Wishbone's Dog Days of the West


Wishbone's Dog Days of the West is a PBS feature-length telefilm that aired on March 13, 1998. It was shot in Galisteo and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The film was aired on PBS stations on March 13, 1998 and released to video on June 9, 1998. It is the first and only TV movie in the Wishbone franchise.

Plot

It starts out with Joe and Wishbone going to the Summer Carnival. Melina and the Oakdale Glee Club are singing on stage; the wiring breaks, causing the stage lights to collapse, but not before Wishbone and Wanda save the children. The reporter "congratulates" her. Then, in the Wild West, Long Bill Longley and his best friend, Tom Merwin, team up to stop a villain named Calliope Catesby. Meanwhile, the same sneaky TV reporter tries to make Wanda Gilmore seem as if she is the town tyrant. It is up to Wishbone and his friends to come to Wanda's rescue.

Cast

Main cast

The movie won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design in 1998. It was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Costume Design/Styling, Outstanding Directing in a Children's Special, and Outstanding Main Title Design in 1999. A Common Sense Media review says, "The pleasing visuals and fast-moving, double-trouble plots make Dog Days of the West one of the best in the Wishbone series. The value of friendship is emphasized in this episode; the show exposes children to O. Henry's short stories and infuses the traditional western with an updated perspective. As unlikely as it seems, Wishbone's wild west fable blends nicely with the contemporary story of a TV reporter running roughshod over one of Oakdale's finest citizens. With two fast moving plots, finely drawn characters and exciting historical visuals, Dog Days of the West will keep kids, and many adults, glued to the screen".