Sergeant Preston of the Yukon

Takes me back..... I remember this series fondly. It taught morals, values, tolerance for others & respect for the law and it did it with good stories and solid acting.

Rex & Yukon King were a big part of the series. Dick Simmons looked every bit the Mountie and could sit Rex well on his English saddle. He was even better with sled & team of huskies with King in the lead of course. This was one of the few 50s shows shot in color but shown in B & W.

Big Bear Lake Ca was as close as Hollywood could approximate for the Yukon in the 50s. So sit back relax and enjoy "...in the wild days of the Yukon. Back to the days of the Gold Rush, as Sergeant Preston, with his wonder dog, Yukon King, meets the challenge of the Yukon."

...."On King, on you huskies!!!!"

I remember watching this program as a kid. There were no fancy special effects, no blood and gore, just edge of your seat excitement. There was a clear distinction between the good guys and the bad guys, and the good guys won. The dedicated Sargent Preston, and his faithful dog King, fighting the elements and the bad guys. You always knew who the hero was, and the bad guys always got what they deserve. Perhaps if there were shows like this today, children would have a better sense of right and wrong. Clear definitions of right and wrong, where the objective is to bring the wrongdoer to justice, not smash, mutilate or destroy them. No super powers, no high technology, just plain old fashioned using your brain. Clear values and no gratuitous violence.

With these words, Sergeant Preston and his loyal dog, Yukon king always got their man. Played by Richard Simmons, Sergeant Preston patrolled the western reaches of the Canadian frontier in the 1890s. Action and justice in such locales as Yellowknife, Dawson, and Whitehorse were seen each Saturday morning by the same kids who had just finished watching The Lone Ranger and Sky King.

The series episodes featured stories set against the harsh extremes of the Yukon winter and summers in the Canadian Rockies. To match the climate, Preston would trade his dogsled for his horse, Rex. King was along wherever the good sergeant went.

Simmons was the perfect embodiment of Sergeant Preston, the pride of the Northwest Mounted. To this day (despite Due South) when I picture a Mountie......it's always Sergeant Preston. And of those of who watched the show as kids, who can forget that stirring theme music and the words with which Sergeant Preston closed each episode, "Well King, this case is closed."

I happened to tune into the Norm McDonald TV show for the first time last week (9-99). In it someone made a passing reference to Sgt. Preston. (It's how I ended up on the IMDb reading about it and writing this.) A comment I'm sure was not noticed by many. It hit home with me. I used to love catching the re-runs of Sgt. Preston and his dog, Yukon King. I couldn't have been more than 6 or 7 but I loved the show. My memories aren't as clear as BOOKWUS (another commenter), but I would like to compliment BOOKWUS on wonderful and complete comments that really bring the show back into view for us Sgt. Preston fans. Great job and I can't add anything else. I would love to see the show again to see what passed for entertainment to me as a child. The simplicity of old TV is lost now, but man, we were "living".

Here is another old television show that brings back fond memories. My dad used to get a special charge out of this show, yelling "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" after the introduction. All of kids would excited.

What I remember most, to be honest, is Preston's dog, "King" and our hero, played by Dick Simmons, who looked like an honest-to-goodness Mountie, telling the dog at the end of many episodes, "Well, King, this case is closed."

If I recall, there was nothing supernatural about this, no Superman or Batman stuff, just a straight action story that most times involved the great scenery of the North. That also made it different as most of the stuff we watched was the either the above or the many good westerns that were available in the '50s. This show offered a totally different atmosphere, although it was the same simple good guys-vs.-bad guys stuff, easy to follow and easy to like.