienced that old feeling of seeing something and realizing you should do something, but you have no idea what? Well, that is Ozzie's predicament. He finds an odd bolt and sets about fixing many minor jobs around the house as he tries to find the bolt's “purpose”.

A Matter Of Inches (3.9) Ozzie is having trouble realizing that David is taller than he is. He has promised David $50 when he passes his height. Ozzie is trying to find any advantage to keep from paying David.

The Lost Christmas (3.10) Another episode that has been done over the years by other series. I'm sure this was a heartwarming story when aired in 1954. I try to remember the era when episodes are first aired and try to filter my viewing through that lens. Such a sweet episode that does not feel forced. The attitudes of the family seem genuine and the neighbors supporting the family's efforts are reminiscent of what we wish we would have done. It was a fitting episode to view during my holiday family viewing (Thanksgiving eve).

Bonanza
The Tall Stranger (3.16) Kathie Browne, Russell Thorson, Jacqueline Scott, Sean McClory, Robert Ridgely. Hoss is in love and Margie (Browne) really likes Hoss. Unknown to Hoss, Margie yearns for travel and adventure while Hoss just wants to settle down and build a life overlooking a lake on the Ponderosa. Margie is swept away by a smooth talking con man who promises Margie all that and more. Mark Connors (McClory) is more interested in the family money and leaves her for his saloon lady friend (Scott). Hoss tracks Margie down and finds her pregnant and despondent. Since this is a love story, there can be no happy ending and there isn't one. A well acted Hoss story. My favorite on this disc.

The Lady From Baltimore (3.17) Audrey Dalton, Mercedes McCambridge, Hayden Rorke. A scheming wife (McCambridge) of one of Ben's friends (Rorke) has plans for seeing her daughter (Dalton) snag a rich husband. Melinda doesn't want to be a party to the actions of her mother, but she just can't stand up to the force of nature that is her mother. The family drama plays out mostly on the standing ranch set. Adam and Hoss are missing for most of this story as it involves Little Joe.

The Ride (3.18) Jan Merlin, Ray Teal, Chubby Johnson. Adam is awaiting a stage when a holdup occurs. During the holdup, Toby (Johnson) is shot and dies. Adam swears the man who pulled the trigger is Bill Enders (Merlin), a business partner. When Adam tells Sheriff Coffee (Teal), he is not believed as Enders was seen in town. The stage location is to far away and Enders could not have committed the murder and been in town. Adam swears Enders is guilty and divides the town. Adam then sets out to prove it was Enders. Another strong episode and shows the underlying trust that Ben displays for his sons.

The Untouchables
The Matt Bass Scheme (3.5) Milton Selzer, Telly Savalas, Bruce Gordon, Michael Constantine. Matt Bass (Savalas) is an ex-con and a former member of Al Capone's criminal empire. In prison, a fellow con, engineer Jason Fiddler (Selzer) develops what he thinks is the perfect way to deliver illicit liquor to central Chicago. Once out of jail, Bass approaches his old friend Frank Nitti (Gordon) to sell the idea. Nitti has been hit hard lately by Eliot Ness and the Untouchables who have pretty well shut down most of his distilleries and the speakeasies are starting to close their doors. Nitti tries to solve the delivery problem himself but in the end, agrees to Bass and Fiddler's scheme. Ness is soon on to them however.

Loophole (3.6) Jack Klugman, Martin Landau, Gavin MacLeod, George Tobias, Vaughn Taylor. A lawyer (Klugman) to mobsters finds himself in an increasingly dangerous spot while trying to defend Coombs (Landau) who has his eyes on becoming the next higher link in the chain by killing Probich (Tobias). He comes to Elliott for help which Elliott cannot provide.

Jigsaw (3.7) James Gregory, Cloris Leachman, Bruce Gordon, Alan Baxter, Joe V. Perry, Harry Swoger. An excellent episode starring a sentimental favorite, James Gregory. Walter Trager (Gregory) wants to take over and starts by being a “friend” to Nitti and remove potential leaks in the Organization. By doing this he leaves his sister a widow (Leachman). She in turn agrees to help Elliott. Trager's house of cards collapses as Frank figures out what Trager plans to do.

Man Killer (3.8) Ruth Roman, Bruce Gordon, Anne Helm, Mario Alcalde, Grant Richards, Jay Adler. Narcotics are on the rise and Elliott and his men are getting help from anonymous phone calls. Seems they are being directed by the widow (Roman) of Dulov (Richards). She murdered her husband as he was ignoring her and not listening to her ideas. She approaches Nitti and wants to go into business using her fleet of cabs as mobile drug stores for the sale of heroin.

