Johnny Ringo

This rather average western rode into the sunset after one season. As another reviewer said this was the height of the television western era and the airwaves were filled with them. Dick Powell's Four Star Production Company gave us Johnny Ringo.

What I remember best was Don Durant as Johnny Ringo having a pistol that fired seven shots, a shotgun shell came from a barrel beneath the one where the six bullets in the revolving chamber came from. That was one handy gimmick especially to those who were counting Ringo's shots before facing him down. When I saw the first Dirty Harry movie where Clint Eastwood dares the punk to try his luck, I immediately thought back to the short lived Johnny Ringo series. I still do whenever I see Clint as Harry Callahan.

Ringo got far better than he deserved in this series, in real life he was something of a punk himself in the outlaw trade. He was found shot to death at the age of 32, probably done in by Wyatt Earp and/or Doc Holiday.

Don Durant went nowhere after this series, but Mark Goddard played a young trick shot artist who became Ringo's deputy. He of course went on to Lost in Space if you consider that a step up.

Still Johnny's seven shooter was quite something to see.

This western series was short-lived ,but was well-produced by the great Aaron Spelling. Don Diamond was well cast and brought a commanding presence to the role of the reformed shootist.

The episodes I have seen were fast-paced and fairly realistic when compared to other shows of the era. Unfortunately, the airwaves were filled with cowpoke drama at the time and this interesting show quickly rode off into the sunset.

In many ways, this show compares favorably with Wanted:Dead or Alive , which made a star of Steve McQueen. Don Diamond was not so fortunate.

Some episodes are available on DVD, check them out.... Not half bad !

Lets be upfront, rated 5 out of 10 because in an age when westerns were a dime a dozen, and you are competing for eyeballs with the likes of Steven McQueen and Richard Boone, this product was nothing more and nothing less than average. In those days (boy do I sound old) every western had a gimmick (except perhaps Gunsmoke, where the gimmick was that there was no gimmick, just tedious dialog.) Boone had his hidden derringer, McQueen had his saw-off with trick holster, Hugh Obrien had his Buntline, etc) here the character had really odd pistol which carried an extra shell. (Trivia note -- the writers based this on a real gun designed in France. Where else?) Invariably, just as Wyatt Earp would end up in a gunfight where the bad guy was too far away to fire back, and Palladin would end up fining his derringer when the bad guy looked the other way, Ringo would face an enemy who believed he was out of ammo (counting shots in a 50s western? Wow) and surprise the rogue. The real story however is that this series was part of a "package" that a young producer named Aaron Spelling sold to TV, part of a set of three as I recall. He made them on the cheap (the star of Ringo had to sing his own theme song) and he essentially started a dynasty. So if you are in Business School, the rating is a 10. (((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

I'd never seen this series until just recently, catching it accidentally on a satellite channel. Not even sure if it was originally shown in the UK, I can't find anyone who remembers it. A lot of the old half hour westerns could be somewhat corny and maybe weak, but this one has quite absorbing episodes and manages to pack a fair bit of interest into each one with very likable characters.

It's a pity it didn't last longer than its 38 episodes, and maybe gone on to longer ones, but perhaps that's what makes it zippy. If you're a fan of 1950's & 60's western series then definitely give this one a try. I haven't managed to catch every episode but the ones I've seen I've enjoyed. What it lacks in sophistication (there's only so much you can do in half an hour) it makes up for in action.

Very watchable!