60 Fun Facts About TV Western

On the TV version of Gunsmoke, who played Marshal Matt Dillon?

On the earlier radio series the marshal was voiced by William Conrad, whom CBS considered too heavy for television.

Gunsmoke is set in which Kansas cattle town?

The stories take place in the 1870s during the settlement of the West.

How many seasons did the television Gunsmoke run after its 1955 debut?

Episodes were half an hour until 1961 and an hour thereafter, through 1975.

Which Gunsmoke deputy, played by Ken Curtis, replaced Chester in 1964?

Burt Reynolds also served a stint as blacksmith-deputy Quint Asper from 1962 to 1965.

Gunsmoke's Doc Adams was allowed to choose his character's first name. What did actor Milburn Stone pick?

He named the doctor after the ancient Greek physician and medical researcher.

Who is credited with pressuring CBS's president to save Gunsmoke from cancellation in 1967?

According to Gilligan's Island producer Sherwood Schwartz, the network cut his show instead to make room.

The Cartwrights of Bonanza lived on a ranch called the Ponderosa near which Nevada town?

The show's title is a miners' term for a rich vein of silver ore, a nod to the Comstock Lode found under the town in 1859.

Who played patriarch Ben Cartwright on Bonanza?

The thrice-widowed rancher had a son by each wife, and the actor later recorded a hit song, "Saga of the Ponderosa".

Which Cartwright brother on Bonanza was played by Dan Blocker?

The warm and lovable giant's real first name was Eric.

Where does 14-season Bonanza rank among the longest-running Westerns on US network TV?

It managed 431 episodes between September 1959 and January 1973.

Why did NBC keep Bonanza on the air despite its early struggles?

RCA, NBC's parent, was also the show's main sponsor for the first two seasons.

Who played the Cartwrights' Chinese cook, Hop Sing, on Bonanza?

He had earlier played Number Two Son in the Charlie Chan films.

Who starred as rancher Lucas McCain in The Rifleman?

Johnny Crawford played his son Mark, and the pair had come from Enid, Oklahoma, after Lucas's wife died.

The Rifleman was set in which fictional town in New Mexico Territory?

Lucas bought a ranch "about three miles" outside town in the pilot episode.

The Rifleman's pilot, "The Sharpshooter", was first shown as an episode of which anthology series?

It aired on CBS in March 1958 before the series proper launched on ABC that September.

Which future movie star played drover Rowdy Yates on Rawhide?

Eric Fleming played trail boss Gil Favor, whose monologue opened most episodes.

Rawhide's cattle drives ran from Texas to which railhead town?

For a time the town was the western end of the railroad, and the show's trail-boss diary was inspired by a real 1866 drive there.

Who sang the famous Rawhide theme song?

Dimitri Tiomkin composed it and the orchestra was conducted by a young John Williams, credited as Johnny Williams.

James Garner's breakout role was as a wandering poker player in which 1957 Western?

Creator Roy Huggins was inspired by Garner's turn as a hustler in an episode of the anthology Conflict.

Which future James Bond joined the Garner poker-player series as cousin Beau after its star left?

Robert Altman wrote and directed one of his episodes, "Bolt from the Blue".

Who played Bart, brother of Garner's poker-playing hero Bret, alternating leads from week to week?

He joined eight episodes into the first season and stayed for the entire run.

In Have Gun – Will Travel, gunfighter-for-hire Paladin made his home at which San Francisco address?

Between jobs he wore custom suits, drank fine wine, played piano and went to the opera.

Paladin took his name from what?

Fittingly, the character was an expert chess player, and his calling card bore a knight chess piece.

Have Gun – Will Travel was unusual in that its TV success spawned what?

The radio show, starring John Dehner, debuted in November 1958, more than a year after the TV premiere.

Who starred as the masked hero in the 1949–1957 TV series The Lone Ranger?

He was replaced for one season, 1952–53, over a contract dispute, then returned.

Jay Silverheels, who played Tonto, was a member of which Indigenous nation?

He was born on the Six Nations reserve in Canada.

Wagon Train's original wagon master, Major Seth Adams, was played by which John Ford regular?

When he died of a heart attack in 1960, John McIntire took over the wagon master role.

John Ford directed a 1960 Wagon Train episode in which John Wayne appeared uncredited under what name?

The episode was "The Colter Craven Story", made as a favour to Ward Bond, with Wayne speaking from the shadows.

Which Hollywood legend played matriarch Victoria Barkley in The Big Valley?

Her on-screen brood included Lee Majors as illegitimate son Heath and Linda Evans as daughter Audra.

The Barkley ranch in The Big Valley was near which California city?

The series was cancelled in 1969 as the TV Western craze faded.

The Virginian, starring James Drury, was television's first Western to run how long per episode?

It was filmed in Technicolor on 35 mm film and renamed The Men from Shiloh for its final season.