The Virginian
The Exiles (1.16) Tammy Grimes, Ed Nelson, Brad Weston, Ken Lynch, Frank Cady, Herbert Rudley, Ross Elliott, Stafford Repp, Herb Vigran, Ben Wright. From imdb - A man (Nelson) with a lame horse hears gunfire, heads toward it, and finds a dead body with a rifle which he takes. The Virginian is called into Medicine Bow to find that Judge Garth stated he was ambushed and killed the man who fired at him. The Sheriff found the man shot in the back and unarmed so the Judge will have to be tried. The Sheriff was unable to track the man with the lame horse, so The Virginian goes after him and learns he went to North Bend, Montana. On the train to North Bend he meets Angie (Grimes) who is hoping to be a singer there. The Virginian finds the man, Ralph Slocum (Nelson), but he denies it and refuses to return to Medicine Bow. A deputy (Weston) tries to force Angie to leave town by threatening her. As her only friend The Virginian helps her find who is behind the threat. A man Angie knows stole money from his wife and ran off with Angie's friend. In return Angie helps The Virginian trap Slocum into traveling through Wyoming and recover the rifle to clear the Judge.

The Judgment (1.17) Clu Gulager, Patricia Barry, John Kerr, David McLean, Regis Toomey, Conlan Carter, Harlan Warde. From imdb - Judge Garth is asked to run against a younger man for a judgeship. When Betsy asks him if he will run, he reminds her of a promise he made to her ten years earlier when she was five. At that time Garth as the local judge had to confront a capital case. A jury found Billy Carewe guilty of first degree murder. He was a member of the Carewe family who had terrorized Medicine Bow before the family went to Montana. Five of the family members return to Medicine Bow led by Jake Carewe (Gulager) to seek Billy's release. They try legal means via a rookie attorney who defended Billy and now tries to provide Judge Garth with an out on the case but they are rebuffed by Judge Garth. They threaten the town with destruction by fire causing the citizens to ask Garth to release the prisoner. At the same time the new sheriff (McClean) quits the job when the Carewes rough him up and after Judge Garth learns he has been seeing Garth's intended Alice Finley (Barry) without Garth's knowledge. The Judge is forced to think creatively to solve the situation. The rookie defense attorney (Kerr) is the other candidate for the judgeship Judge Garth is being asked to run against.

Say Goodbye To All That (1.18) Fabian, Charles McGraw, Royal Dano, Robert Brubaker, Roy Engel, Meg Wylie, Katherine Crawford. From imdb - A massive renown American black bear known as Moses once confronted Big John Beldon (McGraw), but survived. Moses kills Trampas' horse at Shiloh followed by a ranch hand during roundup. Big John has the attitude that Beldons should be second to no one and tries to prove it in a fight with Trampas when Trampas dances with his son Martin's (Fabian and Crawford) fiancee. The fight goes from fists to guns and Big John is paralyzed from the waist down as a result. He goads Martin into issuing a challenge to Trampas for revenge. In the meantime Trampas and Martin with the aid of old Faraway (Dano) eventually track Moses into a cave where it takes Trampas and Martin together to kill the bear. After the roundup is completed, everyone is waiting to see Martin and Trampas settle the score.

Rawhide
Incident Of The Lost Idol (3.24) Claude Akins, Jenna Engstrom, Douglas Lambert, Ken Curtis, Ted de Corsia. The drive comes upon two children (Lambert and Engstrom) trying to get their mother to a doctor. Their father (Akins) is a wanted criminal who escaped prison to come home. He is on his way as he received a letter stating his wife was ill. He wants to take his children to Mexico. Gil has become entrusted with the children's welfare and is running interference between the dad and the bounty hunters who are closing in for the kill. The Father makes a loving sacrifice.

Incident Of The Running Man (3.25) Lloyd Corrigan, Robert J. Wilke, Don “Red” Barry, Luana Anders, Peter Mamakos, Peter Adams, Russ Conway. Rowdy enters a messed up town where he is accused of killing the deputy by the Sheriff (Wilke). He is trying to warn the Sheriff and the nearest military outpost that they will soon be under attack. Since Rowdy has escaped from the Sheriff, he finds that he is unable to get anyone except the criminals to believe him. His only help may be found in an abused wife (Anders) who is running away from her husband (Barry).

