The opening title credits of each episode in the series feature a depiction of McCord's cashiering and drumming out of the military. He is then sent out of the fort where this ceremony occurred, and the gates are closed behind him. Although the exact date of McCord's cashiering is never given, events and people depicted in episodes place the events of the series itself as sometime during the first administration of President Ulysses S. Grant and after William Seward negotiated the Alaska purchase. The name and location of the fort are also not given; but since Bitter Creek, where the battle that caused McCord's discharge took place, is in southern Wyoming, the location of the fort is presumably within what was in 1869 the Wyoming Territory. U.S. military forts known to be in operation at that time in the territory included Fort Bridger, Fort Fetterman, and Fort Laramie. In the pilot episode, "The Vindicator", McCord is confronted by a newspaper reporter who wants a follow-up story on the Bitter Creek massacre. McCord refuses to cooperate. He knows that General James Reed, McCord's mentor, was on a peace mission to meet representatives of the Cheyenne nation at Bitter Creek. His unit of 31 men was attacked by a group of renegade Indians known as Dog Soldiers. During the attack, McCord realized that the old general had taken leave of his senses. McCord assumed command, but it was too late. McCord was wounded in the battle and left for dead, the only survivor. He remained in a coma for 10 days after the attack. McCord was later charged with desertion, convicted at court-martial, and cashiered out of the Army. The reporter tracks down a widow of the Bitter Creek massacre. Her husband was third in command and had written several letters questioning Reed's mental state. Those letters would have been enough to grant McCord a new trial and possibly exonerate him, but McCord convinced the widow to burn the letters to protect Reed's reputation. McCord feared that if Reed's reputation were damaged, certain people in Washington, DC, would try to start a new war with the Apaches. McCord chose never to speak about what really happened at Bitter Creek. McCord retained the handle of his broken saber with attached pommel. He had the remaining blade sharpened into a long knife, which he used in many episodes. He traveled throughout the Old West, continually confronted by people who refused to believe his innocence, requiring him to prove them wrong. John M. Pickard appeared in six episodes as General Phil Sheridan. Other notable guest stars included Chris Alcaide, Russ Conway, Don Collier, Burgess Meredith, John Carradine, Pat Conway, Alex Cord, Janet De Gore, Dolores del Río, Chad Everett, I. Stanford Jolley, Martin Landau, June Lockhart, Gregg Palmer, Larry Pennell, Burt Reynolds, Lee Van Cleef, Bruce Dern, and Michael Rennie.
Production
Created by Larry Cohen, the show was co-produced for most of its run by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions in association with Sentinel Productions, Inc. Goodson-Todman was primarily known for game and panel shows such as What's My Line?, The Price Is Right, and Match Game; those are under Fremantle now. Present-day U.S. rights to Branded came into the ownership of King World before it became CBS Television Distribution. Many stations that carry Branded today usually schedule the program alongside others about drifters in the Old West including Aaron Spelling's The Guns of Will Sonnett, which starred Walter Brennan and Dack Rambo; as with Branded, King World / CBS also distributed Will Sonnett in syndication. Parts of the series were filmed at the Kanab movie fort and Kanab Canyon in Utah. The series followed Connors's series The Rifleman, but it did not have that show's longevity, lasting only 48 episodes over two seasons. The first season was shot in black and white ; the second season of 32 episodes was made in color. Andrew J. Fenady served as the producer, later executive producer, on the series. Fenady was also the producer of The Rebel.
Episode list
Season 1 (1965)
*In color Parts One, Two and Three of the color episode "The Mission" were later released as a movie titled Broken Sabre, with new footage. According to Western Clippings, the re-edited movie version ends with Jason "regaining his commission and resuming his army career," thus giving an ending to the series. It also ends with Jason asking a woman to marry him and she says yes. The movie was released to theaters on May 30, 1965.
Timeless Media Group released both seasons of Branded on DVD in Region 1 in 2004–2005. Season 1 was released on August 3, 2004, and season 2 was released on February 8, 2005. On February 16, 2010, Timeless Media Group released Branded: The Complete Series, a six-disc box set featuring all 48 episodes of the series and several bonus features. More-recent prints cut for syndication are used for the set, and as a result, three minutes are missing from each episode. Broken Saber is not included.
