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Date Posted: 14:21:03 05/03/12 Thu
Author: SWC
Subject: The Glory Era of the TV Western
(I first posted this a couple of eyars back. I was re-reading it and thought it was worth re-posting.)
I have a book called “Classic TV Westerns” which reviews them by year and gives information such as the number of episodes produced, (although a few were missing this statistic for some reason). I have always speculated about which year should be considered the outstanding year for westerns- the one that produced the most famous and successful ones. I decided one measure of this might be to add up the episodes for the westerns in each year and see which year produced the most episodes. Every measure is imperfect, of course: here you could have a year with a lot of westerns which might add up to more than a year in which there were fewer westerns but better ones. For that reason I also averaged the number of episodes per show. Each show is counted only for the year it premiered. For the shows in which there was no total of episodes, I used other sources on the internet to find the number, (Tome TV, EpisodeGuides.com, the IMDB and the Classic TV archive).
Here are the overall results, just by the numbers. I began with 1955; the year the “adult” western began with Gunsmoke, Wyatt Earp and Cheyenne and went to the end of the 60’s. It was interesting to see that the number of new shows declined sharply in the early 60’s but then made a pretty good comeback in 1965-67 before the networks decided to get rid of their westerns due to the rural slant of the audience. There were only two new starts in ’68 and none in ’69. The era was over.
1955: 8 new shows, 1199 episodes, 150 episodes per show.
1956: 5 new shows, 468 episodes, 94 per show.
1957: 16 new shows, 1514 episodes, 95 per show.
1958: 14 new shows, 902 episodes, 64 per show.
1959: 14 new shows, 1202 episodes, 86 per show.
1960: 7 new shows, 212 episodes, 30 per show.
1961: 2 new shows, 37 episodes, 19 per show.
1962: 3 new shows, 289 episodes, 96 per show.
1963: 1 new show, 19 episodes.
1964: 1 new show, 165 episodes.
1965: 8 new shows, 471 episodes, 59 per show.
1966: 4 new shows, 107 episodes, 27 per show.
1967: 5 new shows, 206 episodes, 41 per show
1968: 2 new shows, 77 episodes, 39 per show.
I had always thought of 1957 as the peak year because I could simply recall more shows that premiered that year than any other: David Dortort’s own “The Restless Gun”, (77 episodes), Wagon Train, (284), Have Gun Will travel, (231), Maverick, (124), Tales of Wells Fargo, (167), Sugarfoot, (69). I hadn’t realized Zorro, (82) also began that year and recalled the syndicated Casey Jones, (32) and The Gray Ghost, (39). Actually, The Gray Ghost is a Civil War show that took place in Virginia but they had guys riding around on horses so I guess that’s why it was in the book.
Here are Bonanza’s brethren from 1959:
Bonanza 430, Rawhide 144, Laramie 124, The Deputy 78, Shotgun Slade 78, (I absolutely never heard of that one but it was on for three years), The Rebel 76, Riverboat and Black Saddle, 44 each, Johnny Ringo 38, The Alaskans 36, Hotel de Paree 33, Law of the Plainsman 30, Wichita Town 24 and The Man From Blackhawk 23.
The Rifleman debuted in 1958. I suppose you could say the peak year should include shows still going from prior years but I tend to think of shows more in terms of when they began. 1955-59 were the "golden years" but I think 1957 was the one that glitters more than any other. Here is the full list for those years:
1955: Gunsmoke 633, Wyatt Earp 266, Fury 114, Cheyenne 107, Buffalo Bill Jr and Tales of the Texas Rangers 52 each, Judge Roy Bean 39, Brave Eagle 26
1956: Zane Grey Theater 145, Sheriff of Cochise/US Marshall 133, Adventures of Jim Bowie 78, Broken Arrow 73, Red Ryder 39
1957: Wagon Train 284, Have Gun Will Travel 231, Tales of Wells Fargo 167, Maverick 124, The Adventures of Zorro 82, 26 Men 78, The Restless Gun 77, Trackdown 67, Sugarfoot and The Californians, 69, Man Without a Gun 52, Frontier Doctor 39, Tombstone Territory 34, Casey Jones 32
1958 The Rifleman 168, Lawman 156, Bat Masterson 108, Wanted Dead or Alive 94, The Texan 80, Bronco 68, The Rough Riders, Buckskin and Mackenzie's Raiders, 39 each, Yancy Derringer 34, Jefferson Drum and Cimarron City 26 each, Texas John Slaughter 15 and The Nine Lives of Elfago Baca, 10.
1959, (above)
After that there was a decline, I think because of saturation and because so many successful shows from the late 50's continued into the early and mid 60's:
1960 The Tall Man 75, The Outlaws 50, Stagecoach 26, Klondike 18, Overland Trail 17, Tate and The Westerner, 13 each.
1961: Whispering Smith 25, Gunslinger 12.
1962: The Virginian 225, Empire and Stoney Burke 32
1963: The Dakotas 19
1964: Daniel Boone 165
At this point many of the earlier classics ended their runs but the genre was still popular, so:
1965: The Big Valley 112, The Wild, Wild West 104, F-Troop 65, Laredo 56, Branded 56, A Man Called Shenandoah 34, The Loner and the Legend of Jessie James 26 each.
1966: The Iron Horse 47, The Monroes 26, Shane and the The Rounders, both 17.
1967 The High Chaparral 96, The Guns of Will Sonnett 50, Cimarron Strip 26, Hondo and Custer both 17.
1968 Lancer 51 and The Outcasts 26.
There wasn't a new start until Alias Smith and Jones in 1971. There were only 8 other new westerns in that decade: Hec Ramsey, Kung Fu, Little House, Barbary Coast, The Quest, How the West Was Won, Oregon Trail and Young Maverick were the others. Only Kung Fu and Little House lasted very long.
In the 80's there was exactly one new western, and it was an old one: the disappointing Bret Maverick.
The 90's featured a mini-comeback with The Young Riders, Paradise, Dr. Quinn, The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr. and some others, (the book was published in 1994). Right now I think we're down to Deadwood and that's about it.
Individual shows can be ranked by the number of episodes they produced. The shows with 100 or more episodes:
1) Gunsmoke 633
2) Death Valley Days 532
3) Bonanza 430
4) Wagon Train 284
5) The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp 266
6) Have Gun Will Travel 231
7) The Virginian 225
8) The Rifleman 168
9) Tales of Wells Fargo 167
10) Daniel Boone 165
11) Lawman 156
12) Zane Grey Theater 145
13) Rawhide 144
14) Sheriff of Cochise/US Marshall 133
15) Laramie and Maverick 124
17) Fury 114
18) The Big Valley 112
19) Bat Masterson 108
20) Cheyenne 107
21) The Wild, Wild West 104
It should be noted that “Death Valley Days” actually had the longest run of any western series- it was on from 1952-1975. But it was a syndicated show, not a network show and never cracked the top 25 in the ratings. The positions of Gunsmoke and Bonanza might have been reversed if (1) William Paley hadn’t insisted that Gunsmoke be put back on the schedule after it was canceled in 1967 and (2) Dan Blocker hadn’t died unexpectedly in 1972.
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Another way of looking at it -- SWC, 14:24:22 05/03/12 Thu [1]
“The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows”, (you could call it the “CDPTNCTVS” but it wouldn’t help), has a listing in the appendix of the top 25 shows in the Nielsen ratings, which began in 1955. I figured if we use a point system, (25 points for 1st, 24 for second, etc.), we could determine in which year the TV Western reached its height of popularity, regardless of the year of each shows premiere, which was measured in my previous post.
The early 50’s were the era of the kiddie western. They are well remembered but didn’t make that much of a dent in the ratings, which tended to be dominated by variety shows.
1950-51: The Lone Ranger ranked 7th and got 19 “points” under my system. Hopalong Cassidy ranked 9th and got 17 points. Total points: 36
1951-52: The Lone Ranger 18th ranking, 8 points.
1952-53 and 1953-54: Westerns were shut out of the top 25
1954-55: The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin ranked 23 and got 3 points.
1955-56: Believe it or not, in the year that Gunsmoke, Wyatt Earp and Cheyenne debuted, not a single western made the top 25. But that was about to change-in a big way.
1956-57: Gunsmoke 7-19; Wyatt Earp 18-8. Total Points: 27
1957-58: Gunsmoke 1-25; Tales of Wells Fargo 3-23; Have Gun Will Travel 4-22; Wyatt Earp 6-20; The Restless Gun 8-18; Cheyenne 12-14; Zane Grey Theater 21-5; Wagon Train 23-3; Sugarfoot 23-3. Total Points: 133.
1958-59: Gunsmoke 1-25; Wagon Train 2-24; Have Gun Will Travel 3-23; The Rifleman 4-22; Maverick 6-20; Tales of Wells Fargo 7-19; Wyatt Earp 10-16; Zane Grey Theater 13-13; The Texan 15-11; Wanted Dead or Alive 16-10; Cheyenne 18-8; Sugarfoot 21-5. Total Points: 196.
1959-60: Gunsmoke 1-25; Wagon Train 2-24; Have Gun Will Travel 3-23; Wanted: Dead or Alive 9-17; The Rifleman 13-13; Lawman 15-11; Cheyenne 17-9; Rawhide 18-8; Maverick 19-7; Wyatt Earp 20-6; Zane Grey Theater 21-5. Total Points: 148.
