Bronco | |
---|---|
Also known as |
|
Genre | Western |
Starring | Ty Hardin |
Theme music composer | |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 4 |
No. of episodes | 68 |
Production | |
Executive producer | William T. Orr |
Producers |
|
Production location | California |
Running time | 60 mins. |
Production company | Warner Bros. Television |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | September 23, 1958 – April 30, 1962 |
Related | |
Bronco is a Western television series on ABC from 1958 through 1962. It was shown by the BBC in the United Kingdom. The program starred Ty Hardin as Bronco Layne, a former Confederate officer who wandered the Old West, meeting such well-known individuals as Wild Bill Hickok, Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Theodore Roosevelt, Belle Starr, Cole Younger, and John Wesley Hardin.
Bronco premiered in the fall of 1958 when Warner Bros. executives and actor Clint Walker clashed over Walker's contract on the series Cheyenne . Walker had walked out on his show over such stringent clauses as a requirement that he return half of all personal appearance fees to Warner Bros., and that he only record for Warner music labels. When the two sides came to an impasse, the network hired newcomer Ty Hardin to play the new character of Bronco Layne, but kept the title of Cheyenne.
When Walker came back to his series, Bronco became a spin-off of Cheyenne. Bronco at first alternated with another Western series, Sugarfoot , featuring Will Hutchins. In 1960, the two began alternating with Cheyenne under the Cheyenne title. Sugarfoot was dropped in 1961, leaving only Bronco and Cheyenne to alternate. Other Warner Bros. Westerns in production around this time included Maverick with James Garner, Jack Kelly, and Roger Moore, Colt .45 with Wayde Preston, and Lawman with John Russell; series characters occasionally crossed over into each other's series.
According to the theme song, Bronco came from the Texas Panhandle, but episodes of the series are set throughout the West.
In the eighth episode, "Freeze-Out" (December 30, 1958), a writer calling herself Mary Brown, played by Grace Raynor, hires Bronco to escort her to a ghost town in the high country, where they encounter three men amid the isolation. As it develops, Mary is not interested so much in story ideas, but in the body of a man buried in a nearby glacier and missing gold. Some four years before the debut of his The Virginian , James Drury plays the part of John Smith, who develops a romantic interest in Mary. Edgar Stehli (1884–1973) plays the part of "Pancake" Riddle.
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "The Besieged" | Alan Crosland Jr. | Teleplay by : Robert Fisher & Alan Lipscott | September 23, 1958 |
2 | 2 | "Quest of the Thirty Dead" | Lee Sholem | Teleplay by : Thomas W. Blackburn | October 7, 1958 |
3 | 3 | "The Turning Point" | Alan Crosland Jr. | Story by : George W. George Teleplay by : George F. Slavin | October 21, 1958 |
4 | 4 | "Four Guns and a Prayer" | Alan Crosland Jr. | Teleplay by : Dean Riesner | November 4, 1958 |
5 | 5 | "Long Ride Back" | Leslie H. Martinson | Teleplay by : James O'Hanlon | November 18, 1958 |
6 | 6 | "Trail to Taos" | Alan Crosland Jr. | Teleplay by : Richard H. Landau | December 2, 1958 |
7 | 7 | "Brand of Courage" | Lee Sholem | Teleplay by : Berne Giler | December 16, 1958 |
8 | 8 | "Freeze-Out" | Lee Sholem | Story by : Steve Frazee Teleplay by : Thomas W. Blackburn | December 30, 1958 |
9 | 9 | "Baron of Broken Lance" | Lee Sholem | Story by : Gerald Drayson Adams Teleplay by : Gerald Drayson Adams & Dean Riesner | January 13, 1959 |
10 | 10 | "Payroll of the Dead" | Lee Sholem | Story by : Steve Frazee Teleplay by : George F. Slavin | January 27, 1959 |
11 | 11 | "Riding Solo" | Alan Crosland Jr. | Story by : Kenneth Perkins Teleplay by : Thomas W. Blackburn | February 10, 1959 |
