Search - Western TV - 28 Episodes on DVD

Relive Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear

Robert Huggins | Suburban Philadelphia, PA United States | 07/11/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Here's yet another inexpensive collection of Western television series episodes that have fallen into the public domain. The number of shows represented, six, is a bit smaller than some of the other collections available, but there is a greater number of episodes offered for each of the series, with "Wagon Train" represented by three hour-long episodes and "Buffalo Bill Jr." represented by seven episodes, and the other series having four or five episodes each. The episodes from "Wagon Train" and "The Lone Ranger" have been released many times over on other Western collections and individual DVDs, but shows like "Buffalo Bill Jr.," "Judge Roy Bean" (in color), and "The Range Rider" are not often seen on DVD. The sixth show included in this collection, "Shotgun Slade," seems almost out of place as it really is a hybrid Detective/Western series. However, there are five episodes of "Shotgun Slade" included here and only Platinum Disc Corporation's 15-episode, 2-DVD collection (which Amazon also carries) represents a larger collection of commercially available "Slade" episodes on DVD.



As is typical with public domain material, the audio/visual quality of the episodes is not up to the standards of modern day releases, so my advice to the "high definition" crowd is to avoid this set. However, for collectors/fans of vintage television shows and Westerns, all of the episodes are watchable . . . just be aware that you may already own some of these episodes if you have previously purchased Western television DVD compilations from Brentwood, Diamond Entertainment, Goodtimes, Madacy, and Platinum Disc Corporation; the audio/visual quality of this release from St. Clair Vision is comparable to those other sets. St. Clair Vision "ups the ante" a bit for budget DVD releasing companies by including some bonus material, chief among them being the inclusion of an audio "Lone Ranger" radio episode from 1955. Fans of television Westerns may also be intertested to know that St. Clair Vision has released 36 (of 39) episodes of the mid-1950s Western series "Stories of the Century" on a separate collection that Amazon also carries.

"

50's primetime horse operas

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 08/10/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"SHOTGUN SLADE is probably the only western to ever have a modern jazz soundtrack. Slade's custom made double-barreled shotgun fired both a shotgun shell and a rifle bullet.



BUFFALO BILL JR. was a Gene Autry Flying A Production. An orphan adopted by Judge Wiley (founder of Wileyville, Texas), Bill eventually became the town's marshal.



The eccentric JUDGE ROY BEAN was 41 when he married a 15-year-old girl. Bean held court in a saloon he owned in a west Texas desert town. Series star Edgar Buchanan actually bears some resemblance to the judge.



THE RANGE RIDER roamed the west on his horse Rawhide, doing good deeds. Also in this Flying A Production was the future star of BUFFALO BILL JR., Dickie Jones. (Range Rider Jock Mahoney was Sally Field's step-father.)



The WAGON TRAIN and LONE RANGER episodes in this box set are some of the more common public domain examples of western TV programs. Through many years of travelling, the Wagon Train kept rolling. Lone Ranger's story is most familiar of all, yet it's a great concept. An ambushed and near-death Texas Ranger is rescued by an Indian. He heals and goes on a quest to rid the west of bad guys, his new friend by his side.



ULTIMATE TV WESTERNS - 150 EPISODES is a gigantic collection of 1950s and '60s television series that you just have to see to believe!



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The following program list includes episode numbers, titles, original airdates and guest actors.



DISC 1:

WAGON TRAIN

(Robert Horton - Flint McCulloch)

(#223) Alias Bill Hawks (S.6, 5/15/63) - Jeannie Bal/Hal Baylor/Ed Nelson

(#170) The Dr. Denker Story (S.5, 1/31/62) - Theodore Bikel

(#169) The Malachi Hobart Story (S.5, 1/24/62) - Franchot Tone/Irene Ryan/Wally Brown



SHOTGUN SLADE

(Scott Brady - Shotgun Slade)

(#38) A Flower on Boot Hill (6/11/60) - Shirley Ballard/Paul Langton/William Roerick

(#33) Backtrack (5/28/60) - King Donovan/Lou Nova/Connie Hines

(#26) Donna Juanita (4/15/60) - Donna Martell

(#35) Killer's Brand (6/10/60) - Ruta Lee/Dean Fredericks/George Mitchell

(#34) Ring of Death ("Ring of Truth") (6/3/60) - Richard Hale/Bethel Leslie/Denver Pyle





DISC 2:

THE LONE RANGER

(Clayton Moore - Lone Ranger/Jay Silverheels - Tonto)

(#10) High Heels (S.1, 11/17/49) - Carl von Schiller/John Berkes

(_#1) Enter the Lone Ranger (S.1, 9/15/49) - Glenn Strange/George J. Lewis

(_#2) The Lone Ranger Fights On (S.1, 9/22/49) - Walter Sande/George Chesebro

(_#5) Rustlers' Hideout (S.1, 10/13/49) - Harry Lauter/Joseph Crehan



BUFFALO BILL JR.

