Bat Masterson

This was a very cool series and the Western Channel (STARZ) is running the Bat Masterson marathon today 1/6/07. Yesterday they were running the Rifleman marathon with Chuck Conners. They will be airing these episodes daily at 4pm starting tomorrow. Bat Masterson series was short sweet and to the point entertainment. Gene Barry was obviously having fun in this series I know he played a character similar later on, only he changed his horse for a limousine. Each story was self contained. With really bad guys and of course the wimpy henchmen that would give up the information that Bat needed to get the bad guy. I spotted Ross Martin from the original Wild Wild West(Artemus) in one of the shows and as these other shows roll through I am sure a few other character actors will show up. If you get a chance between whatever football games are running take a peek this is entertainment not deep psycho-babble ;)

Good news for fans of Gene Barry and his TV series Bat Masterson (1958-1961)! This show just started airing on the Encore Western Channeel. A marathon of the first 23 Bat Masterson episodes aired this weekend, and the show starts a regular run tomorrow, January 8, 2007, airing on the Encore Western Channel from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Central Standard Time, each day. I believe it also airs @ 6:00 p.m. CSA on Saturdays.

I remember this show from when I was a child and I found it still fun to watch. Although Bat as portrayed by Gene Barry may be called a dandy, so what? You'll forget all about that the first time he clubs a villain with his cane - and it happens frequently! He's also a crack shot.

And perhaps my favorite part of the show? Almost every episode sports a nice looking gal from 1950s television. Check out Allison Hayes in 7 episodes and Audrey Dalton in 3 episodes; and I just saw Fay Spain in an episode. If you like old television with a great leading actor and some nice eye-candy to go along with it, you'll love Bat Masterson!

and Derby Hat. They called him Bat." I always wondered how you could "wear" a cane? Oh well.

Boy, could that guy USE that cane, though. Hoooooey! He could trip you or bonk you on the head faster'n you could order up some prize-fight tickets.

This was really an odd Western. I came across on old episode preserved on a DVD with several other old Western t.v. show episodes. A woman shows up in a scene and Barry gives her a google-eyed double take. Campy acting. But, much better than Wyatt Earp (Earp had been one of the real-life Bat Masterson's buddies), starring Hugh O'Brien, which tried to take itself seriously - but didn't succeed.

Still, this was a fun show. I enjoyed it, even though I was but a tyke when it aired. It introduced me to Gene Barry, who would later star in "The Name of the Game" with Tony Franciosa and Robert Stack.

I enjoyed Barry's cameo in the newly released "War of the Worlds" (Spielberg version).

This was a fun series that wasn't supposed to be taken seriously. Gene Barry was perfect as the suave Masterson, who apparently made a living playing cards at nearly tavern west of the Mississippi River. It was a preview for his role in "Burke's Law" five years later. Like with all westerns of that era, there is a lot of drinking, fighting, kissing and killing. The bad guys wore black hats and the women were (almost every time)gorgeous -- even if they seem to be wearing 10 pounds of clothes. Watchas well for some guest character actors who later went on to modest successes (like James Best, Louise Fletcher, Ross Martin).It's worth a half hour of your time.

One of the things about this show that lingers in my mind besides the nattily dressed Gene Barry was the fact that this show eschewed any kind of supporting cast. No sidekicks, no permanent love interests, what you got was Gene Barry as Bat Masterson taming the west in his own small way.

The real Bat was quite the dude himself, maybe not as noble a character as Barry played him. That cane was as effective as the Irish Shillelagh and he used it more to disarm opponents than kill them. He wasn't always the gentleman, Masterson did make a living as a scout and a buffalo hunter and I doubt he was so stylish on the trail.

Barry was a literate and bright western hero, he would have to be because the real Bat Masterson eventually made a living as a newspaper reporter for a quaint metropolitan newspaper. If he didn't always battle for truth, justice, and the American way, he always reported it in a dignified manner.

The real Bat Masterson made his living in the last century, died, and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. I think he would have liked the way Gene Barry played him.