Yancy Derringer

This was another good western back in the '50s which gives me fond memories. I remember how me and my pals thought this hero was "cool," something like Richard Boone was in "Have Gun, Will Travel."

The main differences in this western as opposed to most was that the title character

packed a little derringer in his hat, and the setting was New Orleans instead of the old west. Otherwise, he was, like Boone's "Paladin" a smooth, dapper and cool customer.

Jock Mahoney ("Yancy Derringer") was the rugged, silent type, if I remember correctly. The shows were very interesting and we looked forward to them each week. Why this show only lasted on year is a real mystery to me. I don't remember anyone who didn't enjoy it. The mid-to-late '50s was a fabulous era for westerns on TV. If this ever came out on DVD, I would buy it immediately.

"Yancy Derringer" was one of those series that dared to be different, a 'Western' that was set in post-Civil War New Orleans. If your memories of Jock Mahoney are of him as a lean, middle-aged Tarzan in his two 1960s appearances as the Ape Man, the show may be something of a surprise. He is soft-spoken, smooth, and dapper, here, and altogether 'cool'.

Loaded with a laid-back charm, an Indian partner (X Brand) unique in series television in his status as the hero's 'equal' and not just a 'sidekick' (an episode where the pair take the grievances of the Indian nations to Congress is a personal favorite), and one of the most beautiful theme songs of fifties television, the short-lived program is certainly as 'watchable' as the more successful "Have Gun, Will Travel", "Wanted: Dead or Alive" and the other more 'adult' westerns of the period.

If the series re-emerges on one of the 'nostalgia' cable channels, check it out...you won't be disappointed!

This was a really a neat and fun TV show to watch. I loved the fact that a Native American was given a decent part in a TV show. X-Brands always seemed so cool and aloof as Pahoo. The writers gave him dignity. It was also a cool concept and interesting that it was set in New Orleans. I enjoyed watching Jock Mahoney in almost anything he ever was in. He always looked so debonair, but capable in this series. I really would hope that this series could be released on DVD. If not on DVD, maybe it could be shown somehow on cable or satellite (TV Land?). The "Range Rider", that he was also in, was a cool show, too. I wouldn't mind seeing that show again, too, either on DVD or TV.

Yancy Derringer was different from all other westerns on the air during the late '50's in that it was set in New Orleans rather than a dusty old west town. Yancy Derringer, as played by former stuntman Jock Mahoney, did not carry the traditional six shooter, he packed a pistol in his hat. Yancy Derringer was a dapper, smooth, suave gambler who, along with his Pawnee Indian companion Pahoo, assisted Commissioner John Colton in keeping the peace in a wide-open city.

Yancy Derringer had a different "feel" to it as compared to the other westerns on the air during the later '50's and was a very welcome change during its too short one season run on CBS.

Richard Sale (pulp writer and movie writer and movie producer) teamed up with his wife Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) to produce 39 episodes of a syndicated show. Jock Mahoney, the stunt man extraordinary and THE RANGE RIDER, was casted as a ex-confederate soldier coming back to a Yankee controlled New Orleans after the war. Opening episode, he and Pahoo were waving a Confederate Flag in the middle of the river to hitch a ride on a riverboat. Audacious and charming was Yancy.