Incident Of The Painted Lady (3.26) David Brian, Ed Nelson, Marie Windsor, Don C. Harvey. Gil and the drive become entangled in a matter of honor. The town is holding his cattle hostage for what a prior drover, Thad Clemens (Brian) did. Gil goes to investigate and finds a sordid mess of gambling, debts and a runaway soldier (Nelson). The debt id owed to saloon owner Katie (Windsor). It seems that fathers will go to almost any length to help their sons.

Incident Before Black Pass (3.27) Zachary Scott, Robert Armstrong, Cathy Downs, Joan Taylor, Arthur Batanides, Leonard Nimoy. A renegade white man known as White Eyes (Scott), who has lived as a Kiowa wishes to die as a white man. He requests safe passage with the drive as he holds Rowdy and Pete hostage. Discord plays out once the chief has left on his journey. Anko (Nimoy) murders his competition and wants to stir up the Indians to start a war. White eyes is being followed by landowner (Armstrong) who seeks revenge for the disfigurement of his wife (Downs). She has not told her husband the truth about her scars.

 

[JohnHopper]

Rawhide
Incident Of The Lost Idol (3.24) Claude Akins, Jenna Engstrom, Douglas Lambert, Ken Curtis, Ted de Corsia. The drive comes upon two children (Lambert and Engstrom) trying to get their mother to a doctor. Their father (Akins) is a wanted criminal who escaped prison to come home. He is on his way as he received a letter stating his wife was ill. He wants to take his children to Mexico. Gil has become entrusted with the children's welfare and is running interference between the dad and the bounty hunters who are closing in for the kill. The Father makes a loving sacrifice.

Incident Of The Running Man (3.25) Lloyd Corrigan, Robert J. Wilke, Don “Red” Barry, Luana Anders, Peter Mamakos, Peter Adams, Russ Conway. Rowdy enters a messed up town where he is accused of killing the deputy by the Sheriff (Wilke). He is trying to warn the Sheriff and the nearest military outpost that they will soon be under attack. Since Rowdy has escaped from the Sheriff, he finds that he is unable to get anyone except the criminals to believe him. His only help may be found in an abused wife (Anders) who is running away from her husband (Barry).

Incident Of The Painted Lady (3.26) David Brian, Ed Nelson, Marie Windsor, Don C. Harvey. Gil and the drive become entangled in a matter of honor. The town is holding his cattle hostage for what a prior drover, Thad Clemens (Brian) did. Gil goes to investigate and finds a sordid mess of gambling, debts and a runaway soldier (Nelson). The debt id owed to saloon owner Katie (Windsor). It seems that fathers will go to almost any length to help their sons.

Incident Before Black Pass (3.27) Zachary Scott, Robert Armstrong, Cathy Downs, Joan Taylor, Arthur Batanides, Leonard Nimoy. A renegade white man known as White Eyes (Scott), who has lived as a Kiowa wishes to die as a white man. He requests safe passage with the drive as he holds Rowdy and Pete hostage. Discord plays out once the chief has left on his journey. Anko (Nimoy) murders his competition and wants to stir up the Indians to start a war. White eyes is being followed by landowner (Armstrong) who seeks revenge for the disfigurement of his wife (Downs). She has not told her husband the truth about her scars.

My favorite episode remains:

“Incident of the Running Man”
written by David Lang
directed by Justus Addiss
guests: Lloyd Corrigan, Donald Barry, Robert Wilke, Luana Anders, Walter Coy, Pete Mamakos, Pete Adams, Russ Conway, James Anderson, Lew Brown, Robert Donner

It’s a thrilling solo Yates episode that plays like a fugitive on the run adventure combined with a conspiracy plot. In other words, by accident, Yates has the whole world against him. Actor Clint Eastwood displays his typical western persona as the injured Cassandra undergoing the prejudices and the hard disbelief of the people. Yates must prevent a military coup at Camp Henley led by a putschist Lieutenant but Yates ends up with a wanted poster against him and three devious plotters at his tail: two gunslingers and a cunning undertaker who insists to give him the lethal shave. The cast of characters is impressive—from the wounded and threatening deputy sheriff (actor Robert Donner) to the bored housewife (actress Luana Anders) who supports Yates—and the Film Noir photography of John M. Nickolaus Jr intensifies the drama because it takes place during the night. Contain some stock music from Jerry Goldsmith’s “Mysterious Storm” culled from the CBS Production Library Music and Leonard Rosenman’s “And When The Sky Was Opened” from The Twilight Zone.

