This was U.S. television's first hour-long western.
Clint Walker had a contract dispute with Warner Brothers, which led to his briefly leaving the show. Under his contract, Walker had to give Warner Brothers 50 percent of his personal appearance fees, and he could only record music under the Warner Brothers label. He wanted the appearance fee cut and wanted to be able to sign with whatever record company he chose. The sides reached an agreement, and Walker eventually returned to work.
Cheyenne gets his name from the Cheyenne Indians, who killed his parents but then took him in and raised him.
It was the longest-running of the Warner Brothers family of westerns, lasting seven seasons.
Many of the first year's episode were remakes of Warner Brothers western films, so the studio could use footage from those films to save money.