1) THE CISCO KID (1950 -1956)
Cisco (Duncan Renaldo) and Pancho (Leo Carillo) travel the Olde West righting wrongs and corralling the baddies. This format of hero, Cisco, and loveable, funny sidekick, Pancho, is a recurring theme among many of the Westerns of this era.
2) THE GENE AUTRY SHOW (1950-56)
Gene Autry (himself) with his horse, Champion, and Pat Buttram (himself) as the humerous sidekick, travel the Southwest fighting injustice and helping the local townfolk. Gene, one of the singing cowboys, also wrote the theme song "Back in the Saddle Again". Pat Buttram went on to become the notorious Mr. Haney on the show Green Acres.
3) ROY ROGERS (1951-57)
Roy Rogers (himself), his wife Dale Evans (herself), Trigger (Roy's horse), Buttermilk (Dale's horse), Bullet (their dog), their humerous sidekick, Pat Brady (himself) and his jeep, Nellybelle, have more modern Western adventures on their "Double R Ranch". Roy, another singing cowboy (one of the founders of the Sons of the Pioneers), and Dale, a singing cowgirl (doesn't sound very flattering), sing their famous theme song "Happy Trails" which Dale wrote. Roy, the "King of the Cowboys" and Dale, the "Queen of the West" Were married 50 years. When Trigger died Roy had him stuffed. He always said that he wanted Dale to have him stuffed and put astride Trigger again when the time came. I don't believe she followed through on this.
4) ADVENTURES OF WILD BILL HICKOK (1951-58)
U.S. Marshal Bill Hickok (Guy Madison) and his comical sidekick, Jingles P. Jones (Andy Devine) help maintain the peace in their territory.
5) DEATH VALLEY TALES (1952-75)
This show had various "hosts" over the many years it ran and had different stories each week based around the Death Valley area. Robert Taylor hosted the most (77) episodes. Other well known hosts are: Ronald Reagan (before becoming Governor of California), Dale Robertson, and Tom Skeritt. I remember the commercials of this show vividly because the sponsor was "20 Muleteam Borax" which was actually mined in Death valley. The commercials featured an actual 20 muleteam wagon in the dusty desert (a far cry from the Budweiser Clydesdales).
6) HOPALONG CASSIDY (1952-54)
Hopalong (William Boyd), his horse (Topper), and his comical sidekick, Red Chambers (Edgar Buchanan) had their share of adventures in the West. As I recall, Hoppy was unique in that he toted 2 guns and was equally deadly with both of them.
7) ANNIE OAKLEY (1954-56)
Sharpshooter Annie (Gail Davis), and Deputy Sheriff Lofty Craig (Brad Johnson), keep their small town safe for the townfolk. Annies younger brother, Tagg Oakley (Jimmy Hawkins) is also keeping Annie busy when she's not shooting the eyes out of a mosquito at 500 yards.
8) THE ADVENTURES OF RIN TIN TIN (1954-59)
Young Rusty (Lee Aaker), was orphaned due to an Indian raid and was adopted, along with his dog Rin Tin Tin (Flame Jr.), by the U.S.Cavalry at Fort Apache in Arizona. Rusty, Rinny, and his pal, Lt. Rip Masters (James Brown) get in and out of trouble on a weekly basis.
9) CHEYENNE (1955-63)
Cheyenne Bodie (Clint Walker), former frontier scout, roams the West after the Civil War taking various jobs along the way. You may remember Clint from the movie "The Dirty Dozen" (he's the really big guy in the dozen). This show usually alternated with the other Westerns, Sugarfoot and Bronco, on Sunday nights.