Highly recommended!

Parts of this conspiracy scheme will be reworked on three episodes of The Wild Wild West entitled “The Night of the Red-Eyed Madman” (season 1), “The Night of the Legion of Death” (season 3) and “The Night of the Pistoleros” (season 4).

 

[Rustifer]

Episode Commentary
Vega$
"Dead Ringer" (S3E20)

I always supposed the opening credit sequence of this series--with its strobing neons and lightening quick cuts--could've given even Steve Rubell epileptic seizures. Just an opinion. This particular episode features Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton--before plastic surgeons began to strop their scalpels on his face making it look like a shiny baseball mitt. A virtuoso nightclub appearance has Wayne singing, blowing a trumpet, strumming a banjo all while sporting a cheesy Errol Flynn moustache and a spangled belt he most likely stole from Elvis' locker at the casino. The audience eats it up, as free drinks will do to any crowd.

After the performance, Wayne receives a note accusing him of being an imposter and threatening to kill him. It's signed "Wayne Newton". Well, crap like this is gonna require the investigative talents of Dan Tanna (Robert Urich), who singlehandedly proves the necessity for men's hairspray. Wayne invites Dan to his sprawling horse ranch, mainly to impress us with what a celebrity Las Vegas salary can buy--but also to discuss the case over some avocado toast and juice. Wayne and Dan's relationship apparently goes back a ways as Wayne addresses him as "Danny", or in more private moments, "Cupcake". The comradery between the two approaches on gooey with its chummy familiarity. Nonetheless, Dan's on the case.

Where to start? How about the thousand Wayne Newton impersonators playing the cheap lounges around Sin City? Helping out are Dan's assistants, Bobby "Binzer" Borso (Bart Braverman) and Beatrice Travis (Phyllis Davis), who is more eye candy than useful. It's soon whittled down to one particular psychopath, Ben Lang (Richard Lynch) wearing a Wayne Newton wig and moustache while lip syncing his top songs. Adding some dread to his intentions, he visits a pawn shop to buy a high powered rifle from the manager (a rather desiccated Broderick Crawford), and unsuccessfully tries to pick off the singer while he's riding his horse around the back yard. Most of the drama is diluted by the need to feature Mr. Newton as often as possible on stage singing or on horseback. Probably in his contract.

Just in case you don't understand "eye candy", here's Phyllis; Wayne at his cheesiest; 'Tis good to be Dan Tanna

Ben's next attempt is to take a shot at Wayne in a closed practice session, which sets Dan and Wayne off in a car chase culminating in Wayne decking the guy. Did I mention the need to feature Newton in nearly every scene? This is to cement the singer's chops as a macho hero as well. There's lots of Las Vegas scenery to chew on, even if the story line is about as trailblazing as one of Wayne's four-legged nags. But if you're a Newtonite fan, you'll have to say danke schoen for this episode.

Epilog:
Surprisingly, Phyllis Davis never married, preferring instead to save her porkage for Dean Martin while his wife wasn't around. That's amore.

Throughout his career, Wayne Newton claimed he was of Cherokee descent, although the tribe never recognized him as such. Native Americans have a bugaboo against Scottish-Irish with cheesy moustaches parading as Cherokee.

 

[Nelson Au]

I'm watching with interest Nelson's deep dive into TV history. Sounds like you're having a lot of fun.

Hey Scott, thanks! Yeah, it’s been interesting the last couple of years to revisit a lot of TV due to this thread and what is shown on Decades TV and MeTV. I mostly gravitate to the shows from the 1960’s to present. So I wasn’t going to venture to the 1950’s beyond the few 1950’s TV shows that I am already familiar with such as I Love Lucy and Superman. The 1960’s is the era I’m really more familiar with, as well as the 1970’s and beyond. So I am having fun discovering a show like Highway Patrol.

There’s quite a few films from the 1950’s that are favorites and it’s interesting to see life in the 1950’s depicted on TV. Its different to see how people live in a Hitchcock film verses on TV.

Neal, thanks for the Wagon Train posts. Being the lifelong Star Trek fan, I’ve of course know the quote “Wagon Train to the Stars”, but I’ve never seen the show before or knew what it was about! I’m not a fan of the westerns and I know they were a huge and popular genre and staple from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. Maybe I’ll sample more of them when they show up.