12 | 12 | "Borrowed Glory" | Harmon Jones | Story by : Vick Knight Teleplay by : Berne Giler | February 24, 1959 |
13 | 13 | "Silent Witness" | Harmon Jones | Teleplay by : Arnold Belgard & Tom Gries | March 10, 1959 |
14 | 14 | "The Belles of Silver Flat" | Lee Sholem | Teleplay by : Robert Fisher & Alan Lipscott | March 24, 1959 |
15 | 15 | "Backfire" | Lee Sholem | Story by : Will Cook Teleplay by : Albert Aley | April 7, 1959 |
16 | 16 | "School for Cowards" | Lee Sholem | Teleplay by : George F. Slavin | April 21, 1959 |
17 | 17 | "Prairie Skipper" | Alan Crosland Jr. | Teleplay by : Arnold Belgard | May 5, 1959 |
18 | 18 | "Shadow of a Man" | Alan Crosland Jr. | Story by : Walker A. Tomkins Teleplay by : Albert Aley | May 19, 1959 |
19 | 19 | "Hero of the Town" | Lee Sholem | Teleplay by : Arnold Belgard | June 2, 1959 |
20 | 20 | "Red Water North" | Lee Sholem | Story by : Alan Le May Teleplay by : Fenton Earnshaw & Dean Reisner | September 19, 1959 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
21 | 1 | "Game at the Beacon Club" | Arthur Lubin | Story by : Arthur W. Silver Teleplay by : Jackson Gillis | September 22, 1959 |
22 | 2 | "The Burning Springs" | Edward Dein | Teleplay by : Gerald Drayson Adams | October 6, 1959 |
23 | 3 | "Bodyguard" | Lee Sholem | Teleplay by : James O'Hanlon | October 20, 1959 |
24 | 4 | "The Soft Answer" | Leslie Goodwins | Teleplay by : Arnold Belgard | November 3, 1959 |
25 | 5 | "The Last Resort" | Lee Sholem | Teleplay by : Jack Laird | November 17, 1959 |
26 | 6 | "The Devil's Spawn" | Lee Sholem | Story by : Wayne D. Overholser & George F. Slavin Teleplay by : George F. Slavin | December 1, 1959 |
27 | 7 | "Flight from an Empire" | Edward Dein | Story by : James Gunn Teleplay by : Albert Aley | December 15, 1959 |
28 | 8 | "Night Train to Denver" | Leslie Goodwins | Teleplay by : George F. Slavin | December 29, 1959 |
29 | 9 | "Shadow of Jesse James" | Leslie Goodwins | Teleplay by : Gerald Drayson Adams | January 12, 1960 |
30 | 10 | "Masquerade" | Herbert L. Strock | Teleplay by : Arnold Belgard | January 26, 1960 |
31 | 11 | "Volunteers from Aberdeen" | Herbert L. Strock | Story by : Louis S. Kaye Teleplay by : Ron Bishop & Wells Root | February 9, 1960 |
32 | 12 | "Every Man a Hero" | Herbert L. Strock | Teleplay by : George F. Slavin | February 23, 1960 |
33 | 13 | "Death of an Outlaw" | Herbert L. Strock | Teleplay by : Gerald Drayson Adams | March 8, 1960 |
34 | 14 | "The Human Equation" | Lee Sholem | Teleplay by : Arnold Belgard | March 22, 1960 |
35 | 15 | "Montana Passage" | Reginald Le Borg | Story by : Jack DeWitt Teleplay by : Gerald Drayson Adams & Howard Browne | April 5, 1960 |
36 | 16 | "Legacy of Twisted Creek" | Andre De Toth | Teleplay by : Jack Laird | April 19, 1960 |
37 | 17 | "Tangled Trail" | Herbert L. Strock | Teleplay by : R. Wright Campbell & Dean Riesner | May 3, 1960 |
38 | 18 | "La Rubia" | Reginald Le Borg | Story by : Gerald Drayson Adams Teleplay by : Arthur W. Silver | May 17, 1960 |
39 | 19 | "Winter Kill" | Jesse Hibbs | Story by : Walter Doniger Teleplay by : Kenneth Higgins | May 31, 1960 |
40 | 20 | "End of a Rope" | Lew Landers | Story by : Orville H. Hampton Teleplay by : Orville H. Hampton & W. Hermanos | June 14, 1960 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
41 | 1 | "The Mustangers" | Robert Altman | Story by : Frank Bonham Teleplay by : William Bruckner | October 17, 1960 |
42 | 2 | "Apache Treasure" | Robert B. Sinclair | Teleplay by : Charles Smith | November 7, 1960 |
43 | 3 | "Seminole War Pipe" | Robert Sparr | Teleplay by : Gerald Drayson Adams | December 12, 1960 |
44 | 4 | "Ordeal at Dead Tree" | Robert Sparr | Teleplay by : Frank Castle | January 2, 1961 |
45 | 5 | "The Invaders" | William J. Hole Jr. | Teleplay by : Sylvan Churnas & Don Tait | January 23, 1961 |
