Bat Masterson | |
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Genre | Western |
Starring | Gene Barry |
Narrated by | Bill Baldwin, Bob LeMond |
Theme music composer | Havens Wray (David D. Rose) |
Ending theme | Bill Lee (Singer) |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 108 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producers |
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Running time | 30 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | October 8, 1958 – June 1, 1961 |
Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which was a fictionalized account of real-life marshal, gambler, and journalist Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry, and the half-hour black-and-white series ran on NBC from 1958 to 1961. [1] The show was produced by Ziv Television Productions. "Bat" is a nickname for Masterson's first name Bartholemew, although the fictional Masterson says that his name is William Barkley Masterson. [2]
The series was based on the biography Bat Masterson by Richard O'Connor, as noted in the closing credits. [3] : 143 [4]
The fictionalized Masterson dressed in expensive clothing, including a walking stick with a hidden sword. [2] He preferred to use his cane rather than a gun to get himself out of trouble. He was portrayed as a ladies' man who traveled the West looking for women and adventure. He also came to the aid of innocents wrongly accused of crimes. [1]
The series is a fictionalized account of the life of real-life Bat Masterson, who had been an Army scout, Indian fighter, lawman, and a deputy of Wyatt Earp. [5] : 58 It was produced by Ziv Television Productions, [6] and is loosely based on Richard O'Connor's 1957 biography of Masterson. [3] : 143 This was highlighted by the book's front cover being shown at the end of the closing credits with an onscreen notation "based on". A 1959 TV Guide article quoted the producer as stating they wanted the show to be as accurate as possible. [7] The series was sponsored by Kraft. [8]
Gene Barry originally turned down the role of Bat Masterson because he preferred to stay working in film, [6] and he did not like ordinary cowboys. But when Barry, who wore a homburg and chesterfield coat when looking for work as an actor in New York, found out the character carried a cane and wore a derby hat, he jumped at the opportunity. [3] : 144 Barry was selected for the part directly by Fred Ziv. [6] Barry was the only regular cast member of the series, while guest stars each week included both name and soon-to-be-name performers. [5] : 58
While Bat Masterson's dapper attire and gold-tipped cane might not seem like the look of a typical Wild West hero, Bat Masterson's derby hat and cane were trademarks of the real-life Masterson, having been presented to him by the citizens of Dodge City and were thus incorporated into the character as portrayed in the series. [1] [3] : 143 In the series, his cane contained a hidden sword. [2]
The popularity of the singing cowboys of the fifties led to several classic Westerns having themes resembling cowboy ballads, and Bat Masterson was no exception. [5] : vi According to BMI and the sheet music, the theme music was written by Havens Wray (although incorrectly spelled by BMI as Ravens Wray). However, it was likely written by David Rose, an ASCAP member who couldn't use his own name for a BMI composition. [9] The words were by BMI writer Bart Corwin. The theme song was sung by Bill Lee, a member of the Mellomen.
Although Bat Masterson was positively reviewed by critics, the show was aired at a time when there were many other Westerns, and it was lost in the crowd. It never appeared in the Nielsen top 25. The show was cancelled after only three seasons. [3] : 147
The show originally aired on NBC from October 8, 1958 to September 21, 1961. It was placed in a different time slot for each of its three seasons: [1] : 106
TGG Direct released the first and second seasons on DVD in Region 1 on January 29, 2013. [10] [11] The third and final season was released on November 5, 2013. [12] Due to licensing issues, the episode Terror on the Trinity is not included.
A fictional Bat Masterson appeared in 34 episodes of the unrelated ABC/Desilu western series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp from 1955 to 1959. Mason Alan Dinehart played the role of Bat Masterson, with Hugh O'Brian as frontier peace officer Wyatt Earp. Dinehart was so associated with the role of Masterson that it was difficult for television audiences to adapt to a different actor in the role. [13]
The show was extremely popular in Brazil. Gene Barry visited the country in 1961, the year that the show was first broadcast there, and he was received by President João Goulart for a talk in Brasilia. [14]
Barry recreated the role of Bat Masterson in an episode of the television series Guns of Paradise (1990), alongside Hugh O'Brian as Wyatt Earp.
In The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991) Barry played Masterson, also with O'Brian as Earp, as well as Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick and Clint Walker as Cheyenne Bodie.