10) GUNSMOKE (1955-75)
In this "king of the westerns", Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness), Kitty Russell (Amanda Blake), Doc Adams (Milburn Stone) and others keep Dodge City relatively calm and quiet. Matt's main helpers over the years included Chester Goode (Dennis Weaver) 1955-64, Festus Haggan (Ken Curtis) 1959-75. Burt Reynolds as Quint Asper also had a stint from 1962-65. An awful lot of well known actors made their way to Dodge City and Kitty's saloon at one time or another over the series 20 year run (tv's longest running series). Another note, Sam Peckinpah actually directed some episodes during the run. James Arness (Matt Dillon) is the brother of fellow actor Peter Graves (Airplane).
11) LIFE AND LEGEND OF WYATT EARP (1955-61)
Marshal Wyatt Earp (Hugh O'Brien) and his two "Buntline Special" Colt long barreled pistols keep the order in Dodge City, Kansas and then do the same in Tombstone, Arizona.
12) HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL (1957-63)
Professional gunfighter, Paladin (Richard Boone) portrays a veteran of the Civil War, West Point Graduate, who sells his gun for hire. His business card says "Have Gun, Will Travel" and "Wire Paladin, San Francisco". Working out of the Hotel Carlton, Paladin was as much at home reading Shakespeare, playing chess, speaking Latin, as he was on horseback or using his gun to settle a conflict. This was a first in tv history, a "thinking man's" Western. This show did not have the comical sidekick or ensemble cast, so Richard Boone had to carry the show by himself. He did it very well as the show was a hit the whole time it was on the air. Richard just got tired of doing it. The only recurring character was the hotel employee, Kim "Hey Boy" Chan (Kam Tong). The writing was terrific with Sam Rolfe writing about half of the episodes. Also, Gene Roddenberry (later of Star Trek fame) wrote 24 episodes. The directing was also excellent with veteran Andrew V. McLaglen (also directed 96 Gunsmoke episodes) directing many of the episodes.
13) MAVERICK (1957-62)
Brothers Brett (James Garner) and Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly) are vagabond Gamblers roaming from town to town to ply their trade. Their British cousin, Beauregarde Maverick (Roger Moore) also shows up from time to time. This show was a big hit in its Sunday night timespot and was a big boost to James Garner's career. Always looking for a fast getaway rather than a confrontation the stories were new ground for tv Westerns. Brett and Bart usually did not appear together in each episode but the entertainment was the same every Sunday night.
14) SUGARFOOT (1957-61)
Tom Brewster (Will Hutchins) was taking a correspondence course in law as he wandered through the West. A " sugarfoot" was considered one step below "tenderfoot", so, you can see that Tom was not interested in the typical cowboy vices like drinking, gambling, gunfighting, brawling, etc. and tried to use his wits and his knowledge of the law to handle the situations he found himself in (Good Luck with that!). He did not have a sidekick but Toothy Thompson (Jack Elam) did appear in 9 of the 22 total episodes. A young Kurt Russell also appeared in 9 episodes.
15) TALES OF WELLS FARGO (1957-62)
Wells Fargo Agent Jim Hardie (Dale Robertson) has various cases and incidents to investigate each week.
16) WAGON TRAIN (1957-65)
Major Seth Adams (Ward Bond) leads a wagon train West after the Civil War. He is joined in his effort each week by his scout, Flint McCullough (Robert Horton), Cook, Charlie Wooster (Frank McGrath), and others. In the eight years this show ran, I don't think they ever got to California but the show was a big hit.
17) ZORRO (1957-59)
Don Diego de la Vega (Guy Williams) by day and Zorro by night, this Western Robin Hood fought the Spanish army and others while helping the common folk. Carving his infamous "Z" with his flashing sword on everything in sight, he was constantly being hounded by the bungling, totally incompetent Sgt. Demetrio Lopez Garcia (Henry Calvin) every week. He was foppish dandy Don Diego to everyone who met him but when circumstances demanded he put on his black outfit, including mask, to become the legendary "Zorro" (much like an Olde West Batman).