1960-61: Gunsmoke 1-25; Wagon Train 2-24; Have Gun Will Travel 3-23, Rawhide 6-20; Bonanza shows up for the first time at 17-9. Total Points: 101. By now, we are into the hardy perennials as the great wave of popularity begins to recede.
1961-62: Wagon Train 1-25; Bonanza 2-24; Gunsmoke 3-23; Rawhide 13-13. Total Points: 85.
1962-63: Bonanza 4-22; Gunsmoke 10-16; Rawhide 22-4; Wagon Train 25-1. Total Points: 43.
1963-64: Bonanza 2-24; The Virginian 17-9; Gunsmoke 20-6. Total Points: 39.
1964-65: Bonanza 1-25; Branded 14-12; The Virginian 22-4. Total Points: 41. Gunsmoke’s decline here is interesting. It began when they switched from a half-hour show to an hour. My theory is that Saturday night is the most “mobile” night of the week- people are going in and out, doing things, having a good time. Gunsmoke was often on when they got back. A half hour show with a simple plot may have been more what people were looking for at that point. It would return to the rankings when it switched to Monday nights and found a different audience.
1965-66: Bonanza 1-25; The Wild Wild West 23-3; The Virginian 23-3 (they were tied). Total Points: 31.
1966-67: Bonanza 1-25; The Virginian 10-16. Total Points: 41.
1967-68: Gunsmoke 4-22; Bonanza 4-22, (the one year the two great shows were tied); The Virginian 14-12. Total Points: 56. It’s interesting that the most consistently successful westerns of the sixties were the ones with large casts. In the fifties so many of them were about lone drifters. I guess people like familiar faces. More regulars also give you more stories you can tell in more ways. Shows like Bonanza and Gunsmoke could be different shows depending on which character the script focused on.
1968-69: Bonanza 3-23; Gunsmoke 6-10; The Virginian 17-9; Daniel Boone 21-5. Total Points: 57
1969-70: Gunsmoke 2-24; Bonanza 3-23. Total Points: 47.
1970-71: Gunsmoke 5-21; Bonanza 9-17; The Men From Shiloh, (aka The Virginian) 18-8. Total Points: 46.
1971-72: Gunsmoke 4-22; Bonanza 20-6. Total Points: 28.
1972-73: Gunsmoke 7-19. That’s it.
1973-74: Gunsmoke 15-11.
1974-75: Little House on the Prairie 13-13.
1975-76: The first year in two decades without a western in the top 25.
1976-77: Little House 15-11.
1977-78: Little House 7-19; How the West Was Won 11-15. Total Points: 34.
1978-79: Little House 14-12.
1979-80: Little House 16-10.
1980-81: Little House 10-16. Little House kind of had the genre to itself at this time. It was successful enough that one wonders why it didn’t spawn some imitators, or at least some competition. Its real competition was “The Waltons”, which wasn’t a western.
1981-82: Little House was down to #24 and got 2 points. No other Western appeared in the top 25 until Dr. Quinn showed up at #23 in 1992-93. They were #25 the next year. They were not in the top 25 in 1994-95, the last year before the edition of the book that I have was published.
Clearly the golden era for the TV western was 1957-60, when 15 different shows made the top 25 a total of 32 times, scoring a total of 477 points in my system. Of the 15 shows, three debuted in 1955: Gunsmoke, Wyatt Earp and Cheyenne. One, Zane Grey Theater, started in 1956. Six began in 1957:The Restless Gun, Wagon Train, Have Gun Will Travel, Maverick, Tales of Wells Fargo and Sugarfoot. The Rifleman and The Texan were from 1958 and Lawman and Rawhide started in 1959. But the great survivors were Gunsmoke and Bonanza, which were still on when the rest of them were just a memory.
I added up the "ratings points" for the top individual shows, (I was looking for which years were the best years)
Gunsmoke was 293, Bonanza 245 and Wagon Train was 3rd with 101.
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Wanderers and Ranchers -- SWC, 14:27:45 05/03/12 Thu [1]
Most of the early westerns were about people on the move, (which makes sense if you think about it). Some were about organizations that moved- a Wagon Train or the drovers on Rawhide, (Wagon Train started out in St. Joseph's, not St. Louis and wound up in Sacramento while Rawhide started out in Texas and went to Sedalia Missouri- and later to points north). But most of them were about wanderers like Cheyenne, Sugarfoot, Paladin, Maverick and even the Lone Ranger.
