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Where did all the cowboys go?
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Published: September 20, 2009
The Statler Brothers once asked the vocal question, "Whatever happened to Randolph Scott?" The question, by extension, could apply to a large number of TV Western programs and their stars.
America seems to be under a lot of stress these days. When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, we didn't have this trouble. We watched Western programs on TV. I think that the lack of Westerns on TV may be a large part of America's malaise these days.
The cowboy is an iconic American symbol. He was an individual, a loner-if you didn't count the horse- who let his actions speak for him. The American cowboy "Got 'er done," whether it was cleaning up a town, staking a mining claim or getting a herd of longhorns to market.
Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) gets the nod as having the first cowboy TV show in 1949.
Experts in the subject quibble over the exact number of TV Westerns. The estimates for all such programs, whether they lasted for years or less than a season is between 120 and 145 shows.
Was "Little House on the Prairie" a western, or a mid-western? And how about "Daniel Boone"? He was on the frontier, but at the time that was Tennessee and Kentucky, not exactly "the West" to us.
Here is a list of shows I made from memory. See how many you recall:
Among the "kiddie" Westerns would have been "My Friend Flicka," "The Gene Autry Show," "Sky King," "Red Ryder," "Rin Tin Tin," "The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show," "The Lone Ranger," "Wild Bill Hickok," "Tales of the Texas Rangers," "The Cisco Kid," "Zorro," and "Kit Carson."
More appealing to an adult audience were shows like "The Rifleman," "Gunsmoke," "Wagon Train," "Bat Masterson," "Rawhide," "Jim Bowie," "The Virginian," "The Rebel," "Lawman," "Branded," "Maverick," "Colt .45," "The Big Valley," "High Chaparral," "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp," "The Texan," and, of course, the stable of Warner Brothers cowpokes, "Cheyenne," "Sugarfoot" and "Bronco," which alternated week-to-week.
"Gunsmoke," considered to be the first adult-Western, ran for 20 seasons; "Bonanza," for 14.
"Death Valley Days," was brought to you by Boraxo hand cleaner, and was hosted at one time by Ronald Reagan, later President Reagan.
"Maverick" ran five seasons, from September, 1957, to July of 1962, with 124 episodes in all. As there were many gags and very little gun play, "Maverick" is sometimes referred to as a comedy-western.
There was some diversity within the genre. We had a female Western, "Annie Oakley;" and a Northwestern Western, "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon." "Kung Fu" holds the honor of being TV's only Eastern-Western.
Following the first James Bond movies, TV soon had a secret agent Western program, "Wild, Wild West."
In my opinion, the coolest Western show was "Have Gun- Will Travel." Richard Boone starred as Paladin, "a knight without armor in a savage land" who wore all black with silver bling when working.
When not working, he resided in the Carlton Hotel in San Francisco. Paladin carried a business card which read, "Have Gun-Will Travel. Wire Paladin, San Francisco." In the center of the card was the chess piece, the knight. HGWT ran six seasons, November, 1958, to April of 1963,for 225 episodes.
My next favorite show starred Steve McQueen, as bounty hunter Josh Randall on "Wanted: Dead or Alive." His character carried a sawed-off Winchester rifle for a sidearm.
The year 1959, 50 years ago, was the high water mark of TV Westerns, with 26 such shows on during prime time. Many of these are regarded by critics as part of the "Golden Age of Television" and are available now on DVDs.
Why did the TV Western ride off into the sunset? Some critics maintain that it was the war in Vietnam that was responsible for the decline of the TV Western. Who needed to see make-believe gun play after viewing real war footage?
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Whatever happened to Randolph Scott? He died in 1987 at 89 and is buried in Charlotte's Elmwood Cemetery under his real name, George Randolph Scott. He starred in about 100 films, 60 of which were Westerns.
Although born in Virginia, he was raised in Charlotte. Stories are that his mother used to go to see his movies in Dilworth, bringing two toy cap pistols with her which she used to help "Randy" get the bad guys during the film.
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