18) BAT MASTERSON (1958-61)
Bat (Gene Barry), dressed to the hilt with his trade mark derby and cane, enforces the law as he roams the West. Of course, he also is looking for a good card game and female companionship as he roams (I don't know if there were roaming fees involved). This character is loosely patterned after the real William Barclay "Bat" Masterson who was once a deputy with Wyatt Earp. In fact, he just missed out on the "gunfight at the OK corral" when he had visted Wyatt in Tombstone, Arizona and left just before the famous gunfight.
19) BRONCO (1958-62)
Bronco Layne (Ty Hardin), former Confederate officer,meets various historical figures in his weekly adventures traveling around the West. This was one of the shows that rotated on Sunday nights with Sugarfoot and Cheyenne.
20) LAWMAN (1958-62)
Marshal Dan Troop (John Russell) and his Deputy Johnny Mckay (Peter Brown) keep the peace in Laramie, Wyoming. This was a good show and you might remember John Russell from Clint Eastwood's movie Pale Rider as the corrupt lawman, Stockdale. He has a final confrontation with Eastwood that is classic.
21) THE RIFLEMAN (1958-63)
Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors) and his son Mark (Johnny Crawford) overcome various trials and tribulations in trying to peacefully run their ranch in North Fork, New Mexico. They also help Marshal Micah Torrance (Paul Fix) from time to time. The one thing everyone remembers about this show is the rifle that Chuck Conners used. His specially modified Winchester could fire extremely fast and often. Connors, at 6 ft. 5 in. tall, was an imposing site with his rifle in his hand. An interesting side note: Chuck Conners played professional basketball with the Celtics in 1946 and was the first player to shatter a backboard. He left them to play baseball with the Dodgers and Cubs for short stints before stumbling into an acting career.
22) WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE (1958-61)
Josh Randall (Steve McQueen) played a bounty hunter tracking down bad guys from town to town and his weapon of choice was a holstered, sawed off 1892 Winchester 30-40 carbine (his "Mare's Leg"). Steve started his 3 year run on this show one year after The Magnificent Seven was released.
23) YANCY DERRINGER (1958-59)
Yancy (Jock Mahoney), former Confederate soldier, was a gambler/ladies man working out of New Orleans with his sidekick, shotgun wielding Pawnee Indian, Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah (X Brands) [I'm not kidding, that's his name and he is of German descent]. In reality, Yancy was really working undercover for the city in an effort to thwart crime and the criminal element.
24) BONANZA (1959-73)
Widower, Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) tries to peacefully run his 1,000 sq. mile spread, The Ponderosa, and oversee his 3 sons (all by different wives?). Adam Cartwright (Pernell Roberts), Eric "Hoss" Cartwright (Dan Blocker), and Joseph "Little Joe" Cartwright (Michael Landon) help their "Pa" run the ranch and become involved in all sorts of adventures and catastrophes that take place around Virginia City, Nevada around the end of the Civil War. This blockbuster show made a star out of Michael Landon, who later went on to the equally successful series Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven.
25) RAWHIDE (1959-66)
Rowdy Yates (Clint Eastwood) is on a never ending cattle drive run by trail boss Gil Favor (Eric Fleming) and they are fed by their irascible cook, "Wishbone" (Paul Brinegar). This is young Clint Eastwood, who starts this very successful series in 1959 and in 1964 makes his first "Spaghetti Western", A Fistful of Dollars. This show had one of the best theme songs, "Rawhide", sung by Frankie Laine (also sung by Dan Akroyd and John Belushi in the Blues Brothers).
26) THE VIRGINIAN (1962-71)
The Virginian (James Drury) and Trampas (Doug McClure) spent 9 seasons on this mega-western series which was loosely based on the novel by Owen Wister. The Virginian (nobody knows his real name but I bet it was "Tex") is a foreman on the Shiloh Ranch in Medicine Bow, Wyoming Territory in the 1890's. There were many characters involved in this show and it was the first one which had 90 minute episodes each week.
If you're hankerin for some of these, try: TVMAX
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