Lawman TV History

There is much stress in the world today. It is difficult to watch any media related to news. Although it is important to stay informed, sometimes it is just as important to disconnect.
My wife and I lately have been disconnecting via classic TV Westerns from the 50s and 60s. In fact, we DVR and watch one classic western series now every day. It is our escape. That television series originally aired as part of ABC Sunday night lineup from 8:30-9pm. It, Lawman, ran for 156 episodes from October 5, 1958, until October 2, 1962.
Warner Brothers, who produced the series, already had several Western series on the air at the same time. But this was a Western with a difference. Many considered it a “pure Western” and a “thinking Western”. It used standard weapons instead of tricked out rifles, or gold headed canes. As John Russel stated, ”The stories begin with A, proceed straight to B, and stopped neatly at C without any fussy complications.”

The series starred John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop and Peter Brown as Deputy Marshal Johnny McKay. The storyline revolves around Dan Troop, a police officer from Abilene, Kansas who relocates to Laramie, Wyoming, and becomes the new town Marshal after the previous Marshall was murdered. To help him keep the law Troop deputizes young Johnny McKay and teaches him the fundamentals of law enforcement. The two lawmen keep the peace in Laramie for four seasons.

John Russell may not have been the most attractive lawman on television, but as a model for law and order he certainly, I believe, personified it in purest form. His Marshal Dan Troop character was portrayed as a hardnosed, by-the-book, seasoned lawman, quick with a gun, and good with his fists. He was rugged, deadly serious, intelligent, and dedicated. He often was stubborn and unyielding when it came to enforcing the law of the land.
John Russell, who was 37 years old when he got the part, imagined that Dan would have to be older (perhaps his mid-fifties) to have that much experience as a lawman. Russell had white streaks added to his hair and lowered his voice to make him appear older.
He said about his Lawman character, “Troop is a man doing a job at the expense of everything else. He doesn’t make himself winning or witty or do anything else to make people like him. The stories we’ve done on ‘Lawman’ are about people under stress. Men under stress do desperate things. We have tried to play it that way.

Deputy Johnny McKay was portrayed by Peter Brown. Troop arrives in Laramie as Johnny McKay, who was 19, was placing flowers on the grave of his friend, the murdered marshal. Dan Troop is initially reluctant to deputize him based on his young age and lack of experience. Over time, though, McKay proves his worth and earns Troop's trust. Johnny called Dan "Mr. Troop" or "Sir" and Dan usually called Johnny "Boy".
About his Johnny Mckay character, Brown said “My character was not a big stretch; he was a pretty nice kid who was adept at what he did and was eager to learn. Johnny liked girls and guns and all the things Peter Brown liked.” About the show he said, “The only thing that makes ‘Lawman’ different from other Westerns is how we do it.”

Prior to the beginning of production, Russell, Brown, and producer Jules Schermer made a pact to maintain the quality of the series so that it would not be seen as "just another Western". During the first season, the episodes maintained a serious tone. At the start of season two, the scripts included more comedy and some romance. A third cast member, Peggy Castle, and a new location, the Bird Cage, were introduced. The Bird Cage was where the good guys and the bad guys often convened. Its owner, Lily Merrill, frequently gave both Dan and Johnny wise advice when needed.

Lily Merrill came to Laramie from Billings, Montanna. She had been forced out of Billings by a corrupt sheriff. Soon after her arrival in Laramie, she became Dan Troop’s romantic interest. His job, though, often thwarted any serious development. Sometimes the viewers were left with a sense that Lily was secretly disappointed that their relationship was not going further.

Russell and Brown participated in two other westerns of the time. Both actors appeared in an episode of Maverick entitled “Hadley’s Hunters’ with Jack Kelley as Bart Maverick. Peter Brown appeared as Johnny McKay with Adam West as Doc Holliday in Sugarfoot “Trial of the Canary Kid”.
Despite contending with hectic schedules, very tight budgets, and a myriad of writers and directors who were never given the time or money they got at other studios, Lawman generally achieved decent ratings. It competed against an array of high-powered westerns airing at the time. The two stars and producer Jules Schermer were the constants maintaining the high quality of the show and the consistency of the characters. Some critics, though, believed the show was too similar to Gunsmoke. They thought the show's main character, Marshal Dan Troop, was too similar to Marshal Matt Dillon, and both characters also had love interests who owned saloons.

Lawman was shot in black and white and was thirty minutes in length. Although the setting was 1879 – 1880 Laramie, Wyoming, most of its filming was done on the back lot of Warner Brothers Burbank studio. Many actors guest starred. These are just a few: Joel Grey, Robert Fuller, Jack Elam, Paul Fix, Lee Van Cleef, Denver Pyle, Jeanette Nolan, Marie Windsor, Pernell Roberts, Sammy Davis Jr., DeForest Kelley, and James Coburn.
The popularity of Lawman spawned a variety of merchandise during its run. There were lunchboxes, puzzles, boots, sheet music, and action figures. A Lawman comic book, drawn by Dan Spiegle, ran for eleven issues (1958- 1962).

Lawman’s primary television competition was the Ed Sullivan show on CBS. (Lawman aired at 8:30 p.m. opposite Ed Sullivan’s last half hour.) For the first two seasons of its four-season run Lawman followed Maverick on Sunday nights in the 8:30 p.m. time slot. In the eight o’clock ABC time slot was Colt .45 and later The Rebel. In season four ABC replaced Lawman with a Sunday night movie and moved Lawman to 10:30 p.m. essentially sounding a death knell for the show. Its last ride was June 24, 1962, thus ending one of the great all-time TV westerns.

Trivia
In the beginning of the series, Dan and Johnny had a pet cat in the office. The cat disappeared during the course of season one, and its absence was never explained.
John Russell based his character, Dan Troop, on an officer he knew, when he served in the U.S. Marines.
In the early 1960s an American magazine sponsored a contest for actors who portrayed western heroes and villains. The magazine held a competition among some of the stars of the shows, firing blanks, aiming not at each other, but down range, and using an electronic timer. Quite a lot of cowboy stars showed up. Peter Brown beat them all and won the title of the fastest gun in Hollywood.
Jake, the bartender at the Birdcage, was played by Dan Sheridan. His character’s name was only mentioned one time. It was Summers.
Although Lawman marked her only continuing series, Castle was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 for her outstanding career.
In order to attract more female viewers in season two, the producers started having Peter Brown leave his shirt unbuttoned.
Whenever someone fell to the ground, the same sound effect was used, regardless of if they fell off a horse, or while hiding behind a rock.
This was one of the only "Warner Brothers" westerns of the late 1950s to early 1960s that did not have a crossover from one of the other show's stars.
One of the writers listed in the credits is "W. Hermanos", which is a code that meant the script was recycled from another series. W. Hermanos is a Spanish take on the name Warner Brothers.