Congratulations !
You have been awarded points.
Thank you for !
- Story Listed as: True Life For Adults
- Theme: Drama / Human Interest
- Subject: History / Historical
- Published: 10/11/2021
"Long Live His Fame And Long Live His Glory And Long May His Story Be Told"
Legend has it that this adult TV Western began in 1955. That was the year four Old West dramas, that weren’t aimed at children, premiered. They were The Life And Legend Of Wyatt Earp, Gunsmoke, Cheyenne and Have Gun Will Travel. So, on Tuesday, 6 September 1955, television watching was changed forever with the premier of the very first made for adults TV Western. That Western was “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp”. It aired for 229 episodes over six seasons on ABC.
Besides being geared toward an adult audience, the series also had the distinction of being about the life of a real Western cowboy and not one of fiction. The series was based on Stuart N. Lake’s 1931 bestselling but largely fictional biography Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal
In 1929 the famous Wyatt Earp commissioned his memoirs. The writer, Stuart N. Lake, interviewed him before his death. Lake’s book was based on those interviews. But of course, the information from them was based upon Earp’s point of view. Some critics of Lake’s book question Earp’s interpretation of his own “history” and therefore its accuracy. Lake was a consultant for first two years of the tv series.
“The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp”, was a half-hour black and white series. It told the remarkable and supposedly true story of the consummate lawman who shot to wound not to kill. His legend was so big that the television show needed a cast of 724 actors over its six-year run to help tell his story.
“The West it was lawless, but one man was flawless and his is the story you’ll hear.” The lyrics of the theme song made him seem acclaimed beyond belief. The TV show followed the flawless lawman’s/saloon keeper’s career moves and location changes. During the series, Earp came up against real-life western figures such as John Wesley Hardin, the Thompson Brothers, and the Clantons. He befriended and worked alongside the likes of Bat Masterson and Doc Holiday.
The first four episodes of the series took place in Ellsworth, Kansas with Earp as deputy town marshal. Then it moved to Wichita, Kansas. From 1956 to 1959 the show centered around Earp’s Dodge City career. Few viewers, though, complained about Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke) being the town Marshall on Saturday nights. The final two seasons took place in Tombstone, Arizona territory.
Originally, George Montgomery was offered the role. Montgomery was unable to take the role because he had commitments for other western films. If you watched the series, you know the title role was played by Hugh O’Brien. It was his physical resemblance to early photographs of Wyatt Earp that won him the role.
Desilu Productions produced the show and filmed it at the Desilu studios. General Mills, Proctor & Gamble, and the Parker Pen Company sponsored the show throughout its entire six season run. All 229 episodes were filmed in black and white.
SOME Show TRIVIA and other things
All of the buildings in the series were clearly manufactured using modern carpentry equipment. The lines are too straight and none of the wood is warped or has knots in it.
"The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp" was canceled on June 27, 1961, after six seasons and was replaced in the fall of that year with the short-lived animated situation comedy series "Calvin and the Colonel".
Many episodes of the series took place in or around or made a passing reference to the Longbranch Saloon. The Longbranch was also a setting for much of the action on "Gunsmoke". The Long Branch Saloon actually did exist in Dodge City, Kansas during the Cowtown and cattle drive era.
An off-camera barbershop quartet (The Ken Darby Singers) sang the theme song and hummed the background music during the first two seasons.
Despite leading a very dangerous lifestyle, the real Wyatt Earp lived 81 years! He was born in 1848 and died in 1929.
The real Wyatt Earp wore at least a mustache from his teens, until his death. Hugh O’brian throughout the series was clean-shaven.
Hugh O'Brian had been a member of the United States Marine Corps, and he was the fastest quick draw of all his fellow actors on TV Westerns. O'Brian's draw was .08 of a second.
Hugh O'Brian was nominated for an Emmy in 1957 for, "Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic Series". His show was billed as ‘TV’s first adult Western.’ When O’Brian was asked to define ‘adult Western,’ he quipped, ‘The cowboy still kisses his horse—but worries about it.’
