The Roy Rogers Show

Despite what one reviewer said, the Roy Rogers TV show was an excellent show for us kids in the 50s. If that reviewer did any research he would see that people in Texas, Oklahoma, Nevada, California, etc did ride horses for ranch work and in their daily lives, with cars, including Jeeps being driven in the same era.

As for shooting guns out of the hands of outlaws instead of killing them, that was simply role modelling for kids. The Lone Ranger did it; so did Roy Rogers. It was about values. Disarming an outlaw was more important than killing him. It tried to teach children that the value of a life was important. Respect and dignity were valued. Yes, these were all fantasy shows with unrealistic concepts and ideals, but so are the Star Wars movies.

The violence displayed in today's society is more associated with the TV shows and movies shown decades after the 50s. Perhaps, if those 50s values had continued on into the 60s and 70s, instead of the violent 'reality' displayed on TV and in the movies that became the standard, America and the world might be a better, safer place today. I say, "shame" on the entertainment industry for promoting the violence to children on TV, in the movies, and in the music that has become today's norm.

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

Yeah, when I watched this as a kid in the 50s I was a little confused about the time period this was set in. i know they didn't have cars or jeeps in the 1880s. Now that the show is in reruns in can see that is is set in the 40s or early 50s. There is electricity and radios and I've even spotted other cars. And horses are still ridden on the roads. It was a couple of years ago I was in Gilbert AZ. at a strip mall and a rider pulled up on a horse and "parked" it into a parking stall. Funny as heck.

Yes, Pat Brady's comic relief was pretty lame. But the fault lies in the director and the writers, not Mr. Brady. It was silliness obviously created for the show's audience: kids. Watching these shows today, I sometimes get frustrated over his character, which was certainly over the top silliness. But, as a kid, I was thoroughly amused and didn't see him through adult eyes, so it was effective as it was meant to be to the audience it was meant for.

As far as gas stations go, for Nellie Bell (Nelly Bell?) (Nellie Belle?) (NellieBell?) (can't seem to find the definitive spelling), it really never occurred to me as a kid. It was just accepted that, somehow, Pat's Jeep always had access to fuel. lol. Which, if I may digress a bit, is why adding so much realistic violence from the 60s, and later, on TV and movies was so damaging to children, I feel. The violence and actions of criminals on TV and in movies, since the 60s, makes some kids think that that's normal and, apparently, acceptable. The results are in today's news headlines.

The entertainment industry would be doing a great service to today's children if they'd produce shows and movies that are 'realistic' without underscoring, amplifying and promoting violence, and making criminals of all ages seemingly successful and heroic. While PBS provides great programming for very young kids, I can think of no regular network programs for preteens or teens that don't exhibit violent, criminal behavior in at least one character. We need more shows that present old-fashioned values that helped bring Americans together, not values that create divisiveness and glorify antiheroic behavior.

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.