The Westerner (TV series)


The Westerner is a highbrow American Western series that aired on NBC from September 30 to December 30, 1960. Created, written and produced by Sam Peckinpah, who also 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.

Plot

Dave Blassingame was a basically decent, ordinary man who was handy with a gun and his fists. A cowboy and drifter, he could sometimes behave amorally in his quest to get enough money together to buy his own ranch, but always did the right thing in the end, and remained true to himself.
His equally amiable dog Brown was played by Spike, who was trained by Frank Weatherwax and is best known for playing the title role in Old Yeller. Brown figured prominently in a number of episodes, appeared in all of them, and was always seen faithfully following Blassingame in the end credits.

Cast

Main cast

Guest stars included Malcolm Atterbury, Ben Cooper, Katy Jurado, and John M. Pickard, and one episode memorably featured Warren Oates as a drunk quietly passing out at a table.

Production

Broadcasting

The pilot for The Westerner appeared on CBS's Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater. The musical score was largely the work of Four Star's Herschel Burke Gilbert.

Syndication as ''The Westerners''

For rerun syndication 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 Law of the Plainsman starring Michael Ansara, under the umbrella title The Westerners, bracketed with hosting sequences featuring Keenan Wynn.

Episodes

Reception

The critically acclaimed series ran for 13 episodes, but it was cancelled because of low ratings.

Spin-offs and remakes

''The Losers'' (1963)

An unsuccessful attempt to update and revive the hardbitten series aired as a January 1963 episode of The Dick Powell Theater, "The Losers", directed by Peckinpah and featuring Lee Marvin as Dave Blassingame and Keenan Wynn as Burgundy Smith, but set in the modern West. Rosemary Clooney portrayed the leading lady.

''Will Penny'' (1968)

One of the episodes of "The Westerner", "Line Camp", was the basis for the 1968 Charlton Heston film Will Penny.

''The Gambler Returns'' (1991)

Brian Keith briefly played the same character again in 1991's , which featured a number of 1950s and 1960s television Western series leads reprising their roles in quick cameo appearances.

Home media

A two-DVD set of the complete series was released by Shout! Factory in February 2017.