 

[BobO'Link]

Episode Commentary
Vega$
"Dead Ringer" (S3E20)

I always supposed the opening credit sequence of this series--with its strobing neons and lightening quick cuts--could've given even Steve Rubell epileptic seizures. Just an opinion. This particular episode features Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton--before plastic surgeons began to strop their scalpels on his face making it look like a shiny baseball mitt. A virtuoso nightclub appearance has Wayne singing, blowing a trumpet, strumming a banjo all while sporting a cheesy Errol Flynn moustache and a spangled belt he most likely stole from Elvis' locker at the casino. The audience eats it up, as free drinks will do to any crowd.

After the performance, Wayne receives a note accusing him of being an imposter and threatening to kill him. It's signed "Wayne Newton". Well, crap like this is gonna require the investigative talents of Dan Tanna (Robert Urich), who singlehandedly proves the necessity for men's hairspray. Wayne invites Dan to his sprawling horse ranch, mainly to impress us with what a celebrity Las Vegas salary can buy--but also to discuss the case over some avocado toast and juice. Wayne and Dan's relationship apparently goes back a ways as Wayne addresses him as "Danny", or in more private moments, "Cupcake". The comradery between the two approaches on gooey with its chummy familiarity. Nonetheless, Dan's on the case.

Where to start? How about the thousand Wayne Newton impersonators playing the cheap lounges around Sin City? Helping out are Dan's assistants, Bobby "Binzer" Borso (Bart Braverman) and Beatrice Travis (Phyllis Davis), who is more eye candy than useful. It's soon whittled down to one particular psychopath, Ben Lang (Richard Lynch) wearing a Wayne Newton wig and moustache while lip syncing his top songs. Adding some dread to his intentions, he visits a pawn shop to buy a high powered rifle from the manager (a rather desiccated Broderick Crawford), and unsuccessfully tries to pick off the singer while he's riding his horse around the back yard. Most of the drama is diluted by the need to feature Mr. Newton as often as possible on stage singing or on horseback. Probably in his contract.

View attachment 165798 View attachment 165799 View attachment 165800
Just in case you don't understand "eye candy", here's Phyllis; Wayne at his cheesiest; 'Tis good to be Dan Tanna

Ben's next attempt is to take a shot at Wayne in a closed practice session, which sets Dan and Wayne off in a car chase culminating in Wayne decking the guy. Did I mention the need to feature Newton in nearly every scene? This is to cement the singer's chops as a macho hero as well. There's lots of Las Vegas scenery to chew on, even if the story line is about as trailblazing as one of Wayne's four-legged nags. But if you're a Newtonite fan, you'll have to say danke schoen for this episode.

Epilog:
Surprisingly, Phyllis Davis never married, preferring instead to save her porkage for Dean Martin while his wife wasn't around. That's amore.

Throughout his career, Wayne Newton claimed he was of Cherokee descent, although the tribe never recognized him as such. Native Americans have a bugaboo against Scottish-Irish with cheesy moustaches parading as Cherokee.

I almost never post images... this one is somewhat worthy (and somewhat NSFW):

Spoiler

 

[BobO'Link]

...Being the lifelong Star Trek fan, I’ve of course know the quote “Wagon Train to the Stars”, but I’ve never seen the show before or knew what it was about! I’m not a fan of the westerns and I know they were a huge and popular genre and staple from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. Maybe I’ll sample more of them when they show up.

And, IMHO, that description couldn't be further from the format of Star Trek. On occasion they ferried non-Star Fleet persons around but it was mostly space exploration. Guess you could say they were "exploring" on Wagon Train but it's a bit of a stretch. I really think it was sold to the suits that way as they likely couldn't envision anything about the series if presented in its proper light.

 

[ScottRE]

And, IMHO, that description couldn't be further from the format of Star Trek. On occasion they ferried non-Star Fleet persons around but it was mostly space exploration. Guess you could say they were "exploring" on Wagon Train but it's a bit of a stretch. I really think it was sold to the suits that way as they likely couldn't envision anything about the series if presented in its proper light.

Agreed, Star Trek was nothing like Wagon Train and didn't even feature the supporting cast all that much after the first batch of stories. If any sci-fi show was like Wagon Train, it was Battlestar Galactica. It would have been hard to categorize the series with a Western series parallel unless Roddenberry had said "It's like Have Gun Will Travel to the stars." They go from place to place solving problems and getting into scrapes while meeting interesting people."

Kirk is Paladin and Spock is Hey Boy.

 

[JohnHopper]

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I just discovered a very weird British sci-fi kid show entitled Sky (1975).
It's produced like a Doctor Who story with bizarre sound effects.

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