Tellevision Westerns

The Lone Ranger and Tonto

Bat Masterson

The Cartwrights - Bonanza

Mark andLLucas McCain - The Rifleman

The Cisco Kid and Pancho

Annie Oakley

    From 1951 thru 1970 over 100 western series galloped across the screens of our TV's. Many were short-lived while others hung around for a while; then there were those that became immortal in our memories. All of them were the morality plays of our youth; teaching us that good invariably triumphs over evil

    As Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid and others fought the weekly foe they remained true to their ethic of honesty and fair play. As a result "Cowboys & Indians" was a popular pastime of our youth. They were a large part of the popular culture of the day.

Gil Favor and Rowdy Yates - Rawhide

    Yet, in later years self-appointed experts deemed the genre too violent for young minds, failing to recognize that these plays went a long way toward instilling a moral ethic in us far better than any lecture ever could. An ethic that is missing in far too many today.

    

Paladin - Have Gun Will Travel

While there may have been violence, very seldom was anyone ever killed. The Lone Ranger only shot to wound. Roy Rogers killed a man in only one movie (Dark Command). Other western stars shot a lot of bullets but invariably subdued the villain by using their fists, and brought them to the courts for judgement.

    Later westerns such as Bonanza stressed the strength that exists in family unity. Even the adult western, Gunsmoke, was about an ordinary man forced by circumstances to perform extraordinary tasks in a rapidly changing environment.

Cheyenne Bodie

    From 26 Men, about the Arizona Rangers, to Zorro the westerns managed to cover the entire range of human emotions, conflicts and ethical choices it's possible for an individual to encounter in their lifetime. Perhaps the line between good and evil was too sharply drawn for some people because by the time the end of the 60's loomed, various shades of grey were beginning to be introduced into an ambiguous morality and it signaled the death knell for the venerable western on TV.

    As we grew older and went on to high school and college we left these shows behind and pursued other things but our memories hold dear those exciting adventures and as a result they continue to live on. So, "Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear...."

Return with us now.....

The TV western. They are no longer on network channels due to the complaints of those who failed to understand their meaning or purpose of defining morality for a handful of generations. However, some can still be found on cable channels where they continue to flourish, so those of us who remember can return for a while and ride the range with Hoppy, Gene, Tex, Roy, Paladin, Matt Dillon, the Cartwrights, Cheyenne, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Sugarfoot, Bronco, the Range Rider and, of course, the Lone Ranger plus a host of others that are entirely too many to list at this time.

They played at various times. During the afternoon hours after school, on weekends and even in prime time. Many a student's homework suffered because they just had to see what the Cisco Kid and Pancho were up to that particular afternoon.

Of course, there were also the commercials, predominately Kellog's cereals.
Remember these?




But it went even further than that, remember those marvelous cap guns that were available mainly at Christmas time. Here is an old page from a Western Auto catalog.





You'll note that the Paladin model had a derringer and a set of calling cards as part of the entire package.

Such things today are no longer available unless you happen upon one for sale on e-bay or one of the other auction sites.

Then there were other venues that depicted the television western, most notably Dell Comics which depicted episodes in graphic form. Below are a few samples of the genre.



For close to two decades the television western reigned before they were foolishly removed by those who decried the "violence" depicted in them as being unsuitable for young viewers. A sign of things that were to come from those who'd been placed in authority and decided they knew better.

Yet, they could not remove them from the consciousness of those who viewed them and learned that actions have consequences and that those who chose to play by the rules will achieve far more than those who do not. Perhaps it was all too sharply delineated in black & white instead of the multiple shades of gray prevalent today and that's the reason they no longer ride the range as they once did on network television.

And so, pardners, it's time to saddle up ol' Paint and ride into the sunset. Until the next time, Happy Trails.