TIME TRAVEL
ARE YOU READY? The Canteen is about to embark on another journey back in time. If you're brave enough, climb aboard, no ticket required……we're about to take off.
Come on, hop in, watch your step ...... Let me set my control.
Buckle up. Now don't be afraid....I know how to fly this thing.......Hang on. Here we goooooooooo.......
WHOOOOOOSHHHHHHHH
Landing with a smaller thump. See, I’m getting better.
Let’s turn on the television and see what is on.
Do any of you remember these shows?
Maverick
9/22/1957 - 7/8/1962 ABC
Black and White - 60 minutes
124 episodes
Produced by Warner Brothers
(Beachy loves Maverick)
Maverick Cast
James Garner as Bret (1957-1960)
Jack Kelly as Bart
Roger Moore as Beauregard (1960-1961)
Robert Colbert as Brent (1961)
(Jack Kelly appeared in 75 episodes, James Garner in 52, and Roger Moore in only 15.)
Diane Brewster as Samantha Crawford (1957-1958)
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Dandy Jim Buckley (1957-1958)
Richard Long as Gentleman Jack Darby (1958-1959)
Leo Gordon as Big Mike McComb (1957-1959)
Peter Breck as Doc Holliday (1960-1962)
Horse: El Loaner
Maverick Theme Song
"Maverick Theme" music by David Buttolph and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster.
Lyrics:
Who is the tall dark stranger there?
Maverick is the name.
Riding the trail to who knows where
Luck is his companion
Gamblin' is his game.
Smooth as a handle on a gun
Maverick is the name.
Wild as a wind in Oregon
Blowin' up a canyon
Easier to tame.
Riverboat ring your bell!
Fare-the-well Annabelle!
Luck is the lady that he loves the best!
Nachetz to New Orleans
Livin' on jacks and queens
Maverick is the legend of the West.
Riverboat ring your bell
Fare-the-well Annabelle!
Luck is the lady that he loves the best!
Natchez to New Orleans
Livin' on jacks and queens
Maverick is the legend of the West.
Maverick is the legend of the West.
Maverick Tidbits
"As My Old Pappy Would Say..."
The Mavericks were TV's most reluctant heroes. They'd rather talk their way out of trouble. Buy the fella a drink, offer a cigar, play a few hands of cards - anything but gunplay at which they weren't especially adept.
Too often, however, they found themselves having to rescue someone, hopefully a damsel in distress.
Gamblers by trade, the Mavericks traveled the West in search of good times and the easy way.
James Garner was to be the only Maverick but when production ran behind, brother Bart was added. Jack Kelly appeared in about a third of that first year's episodes and a separate production crew was used. By 1960 Garner and Kelly shared duties about 50/50 and sometimes appeared together. After the 1960-1961 season Garner left the show. Roger Moore appeared from 1960-1962 as cousin Beau who had been living in England and Robert Colbert in 1961-1962 as brother Brent for two episodes.
Passings
Richard Long in 1974 of heart problems, Diane Brewster in 1991 of heart failure, Jack Kelly in 1992 of a stroke and Leo Gordon in 2000.
Bat Masterson
10/8/1958 - 9/21/1961 NBC
Black and White - 30 minutes
108 episodes
Bat Masterson Cast
Gene Barry as William Bartley "Bat" Masterson
Bill Baldwin - Announcer
Horses: Stardust - Bat's horse
Bat Masterson Theme Song
"Bat Masterson" by Havens Wray
Back when the west was very young,
There lived a man named Masterson.
He wore a cane and derby hat,
They called him Bat, Bat Masterson.
The trail that he traveled is still there,
No one has come yet to replace his name.
And those with too handy a trigger, forgot to figger
On his fighting cane.
A man of steel the stories say,
But women's eyes all glanced his way.
A gambler's game he always won,
They called him Bat, Bat Masterson.
Now in the legend of the west,
One name stands out of all the rest.
The man who had the fastest gun,
His name was Bat, Bat Masterson.
Bat Masterson Tidbits
Bat Masterson (Gene Barry) was a smooth talking, dapper enforcer of the law in the 1880s. He carried a gold-tipped cane which hid a sword. But natch, he also carried a gun, one that was custom built for him by the people of Dodge City during his service as sheriff.
However, the TV Bat Masterson would rather talk his way out of a fight than resort to violence.
In real life, William Bartley Masterson was a deputy of Wyatt Earp's.
Wagon Train
9/18/57 - 9/5/65 ABC
Black and White
Wagon Train Cast
Ward Bond as Wagonmaster Major Seth Adams.
Robert Horton as Flint McCullough.
Terry Wilson, as Bill Hawks
Frank McGrath as Charlie Wooster
Wagon Train Theme Song
None listed
Wagon Train Tidbits
Wagon Train first rolled on the air on September 18, 1957 to begin an eight year run which would eventually place the TV show in the number one spot in the Nielson ratings.
Unlike other shows in the Western genre, Wagon Train attracted big name guest stars whose stories were told across the panorama of the American western expansion in the post Civil War period. Each episode was titled around the story of a passenger on "the train."
Much was made in the early years over a conflict between Bond and Horton. Perhaps it was inevitable that the elder Bond who had been playing cowboys for years would have differences with the younger, professionally trained actor who was quickly stealing the show.
But all of this is nothing more than an historical footnote as far as the viewer is concerned. Onscreen their chemistry worked very well.
Sadly, Ward Bond died on November 5, 1960. John McIntire assumed the job of Wagonmaster as Christopher Hale.
After five seasons of surveying the trail ahead, Robert Horton left the show to pursue a successful career in the musical theatre. He left the stage briefly in 1965 to be the sole star of TV's A Man Called Shenandoah.
Fresh off his success as Jess Harper in Laramie, Robert Fuller took on the job of scout for the train. "Coop" is what they called him, for Cooper Smith.
Heading across the trail to look for his father, young Barnaby West, played by Michael Burns, joined the cast in late 1963.
Howard Christie produced the show for Revue Studios (the TV production arm of Universal Studios) and Wagon Train survived many changes over those eight years.
In 1963 for one season they tried taking the show to an hour and a half format and filming it in color. This was to compete with the Virginian (also from Revue). But that proved unsuccessful and the following, final year the show returned to the original one hour length. And worse, they returned to shooting in black and white which drove viewers away. Apparently, the studio was literally banking on the Virginian.
Wagon Train switched networks in 1962 and although reports of the sums for this vary, ABC paid huge amounts to bring the show under their umbrella.
That's the end of the ride for today. Please watch your step on exiting the time machine. Now that I've shown you a few, how about you share something from your memory. Or, if one of these were your favorite show then, share a memory of the best episode for you.
Final note: All information found freely on the Internet
Footnote: Management is not responsible for the accuarcy of historical events. Management is not responsible for lost personal items in th time machine. Finders keepers. Shipping and Handling is separate. Taxes are applicable. Void where prohibited. Children under 40 must have parent's approval. When ordering have your credit card ready.