Dell Comics issued nine issues of a quarterly Bat Masterson comic book between Aug./Oct. 1959 and Nov. 1961/Jan. 1962 with the initial issue a Four Color tryout (#1013). [15]
Columbia Features syndicated a comic strip from September 7, 1959 to April 1960 written by Ed Herron and drawn by Howard Nostrand (Sept. 1959–Dec. 1959) and Bob Powell (Dec. 1959–April 1960). [16] Nostrand was assisted (on backgrounds) by Neal Adams who had just graduated from the School of Industrial Arts; it was among his first professional art jobs. [17]
John HenryHolliday, better known as Doc Holliday, was an American dentist, gambler, and gunfighter who was a close friend and associate of lawman Wyatt Earp. Holliday is best known for his role in the events surrounding and his participation in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. He developed a reputation as having killed more than a dozen men in various altercations, but modern researchers have concluded that, contrary to popular myth-making, Holliday killed only one to three men. Holliday's colorful life and character have been depicted in many books and portrayed by well-known actors in numerous movies and television series.
Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the late 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was born to a working-class Irish family in Quebec, but he moved to the Western frontier as a young man and quickly distinguished himself as a buffalo hunter, civilian scout, and Indian fighter on the Great Plains. He later earned fame as a gunfighter and sheriff in Dodge City, Kansas, during which time he was involved in several notable shootouts.
Hugh O'Brian was an American actor and humanitarian, best known for his starring roles in the ABC Western television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955–1961) and the NBC action television series Search (1972–1973). His notable films included the adaptation of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians (1965); he also had a notable supporting role in John Wayne's last film, The Shootist (1976).
Gene Barry was an American stage, screen, and television actor and singer. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the films The Atomic City (1952) and The War of the Worlds (1953) and for his portrayal of the title characters in the TV series Bat Masterson and Burke's Law, among many roles.
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is the first Western television series written for adults. It premiered four days before Gunsmoke on September 6, 1955. Two weeks later came the Clint Walker western Cheyenne. The series is loosely based on the life of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour, black-and-white program aired for six seasons on ABC from 1955 to 1961, with Hugh O'Brian in the title role.
Paradise is an American family Western television series, broadcast by CBS from October 27, 1988, to May 10, 1991. Created by David Jacobs and Robert Porter, the series presents the adventures of fictitious gunfighter Ethan Allen Cord, whose sister left her four children in his custody when she died.
Ziv Television Programs, Inc. was an American production company that specialized in productions for first-run television syndication in the 1950s.
David Rudabaugh was a cowboy, outlaw and gunfighter in the American Old West. Modern writers often refer to him as "Dirty Dave" because of his alleged aversion to water, though no evidence has emerged to show that he was ever referred to as such in his own lifetime.
James Child Drury Jr. was an American actor. He is best known for having played the title role in the 90-minute weekly Western television series The Virginian, which was broadcast on NBC from 1962 to 1971.
Thomas Morgan Woodward was an American actor who is best known for his recurring role as Marvin "Punk" Anderson on the television soap opera Dallas and for his portrayal of Boss Godfrey, the sunglasses-wearing "man with no eyes", in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke. On TV, he was a familiar guest star on cowboy shows. On the long-running Western Gunsmoke, he played 16 different characters in 19 episodes, the most such appearances of any actor on the show. He also had a recurring role on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.
Adele Mara was an American actress, singer, and dancer, who appeared in films during the 1940s and 1950s and on television in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Westerner is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from September 30 to December 30, 1960. Created and produced by Sam Peckinpah, who also wrote and directed some episodes, the series was a Four Star Television production. The Westerner stars Brian Keith as amiable, unexceptional cowhand/drifter Dave Blassingame, and features John Dehner as rakish Burgundy Smith, who appeared in three episodes.
Edward John Masterson was a lawman and the oldest brother of the American West gunfighters Bat Masterson and James Masterson.
Bob Steele was an American actor. He also was billed as Bob Bradbury Jr..
Shotgun Slade is an American western mystery television series starring Scott Brady that aired seventy-eight episodes in syndication from 1959 to 1961 Created by Frank Gruber, the stories were written by John Berardino, Charissa Hughes, and Martin Berkeley. The series was filmed in Hollywood by Revue Studios.
Ronald G. Hayes was an American television actor, who as an activist in the environmental movement, worked for the establishment of the first Earth Day, observed on April 22, 1970. He was a member of the Sierra Club and a founder of the ecological interest group Wilderness World.
Mason Alan Dinehart is an American business consultant and retired actor best known for his role as a youthful Bat Masterson in 34 episodes between 1955 and 1959 of the ABC/Desilu television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O'Brian in the title role of the frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. He is also known as Mason Alan Dinehart III, Alan Dinehart III, and Mase Dinehart.
Ken Drake was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films and TV series from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Wyatt Earp was an American Old West lawman and gambler in Cochise County, Arizona Territory, and a deputy marshal in Tombstone, Arizona Territory.