46 | 6 | "The Buckbrier Trail" | Robert Sparr | Teleplay by : William Bruckner | February 20, 1961 |
47 | 7 | "Yankee Tornado" | Lee Sholem | Teleplay by : Warren Douglas | March 13, 1961 |
48 | 8 | "Manitoba Manhunt" | Herbert L. Strock | Teleplay by : Gerald Drayson Adams | April 3, 1961 |
49 | 9 | "Stage to the Sky" | Robert Sparr | Teleplay by : Warren Douglas | April 24, 1961 |
50 | 10 | "Guns of the Lawless" | Richard C. Sarafian | Story by : Todhunter Ballard Teleplay by : William L. Stuart | May 8, 1961 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
51 | 1 | "The Cousin from Atlanta" | Michael O'Herlihy | Teleplay by : Peter Germano | October 16, 1961 |
52 | 2 | "Prince of Darkness" | Marc Lawrence | Teleplay by : Warren Douglas | November 6, 1961 |
53 | 3 | "One Came Back" | Robert Sparr | Teleplay by : Lee Loeb | November 27, 1961 |
54 | 4 | "The Equalizer" | Marc Lawrence | Teleplay by : Warren Douglas | December 18, 1961 |
55 | 5 | "The Harrigan" | Robert Sparr | Story by : William L. Stuart Teleplay by : Fred Eggers | December 25, 1961 |
56 | 6 | "Beginner's Luck" | Leslie H. Martinson | Story by : Steve Frazee Teleplay by : George F. Slavin | January 1, 1962 |
57 | 7 | "Ride the Whirlwind" | Gunther von Fritsch | Teleplay by : Warren Douglas | January 15, 1962 |
58 | 8 | "A Sure Thing" | Paul Landres | Story by : Don Martin Teleplay by : Fred Eggers & Don Martin | January 22, 1962 |
59 | 9 | "Trail of Hatred" | Paul Landres | Story by : Gerald Drayson Adams Teleplay by : Cy Chermak | February 5, 1962 |
60 | 10 | "Rendezvous with a Miracle" | Gunther von Fritsch | Story by : Kay Linaker & Howard Phillips Teleplay by : Kay Linaker, Howard Phillips & Bob Wehling | February 12, 1962 |
61 | 11 | "Destinies West" | George Waggner | Teleplay by : Barry Shipman | February 26, 1962 |
62 | 12 | "The Last Letter" | Robert Sparr | Teleplay by : David Lang | March 5, 1962 |
63 | 13 | "One Evening in Abilene" | Richard Benedict | Teleplay by : Berne Giler | March 19, 1962 |
64 | 14 | "Until Kingdom Come" | Paul Landres | Teleplay by : Lee Loeb | March 26, 1962 |
65 | 15 | "Moment of Doubt" | Paul Landres | Teleplay by : Lester Fuller | April 2, 1962 |
66 | 16 | "A Town That Lived and Died" | Paul Landres | Teleplay by : Richard H. Landau | April 9, 1962 |
67 | 17 | "The Immovable Object" | Sidney Salkow | Teleplay by : Arnold Belgard | April 16, 1962 |
68 | 18 | "Then the Mountains" | George Waggner | Teleplay by : George Waggner | April 30, 1962 |
Warner Bros. has released the first three seasons on DVD in Region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. These are manufacture-on-demand (MOD) releases, available through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. [1] [2] [3] The fourth and final season was released on May 19, 2015. [4]
DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
---|---|---|
The Complete First Season | 20 | July 29, 2014 |
The Complete Second Season | 20 | October 14, 2014 |
The Complete Third Season | 10 | February 3, 2015 |
The Complete Fourth Season | 18 | May 19, 2015 |
Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which was a fictionalized account of the life 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. The show was produced by Ziv Television Productions. "Bat" is a nickname for Masterson's first name, Bartholemew, although in both the 1958 pilot "Double Showdown" and 1961 episode "No Amnesty For Death", he says his name is William Barkley Masterson.
Joseph Peter Breck was an American character actor. The rugged, dark-haired Breck played the gambler and gunfighter Doc Holliday on the ABC/Warner Bros. Television series Maverick as well as Victoria Barkley's hot-tempered middle son Nick in the 1960s ABC/Four Star Western The Big Valley. Breck also had the starring role in an earlier NBC/Four Star Western television series entitled Black Saddle.