Which character was the only one to remain with The Virginian for its entire nine-season run?

Doug McClure's cowboy outlasted a rotating cast of ranch owners at Shiloh.

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman leaves Boston to practise in which town?

Jane Seymour's Michaela Quinn arrives in 1867 and is helped by outdoorsman Byron Sully, played by Joe Lando.

How many seasons did Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman run on CBS?

Its 150 episodes aired from New Year's Day 1993 to May 1998, followed by two TV movies.

Ian McShane's saloon-owning villain in Deadwood, Al Swearengen, ran which establishment?

His rival Cy Tolliver opened the more luxurious Bella Union across the street.

Deadwood's first season is set in 1876, six months after which historical event?

Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane and Seth Bullock were all real residents of the gold camp.

Deadwood: The Movie, released in 2019, is set how long after the end of the series?

Creator David Milch finally delivered the conclusion thirteen years after HBO ended the show.

AMC's Hell on Wheels follows the construction of what?

The title refers to the mobile encampment of workers, gamblers and prostitutes that followed the Union Pacific railhead west.

Anson Mount's Cullen Bohannon in Hell on Wheels joins the railroad for what reason?

The former Confederate soldier's quest for vengeance drives the first season.

Sheriff Walt Longmire is sheriff of which fictional Wyoming county?

He is played by Australian actor Robert Taylor, and the series is based on Craig Johnson's mystery novels.

Which network aired Longmire's first three seasons before Netflix picked it up?

It was the network's highest-rated original drama, yet it was dropped in August 2014.

Justified is based on stories by which crime writer, particularly "Fire in the Hole"?

Timothy Olyphant's Raylan Givens returned in the 2023 sequel Justified: City Primeval.

Justified is set mainly in which Kentucky county, where Raylan Givens grew up?

Walton Goggins's Boyd Crowder survives being shot in the chest in the pilot and calls it a sign from God.

Yellowstone's John Dutton, played by Kevin Costner, owns the largest cattle ranch in which state?

The Chief Joseph Ranch near Darby stands in for the Dutton home.

Yellowstone was created by John Linson and which screenwriter-turned-showrunner?

He began developing it in 2013 after growing dissatisfied with acting.

In the Yellowstone prequel 1883, which country-music couple play James and Margaret Dutton?

Sam Elliott leads the wagon train and Isabel May narrates as their daughter Elsa.

Chuck Norris's Walker, Texas Ranger was inspired by which of his earlier films?

His partner Jimmy Trivette, played by Clarence Gilyard, was a former Dallas Cowboy.

Who performed "Eyes of a Ranger", the theme song of Walker, Texas Ranger?

The series ran on CBS from 1993 to 2001, though the theme was dropped from the later TV movie.

Creator Michael Garrison pitched The Wild Wild West as what?

Robert Conrad and Ross Martin played Secret Service agents under President Grant, and steampunk fans cite the show as a pioneer.

Why was The Wild Wild West cancelled in 1969 despite high ratings?

Its most memorable villain was the brilliant dwarf Dr. Miguelito Loveless, played by Michael Dunn in ten episodes.

By 1959, how many Westerns were airing in prime time on American television?

None had been cancelled that season, and 14 new ones had appeared.

Which show, edited from William Boyd's films, became the first TV Western in June 1949?

Early TV Westerns were aimed at children; adult Westerns only arrived in 1955 with Wyatt Earp and Gunsmoke.

In Kung Fu (1972), Kwai Chang Caine roams the West searching for whom?

The pilot TV movie aired in February 1972, days after Nixon's meeting with Mao, and drew a flood of praise.

What was the nickname of the cut-down Winchester carried by Steve McQueen's Josh Randall?

It was a real working firearm that had to be registered with the LAPD, worn with a belt of .45-70 cartridges it could not even fire.

Wanted Dead or Alive was a spin-off from a 1958 episode of which Robert Culp Western?

Both shows came from Four Star Television, and the series made McQueen the first TV star to achieve equal status in films.

Which 1955 Clint Walker series was television's first hour-long Western?

It was also the first hour-long drama with continuing characters to survive beyond a single season, and the first of Warner Bros.' original TV series.

Gene Barry's Bat Masterson preferred to get out of trouble using what rather than a gun?

The dandyish gambler of the 1958-61 NBC series was based on Richard O'Connor's biography of the real lawman.

The High Chaparral was created by David Dortort, who had earlier created which NBC Western?

Bonanza composer David Rose also wrote its theme, and the Cannon ranch was named for a local desert brush.

Roughly how many US homes tuned in to the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove?

It earned 18 Emmy nominations and seven wins, plus Golden Globes for Best Miniseries and for Robert Duvall.

In Alias Smith and Jones, the outlaw cousins must stay out of trouble for how long to earn a pardon?

The secret deal with the governor of Wyoming meant Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry stayed wanted men throughout.