Cheyenne

In commerating the Golden 50th Anniversary of this program,the series "Cheyenne" was one of the first television series produced by a major film studio of the era,and one of five western-adventure shows from Warner Brothers,and a couple dozen of other shows they did for the studio,which not only made Warners a household name,but also was the pinnacle status of the success of the American Broadcasting Company(that MADE that network)from the mid 1950's to the early 1960's under the stewardship of Executive Producer William T. Orr and the creative genius of Roy Huggins,who were also later on the driving force behind the Warner Brothers detective shows(in which all were on the same network)during that same period.

"Cheyenne" was the first TV-western produced by the studio,and it is the most fondly remembered of TV's "Golden Age Of Westerns",and it was the driving force behind this show that Warners produced four more Westerns after the success of "Cheyenne". This show was a huge hit for ABC-TV at the time mostly because of its star,Clint Walker as the title character. It also brought out other westerns as well that followed including James Garner as "Maverick" which premiered in 1957,and continued through 1962,producing 124 episodes. Then that same year Will Hutchins star as "Sugarfoot"(1957-1961),which produced 61 episodes,then afterwards in 1958 came Ty Hardin as "Bronco"(1958-1962), which produced 68 episodes,not to mention the action-adventure short-lived series titled "The Alaskans" with Roger Moore,which ran from 1959 through 1960,producing 37 episodes. There were other Westerns as well that Warners produced during the mid-1960's as well especially with the Western satire spoof "F-Troop" which premiered in 1965 producing 37 episodes which ran until 1967,and the last of Warner Brothers Westerns came that same year in 1965 with Christopher Jones in "The Legend of Jesse James",which lasted one season. It is to note here that out of all the Warner Brothers produced Westerns that had the longest-running stanza out of all of them,"Cheyenne" remained on ABC-TV for eight seasons,producing 108 episodes running from its debut in 1955 to the final episode of the series in 1963. Only "Maverick" became the second longest-running Western for the studio,which debut in 1957 and ended in 1962,withstood a five-year run.

What set "Cheyenne" apart from other TV-westerns of their day? First off,there were different sets of elements that were found of other shows but this one was totally the opposite and above the competition in which lay the foundation for the casting of Clint Walker as Cheyenne Brodie. Clint Walker's character was a good-looking fellow with a 48-inch chest(which seems to get bared at least once in every episode)who didn't succeed just on his acting ability,which was passable.The only thing that was successful was the action scenes in which Cheyenne would be fighting ruthless outlaws,savage Indians,and even deadly gunslingers who may have there way with him,but Cheyenne didn't back down from any fight,and because of his massive size,he could tackle any man while still have the aura of a "gentle giant". Even with the "beefcake" scenes had an non-threatening quality about them since television and what was to be shown on television had to go through the censors was about as riveting as they could get,but lets face it,"Cheyenne" delivered the goods and then some with more Westerb action and adventure then it could handle thanks to the starring presence of Clint Walker especially with the unique qualities that he brought to this series.

"Cheyenne" also brought out some of the most special guest stars ever assembled and some of them,like per se James Garner,would go on to make a name for himself years later on his own WB-produced series, "Maverick". And not to mention others like Micheal Landon,Peter Graves, and others that were on the adventure set each week. In all a great series from TV's Golden Age.

Happy Golden 50th Anniversary CHEYENNE

I always watched Cheyenne when I was real young never missed the show. It was one of my favorite shows of all times. Clint Walker was very nice looking. And a great body for back then. His shows were always exciting, never dull. He seem to have a heart of gold, very well mannered. I would always get my chores done just to go and watch Cheyenne. And then all of my brothers and sisters would join in and watch too. I just can't figure out why Cheyenne is not rerunning like the other shows such as Bonanza, Raw Hide, Gunsmoke. Cheyenne was just as classy or in some cases more classy than these shows. But I liked them all. Thank You Angelmom53

