The Best TV Western Series

[Will Killem]

What do y'all think was the best TV western series?
My top picks are 1: Gunsmoke 2: Rawhide 3: The High Chaparal.

[Buck Grizzly]

I remember Dirty Sally. It was a 1970's spin off from an episode of Gunsmoke. The only good part was when the gunfighter she traveled with came in the last few minutes to clean up the messes she created. :lol:

[C. F. 'Charley' Eckhardt]

I'd personally have to include Maverick, especially the James Garner/Jack Kelly episodes.  The later Jack Kelly/Roger Moore episodes didn't really cut it.  The situation in most dramas is 'always serious but never quite hopeless.'  The situation in Maverick was 'always hopeless but never quite serious,' especially in the Garner/Kelly episodes.  Garner's 2 later Western series, Nichols & Bret Maverick, were watchable, but they never got to the level of the original Maverick series.  Jack Kelly pretty much dropped off the radar after Maverick.  I remember seeing him in a made for TV movie playing a modern gambler in Vegas, he popped up in an episode of Lee Majors' stuntman series, & he did a cameo with no lines at the end of the final episode of Bret Maverick, but that's about it.  He died of cancer shortly after the last Bret Maverick episode was filmed.  Of course, Moore went on to be the least-likely James Bond of all.

[anthony martin]

Maverick was one of my favorites too.Actually Jack Kelly stayed pretty busy throughout the sisxties and into the 70's.I remember that he played the heavy in a 1969 Robert Mitchum western-Young Billy Jones I believe it was called.He hosted the game show  Sale of The Century in the 70's too.At that time he was getting very involved in successful real estate speculation and in Huntington Beach politics,first as a city councilman then as mayor in the 80's.Kelly's Maverick episodes actually outnumbered Garner's and his episodes were decidedly more serious in tone.

[Dianne Hartshorn-Blanche's Place]

Will have to go with High Chaparal. My all time favorite

[Dianne Hartshorn-Blanche's Place]

Also forgot How The West Was Won with James Arness and Bruce Boxleitner

 

[Steve Bowen]

My favorites tend to change over time. Lately my favorites have been CHEYENNE and LAWMAN.  Clint Walker has a certain Fess Parker-like charm.  And I enjoy the variety of stories that Cheyenne presents.  And I think John Russell is the perfect steely-eyed, no nonsense cowboy. He's simply the toughest cowboy on TV, in my opinion.  Next month my favorites will probably be the B/W GUNSMOKE episodes or HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL.  That's the great thing about classic TV westerns..... there's enough variety in them to quench whatever western flavor I crave. 

[Jim Holden]

There were so many, but I agree with Steve. I tend to renew my appreciation depending on which ones are showing. Right now I'm discovering the 30 minute Gunsmoke episodes on The Westerns Channel. They are very tightly scripted & acted to give us a complete story in 30 minutes -and drama stories as well. When was the last time we saw a drama series done in, actually, 22 minutes? Hard to do.
When I was younger Maverick used to disappoint me because they were so light- hearted episodes. I preferred the more gritty Westerns & when High Chapparal came along it became my favorite. I liked the more serious morality plays in Westerns & while you can't object to the genius of Maverick & James Garner, I always considered that series as nore of a '60's type of Western. Light & fluffy! LOL!

[Steve Bowen]

I'm going to have to watch some HIGH CHAPPARAL episodes. I have never seen that show and a lot of people seem to love it. 

[Will Killem]

You can see some episodes of  HIGH CHAPPARAL on youTube.

[Steve Bowen]

I'll do that. Thanks!

Speaking of Youtube, I was at the Williamsburg Film Fest on Thursday and had a chance to speak to BBB and buy each of his books. He's a great guy. I really enjoyed meeting him.

Anyway, while there, I saw a DVD set of Disney's TEXAS JOHN SLAUGHTER that I was considering purchasing. But I had never seen the show. So I found a quiet corner, logged on to Youtube through my smart-phone and watched part of an episode. That convinced me that I would enjoy the series so I purchased it.

I also bought 3 DVD's full of full-color scans of every issue of HOPALONG CASSIDY comics, HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL comics and CHEYENNE/SUGARFOOT/COLT .45 comics.

These discs allow you to literally read every page of every issue in full color. The pages really look great enlarged on my laptop screen.

I read an issue of HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL last night and the story was actually very good. Just like an episode of the series.

[Dianne Hartshorn-Blanche's Place]

Most definitely How the West Was Won with James Arness

[patrick mark pazen]

Rawhide and Have Gun Will Travel great westerns that loved to watch as a kid, those where the days