Short Lived Series

How about...The Loner..

Does anyone remember Lloyd Bridges short lived series?

I have recently pick-up a broadcast copy from a friend of mine....it was a well written solid western....should have lasted longer....

Yes, I remember The Loner. It was created and written by Rod Serling. A well crafted series that I have several episodes of on dvd. It was very good.

Howdy Rocky Lane!!

Yeah, even though The Loner was not one of my favorites at the time, I have seen several episodes since and it was a very good western series. It only ran for 26 episodes between 1965-1966 and it came from an editorial that Rod Serling did, in which he critisized the westerns on t.v. at the time. He did an episode of The Twilight Zone, titled The Showdown Of Rance McGrew, which starred Larry Blyden and Arch Johnson and was directed by Robert Cornthwaite ( of The Thing From Another World). Blyden played the role of a t.v. western hero, "Rance McGrew", who during a scene is about to be shot in the back by Jesse James, when he is transported back in time to a REAL ole west saloon and meets the REAL Jesse James, played by Arch Johnson. Arch Johnson is about to kill Blyden/McGrew, when the hero goes down on his knees and begs for mercy. Johnson/James tells Blyden, that the REAL outlaws, Billy The Kid, The Daltons, The Youngers, etc in the twilight zone are getting tired of the way they're being portrayed on t.v. Blyden/McGrew promises to change all that and he is whisked back to the future. Then his agent is announced on the set and it's the REAL Jesse James, dressed in golf hat, scarf, sports jacket. He then has Blyden/McGrew thrown out of the saloon by the actor playing Jesse James and humiliated for the rest of the episode by the "bad guys". Obviously Rod Serling thought the t.v. western heros were a bunch of "sissies" and the bad guys needed to be fleshed out more. This episode is where The Loner sprang from.

Ed

Sterling made some really fine western Twilight Zone episodes. My Favorites are "The Grave" starring Lee Marvin, John Dehner, Strother Martin and Lee Van Cleef (what a cast!) and "1oo Yards Over the Rim" starring Cliff Robertson. Did some very good Civil War episodes too. "The Passersby" is my all-time favorite TZ episode.

How about this short lived series: "Stoney Burke" starring Jack Lord as a rodeo rider. I remember watching this with my dad as a kid.

Howdy Steve!!

I agree, pard!! The Grave brought together 4 of the best western actors ever in Hollywood.
Although, it was James Best instead of John Dehner. I also enjoyed 100 Yards Over The Rim, but let's not forget, .Mr Denton On Doomsday, with Dan Duryea, Martin Landau and a very young Doug McClure.
Did you notice the hat that Lee Marvin wore in The Grave?? It was the same hat that he wore as Tim Strawn in Cat Ballou, except the color was black and in The Professionals. Marvin liked the early 20th century military "campaign hat"
It's the same hat, that The Wild Bunch wore, when they held up the bank, in military garb. General Joseph Stilwell continued to wear this hat during WWII.

Ed

I have heard that Stoney Burke is coming to dvd from Timeless......I think.



Here is another one....Outlaws.

In a nutshell.... a group of bank robbers and the sheriff that was chasing them is transported via electrical storm to present day....they then join forces to form a detective agency.

yup, James Best it was, ol' Roscoe P. Coltrane hisself. Good catch Ed!