TV WESTERNS ON DVD

First topic message reminder :

Before looking at individual TV westerns on DVD in depth, I thought it might be useful to make a list of them, or at least those I am aware of. I don't claim to be infallible so if I have missed any, please feel free to make amendments or additions. I have not included recent shows like 'Deadwood', or items such as 'F Troop' or 'Dustys Trail'which are essentially comedies. Neither have I included pilots but hope to do something on these later.

Items in brackets indicate availability on the 'gray' market.

26 Men -various PD releases
Action in the Afternoon -no (1)
Adventures of Champion - various PD + 23 R2 - (ALL)
Adventures of Jim Bowie - All
Adventures of Kit Carson - various PD
Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin - various R2 (ALL)
The Alaskans -no - (5)
Alias Smith & Jones - All
Annie Oakley - various PD - (all)
Barbary coast - No - (all ?)
Big Valley - 1 & half seasons (all)
Black Saddle - no - (all)
Bonanza - 2 seasons ,R2 7 seasons - (all)
Bordertown -no - (unknown)
Boots & Saddles - no -(5 or 6)
Branded - all but edited -
Brave Eagle - 4 - (various)
Bret Maverick - no - (all)
Bronco - no - (all)
Buckskin -no- (4 ?)
Buffalo Bill Jnr - 27 (all)
Cade's County - no - (all ?)
Californians - no - (10)
Casey Jones - not at present - (all)
Cheyenne - 3 seasons +1 eps - (all)
Cimarron City - all from March
Cimarron Strip - all in R2 - (all)
Circus Boy - no - (some)
Cisco Kid - approx 80 eps - (all)
Colt 45. - no - (some)
Cowboy G Men - various PD - (all ?)
Custer - no - (all)
The Dakotas - no - (all)
Daniel Boone (Fess Parker) - all
Daniel Boone -(Dewey Martin) -no - (all)
Davy Crockett - all
Death Valley Days - some pd - (numerous)
The Deputy - all
Destry - all
Dundee & the Culhane - no - (all)
Empire - no - (unknown)
Frontier - (1) (unknown)
Frontier Circus - all
Frontier Doctor - 24 PD - (all bar 3 ?)
Fury - all in R2
Gene Autry - 2 seasons, 2 more in Apl - (all)
Gray Ghost - not at present - (all ?)
Guns of Will Sonnett - all edited
Gunslinger - no - (5 eps)
Gunsmoke - 1st 5 seasons + selected - (all)
Hawkeye & the Last of the Mohicans - all R2
Hawkeye - all
Hec Ramsey - no - (all)
Have Gun Will Travel - 5 seasons - (all)
High Chaparral - all R2
Hondo - no - (all)
Hopalong Cassidy - all
Hotel De Paree - no - (various)
How the West Was Won - no - (all)
Hudsons Bay - no - (various)
Iron Horse - no - (all)
Jefferson Drum - no - (3 eps)
Johnny Ringo - no - (all)
Judge Roy Bean - various PD
Klondike - no - (all bar 1 eps)
Kodiak - no - (2 eps)
Lancer - no - (all)
Laramie - all
Laredo - all
Law of the Plainsman - no - (all)
Lawman - no - (all)
Legend of Jesse James - no - (3 eps)
Life & Legend of Wyatt Earp -S1 +several) - (all)
Lonr Ranger - Seasons 1, 2 & R2 3 & 4 - (all)
Loner - no - (various)

LISTINGS M TO Z TO FOLLOW

Howdy Nightlinger!!

You said it, pard!! I don't know who was the funniest, Jack Lemon as Professor Fate or Peter Falk as his bumbling assistant, Max!! I shall never forget Dorothy Provine as Lilly O'Lay and the complete destruction of the saloon in the bar brawl with Larry Storch. When Storch says"Now will ya give me sum fightin room" and steps out of the 2nd story room into thin air, because the balcony is no longer there and does a header onto the floor below has got to rank as one of the most hilarious stunts ever!!!!! The Great Race!! A classic!!

Ed

COLT 45.

