Wide Country (1962)

 

Wide Country was one of two rodeo-themed new westerns to debut in the fall of 1962, the other being Stoney Burke. As we documented in our previous post about the latter series, rodeo was surging in popularity as a sport and TV westerns based in the 19th century were fading as a result of over saturation--all of which made a modern western based around a rising sport seem like a good bet. But, as we also commented in that earlier post, rodeo in and of itself is not interesting or complex enough to sustain a weekly 1-hour TV program, so the rodeo angle becomes more atmospheric background for stories about other human problems. In their respective interviews for the DVD release of Wide Country, stars Earl Holliman and Andrew Prine both characterized the series as a kind of Route 66 on the rodeo circuit, and the comparison is an apt one as both shows feature two young men driving around the country and being drawn into the daily dramas of other people's lives. The series was produced by Frank Telford, whose television resume dated back to the late 1940s with programs such as Captain Video and His Video Rangers as well as anthology series such as The Silver Theatre, The Bigelow Theatre, and The Gulf Playhouse. In the mid-1950s he created and produced a series called The Stranger about an anonymous person who intervened in people's lives at critical junctures, and he had produced two western series in the early 1960s--The Outlaws in 1960-61 and the Civil War-era drama The Americans in 1961. Neither of these series lasted more than a single season. Given the popularity and critical acclaim of Route 66, Telford first tested his hybrid western/road drama in the March 13, 1962 episode of the drama anthology Alcoa Premiere titled "Second Chance" with Holliman and Prine playing their rodeo brothers Mitch and Andy Guthrie trying to help out besmirched Korean War veteran and now rodeo rider Hoby Dunlap, played by Cliff Robertson. Neither Holliman nor Prine have commented about the back story of how the series was planned or came to be, other than Prine saying he had been lured to Hollywood from New York with an offer to co-star in the series at least a couple of years before it went on the air.

One difference between Wide Country and Stoney Burke is that in the latter series the title character is pursuing the Golden Buckle as overall rodeo champion, which gives some of the episodes built-in narrative rationale, whereas in the former series Mitch Guthrie is already a three-time defending all-around rodeo champion, making him something of a celebrity wherever he goes.  Though he semi-intentionally loses that title in the first episode, "The Royce Bennett Story" (September 20, 1962), the remaining 12 episodes that aired in 1962 act as if that loss never happened. Like Stoney Burke, many episodes on Wide Country attempt to borrow the format from another popular genre and adapt it to the rodeo world. In this episode, it's Ben Casey and its brain tumor of the week story. Royce Bennett has always been just a calf roper, not an all-around competitor, but when he learns that his headaches and blurred vision are caused by a terminal, inoperable brain tumor, he decides to compete for all-around champion because the prize money that comes with it would pay off the ranch he is in the process of buying for his wife and young son, thereby setting them up for life after he is gone. Like the patients on Ben Casey, he ignores his doctor's advice to rest and won't tell anyone about his condition, not even his wife. Once Mitch learns what is causing his aberrant behavior, he loses the last event of the competition, thereby handing the prize money to Bennett, though when Andy asks Mitch if he deliberately took a dive as they are driving to the next event, Mitch acts insulted at the suggestion.

"Who Killed Eddie Gannon?" (October 11, 1962) plays like part murder mystery, part fog-of-war reminiscence one might find on a show like Combat! Mitch attends a reunion with Korean War buddies, and one squad member insists on assigning blame to the events that lead to their commander Eddie Gannon being killed by the enemy. "Straitjacket for an Indian" (October 25, 1962) is like many old western TV episodes that present a non-white culture as initially nonsensical but ultimately having its own logic that is just different from the white world. Sometimes these old west episodes explore Chinese culture or Jewish culture, but here it is Mitch's Native American friend who doesn't understand or abide by white traditions or property ownership because they don't apply in his culture. A couple of episodes would have fit nicely on The Eleventh Hour or Naked City because they depict mental psychosis. "Our Ernie Kills People" (November 1, 1962) centers on a spoiled, rich young man who is a psychopath and beats Andy to a pulp, fracturing his skull, supposedly because his friend's girlfriend seemed fond of Andy, but really just because he enjoys toying with people. "The Bravest Man in the World" (December 6, 1962) depicts a pathological liar whose fictional tall tales about his past exploits don't really hurt anyone except for his long-suffering wife, though he also fails to rescue a drowning young woman from her swimming pool after claiming to have been a heroic Navy frogman.

"Good Old Uncle Walt" (December 13, 1962) casts the ubiquitous Edgar Buchanan in yet another irresponsible rascal role as a con man who eventually finds himself outwitted by a marriage-minded widow, the sort of story one might expect on Maverick. The sad clown cliché gets trotted out in "Tears on a Painted Face" (November 29, 1962), as it also was on Stoney Burke, though this time the rodeo clown has to face advancing age and arthritis while feeling compelled to keep working to provide for his self-absorbed, irresponsible son. And no western series would be complete without our hero falling in love with and planning to marry a terminally ill young woman who hides her condition from him until the very end. It happens to Little Joe Cartwright of Bonanza in the 1962 episode "The Storm," and it happens to Mitch Guthrie in "My Candle Burns at Both Ends" (December 20, 1962). Andy also believes he is going to get married, though he chooses exotic dancer Jenny Callan in "The Girl in the Sunshine Smile" (November 15, 1962)., For some reason he reconsiders after insisting on riding a bucking bull, which he has never done before, initially to prove to her how manly he is. But when she tries to stop him, he says he has to do it to prove something to himself. HIs line of reasoning doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, but any excuse will do to keep western TV stars single and therefore desirable to their female fans.

In short, while the rodeo world may have been unfamiliar to the average TV viewer in 1962, the stories built around it on Wide Country all seem to have a familiar ring, and that lack of original material made it difficult for the series to stand out. Both Holliman and Prine said they enjoyed working on the series, thought it was well done, and would have liked to see it continue beyond a single season of 28 episodes. But Holliman also remarked that he thought it failed to do better because NBC did not handle it properly--failing to place it in all the cities where Nielsen ratings were measured so that it came up short, and allowing local stations to air it at unfavorable times, such as late at night after most people had gone to bed. Guthrie seems to have a legitimate beef--there were no merchandising tie-ins on Wide Country, no board games, Dell comic books, or TV Guide cover stories as there were for Stoney Burke. But even with all those advantages, Stoney Burke lasted only one season as well. Apparently the expected interest in rodeo just wasn't there.

The main theme for Wide Country was composed by Johnny Williams, profiled in the 1960 post on Checkmate. All the individual episode scores for 1962 were composed by Morton Stevens, profiled in the 1961 post on 87th Precinct.

The complete series has been released on DVD by Timeless Media Group.

The Actors

Earl Holliman

Henry Earl Holliman was born in Delphi, Louisiana on September 11, 1928, the son of a farmer who died before he was born. His destitute mother, who had several other children already (she would have 10 in all), put him up for adoption, and within a week he was adopted by itinerant oil worker Henry Holliman and his wife Velma, a waitress. Holliman grew up traveling with his parents and sometimes helping his adoptive mother working in cafes. He recalls that from age 5 or 6 he was determined to become a movie star and spent all the time and money he could at movie theaters, often working in the cotton fields to make enough money to see the next show. Henry Holliman died when Earl was 13, and at age 15 he hitchhiked to Los Angeles to fulfill his dream to become an actor but ran out of money within a week and had to return home. When Velma remarried, Holliman did not like his stepfather and again left home to join the Navy, though he was underage, and was assigned to the Navy communications school in Los Angeles, where he spent all his free time at the Hollywood Canteen, meeting and gathering information from the actors who frequented the restaurant. But after a year, when his mother learned he was about to be shipped overseas, she told the Navy how old he really was and he was sent back home, where he completed high school. Upon graduation, he rejoined the Navy and was assigned to Norfolk, Virginia, where he gathered acting experience after hours in productions at the Norfolk Navy Theatre. After completing his Navy service, he returned to Hollywood and studied acting at USC and the Pasadena Playhouse, though he would eventually graduate from UCLA. He also worked at a defense contractor making templates for sabre jets and learned from a friend of his that he could get onto the Paramount Studio lot by telling the gate guard that he had an appointment with Vic the barber. He would use this ruse to stroll the Paramount lot, watch films being made, and meet various people in the business, the most important of which was Paul Nathan, then associate producer for Hal Wallis. He made a regular habit of pleading with Nathan to get him any kind of part in a movie, and eventually he was given a 1-line part as an elevator operator in the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy Scared Stiff in 1953. The pay for that one-day's work covered only half of his entry fee into the Screen Actors Guild, so he continued begging for more work to at least break even. He was finally allowed to test along with 24 other actors as Marines in a scene in The Girls of Pleasure Island, but before the test he was told to go get a haircut from, of course, Vic the barber. He was supposed to be given a typical Marine crew cut, but Vic noticed that his hair would not cooperate, so he wound up with a kind of frontal fringe that resembled bangs. He made enough of an impression that he not only got the bit part in The Girls of Pleasure Island but his distinctive hair style led to a string of other supporting roles over the next several years, including Destination Gobi, East of Sumatra, Tennessee Champ, and Broken Lance. He appeared in several major features in the mid-1950s such as The Bridges at Toko-Ri, Forbidden Planet, and Giant before his big breakout role as Jim Curry in 1956's The Rainmaker, for which he won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor but missed out on an Oscar nomination. He played Kirk Douglas' deputy the next year in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the same year he made his television debut on episodes of Matinee Theatre and Playhouse 90. In the late 1950s he continued appearing in feature films such as Don't Go Near the Water, Hot Spell, and Last Train From Gun Hill, but his TV career began gaining steam, primarily on drama anthology series, though he also appeared in the first episode of The Twilight Zone in 1959. He also embarked on a singing career that saw him release several singles on Capitol Records as well as a couple more on smaller labels. In 1959 he landed his first recurring TV role as former gunslinger turned marshal Sundance on Hotel de Paree, but the series lasted only a single season so he was soon back to work in feature films like Armored Command and Summer and Smoke in addition to TV guest spots on drama anthologies as well as Bus Stop and Checkmate. One of those drama anthologies, Alcoa Premiere,  featured the pilot for his next series--"Second Chances" was a story about rodeo rider Mitch Guthrie and his younger brother Andy helping another rider who had been unfairly branded a traitor. The concept was then launched as its own series, Wide Country, in the fall of 1962.

Like Hotel de Paree, Wide Country lasted only a single season, but instead of jumping immediately back into feature films and TV guest spots, Holliman used this hiatus to expand his repertoire onto the stage, joining a traveling production of the musical Oklahoma! followed by local theatrical productions of Sunday in New York in Philadelphia and The Country Girl in Indianapolis. By 1965 he was back guest starring on a number of TV series, including Bonanza, Dr. Kildare, The Virginian, and The Fugitive but also found time to play Matt Elder in the John Wayne western The Sons of Katie Elder. Work in film slacked off over the next couple of years, but his 1968 appearance in a Los Angeles production of Tennessee Williams' Camino Real caught the attention of Williams, who begged Holliman to play the role of Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire. Holliman was unable to do so at the time because of other commitments, but he wound up playing the role later, in a 1973 25th anniversary production starring Jon Voigt and Faye Dunaway. He continued to find steady work on features such as The Power, The Tribe, and The Biscuit Eater in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but most of his work was on television series such as The F.B.I., Gunsmoke, Marcus Welby, M.D., It Takes a Thief, Ironside, and Medical Center. By 1973 he was starring more in TV movies than feature films, and around this time he took over as chairman of the animal welfare organization Actors and Others for Animals when Doris Day stepped down, a position he held for many years. After appearing in a 1974 episode of Police Story, he was tabbed for a regular role for the spinoff Police Woman opposite Angie Dickinson. The show was produced by Doug Benton, who had been associate producer on Wide Country, and after Benton noted that most of the real-life policemen he interviewed for background on the series were from the same part of the country where Holliman grew up, he tabbed Holliman for the role of Sgt. and then Lt. Bill Crowley. He appeared in 90 episodes over the next four years in his longest-running TV role. By the 1980s he had opened a dinner theater in San Antonio in whose productions he would periodically appear while also finding roles in feature films such as Sharky's Machine starring Burt Reynolds, playing Luddie Miller in the hit mini-series The Thorn Birds, and appearing in TV movies on occasion. He returned to regular TV roles in the 1990s, first as Matthew Durning on P.S., I Luv U from 1991-92, then as Darden Towe on Delta Burke's series Delta in 1992-93, and finally as Frank Dominus on NightMan in 1997-99. His final credits came in the 2000 feature film The Perfect Tennant and an episode of Chicken Soup for  the Soul. In 2018 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and as of this writing, he is still living at age 96.

Andrew Prine

Andrew Lewis Prine was born February 14, 1936 in Jennings, Florida where his father was a Pullman conductor. He later said he got the acting bug after his mother, who had divorced his father and remarried, took him to a road-show theatrical production of Showboat in Jacksonville. After graduating from Miami Jackson High School, he attended the University of Miami on a drama scholarship but dropped out and moved to New York (thanks to a free ride on his father's train) to pursue an acting career. His big break came in 1958 when he was chosen to replace Anthony Perkins in the Broadway production of Look Homeward, Angel. Years later Prine speculated that he got the role merely because he was tall and thin but that the experience taught him how to act after being an indifferent student at the Actors Studio. When the production finally closed in 1959, he moved to California after interest from Universal Studios, initially planning to return to Broadway until he learned how much more film actors make compared to those on the stage. Though he had an uncredited part in the 1955 feature film To Hell and Back and a single appearance on The United States Steel Hour in 1957, his film career began in earnest in 1959 with the feature film Kiss Her Goodbye and a guest spot on the syndicated newspaper-themed TV series Deadline. By 1960 he was finding guest spots on a number of TV series, such as Tombstone Territory, One Step Beyond, Overland Trail, Peter Gunn, Have Gun -- Will Travel, and Thriller. He continued the TV guest spot trend in 1961 but had his next breakout success the following year, playing Helen Keller's brother in The Miracle Worker and being cast as Andy Guthrie on an episode of Alcoa Premiere which was then spun into the series Wide Country that fall.

Concurrent with his starring role on Wide Country, Prine appeared in 3 episodes of Gunsmoke in 1962-63 and would continue to find his most significant work in westerns over the next decade. Also in 1963 he married actress Sharon Farrell, but the couple reportedly only lived together a little more than a month and were divorced later that year. He was then embroiled in the unsolved murder of actress Karen Kupcinet, whom he dated in 1962 and 1963. When she was found apparently strangled to death in her apartment after she had harassed him with threatening messages which she also sent to herself, Prine became a suspect in her death but was never charged, and Kupcinet's father later wrote that he suspected a neighbor of Karen's who was often in her apartment and had behaved suspiciously when her murder was being investigated.  In 1964 Prine played Richard Kimball's skeptical brother in an early episode of The Fugitive and had a supporting role in the Civil War-era comedy Advance to the Rear. In 1965 Prine married actress Brenda Scott for the first of three times: they would divorce in 1966, remarry in 1968, divorce again in 1969, and then remarry once more in 1973, this time staying together 5 years before a third and final divorce. Also in 1965 he had a semi-recurring role as Dr. Roger Helvick on the final season of Dr. Kildare. His next regular role came playing Tom Pride, son of homesteader Ben Pride (played by Barry Sullivan) in the 1966 western The Road West with Brenda Scott playing his sister, but the series lasted only a single season. In 1968 he appeared in a pair of Andrew V. McLaglen-directed features, The Devil's Brigade and Bandolero!  He would also appear in McLaglen's 1970 western Chisum starring John Wayne. While he continued occasional guest work on TV series such as The Virginian and The F.B.I., he began finding more substantial work in horror features such as Simon, King of the Witches (1971), Crypt of the Living Dead (1973), and Terror Circus (1973). To help promote his next horror flick, The Centerfold Girls, he posed nude for women's magazine Viva in 1974. In the later 1970s with westerns having largely left the small screen, he found work guest starring on crime dramas such as Barnaby Jones, Police Surgeon, Cannon, Baretta, and Hawaii Five-O. He played opposite Ben Johnson and Dawn Wells in the 1976 unsolved murder mystery feature The Town That Dreaded Sundown. He continued working steadily, if not always prolifically, to within 5 years of his death in 2022, with his most notable roles being the alien Steven on the mini-series V and V: The Final Battle in 1983-84, Wayne/Wyatt Donnelly on the TV series Weird Science in 1994-98, and in the Quentin Tarrantino-directed, Emmy-winning two-part episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in 2005. In 1986 he married for the final time to Heather Lowe. He died of natural causes while vacationing in Paris on October 31, 2022 at the age of 86.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 1, Episode 1, "The Royce Bennett Story": Steve Forrest  (shown on the left, appeared in Geisha Girl, Rogue Cop, Heller in Pink Tights, and Flaming Star and played John Mannering on The Baron, Lt. Dan Harrelson on S.W.A.T., and Wes Parmalee on Dallas) plays terminally ill rodeo competitor Royce Bennett. Jacqueline Scott (starred in House of Women, Empire of the Ants, and Telefon and played Donna Kimble Taft on The Fugitive) plays his wife Ella. Bill Mumy (Will Robinson on Lost in Space, Weaver on Sunshine, and Lennier on Babylon 5) plays his son David. Dayton Lummis (Marshal Andy Morrison on Law of the Plainsman) plays his physician Dr. Willis Burroughs. Barbara Stuart (Bessie on The Great Gildersleeve, Alice on Pete and Gladys, Bunny on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Peggy Ferguson on The McLean Stevenson Show, Marianne Danzig on Our Family Honor, and Alice on Huff) plays waitress Hilda. Sandy Kenyon (Des Smith on Crunch and Des, Shep Baggott on The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, and Reverend Kathrun on Knots Landing) plays the Guthries' friend Walt. Jon Locke (Officer Garvey on Highway Patrol and Sleestack Leader on Land of the Lost) plays cowboy Eddie. Morgan Jones (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Blue Angels) plays the rode announcer.

Season 1, Episode 2, "A Guy for Clementine": Noah Beery, Jr.  (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Riverboat) plays rodeo hand Barney Hamlin. Joyce Bulifant (shown on the right, played Mary Gentry on Tom, Dick and Mary, Mrs. Marsha Patterson on The Bill Cosby Show, Peggy Wilson on Love Thy Neighbor, Marjorie Martin on Big John, Little John, Marie Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Miriam Willoughby on Flo, and Emily Wallace on Weird Science) plays his daughter Clementine. Rosemary Murphy (appeared in The Young Doctors, To Kill a Mockingbird, Ben, and Walking Tall and played Nola Hollister on The Secret Storm and Margaret Blumenthal on Lucas Tanner) plays his ex-wife Sabina. Jim McMullan (Officer Don Burdick on Chopper One, John Moore on Beyond Westworld, and Sen. Andrew Dowling on Dallas) plays rodeo rider Spence Roebuck. Edward Holmes (Willy Bryan on The Edge of Night) plays hotel clerk Albert. Mary Grace Canfield (Amanda Allison on The Hathaways, Harriet Kravitz on Bewitched, and Ralph Monroe on Green Acres) plays a church organist. Richard Collier (Harry Price on Many Happy Returns) plays the menswear shop clerk.

Season 1, Episode 3, "Journey Down a Duty Road": Wallace Ford  (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Deputy) plays itinerant farm worker patriarch Adam "Dad" Perry. Sam Edwards (starred in Captain Midnight, Twelve O'Clock High, and The Beatniks and played Hank the hotel clerk on The Virginian and Mr. Bill Anderson on Little House on the Prairie) plays his son Paul. Roger Mobley (Homer "Packy" Lambert on Fury) plays Paul's son Billy Joe. Jean Inness (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Dr. Kildare) plays hospital nurse Stella Barnes. Jonathan Hole (Orville Monroe on The Andy Griffith Show) plays jewelry store owner Henry Meyers. Robert Cornthwaite (Professor Windish on Get Smart and Howard Buss on Picket Fences) plays minister Rev. Raymond Hill. Pitt Herbert (played the telegrapher on The Virginian) plays hospital administrator Luther Niles.

Season 1, Episode 4, "Who Killed Eddie Gannon?": Russell Johnson  (shown on the right, starred in It Came From Outer Space, This Island Earth, and Johnny Dark and played Marshal Gib Scott on Black Saddle, Professor Roy Hinkley on Gilligan's Island, and Assistant D.A. Brenton Grant on Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law) plays wealthy businessman Arn McHugh. Shirley Ballard (Miss California 1944, wife of actor Jason Evers, script supervisor on Mad Max and continuity supervisor on Water Under the Bridge and The Sullivans) plays his wife Fay. Ed Nelson (Michael Rossi on Peyton Place, Ward Fuller on The Silent Force, and Sen. Mark Denning on Capitol) plays Mitch's former Army colleague Paul Corbello. Joyce Van Patten (appeared in I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!, Mame, The Bad News Bears, St. Elmo's Fire, and The Falcon and the Snowman and played Janice Turner Hughes on As the World Turns, Clara Kershaw on Young Dr. Malone, Claudia Gramus on The Good Guys, Iris Chapman on The Mary Tyler Moore Hour, Helen Marsh on All My Children, and Maureen Slattery on Unhappily Ever After) plays Corbello's wife Nina. Charles Aidman (narrator on the 1985-87 version of The Twilight Zone) plays priest John Nieman. Stanley Adams (Lt. Morse on Not for Hire and Gurrah on The Lawless Years) plays another former Army colleague George Root. Eddie Ryder (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Dr. Kildare) plays another former Army colleague Tom Weiss. Alejandro Rey (Carlos Ramirez on The Flying Nun, Karl Duval on Days of Our Lives, and Capt. Luis Rueda on Dallas) plays another former Army colleague Manny Podesta.

Season 1, Episode 5, "What Are Friends For?": James Westerfield (shown on the left, appeared in The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, and The Love God? and played John Murrel on The Travels of Jamie McPheeters) plays small-town Sheriff Barney Morse. Hal Baylor (Jenkins on Rawhide and Mercury on Batman) plays his nephew Deputy Burt Carter. Jerome Cowan (starred in Shall We Dance, Victory, High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, Miracle on 34th Street and many Blondie movies and played Collins on Not for Publication and John Larsen on The Tab Hunter Show) plays lawyer Ben Stanton. Jay Novello (Juan Greco on Zorro and Mayor Mario Lugatto on McHale's Navy) plays drunk driver Julio Perez. Paul Maxey (Matt Brockway on Lassie and Mayor John Peoples on The People's Choice) plays political operative Ty Grant. Woodrow Parfrey (appeared in Planet of the Apes, Dirty Harry, and Papillon and played Holmes on Iron Horse) plays his partner Stanley P. Mattox, Jr. Joan Patrick (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Dr. Kildare) plays hotel receptionist Ruth Baker. Addison Richards (starred in Boys Town, They Made Her a Spy, Flying Tigers, and The Deerslayer and played Doc Calhoun on Trackdown and Doc Landy on The Deputy) plays a state commission chairman. Larry J. Blake (played the unnamed jailer on Yancy Derringer and Tom Parnell on Saints and Sinners) plays police desk sergeant George.

Season 1, Episode 6, "Straitjacket for an Indian": Claude Akins (shown on the right, played Sonny Pruett on Movin' On and Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo on B.J and the Bear and on Lobo) plays Mitch's Kosenko friend Bullriver. Lory Patrick (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Tales of Wells Fargo) plays his wife Georgina. Howard McNear (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Andy Griffith Show) plays Indian agent J. Carmody. Ray Teal (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Bonanza) plays rodeo manager Harry Kemper. L.Q. Jones (Belden on The Virginian, Sheriff Lew Wallace on The Yellow Rose, and Nathan Wayne on Renegade) plays drunken cowboy Whicker. Alvy Moore (appeared in Susan Slept Here, Designing Woman, and The Wackiest Ship in the Army and played Howie on Pete and Gladys and Hank Kimball on Green Acres) plays his friend Rex. Howard Wendell (appeared in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Big Heat, Prince Valiant, The View From Pompey's Head, and The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake and played Judge Willoughby on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays hospital physician Dr. Stackerly.

Season 1, Episode 7, "Our Eddie Kills People": Richard Jordan (shown on the left, appeared in Valdez Is Coming, Rooster Cogburn, Logan's Run, Dune (1984), and The Hunt for Red October and played Harley Gage on The Equalizer) plays spoiled psychopath Ernie Stannard. Frank Wilcox (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Untouchables) plays his father Larry. Irene Hervey (appeared in Destry Rides Again, Cactus Flower, and Play Misty for Me and played Irene Forsythe on The Young Marrieds and Aunt Meg on Honey West) plays his mother Dorothy. John Litel (starred in Back in Circulation, On Trial, Murder in the Blue Room, four Nancy Drew films, and eight Henry Aldrich films and played the Governor on Zorro and Dan Murchison on Stagecoach West) plays her brother Fred Winkler. Barbara Parkins (starred in Valley of the Dolls, The Mephisto Waltz, and Puppet on a Chain and played Betty Anderson Harrington on Peyton Place) plays Ernie's girlfriend Sharon Crosley. Dick Gering (Johnny Green on Margie) plays Ernie's friend Gordon. Don Collier (appeared in Safe at Home!, Paradise, Hawaiian Style, and The Undefeated and played Marshal Will Foreman on Outlaws, Sam Butler on The High Chaparral, and William Tompkins on The Young Riders) plays police investigator Det. Sgt. Van Anda. Ted de Corsia (Police Chief Hagedorn on Steve Canyon) plays police chief Henry McMath. Willis Bouchey (Mayor Terwilliger on The Great Gildersleeve, Springer on Pete and Gladys, and the judge 23 times on Perry Mason) plays Ernie's hearing Judge Spencer. Jody Fair (appeared in High School Confidential, Hot Rod Gang, The Brain Eaters, and Sex Kittens Go to College) plays teenage waitress Myrna. Ken Drake (Bragan on Not for Hire) plays court reporter Lester.

Season 1, Episode 8, "A Devil in the Chute": Michael Ansara (shown on the right, husband of actress Barbara Eden, appeared in Julius Caesar, The Robe, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Harum Scarum, played Cochise on Broken Arrow and Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart on The Rifleman and the Law of the Plainsman, and voiced General Warhawk on Rambo) plays ex-con Jay Brenner. Coleen Gray (starred in Kiss of Death, Nightmare Alley, The Killing, The Vampire, The Leech Woman, and The Phantom Planet and played Muriel Clifford on McCloud) plays rodeo widow Gypsy Laveau. Ray Teal (see "Straitjacket for an Indian" above) plays rodeo manager Frank Higgins. Bing Russell (father of Kurt Russell, played Deputy Clem Foster on Bonanza) plays rodeo cowboy Chelsey Burroughs. Roger Torrey (Nils Torvald on Iron Horse and Mark Templeton on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays his friend Pee Wee. Dick Wessel (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Riverboat) plays a roadhouse bartender. Vic Perrin (was the narrator on Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, was the control voice on The Outer Limits, and did voicework on Jonny Quest, Star Trek, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, and Mission: Impossible!) plays Brenner's father Thurman Brenner.

Season 1, Episode 9, "The Girl in the Sunshine Smile": Anne Helm (shown on the left, starred in Follow That Dream, The Interns, and Honeymoon Hotel and played Molly Pierce on Run for Your Life and Mary Briggs on General Hospital) plays exotic dancer Jenny Callan. Ray Walston (starred in South Pacific, Damn Yankees!, The Apartment, Kiss Me, Stupid, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High and played Uncle Martin on My Favorite Martian, Mr. Bottoms on Santa Barbara, Mr. Arnold Hand on Fast Times, and Judge Henry Bone on Picket Fences) plays her father Arthur. Lyle Talbot (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays rodeo organizer Wilt Marlowe. Peter Leeds (Tenner Smith on Trackdown and George Colton on Pete and Gladys) plays carnival pitchman Vince Dekker. Russ McCubbin (stunt double for Clint Walker on Cheyenne) plays rodeo rider Mort Lamson. Donald "Red" Barry (played Red Ryder in the movie serial The Adventures of Red Ryder, and played Lt. Snedigar on Surfside 6, The Grand Vizier and Tarantula on Batman, Capt. Red Barnes on Police Woman, and Jud Larabee on Little House on the Prairie) plays rodeo hand Roy.

Season 1, Episode 10, "Tears on a Painted Face": Dan Duryea (shown on the right, starred in The Little Foxes, The Pride of the Yankees, Scarlet Street, and Winchester '73 and played China Smith in China Smith and The New Adventures of China Smith and Eddie Jacks on Peyton Place) plays aging rodeo clown Willie Xeno. Carole Wells (Edwina Brown on National Velvet and Lucy Hanks on Pistols 'n' Petticoats) plays his son's girlfriend Holly. Steve Brodie (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays disgruntled rodeo rider Artie Devan. Slim Pickens (starred in The Story of Will Rogers, Dr. Strangelove, Blazing Saddles, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, and The Howling and played Slim on Outlaws, California Joe Milner on Custer, and Sgt. Beauregard Wiley on B.J. & the Bear) plays rodeo rider Slim Walker. Ray Teal (see "Straitjacket for an Indian" above) returns as rodeo manager Frank Higgins.

Season 1, Episode 11, "The Bravest Man in the World": Ray Danton (shown on the left, starred in Chief Crazy Horse, Onionhead, The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond, The George Raft Story, and Portrait of a Mobster and played Nifty Cronin on The Alaskans) plays compulsive liar Warren Price. Peggy McCay (Anna Rose on Room for One More, Iris Fairchild on General Hospital, Mrs. Malloy on Gibbsville, Marian Hume on Lou Grant, and Caroline Brady on Days of Our Lives) plays his wife Mildred. Ford Rainey (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Window on Main Street) plays rodeo marshal Mike Callahan. Yvonne Craig (starred in Gidget, High Time, Kissin' Cousins, Ski Party, and One Spy Too Many and played Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, on Batman and Grandma on Olivia) plays his daughter Anita. Bob Steele (starred in Breezy Bill, Of Mice and Men, and The Big Sleep, played Billy the Kid in 6 westerns and Tucson Smith in 19 others, and played Trooper Duffy on F Troop) plays police investigator Capt. Ainslee.

Season 1, Episode 12, "Good Old Uncle Walt": Edgar Buchanan (shown on the right, played Uncle Joe Carson on The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction, Red Connors on Hopalong Cassidy, Judge Roy Bean on Judge Roy Bean, Doc Burrage on The Rifleman, and J.J. Jackson on Cade's County) plays the Guthries' Uncle Walt. Lurene Tuttle (appeared in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, Ma Barker's Killer Brood, Psycho, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and The Fortune Cookie and played Doris Dunston on Father of the Bride and Hannah Yarby on Julia) plays trailer park owner Minnie Sturgis. Alan Hale, Jr. (Biff Baker on Biff Baker U.S.A., Casey Jones on Casey Jones, and The Skipper on Gilligan's Island) plays rodeo rider Wilbur Yort. Read Morgan (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Deputy) plays his friend Ed Squires. Walter Burke (starred in All the King's Men, Jack the Giant Killer, and Support Your Local Sheriff! and played Tim Potter on Black Saddle) plays Uncle Walt's con-man partner Tim Mayhew.

Season 1, Episode 13, "My Candle Burns at Both Ends": Laura Devon (shown on the left, wife of film composer Maurice Jarre, appeared in Goodbye Charlie, Chamber of Horrors, and Gunn, played Sister Benjamin on Dr. Kildare, and made 25 appearances on The Richard Boone Show) plays rodeo supporter Valerie Moore. Roy Roberts (Capt. Simon P. Huxley on The Gale Storm Show, Admiral Rogers on McHale's Navy, John Cushing on The Beverly Hillbillies, Mr. Cheever on The Lucy Show, Frank Stephens on Bewitched, Norman Curtis on Petticoat Junction, and Mr. Botkin/Bodkin on Gunsmoke) plays rodeo marshal George Frazier. Carl Benton Reid (starred in The Little Foxes, In a Lonely Place, Lorna Doone, and The Left Hand of God and played The Man on Burke's Law) plays Valerie's physician Dr. Dorfman.