Shotgun Slade

"Shotgun Slade" was a first-run syndicated half-hour western series which ran for a single season during the '59-'60 television season. Character actor Scott Brady starred as Shotgun Slade, a detective who roamed the west taking on cases for stagecoach lines, railroads, banks, and other businesses, usually tracking down bank/train robbers, embezzelers, and the like. As westerns in general were beginning to fade in the ratings during the early '60's more and more of them began relying on "gimmicks" to try to lure viewers back. This series actually employed a couple of gimmicks. One was that Slade did not utilize the normal six-shooter as his weapon of choice. Slade relied instead on an over-and-under combination shotgun (the lower barrel fired a 12-gauge shotgun shell)rifle (the top barrel fired a.32 caliber rifle bullet) giving Slade both heavy stopping power at close range and distance when needed. The second gimmick was that a modern jazz score was used instead of normal western themed music. This was undoubtedly a result of the popularity of such current-day detective series of this period such as "Peter Gunn". Indeed, "Shotgun Slade" seemed in many ways to be patterned after "Peter Gunn" with the exception of the fact that "Shotgun Slade" was very pedestrian in virtually all respects. A fair time-killer at best.

This AIN'T a typical Western!!

It is indeed very strange, especially with the soundtrack. And this is no "Peter Gunn."

But one could do a LOT worse!

From what I saw of the episode I saw on YouTube, which originally aired 11 June 1960, some of the acting seems rather wooden. I can see why the show was not on the major networks.

But using a jazz score, in my opinion, is an inspired choice, especially for a show airing in the late Eisenhower era. I personally think using such a score for, say, "Bat Masterson," would have given that show an added edge!!

As it is, this show is ripe for a parody!

I've been enjoying a number of Shotgut Slade episodes recently. However this episode is one the better ones. Sue Ann Langdon plays the part of the sheriff's daughter who is representing a town committee. The committee hires Slade to determine the credentials of a man who claims to have a sizeable stake in the town. The man was recently released from prison having been sent there by Slade. The man has a vendetta against Slade and has hired a young man in town, known to have a fast gun, to kill Slade. The story is further complicated by the fact that Sue Ann has a crush on the young man. Sue Ann played her part admirably, as expected.

I can't think of any TV show in history besides "Shotgun Slade" that was completely ruined by the music. Maybe Gerald Fried's jazzy score would be fine elsewhere (he composed for the likes of "Mission Impossible" and "The Man from U. N. C. L. E."), but not for a 19th-century western with hard riding, tumbling stagecoaches, plenty of fist-fights and more than enough gunfire. The music is so out of place, so distracting and imposing, that I tried turning the sound off in places--only trouble there is that the episodes contain narration, and you can't be sure when one is coming.

The stories were fair, and star Scott Brady went on to have a long career, but this was his only continuing role in a TV series. Somehow, he just didn't seem to spark. Or was it just the music?

I've got 2 episodes of "Shotgun Slade" on DVD. It seems to me that Revue Studios was, indeed, trying to copy "Peter Gunn", right on down to having its blonde "Edie Hart"-type girl singer girlfriend character, played by Monica Lewis. Unlike "The Wild Wild West", which was played half-straight to be something of a "spy show in the West", "Slade" was played totally straight. The show is so bad that it's unintentionally funny. The acting and plots are hammy, phony, and unconvincing. Scott Brady was a former boxer so he knows how to throw a punch but the opening of the show gives you an idea he's not much in the acting dept. (and the rest of the show confirms it)...Its badness makes this show a real find. You'd have to look far and wide to find a tackier "Adult Western" of the time period.