Norman Eugene "Clint" Walker was an American actor. He played cowboy Cheyenne Bodie in the ABC/Warner Bros. western series Cheyenne from 1955 to 1963.
Ty Hardin was an American actor best known as the star of the 1958 to 1962 ABC/Warner Bros. Western television series Bronco.
Dorothy Michelle Provine was an American singer, dancer and actress. Born in 1935 in Deadwood, South Dakota, she grew up in Seattle, Washington, and was hired in 1958 by Warner Bros., after which she first starred in The Bonnie Parker Story and played many roles in TV series. During the 1960s, Provine starred in series such as The Alaskans and The Roaring Twenties, and her major film roles included It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Good Neighbor Sam (1964), The Great Race (1965). That Darn Cat! (1965), Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die (1966), Who's Minding the Mint? (1967), and Never a Dull Moment (1968). In 1968, Provine married the film and television director Robert Day and mostly retired. She died of emphysema on April 25, 2010, in Bremerton, Washington.
Sugarfoot is an American Western television series that aired for 69 episodes on ABC from 1957-1961 on Tuesday nights on a "shared" slot basis – rotating with Cheyenne ; Cheyenne and Bronco ; and Bronco. The Warner Bros. production stars Will Hutchins as Tom Brewster, an Easterner who comes to the Oklahoma Territory to become a lawyer. Brewster was a correspondence-school student whose apparent lack of cowboy skills earned him the nickname "Sugarfoot", a designation even below that of a tenderfoot.
The Dakotas is an ABC/Warner Bros. Western television series starring Larry Ward and featuring Jack Elam, Chad Everett, and Michael Greene, broadcast during 1963. The short-lived program is considered a spin-off of Clint Walker's Cheyenne.
Robert Louis Colbert is an American actor best known for his leading role as Dr. Doug Phillips on the ABC television series The Time Tunnel and his two appearances as Brent Maverick, a third Maverick brother in the ABC/Warner Brothers western Maverick.
Will Hutchins is an American actor most noted for playing the lead role of the young lawyer Tom Brewster, in the Western television series Sugarfoot, which aired on ABC from 1957 to 1961 for 69 episodes.
Cheyenne is an American Western television series of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on ABC from 1955 to 1962. The show was the first hour-long Western, and was the first hour-long dramatic series of any kind, with continuing characters, to last more than one season. It was also the first series to be made by a major Hollywood film studio which did not derive from its established film properties, and the first of a long chain of Warner Bros. original series produced by William T. Orr.
Ray Elgin Teal was an American actor. His most famous role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on the television series Bonanza (1959–1972), which was only one of dozens of sheriffs on television and in movies that he played during his long and prolific career stretching from 1937 to 1970. He appeared in pictures such as Western Jamboree (1938) with Gene Autry, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) with Fredric March and Myrna Loy, The Black Arrow (1948), Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole (1951) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) with Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster.
Andra Martin was an American actress who appeared in many television series and a few movies as a contract player for Warner Bros. in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Saundra Edwards was an American actress and model.
Colt .45 is an American Western television series, originally starring Wayde Preston, which aired on ABC between October 1957 and September 1960.
Pierre Lynn de Lappe, also known as Peter Brown, was an American actor. He portrayed Deputy Johnny McKay opposite John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop in the 1958 to 1962 ABC-Warner Brothers western television series Lawman and Texas Ranger Chad Cooper on NBC's Laredo from 1965 to 1967.
Lawman is an American Western television series originally telecast on ABC from 1958 to 1962, starring John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop and Peter Brown as Deputy Marshal Johnny McKay. The series was set in Laramie, Wyoming, during 1879 and the 1880s. Warner Bros. already had several Western series on the air at the time.
Robert Gary Vinson was an American actor who appeared in significant roles in three television series of the 1960s: The Roaring 20s, McHale's Navy, and Pistols 'n' Petticoats.
Randy Stuart, was an American actress in film and television. A familiar face in several popular films of the 1940s and 1950s, and later in western-themed television series, she is perhaps best remembered as Louise Carey, the wife of Scott Carey, played by Grant Williams, in The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).
Daniel Marvin Sheridan was an Irish-American actor who appeared in more than thirty-five television series between 1957 and his death at the age of forty-six in 1963. He was cast in forty-one episodes of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Lawman, usually as the bartender, Jake Summers.