Sergeant Preston of the Yukon (TV series)


Sergeant Preston of the Yukon is an American action adventure western television series, broadcast between 1955 and 1958. It was based on the radio drama Challenge of the Yukon.

Concept

starred as Sgt. Preston, and was supported by his dog Yukon King and horse Rex, now played by real animals. The dog cast as King was not a husky, however, but a large Alaskan Malamute. Charles Livingstone, who had worked on the radio version, directed several episodes. Though no plotlines seem to have been re-used from the radio show, they were generally built upon the same themes.
Mainly filmed at Ashcroft, Colorado, the series was telecast on CBS from September 29, 1955, to September 25, 1958. Trendle-Campbell-Meurer produced the first two seasons, and the show aired in the same time slot as ABC's The Lone Ranger. In its last season, the Jack Wrather Corporation purchased the rights and produced Sergeant Preston of the Yukon.
Following a custom of the period, the show took its theme music from the classical repertoire, in this case the overture to Emil von Reznicek's comic opera Donna Diana.

Comic book adaptation

adapted the series into a comic book series, with scripts by Stan Stunell.

Sponsorship

In 1955, the Quaker Oats company gave away land in the Klondike as part of the Klondike Big Inch Land Promotion which was tied in with the television show. Genuine deeds each to one square inch of a lot in Yukon Territory, issued by Klondike Big Inch Land Co. Inc., were inserted into Quaker's Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice cereal boxes.

DVD/Syndication

released a two-disc best-of set featuring ten episodes from the series on DVD in Region 1 on November 21, 2006.
Infinity Entertainment has released all three seasons of the series on DVD in Region 1.
In May 2016, the series resurfaced on U.S. TV, airing weekday mornings on the action/adventure/western oriented GRIT classic TV/movie network.
The series currently airs on FETV and is available on both Dish & DirecTV.

Cast

The guest stars on Sergeant Preston included: