Die Leute von der Shiloh Ranch

Compared to other Westerns, the Virginian was a latecomer to British television screens. Preceding it from the late 1950s were Cheyenne, Wagon Train, Rawhide and the like. Initially, all were shown in black and white on very small screens. Although the Virginian was novel in being 75 minutes long and in colour, the team which created it seems to have come from the former era. Blips overlooked in monochrome stand out like a sore thumb in colour, particularly now, when played on the huge screens we have in our homes.

Watching Seasons 3 and 4 (on DVD) for the first time in 50 years, and catching up on Seasons 1 and 2 on Freeview, I was intrigued by the contradictions. There was the ambitious use of acting royalty like Bette Davis and George C Scott, and yet for interior shots, the scenes of the outside world as seen through open doorways, are painted backdrops which look amateurish.

Given my love of Westerns, it's surprising just how unengaged I was initially with the Shiloh regulars. Betsy was close to my age at the time but I didn't identify with her at all. It's like when you read a novel - there needs to be a character with whom you can empathise, one you trust to lead you into the story. For me, that did not happen until Season 3 when Emmett Ryker rode into town. The experience was like Guy Fawkes night, the fireworks those of wit and humour. It was such a clever script. In those days, with no internet to consult, there was no way of finding out if he would appear the following week. There were no video recorders either so if you missed a programme that was it - gone. But he did become a regular, and therefore so did I.

Why Ryker? Sure, Clu Gulager is easy on the eye, but being handsome doesn't necessarily make a person or a character attractive. He was intriguing. Ryker's awkward childhood, his chequered history, are laid bare in that first episode, giving his character instant depth. You understand how his experiences have sharpened his survival instincts and his intellect. At a turning point in his life, he hits the ground running, inner conflict hot wired into him. The mystery is not who he was in the past but who he is going to become in the future as he takes on the role of upholding the law he was sometimes on the wrong side of. In later episodes the scriptwriters refrained from throwing him into doomed love affairs like the ones Doug McClure and James Drury had to endure, which was another huge plus.

With Gulager driving the performance, Ryker is never, ever boring. He had two good years on the Virginian, but then when Season 5 opened on tv, he just wasn't there. For weeks and weeks he was a no show. My interest in watching dwindled and I sought solace with Manolito Montoya over at the High Chaparral. I never went back. Until now.

Watching The Virginian episodes again, knowing how little time the actors and production team were given to create them, it's truly amazing what they managed to achieve. Season 3 in particular is very good. But the gruelling schedule must have taken a toll because from Season 4 onwards, the turnover of regular cast members is constant. Some long absences and disappearances remain unexplained which, with time invested following the story arcs of certain characters, can be frustrating for the viewer. If you've never see the Virginian before, you could do worse than start with Season 3 and see where you want to go from there.

This was my favourite TV western when I was a child, and I believe it was much more superior than the other TV westerns of the 70s. The casting and acting was first rate, so to was the cinematography. The story lines were realistic, gritty and strong. The character of the Virginian and Trampas worked well together and the chemistry between the actors was evident. While the Virginian was the strong silent type, Trampas was the wild and reckless one. Each episode had a wide array of character actors who began their acting careers on this show. I find it strange that of all the TV westerns this seems to be the only one that is not available on either VHS and/or DVD. I only wish the entire series plus The Men from Shiloh were available on DVD.

I first saw the Virginian in England in the 1960s. It became my favorite Western series. The characters were honest, likable and honorable. The acting was good and the stories were compelling and well written. The show also seemed more subtle and complex than the average western series. The stories usually had a moral message and the good guys always came out on top.James Drury, Doug McClure and Lee J.Cobb were all excellent.

The Virginian came from a time when American TV shows were very popular in the UK.During the 1960s and 1970s we tended to see a lot of American shows in prime-time in Britain, but that changed in the 1980s. This show is being shown on Encore and I'm enjoying watching it in color for the first time.

With no less than the presidential imprimatur of Theodore Roosevelt on the novel by his good friend Owen Wister, many consider The Virginian to be the first realistic western novel. Before that the rather discredited prose of people like Ned Buntline dominated the field and none of their 'literature' survives today.

This television series takes the basic characters of The Virginian, Trampas, Steve, and Molly Wood from the novel and makes them all friends. The guys are foreman and his two best buddies all working at Shiloh Ranch. They're played by James Drury, Doug McClure, and Gary Clarke. Pippa Scott plays Molly Wood, school teacher in the novel, but in the TV series newspaper editor of the Medicine Bow periodical. The Shiloh ranch is owned by Judge Garth who lives there with his daughter Roberta Shore.

That's how it started but regulars came and went. The Shiloh ranch changed hands first to John McIntire and his real life wife Jeanette Nolan. Later on it went to Stewart Granger and the series changed its name to Men Of Shiloh as the women regulars were all eliminated. And we never learned what The Virginian's real name was or his past as in the novel.

The Virginian had the distinction of being the first 90 minute series on television. It must have been grueling shoot, it's like shooting several feature films in a year. It also had some name guest stars like that other series from Revue Productions Wagon Train.

The Virginian ran for 9 seasons before NBC pulled the plug. But in that time it gave us good and memorable television western shows.

Quite simply, I grew up watching 'The Virginian' and I have to thank it, for being very watchable, and mainly for keeping my attention span for 90 minutes. This was unheard of for a show in those days. It led me to becoming an avid cinema addict, for which I am eternally grateful. Probably my favourite western series, although 'Alias Smith and Jones' threatened to equal it until Pete Duell committed suicide. Great memories, from the early days of colour and BBC2, I believe...