Thread: TV Western Reruns Making A Strong Comeback

Aloha Gentlemen!

Not they they ever really went away, but I have noticed that classic TV Westerns are making quite a comeback on some Cable and Over-The-Air channels lately. Much to my pleasure.

I'm not quite old enough to remember the super hayday of Westerns in the 50s, but I do remember sitting with my grandfather in the 60s as a small child watching "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke" as well as reruns of "The Rifleman". What I have never seen until these new surge of reruns is the OLD Gunsmoke episodes (the half hour shows in black and white) where James Arness was very young and his deputy was Chester not Festus. I much prefer these over the 1 hour color shows that came later. I have also discovered "Wanted Dead or Alive" with Steve McQueen and "Have Gun Will Travel" with Richard Boone. I had never seen these before. I have even discoverd some more obscure series like "The Rebel" and "Trackdown" about the Texas Rangers.

As I mentioned, I of course remember "The Rifleman", "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke", but I have never seen shows like "Wanted Dead or Alive", so these are a treat to me. Watching a young Steve McQueen as a bounty hunter is a real kick. And Richard Boone playing a sort of Western James Bond gun for hire in "Have Gun Will Travel" is also quite enjoyable. I actually met Richard Boone before he died. I'm glad I am finally watching his series. And with only 1/2 hour to work with, these shows got right to the point quickly.

GRIT TV (over the air) shows a lot of great Westerns all day long including "Death Valley Days". Unfortunately, we just lost GRIT to some other station, so that is out for me. If you can get GRIT over the air, you are really set for classic Westerns. TV Land on cable shows some Westerns during the day, and every morning there is "Good Guys at Sunrise" on Heroes and Icons television (over the air and on cable) that shows a bunch of classic Westerns from 7 AM through Noon. If you happen to subscribe to Starz/Encore on Cable, Encore Westerns also shows quite a few of the old classic Westerns.

I had read that at one point at the peak of Westerns dominating TV (in the year 1959) that there were a whopping 26 Westerns appearing weekly on the three networks. That's amazing.

It's been quite a bit of fun discovering and re-discovering these. I'm not such a huge fan of the color one hour shows like "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke", but the old 1/2 hour black and white series I really am enjoying.

Mahalo!
-Zip

Before TV we sat around listening to Hopalong Cassidy, Have Gun Will Travel, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Gunsmoke, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid, and the Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok. I'm sure there were others that I'm forgetting. My father was more interested in the Friday Night Fights than listening to westerns with me, although we did listen to ball games together.

I certainly grew up watching those shows. Bonanza and Gun Smoke were my favorites. James Arness was with us until 2011.

Yea most of the great ones started on radio and moved to T.V. Really, in the 60s westerns were the most popular shows and they were almost all 30 minute shows. I can recall;Tales of Wells Fargo, Cheyenne, lawman, Texas Rangers, Sugarfoot, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, RawHide, Wagon Train, Branded, Yancy Derringer, Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, Hawkeye, Rin Tin Tin,.

How many more can you all add.

Whiplash?

Kaptain "Watch where you point that bull whip, eh!" Zero

Originally Posted by evnpar

Before TV we sat around listening to Hopalong Cassidy, Have Gun Will Travel, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Gunsmoke, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid, and the Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok. I'm sure there were others that I'm forgetting. My father was more interested in the Friday Night Fights than listening to westerns with me, although we did listen to ball games together.

Hey Seeeesco. Ohhhh Pancho....

Aloha!

Heroes and Icons starts their old Westerns Reruns on week days with "The Cisco Kid" at 6:00 AM Eastern. I used to watch these reruns as a kid before I went to school. Again, I prefer the older shows from the 50s and very early 60s that were 1/2 hour and in Black and White, but I respect the later 1 hour shows and the shows that were produced in color later on. "Bonanza" was NBCs big surprise since from the very first episode they decided to produce it and shoot it in color. A big deal in 1959!

On Saturdays, ME TV does a nice run of classic Westerns in the mornings and afernoons. Some shows in that lineup I didn't remember as a child either. But we didn't have cable TV so we only got the three networks, and two of them were on UHF so they were a bit snowy and you could not always count on watching them.

Yes, I know that now you could watch some of these on Youtube, but it's different watching them broadcast on TV. It's like reliving your childhood. Well, at least it is for me. Out in my sunroom, I have one of the last 32 inch TUBE televisions that Panasonic put out before the total switch to flat screen LCD. It's still a great TV for watching old Laserdiscs (I have a decent collection of this pre-DVD disc technology - the ones that are 12" in diameter) and it's great for old Westerns.

I don't know "Whiplash" so will have to research that. I didnt' know "Cheyenne" either. Been watching that. "Wanted Dead or Alive" with Steve McQueen is currently my favorite, edging out "Have Gun Will Travel".

Mahalo Partner!

-Zip

We get a channel called MeTV that is all vintage television. They play most of those classic Westerns you mention all afternoon long: Gunsmoke. Bonanza, The Big Valley, The Rifleman, Wanted: Dead or Alive (you don't get much cooler than the young Steve McQueen, and you gotta love that hogleg cut-down lever action he carries!).

Sometimes I'll have it on on a Saturday just as background noise as I'm puttering around the house-strangely comforting in a way.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

We get a channel called MeTV that is all vintage television. They play most of those classic Westerns you mention all afternoon long: Gunsmoke. Bonanza, The Big Valley, The Rifleman, Wanted: Dead or Alive (you don't get much cooler than the young Steve McQueen, and you gotta love that hogleg cut-down lever action he carries!).

Sometimes I'll have it on on a Saturday just as background noise as I'm puttering around the house-strangely comforting in a way.

Aloha!

I agree. It is strangely comforting. My theory, it reflects back to a simpler time when I was a child sitting with my grandfather watching Westerns on TV. These are all simple plots with no blood. And most stories ended with some sort of a "Moral". Good television. But a heck of a lot of guys got shot and killed, it was just a very "clean" death on TV back then. Never any blood except the errant drip from the corner of a guy's mouth from a fist fight.
I was watching a Gunsmoke episode from the very early season runs and all they seemed to do is sit around and drink strong black coffee, wiskey, and shoot at each other. If I drank 10 cups of black cowboy coffee and a half bottle of wiskey, I'd probably start shooting too.

I have noticed some story plots are almost identically mirrored from one series to another. If I have this right, "Have Gun Will Travel" had Paladin ride into a town where the sheriff arrested him for carrying a gun - that was illegal in that town. He got 90 days in jail, OR, he could work for a local silver mine owner for 30 days. Of course, once you choose the silver mine, you never get out. You are basically a slave for as long as your life lasts so Paladin had to "break-out'. Saw the exact same plot on "Wanted Dead or Alive" a few weeks later. Probably the same screen writer.

-Zip

don't get to watch them as often as i'd like since they are on Saturday (too much else to do around the house) but i like The Virginian and Davy Crockett too!