Early shows that had a particular local include:
Gunsmoke- Kansas
Wyatt Earp- Kansas and Arizona
The Rifleman- New Mexico
Laramie and Lawman- Wyoming
Bonanza- Nevada
The Virginian- Wyoming
The Dakotas - What is now North and South Dakota
The Big Valley and Lancer- California
The High Chaparral - Arizona
David Dortort, after producing "The Restless Gun", felt that the life of a wanderer was not all that romantic and that people were happier when they had roots and created Bonanza in that mold. He even has Ben lecture someone- I think it was Little Joe's half brother in “The First Born”- on that subject in one of the episodes.
Dortort is quoted in the David Greenland book:
"The more I thought about the show, the more things fell into place. As an avid student of American history since my college days, I wanted to do something besides the gunfighter myth, which was only a small portion of western history. What about the real people who settled the west, who struggled with all the hardships? What about the women who had to give birth without a doctor? I was interested in telling the whole pioneer story, with the story of people who sank their roots, who built their homes, who built their churches, who built their schools. What about them?"
Greenland continues: "In addition to avoiding the traditional 'gunfighter myth', perpetuated by most western series and films, Dortort wanted to bypass the typical dusty cow towns as often as possible concentrating instead on what he called 'the glories of the west'- the lakes, the mountains, the breathtaking vistas, the cool, clear air'. He envisioned his brainstorm as 'a great living pageant which would be shot on location at Lake Tahoe. And, unlike any other network series, it would be filmed in color."
As this site makes clear, it was shot at a lot more places than Lake Tahoe. But I think the locale and those color shots of it were two big reasons for the series success opposite those "dusty cow towns" the other shows had.
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Re: The Glory Era of the TV Western -- Leah, 20:28:33 05/03/12 Thu [1]
Hey, where is Davy, Davy Crockett? My adoptive father (sort of, it wasn't a legal adoption) used to sing it to me, and said he always loved it. :)
Leah
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1954 -- SWC, 09:15:16 05/04/12 Fri [1]
I began with 1955 because It's considered the beginning of the adult western era.
In the section about the ratings, Davy never made the Top 25 but "Disneyland", (later "The Wonderful World of Color", the show on which it was broadcast, was #6 that year.
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Re: The Glory Era of the TV Western -- Leah, 20:02:46 05/04/12 Fri [1]
In many good ways my Father had a childlike heart. He was a really good man. And he sure liked Davy Crockett! :)
Leah
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Re: The Glory Era of the TV Western -- High Line Rider, 07:05:21 05/05/12 Sat [1]
I enjoyed all the old Walter Brennan Western's.
He had a special way of talking.
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Re: The Glory Era of the TV Western -- Leah, 17:54:29 05/05/12 Sat [1]
High Line Rider, I know I have seen Walter Brennan on some shows, and he did have a distinctive voice. You know, when you think about it, distinctive voices could help make or break an actor, I'm sure. Loren Greene's voice sure helped his career, from what I've read. I think Canada called him The Voice of Canada. And then think of Jimmy Stewart and many others.
Leah
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My older brother -- SWC, 17:14:16 05/05/12 Sat [1]
(according to my Mom, who got fed up with it), as a 7 eyar old got so skilled at returning the needle on the little record player he had back to the beginning of the Davy Crocket song he didn't even turn to look at it. He could go on playing with one hand and reach back with the other and lift the needle to the beginning.
"Davy....Davy Crockett! King of the Wild Frontier!"
Over and over and over again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txcRQedoEyY
Here's another that all baby boomers remember from back in the day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbyYr6L5xQM
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Re: My older brother -- Leah, 17:47:51 05/05/12 Sat [1]
That sure brings back memories of Paul, my Father. "Kilt him a b'ar when he was only three", I can just hear Paul singing it. :) Did Davy really become a Congressman?
I kinda like both songs, Davy and Robin Hood. Guess I'm a child at heart, too. :)
Leah
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Robin Hood -- SWC, 22:23:36 05/05/12 Sat [1]
Was the one I played over and over again when I learned how to manipulate the record player win the same way.
Poor Mom.
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Re: The Glory Era of the TV Western -- Leah, 13:35:54 05/06/12 Sun [1]
Your Mom would probably go outside and scream. :) :)
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Re: The Glory Era of the TV Western -- DAN, 14:32:43 05/06/12 Sun [1]
Here's a few other western shows I didn't notice that were mentioned here.
1957:
Boots and Saddles - 36 episodes
Colt .45 - 67
1963:
Temple Huston - 26
1964:
Destry - 13
1966:
The Road West - 29
1967:
Dundee and the Culhane - 13
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Re: The Glory Era of the TV Western -- Barry, 12:45:18 05/09/12 Wed [1]
For the list of 70's westerns you can add Nichols. Bearcats, and Cade's County.
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