Law of the Plainsman

Last updated
Law of the Plainsman
Michael Ansara Law of the Plainsman 1959.JPG
Michael Ansara as Sam Buckhart.
Starring
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes30
Production
Running time25 minutes
Release
Original network NBC
Original releaseOctober 1, 1959 (1959-10-01) 
September 22, 1960 (1960-09-22)

Law of the Plainsman is a Western television series starring Michael Ansara that aired on NBC from October 1, 1959, until September 22, 1960. [1]

Contents

The character of Native American U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart was introduced in two episodes ("The Indian" and "The Raid") of the popular ABC Western television series The Rifleman starring Chuck Connors. As with The Rifleman, this series was produced by Four Star Productions in association with Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions . [2]

Law of the Plainsman is distinctive in that it was one of the few television programs that featured a Native American as the lead character, a bold move for U.S. network television at that time. Ansara had earlier appeared in the series Broken Arrow , having portrayed the Apache chief, Cochise. Ansara, however, was not Native American but of Lebanese descent.

Plot

Ansara played Sam Buckhart, an Apache Indian who saved the life of a U.S. Cavalry officer after an Indian ambush. When the officer later died, he left Sam money that was used for an education at private schools and Harvard University. After school, he returned to New Mexico where he became a deputy marshal working for Marshal Andy Morrison. He lived in a boarding house run by Martha Commager. Other continuing characters include 8-year old Tess Logan, an orphan who had been rescued by Buckhart, and a second Deputy Marshal, Billy Lordan. [3]

Cast

Recurring

Guest cast

Episodes

No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Prairie Incident"Douglas HeyesHarry KronmanOctober 1, 1959 (1959-10-01)
2"Full Circle"Jerry HopperDavid LangOctober 8, 1959 (1959-10-08)
3"A Matter of Life and Death" Richard Whorf Cyril HumeOctober 15, 1959 (1959-10-15)
4"The Hostiles"Don MedfordCalvin Clements Sr.October 22, 1959 (1959-10-22)
5"Passenger to Mescalero" William F. Claxton Palmer ThompsonOctober 29, 1959 (1959-10-29)
6"Blood Trails"Richard WhorfArthur Browne, Jr.November 5, 1959 (1959-11-05)
7"Desperate Decision"Robert GordonDavid LangNovember 12, 1959 (1959-11-12)
8"Appointment in Santa Fe"William F. ClaxtonArthur Browne, Jr.November 19, 1959 (1959-11-19)
9"The Gibbet"William F. ClaxtonPat FielderNovember 26, 1959 (1959-11-26)
10"The Dude"Ted PostCyril HumeDecember 3, 1959 (1959-12-03)
11"The Innocent"Ted PostBob BarbashDecember 10, 1959 (1959-12-10)
12"Clear Title"John PeyserDavid P. HarmonDecember 17, 1959 (1959-12-17)
13"Toll Road" James Sheldon Calvin Clements Sr.December 24, 1959 (1959-12-24)
14"Calculated Risk"James NeilsonArthur DalesDecember 31, 1959 (1959-12-31)
15"Fear"Paul WendkosArthur Browne, Jr.January 7, 1960 (1960-01-07)
16"Endurance"John PeyserMilton S. GelmanJanuary 14, 1960 (1960-01-14)
17"The Comet"John PeyserCyril HumeJanuary 21, 1960 (1960-01-21)
18"The Rawhiders"Paul LandresJay SimmsJanuary 28, 1960 (1960-01-28)
19"The Imposter"David Lowell RichDavid LangFebruary 4, 1960 (1960-02-04)
20"Common Ground"John PeyserCalvin Clements Sr.February 11, 1960 (1960-02-11)
21"The Matriarch" Arthur Hilton Teddi Sherman February 18, 1960 (1960-02-18)
22"A Question of Courage"John RichDonn MullallyFebruary 25, 1960 (1960-02-25)
23"Dangerous Barriers"Paul LandresHarry KronmanMarch 10, 1960 (1960-03-10)
24"The Show-Off"John PeyserJohn DunkelMarch 17, 1960 (1960-03-17)
25"Rabbit's Fang"Paul LandresJay SimmsMarch 24, 1960 (1960-03-24)
26"Stella"Paul LandresJames EdwardsMarch 31, 1960 (1960-03-31)
27"Amnesty"Robert GordonLee BergApril 7, 1960 (1960-04-07)
28"Jeb's Daughter"Paul LandresArthur Browne, Jr.April 14, 1960 (1960-04-14)
29"Cavern of the Wind"Paul LandresRichard FielderApril 21, 1960 (1960-04-21)
30"Trojan Horse"Paul WendkosBob BarbashMay 5, 1960 (1960-05-05)

Production

Filming

The series was produced by Four Star Television and was filmed at CBS Studio Center.[ citation needed ]

Syndication as The Westerners

The show only lasted one season. For syndicated reruns it was grouped with three other short-lived Western series from the same company, Black Saddle starring Peter Breck, Johnny Ringo starring Don Durant and Sam Peckinpah's critically acclaimed creation, The Westerner [5] starring Brian Keith, under the umbrella title The Westerners, with new introductions and wrap-ups by Keenan Wynn.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Ansara</span> American actor (1922–2013)

Michael George Ansara was an American actor. He portrayed Cochise in the television series Broken Arrow 1956-1958, Kane in the 1979–1981 series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Commander Kang in Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart in the NBC series Law of the Plainsman, and provided the voice for Mr. Freeze in the DC Animated Universe. Ansara received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in the television industry, located at 6666 Hollywood Boulevard.

