Annie Oakley (TV series)

Last updated
Annie Oakley
Gene Autry and Gail Davis Toronto.jpg
Gene Autry was executive producer of Annie Oakley, and Gail Davis had the title role.
Genre Western
Starring
ComposerErma E. Levin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes81
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Colbert Clark
  • Louis Gray
Cinematography
  • William Bradford
  • Joe Novak
Running time25-minute episodes
Production companyFlying A Productions
Original release
Network Syndication
ReleaseJanuary 9, 1954 (1954-01-09) 
February 24, 1957 (1957-02-24)

Annie Oakley is an American Western television series that fictionalizes the life of the famous Annie Oakley. (Except for depicting the protagonist as a phenomenal sharpshooter of the period, the program entirely ignores the facts of the historical Oakley's life.) Featuring actress Gail Davis in the title role, the weekly program ran from January 1954 to February 1957 in syndication. A total of 81 black-and-white episodes were produced, with each installment running 25 minutes in length. ABC aired daytime reruns of the series on Saturdays and Sundays from 1959 to 1960 and then again from 1964 to 1965.

Contents

Synopsis

The series starred Gail Davis as Annie Oakley, with Brad Johnson as Deputy Sheriff Lofty Craig and Jimmy Hawkins as Annie's little brother, Tagg Oakley; Hawkins appeared in 80 of the series' 81 episodes. In the pilot episode, "Bull's Eye", Tagg is played by Billy Gray (better known for his role as James "Bud" Anderson, Jr. on the TV version of Father Knows Best ). [1] After playing Tagg in the Annie Oakley pilot, Gray joined the cast of Father Knows Best (which premiered in October 1954, nine months after the initial broadcast of Annie Oakley).

In the series, Annie Oakley rides a horse named Target: Tagg's horse is Pixie, and Lofty's mount is Forest. [2] [3] Annie and Tagg live in the fictional town of Diablo, Arizona with their uncle, Sheriff Luke MacTavish, who is frequently away when trouble starts; it is then up to straight-shooting Annie and her "silent suitor", Lofty Craig, to rescue law-abiding neighbors and arrest outlaws. [4] Tagg is often told to stay in town and out of the way. When the need arises to relay important new information or capture by outlaws, he usually ends up in the middle of each episode's adventure.

Annie usually wears the same fringed cowgirl outfit, of which 15 (or more) copies were made during the show's production. [5] She wears her hair in braided pigtails. Additional episodes were considered, but Hawkins had a growth spurt and outgrew his role as Annie's little brother. [6] Annie Oakley was one of Gene Autry's Flying A Productions.

Guest stars

Dick Tufeld appeared fifteen times in assorted roles during the course of the series; Harry Lauter, twelve times; Stanley Andrews and Gregg Barton, eleven times each; Myron Healey, ten times; Roy Barcroft, eight times; William Fawcett, prior to his role as Pete Wilkey in Fury , seven times; William Tannen, six times, and Don C. Harvey, five times.

Episodes

Season 1 (1954-1955)

  1. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN   978-0-7864-6477-7. P. 49.
  2. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946 - Present by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, Ballantine Books, 1995.
  3. Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, the Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows, 1946-Present New York: Ballantine Books, p. 47.
  4. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946 - Present
  5. Annie Oakley Hits the Bulls-Eye!, in the Summer/Fall 1994 Trail Dust magazine
  6. Annie Oakley Hits the Bulls-Eye!
  7. Package Art, Bonus Materials for 'The Complete Series' Archived 2014-08-04 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Annie Oakley in Double Trouble, page 285 (advertising), Whitman Publishing Company, 1958
No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Annie and the Brass Collar"William BerkeRobert Schaefer & Eric FreiwaldJanuary 9, 1954 (1954-01-09)
2"Annie Trusts a Convict"Frank McDonaldNorman S. HallJanuary 16, 1954 (1954-01-16)