(Dickie Jones - Buffalo Bill Jr./Harry Cheshire - Ben Wiley)

(_#2) Runaway Renegade (S.1, 3/1/55) - Walter Reed/Sammy Ogg

(_#6) The Death of Johnny Ringo (S.1, 3/22/55) - Angie Dickinson/Harry Lauter

(_#3) Empire Pass (S.1, 3/3/55) - Bill Kennedy/Holly Bane

(_#5) The Black Ghost (S.1, 3/12/55) - William Henry/Denver Pyle

(_#4) Trail of the Killer (S.1, 3/4/55) - Chuck Courtney/Keith Richards

(#24) Rails Westward (S.1, 7/30/55) - Dennis Moore/Steve Mitchell





DISC 3:

JUDGE ROY BEAN

(Edgar Buchanan - Roy Bean/Jackie Loughery - Letty Bean)

(#19) The Eyes of Texas (1/13/56) - Orlando Rodriguez/Erale Hodgins

(_#8) Black Jack (10/29/55) -John Warburton/Allan Nixon

(#12) The Fugitive (11/26/55) - William A. Henry/Lane Bradford

(#24) Outlaw's Son (2/17/56) - Alan Dinehart III/Bernadine Hayes

(_#6) The Runaway (10/15/55) - Tom Keene/Sandra Hayden



THE RANGE RIDER

(Jock Mahoney - The Range Rider/Dickie Jones - Dickie West)

(#34) Blind Trail (S.2, 1/10/52) - Sandy Sanders/Holly Bane/John Parrish

(#65) Border City Affair (S.3, 3/16/53) - Jean Wiles/Fred Krone/John Doucette

(#78) Outlaw Pistols (last episode) (S.3, 6/12/53) - Kathleen Case/Sheb Wooley

(#36) Shotgun Stage (S.2, 1/24/52) - House Peters Jr./Elaine Riley

(#69) West of Cheyenne (S.3, 4/17/53) - Lyle Talbot/Pamela Blake





BONUS FEATURES

DISC 1:

Robert Horton Bio

Scott Brady Bio



DISC 2:

"The Lone Ranger" radio show - Refund for Thunder



DISC 3:

The Golden Age of TV Westerns"

Episodes On This DVD Set Appear on Other Classic TV Western

Lou Cole | 02/17/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The episodes on this classic TV western DVD set can be found in the other DVD box sets as



Ultimate TV Westerns - 150 Episodes



Western TV Classics 150 Episodes



Classic TV Westerns 300 Episodes This last one is a combination of the above two.



The problem with the product descriptions on Amazon.com is that they do not give you a list of the episodes that appear on thes DVD sets. As a result, you can unknowningly order and get DVD sets that have the exact same episodes that you already have on the other DVD sets that you may have ordered before.



I highly recommend that you skip this DVD set and order the Classic TV Westerns 300 Episodesif you have not yet ordered or gotten any of the above mentioned ones. Aong with this, you may also want to consider ordering or getting Essential TV Western 150 Episodes.



Forget about this DVD set.



"

Light fun for the curious and the nostalgic.

D.L.C. | Camden County, NJ | 01/01/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I was most interested in the Shotgun Slade and the Judge Roy Hill episodes. I had always heard about Shotgun Slade and so I was interested in seeing those episodes. I enjoyed them and would be willing to see more. However, they were a little more "light weight" than several people had led me to believe. Still, I'm curious to see more.

Judge Roy Hill was interesting, but a little too comedic for my taste. I've seen all of him that I need.

I also don't ever need to see another Buffalo Bill Jr episode.

The Lone Ranger is something that I've always liked. However, if you don't know the opening story, you'd better find it somewhere else. They give you most of it on this set ... and then don't finish the story!

All in all, the set is at least worth the price."