<i>The Rifleman</i> American Western television program

The Rifleman is an American Western television series starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show was filmed in black and white, in half-hour episodes. The Rifleman aired on ABC from September 30, 1958, to April 8, 1963, as a production of Four Star Television. It was one of the first primetime series on US television to show a single parent raising a child.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claude Akins</span> American actor (1926–1994)

Claude Aubrey Akins was a Cherokee-American character actor with a long career on stage, screen, and television. He was best known as Sheriff Lobo on the 1979–1981 television series B. J. and the Bear, and later The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, a spin-off series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold J. Stone</span> American actor

Harold J. Stone was an American stage, radio, film, and television character actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skip Homeier</span> American actor

George Vincent Homeier, known professionally as Skip Homeier, was an American actor who started his career at the age of eleven and became a child star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four Star Television</span> Defunct American television production company

Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Charles Boyer, and Joel McCrea, it was inspired by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz founding Desilu Productions a year earlier. McCrea left soon after its founding to continue in films, television and radio, and was replaced by Ida Lupino as the fourth star—although Lupino did not own stock in the company.

<i>The Westerner</i> (TV series) American western television series

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.

<i>Black Saddle</i> American TV series or program

Black Saddle is an American Western television series starring Peter Breck that aired 44 episodes on NBC from January 10, 1959, to May 6, 1960. The half-hour program was produced by Dick Powell's Four Star Television, and the original backdoor pilot was an episode of CBS's Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, with Chris Alcaide originally portraying the principal character, Clay Culhane.

<i>Johnny Ringo</i> (TV series) Television series

Johnny Ringo is an American Western television series starring Don Durant that aired on CBS from October 1, 1959, until June 30, 1960. It is loosely based on the life of the notorious gunfighter and outlaw Johnny Ringo, also known as John Peters Ringo or John B. Ringgold, who tangled with Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Buckskin Franklyn Leslie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold Laven</span> American film director

Arnold Laven was an American film and television director and producer. He was one of the founders and principals of the American film and television production company Levy-Gardner-Laven. Laven was a producer of, among other things, the western television series The Rifleman and The Big Valley. He also directed motion pictures, including Without Warning!, The Rack, The Monster That Challenged the World, Geronimo, Rough Night in Jericho, and Sam Whiskey. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Laven directed dozens of episodes of television series, including episodes of Mannix, The A-Team, Hill Street Blues, The Six Million Dollar Man, Fantasy Island, The Rockford Files and CHiPs.

<i>Hotel de Paree</i> American TV series or program

Hotel de Paree is a Western television series starring Earl Holliman that aired thirty-three episodes on the CBS Friday evening from October 2, 1959, until September 23, 1960, under the alternate sponsorship of the Liggett & Myers company and Kellogg's.

<i>Shotgun Slade</i> American TV series or program

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.

<i>Wichita Town</i> American TV series or program

Wichita Town is a half-hour Western television series starring Joel McCrea, Jody McCrea, Carlos Romero, and George Neise that aired on NBC from September 30, 1959, until April 6, 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mort Mills</span> American actor (1919–1993)

Mort Mills was an American film and television actor who had roles in over 150 movies and television episodes. He was often the town lawman or the local bad guy in many popular westerns of the 1950s and 1960s.

Herschel Burke Gilbert was an American orchestrator, musical supervisor, and composer of film and television scores and theme songs, including The Rifleman, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, and The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor. Gilbert once estimated that his compositions had been used in at least three thousand individual episodes of various television series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert F. Simon</span> American actor (1908–1992)

Robert Frank Simon was an American character actor.

Philip Marlowe is a half-hour ABC crime series, featuring Philip Carey as Marlowe, the fictional detective created by Raymond Chandler. It was broadcast from October 6, 1959, until March 29, 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nora Marlowe</span> American actress

Nora Marlowe was an American film and television character actress.

Jean Allison is an American actress.

<i>Dick Powells Zane Grey Theatre</i> American TV series or program

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre is an American Western anthology television series that was broadcast on CBS from October 5, 1956, until May 18, 1961.

References

  1. Hyatt, Wesley (2015). Short-Lived Television Series, 1948-1978: Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops. McFarland. pp. 99–100. ISBN   978-1-4766-0515-9 . Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  2. Law Of The Plainsman S01E19 The Imposter – YouTube
  3. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (1999). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (7th ed.). New York: The Ballentine Publishing Group. p. 567. ISBN   0-345-42923-0.
  4. Lentz, Harris (1996). Western and Frontier Film and Television Credits 1903-1995: Section I. Actors and actresses. Section II. Directors, producers, and writers. McFarland. p. 353. ISBN   9780786402175 via Google Books.
  5. Erickson, Hal (2009). Encyclopedia of Television Law Shows: Factual and Fictional Series About Judges, Lawyers and the Courtroom, 1948-2008. McFarland. p. 46. ISBN   978-0-7864-5452-5 . Retrieved July 3, 2020.