Recommended
The earliest television Westerns, shows from the late 1940s and early 50s, mostly were adaptations of successful, long-running theatrical B-Westerns, series starring William “Hopalong Cassidy” Boyd, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Gene Autry, etc. Although many of these shows originated as B-Westerns for general audiences or even specifically adults, by the time television was rolling out their audience consisted primarily of children who adored such shows.
In past reviews I’ve extolled the virtues of TV’s earliest adult Westerns, particularly Gunsmoke (premiering in 1955) and Have Gun – Will Travel (1957), but one series predates those, a semi-adult transitional TV Western called Death Valley Days. An anthology series, it was syndicated rather than a primetime network series, but enjoyed an unusually long and successful run. It premiered in 1952 and ran a staggering 18 seasons, thr…Read the entire review
Source: DVD Talk