Colt 45. was a somewhat unique show for Warners in that it was created almost overnight when the studio received a call from ABC , who had a beer company anxious to sponsor a half hour western . The 1950 movie Colt 45., starring Randolph Scott had been a success for Warners & seemed an ideal property on which to base a series.

For the TV show Chris Colt would be an undercover agent operating as a gun salesmen. This gave him a good reason to move around to wherever he was needed. For the lead role they cast strapping 6.4" Wayde Preston & the series went into immediate production.

Unfortunately, just like some other Warner shows there were moans on the range,rather than home on the range.(Sorry !) After the initial run of 26 episodes both the sponsor & network said they were dropping the show. Preston blamed poor promotion & lack of budget. Executive producer William T Orr later admitted they used Colt 45. as a 'tryout' show for new producers, assistants & directors. In any event a 2nd series was comissioned, albeit with many repeat episodes.Filming became more fraught when Preston refused to undertake a scene on top of a stagecoach ,claiming it was a stunt & a stuntman should be used. After an exchange of words he eventually walked off the set. Warners response was to bring in contract player Donald May, who had previously appeared on the series as cousin Samuel Colt & promote him to lead.

Somehow the series actually made it to a third season, but was one of the first Warner Bros westerns to bite the dust.

No of seasons 3

No of episodes 67

Copyright Warners

Network ABC - UK - 26 episodes were shown by the BBC in 1966 ,who strangely, put it into a childerns hour slot. They reportedly retitled it 'The Colt Cousins' but I'm sure the odd episode I saw it was under Colt 45.

Season 1 - 1957/8 - 26 episodes

Season 2 -1958/9 -13 episodes

Season 3 - 1959/60 -28 episodes

OFFICIAL DVD RELEASE - None

Presumably another candidate for MOD but I suspect it would be way down the line.Another series I think Timeless enquired about licensing without success.

THE GRAY MARKET

Has not played as widely in syndication as some other Warner shows.Quite a number of episodes are available mostly dubs from 16mm. Quality varies from reasonable to poor.I know of no complete sets but they could be out there.

Not a bad little western by any means & one I hope will see the light of day sometime. Would probably be a good acquisition for Encore westerns.

Howdy Chris!!

I remember this ole series, starring Wade Preston. It was filmed in b/w and the thing that struck me about it, was Wade Prestons 2 gun rig. Arvo Ojala invented the first steel lined cutaway rig in 1955 and by the time that Colt .45 was aired, Hugh O'Brian, Clint Walker and many of the other western t.v. stars were already wearing his rigs, in both single and double configuration. Arvo basically made 2 rigs. One for the 4 &3/4 and 5 & 1/2 inch barreled Colts and one like Richard Boone/Paladin and James Arness/Matt Dillon's for the 7 & 1/2 inch barreled Colts. As I said earlier on another thread, the holster that Arvo made for Hugh O'Brian's Buntline Special, was a special order replacement holster for the right hand side of O'Brian's 5 & 1/2 inch Ojala rig. The thing that always bugged me, is that Wade Preston wore a 2 gun rig for the 5 & 1/2 inch barreled Colt's, and yet he stuffed two 7&1/2 barreled Colts in the holsters and all you could see, was gun barrels stickin outta the holsters on the side of each leg!!! I don't know what the plan here was, but it shore made sumbuddy look like they didnt know what they were doin!!!!! If you get a chance to see any of the episodes of the Wyatt Earp/O'Brian t.v. series, AFTER he adopted the Buntline Special and BEFORE Ojala made the replacement holster, you will notice the jack leg holster that O'Brian used for it. It left about 6-8 inches of barrel stickin outta the holster and everytime he dismounted, the barrel hung up on his saddle. Looked kinda stupid and that's what Wade Preston's guns looked like.

Ed

Hi Ed you old brush popper!
I still have all of the westerns talked about here. Hope you are still enjoying those I sent you way back when.
Finally Grit is showing some good ones, like Tales of Wells Fargo. As well as some pretty good movies. See ya on the trail.

I’m watching the old tv series, Centennial, and I’m enjoying it very much.  Very good cast, well acted.

I remember that one lain,but cant remember what it was about or any of the cast.