Long May His Story Be Told(Ed DeRousse)
"Long Live His Fame And Long Live His Glory And Long May His Story Be Told"
Legend has it that this adult TV Western began in 1955. That was the year four Old West dramas, that weren’t aimed at children, premiered. They were The Life And Legend Of Wyatt Earp, Gunsmoke, Cheyenne and Have Gun Will Travel. So, on Tuesday, 6 September 1955, television watching was changed forever with the premier of the very first made for adults TV Western. That Western was “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp”. It aired for 229 episodes over six seasons on ABC.
Besides being geared toward an adult audience, the series also had the distinction of being about the life of a real Western cowboy and not one of fiction. The series was based on Stuart N. Lake’s 1931 bestselling but largely fictional biography Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal
In 1929 the famous Wyatt Earp commissioned his memoirs. The writer, Stuart N. Lake, interviewed him before his death. Lake’s book was based on those interviews. But of course, the information from them was based upon Earp’s point of view. Some critics of Lake’s book question Earp’s interpretation of his own “history” and therefore its accuracy. Lake was a consultant for first two years of the tv series.
“The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp”, was a half-hour black and white series. It told the remarkable and supposedly true story of the consummate lawman who shot to wound not to kill. His legend was so big that the television show needed a cast of 724 actors over its six-year run to help tell his story.
“The West it was lawless, but one man was flawless and his is the story you’ll hear.” The lyrics of the theme song made him seem acclaimed beyond belief. The TV show followed the flawless lawman’s/saloon keeper’s career moves and location changes. During the series, Earp came up against real-life western figures such as John Wesley Hardin, the Thompson Brothers, and the Clantons. He befriended and worked alongside the likes of Bat Masterson and Doc Holiday.
The first four episodes of the series took place in Ellsworth, Kansas with Earp as deputy town marshal. Then it moved to Wichita, Kansas. From 1956 to 1959 the show centered around Earp’s Dodge City career. Few viewers, though, complained about Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke) being the town Marshall on Saturday nights. The final two seasons took place in Tombstone, Arizona territory.
Originally, George Montgomery was offered the role. Montgomery was unable to take the role because he had commitments for other western films. If you watched the series, you know the title role was played by Hugh O’Brien. It was his physical resemblance to early photographs of Wyatt Earp that won him the role.
Desilu Productions produced the show and filmed it at the Desilu studios. General Mills, Proctor & Gamble, and the Parker Pen Company sponsored the show throughout its entire six season run. All 229 episodes were filmed in black and white.
SOME Show TRIVIA and other things
All of the buildings in the series were clearly manufactured using modern carpentry equipment. The lines are too straight and none of the wood is warped or has knots in it.
"The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp" was canceled on June 27, 1961, after six seasons and was replaced in the fall of that year with the short-lived animated situation comedy series "Calvin and the Colonel".
Many episodes of the series took place in or around or made a passing reference to the Longbranch Saloon. The Longbranch was also a setting for much of the action on "Gunsmoke". The Long Branch Saloon actually did exist in Dodge City, Kansas during the Cowtown and cattle drive era.
An off-camera barbershop quartet (The Ken Darby Singers) sang the theme song and hummed the background music during the first two seasons.
Despite leading a very dangerous lifestyle, the real Wyatt Earp lived 81 years! He was born in 1848 and died in 1929.
The real Wyatt Earp wore at least a mustache from his teens, until his death. Hugh O’brian throughout the series was clean-shaven.
Hugh O'Brian had been a member of the United States Marine Corps, and he was the fastest quick draw of all his fellow actors on TV Westerns. O'Brian's draw was .08 of a second.
Hugh O'Brian was nominated for an Emmy in 1957 for, "Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic Series". His show was billed as ‘TV’s first adult Western.’ When O’Brian was asked to define ‘adult Western,’ he quipped, ‘The cowboy still kisses his horse—but worries about it.’
- Share this story on
- 6
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Gerald R Gioglio
10/18/2021Congrats on the StoryStar award. The show existed as a hazy memory for me. Thanks for filling in the blanks. Loved the last sentence. Take care, Jerry
Reply
COMMENTS (4)