The Roy Rogers Show

This show was already in Saturday morning re-runs when I first watched it. And, I loved it!

The "good vs. evil" plots might seem corny, by today's standards. But, we have to remember that this was produced during comparatively simpler times. When morality was just as black-and-white as the film stock the studios used.

Furthermore, the hero and heroine practiced what they preached! Nor did they preach using four-letter words. Unlike, say, Dennis Franz on NYPD BLUES.

Last, but not least? This was not a "steampunk" Western.

The fictional city in which Roy and Dale made their home was contemporaneous with the shows' audience. It's just that the locals maintained a 19th-century ambiance for the tourist trade, similar to Virginia City, Nevada. So, the mixture of "old and new," especially modes of transportation, was most definitely _not_ anachronistic!

In short, I am unalterably convinced that this show should be praised, rather than condemned, for the beneficial values it tried to instill in its mostly young viewers. That some of us might not have grown up to live by those values is--to paraphrase Shakespeare--not the fault of this show's stars. But, of ourselves.

You say that Roy Rogers went as Roy Rogers just like Dale Evans. Roy's real name was Leonard Franklin Slye. Roy Rogers is just a roll he played. I know it's not in the credits as him being Leonard, but neither does John Wayne list himself as Marion Robert Morrison in the credits of his shows. As far as "King of the Cowboys", what about Daniel Boone being "King of the Wild Frontier"? Check out the "Legendary Cowboy Kings DVD" that has a whole passel of singers listed as "Kings". What I'm saying is that John Wayne can be a "King of the Cowboys" as well as all of the other giants we all know and love. They are all great in my book. Heroes every one. I've just got ten DVDs that I picked up from www.oldies.com of the Roy Rogers Show. I enjoy them all just like I do Gene Autry, another great "King" in my book. Don't forget Dale Evans, "Queen of the West". We'll see them all in Hillbilly Heaven. Fred Salter

Oh how I wish THIS would show up in reruns! This and "Lassie" (with Tommy Rettig) were my favorite shows as a kid, in an era of great kiddie shows. In my little-girl eyes, Dale really had the perfect life--she got the horse AND Roy! It didn't matter what the plots were; they were basically all the same anyway. But there was something about Roy and Dale that was very appealing, and Pat and Nellybelle were fun too. One nice thing about it was Dale was not a damsel in distress; she was Roy's partner, and although secondary, she did her part to help him get the bad guys. ["Annie Oakley" had a female lead without a male costar, except for her kid brother. I think these two shows helped contribute to the rise of femininism in the 60's.] Every kid knew "Happy Trails" by heart, and Roy and Dale sang it right to us at the end of every show. Wonderful memories!

Not to be derogatory, but I always wondered why Roy Rogers was the King of the Cowboys and John Wayne wasn't. What WAS John Wayne, anyway? Oh yeah, The Duke. Oh well. I guess it was because Wayne couldn't sing with the Sons of the Pioneers, although Wayne did sing a little in "Hatari" and didn't have that bad of a voice... but I digress.

Who could resist Roy Rogers' charm? I mean, he was the nicest guy in the world. He even smiled while he was roundin' up the bad guys after they'd been bested.

Dale had the best post-menopausal vibrato I'd ever heard after she got a little older - but she was Roy's partner and could pull her gun on an ornery desperado as fast as any of the ranch hands.

Roy had Trigger (horse) and Bullet (dog), but, Pat Brady had Nellybell (a jeep). Pat Brady was played by Pat Brady, just as Roy Rogers played Roy Rogers and Dale Evans played Dale Evans. Were there any actors in this series who played anyone other than themselves? I mean, did Trigger and Bullet even have different names than their stage names? Pat was a great comedian - goofy face and lovable. A great sidekick for Roy.

And of course, Roy and Dale sang "Happy Trails" at the end of each show. That right there was worth the half hour watch.

WHEN WE HAD CBS with THE GENE AUTRY SHOW, the National Broadcasting Company answered with THE ROY ROGERS SHOW. It was as if the two friendly rivals were truly slugging it out; although not going toe to toe for their ratings, they still had to establish who was truly number one TV Cowboy.

WHEREAS THE "B" MOVIE fans were very familiar with this sort of series Western from studios like Republic*, Coluimbia, Monogram and Producers Releasing Corporation, no real beach head had been established on the newly created realm of Television.

WELL THAT SURE didn't last very long as Flying A Productions (GENE AUTRY, ANNIE OAKLEY,RANGE RIDER) and Bar Double R produced the ROY ROGERS SHOW. Others, many others followed.

AS FAR AS the Rogers production, there was far more continuity with more regular cast members. Roy and Dale Evans Mrs. Rogers in real life) always managed to get involved with whatever local hugs had planned for 'Mineral City' and vicinity. They were great help to somewhat laid-back and inept middle aged Sheriff, played by Harry Harvey. Then there was "Roy's comical sidekick", Pat Brady, thrown in for,. that's right, comic relief.

THE ONE THIG that always was a puzzlement to us as kids was that whereas Roy rode his palomino horse, Trigger and Miss Dale rode her mare, Buttermilk; why did Pat Brady drive a jeep with the name of "Nellie-belle?" After all, how could one have a Jeep, an automobile, in the Old West? THE ANSWER OF course is that THE ROY ROGERS SHOW, as were so many of the old "B" Western Sderies Poctures, was set in the modern, then contemporary times of the 1950s.

WE ALSO WOULD like to make mention of one other regular cast member. That would be Bullet, Roy's faithful German Shepard puppy dog.

ROY KNEW THAT he needed all the help ion his 'rivalry' with Gene. And, as any schoolboy knows, people just love dogs.

NOTE: * Both men had worked at Republic and Roy had been a member of the Western Musical group, THE SONS OF THE PIONEERS when he arrived there. When Gene went to the Service in World War II, it was the former Leonard Sly ()Roy's birth name) who replaced him. Upon his return, Gene established his own company, FLYING A PRODUCTIONS and struck a deal for release with Columbia.