Cheyenne was one of the original three (along with Gunsmoke and The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) 'adult' westerns to hit TV in the fall of 1955, kicking off a trend that would dominate all three networks for the next five or six years, until the once original concept turned to formula and all the fun went out of the genre owing to overexposure. In truth, there was no one quite like Clint Walker - to say that he was tall in the saddle is to understate the case. Like Fess Parker as Davy Crockett (on the same network, ABC) one year earlier, his huge physical stature but gentle country voice won him instant stardom and, adult western or no, the hero of every kid in America. Actually, Cheyenne wasn't a series in the true sense during its first season, but broadcast one out of every three weeks as part of an anthology called WARNER BROS. PRESENTS. The other two entries were King's Row with Robert Horton and Jack Kelly (soon to reappear on Wagon Train and Maverick) and Casablanca, a take off on the old Bogart movie of that name. Immediately, the ratings for Cheyenne went through the roof while the other two just sat there. By mid-season they were gone and Cheyenne was seen on reruns every week through the summer. Two things about that first season: though the show ran an hour, each episode was not a normal hour length installment (50 mins.) but between five and ten minutes less than that, owing to 'behind the scenes' previews of upcoming WB movies. Also, this was the only season when Cheyenne had a sidekick, played by L.Q. Jones, later a regular in the Sam Peckinpah stock company. One last thing about the opening season - the episodes were far more spectacular than any to follow, as WB actually did mini remakes of big budget western films, using the stock footage from them and simply replacing whoever had starred with Clint. So the feature film Charge at Feather River with Guy Madison became West of the River with Clint. The Indian charge is identical in both. Most of us didn't know anything about stock footage then and were under the impression (for a while) that WB was knocking out a major league western for TV every three weeks. When Cheyenne came back in 1956, it was a full hour, no sidekick, and ran every other week, alternating with CONFLICT, mostly composed of pilots for possible future WB shows. the next year, Conflict was gone and Sugarfoot with Will Hutchins became the rotating item with Cheyenne, this western also quickly becoming a hit. The following year, Cheyenne was on the air but Clint wasn't. He'd left WB in a salary dispute. So the weirdest thing happen - Cheyenne ran with no Cheyenne in sight, rather Ty Hardin as Bronco Lane. When Walker returned the following fall, Cheyenne shifted to Monday (often, it ran weekly now) with Bronco and Sugarfoot rotating on Tuesdays. By this time, the western was playing out, so both Sugarfoot and Bronco were absorbed into Cheyenne, the package now called "The Cheyenne Show," each of the three seen once every three weeks. In one episode, all three were together. Then Sugarfoot was dropped and Cheyenne and Bronco rotated. By this time, the heyday of the western was over. Warner Bros. replaced Cheyenne late in 1963 with another western, Badlands, which lasted less than half a year. And, in truth, during its final two or three seasons, Cheyenne was awfully routine, in terms of scripting, direction, etc. But that first season was a real winner, and the next two or three were strong too. Worth catching again at least those heyday episodes.

How wonderful to see the re-runs now of "Cheyenne". Clint Walker was my mother's favourite western actor. She loved the way he looked and the way he talked and his soft-spokeness. I don't think she would have cared if Mr. Walker could even act because he was so 'gorgeous' to her. Fortunately, he was terrific in his role and we never missed an episode. Those were the days of real television..the 'Golden' days, I think they call them and you can see why. Families could sit down and watch such great shows together and not worry about bad language or overt violence. Since I was growing up in England, I learned a lot about America and the old western days. It was fascinating and gave me the courage to come over and see it,years later. It is still fascinating and thank goodness we can all see these shows again and truly realise how great they were.

I have had a "crush" on this man ever since I saw the first "Cheyenne" TV show - I am now 62 years old and I still remember the goose bumps I would get just looking at him. And that voice - when I grew older I would pretend that he would whisper "sweet nothings" in my ear. The only reason I watched the show was to look at him - I couldn't tell you what any of the shows were about - but I remember him. I guess you could say that he was my first love. And to think that he used to live not far from me!!! Who knew???? The only other TV star that ever made me feel that way was Gardner McKay of "Adventures in Paradise". Talk about two opposites!