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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.

I remember this TV show quite well. It was a favorite of mine at a young age. I rarely missed an episode. I do remember Yancy carrying various small derringers. Pahoo carried a shotgun always hidden under some type of blanket as I remember. However I never remember Pahoo uttering much in the way of dialog. He and Yancy communicated thru the use of sign language. This gave the viewer(me)the impression that Pahoo either could not speak at all or wished only to communicate in sign language. As a sidelight of course was the fact that Yancy was indeed a gambler on the Mississippi and old New Orleans was a backdrop to this show. It ended much too soon.

"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!

The fact that a great show ran only one season does not doom it to being forgotten (The Honeymooners is well remembered), but it surely does not help. Most people have never heard of Yancy Derringer, the public at large is not clamoring for it to be featured on TV, and it is hard to find. Nevertheless, even after all these years I fondly remember watching the exciting adventures of Yancy and his silent Indian companion Pahoo (actor X Brands).

The premise of the series is simple enough. After the Civil War, Yancy (actor Jock Mahoney), who fought for the south, returns to New Orleans to find much has changed. His family's plantation is in ruins. The war brought social upheaval and its companion, crime. Yancy travels with Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah (Wolf Who Stands In Water), the Pawnee who saved his life. They communicate in sign language, in which Yancy is fluent. Apparently (I am not sure of this), in his early years Pahoo had his tongue cut out when captured by other Indians, leaving him forever wordless.

Yancy is sought out by John Colton (actor Kevin Hagen), a northerner appointed by the US government to act as administrator of New Orleans. Colton asks Yancy to be his secret agent, fighting against crime and skulduggery of all sorts, and Yancy agrees.

Yancy is well suited for the task. A well-to-do gambler, suave lover, and rich dresser, a man of taste and erudition, he fits in well with those at the top of society. Yet, he is also comfortable with the lowliest dockworker, bar girl or former slave, rebel and Yank, never acting like he is above them, though he is always much better dressed. His ability to befriend those in all walks of life facilitates his task of gathering information for Colton.

His actions often get the bad guys mad, and place him in danger. In addition to his fists, which he uses effectively, he packs hidden derringer pistols. Pahoo secretes a knife and a shotgun, and is proficient in their use. Before the series started, Pahoo had saved Yancy's life, and by his strange code, this made him responsible for Yancy, and fiercely loyal to him. Keep an eye out for Pahoo to disappear, because this usually means he will soon pop up unexpectedly to use his gun or knife at Yancy's service.

The scenery, music, and elegant clothing paint a breathtaking picture of the charm of old New Orleans, while the often-dark lighting and seedy crimes show the other side of this fascinating coin.

There are some shortcomings. Yancy is so pleased with himself he sometimes is insufferable. His clothes are always clean and pressed no matter what he has gone through. The half-hour format does not leave much time for character development. Despite these flaws, the show is always entertaining, and the plots are usually interesting.

Apparently, the show was so successful in its first year (1958-1959) that the network (CBS) wanted to buy the rights to the show from its originators, Mary Loos and Richard Sales. They did not want to sell, so the network pulled the plug.

If Yancy Derringer is televised in your town, consider yourself lucky, and make sure not to miss an episode!

Never missed it. It came on 1/2 hour after school let out and if the bus was late, I'd miss some of the early minutes. The reason Pahoo couldn't speak and signed was that his tongue had been cut out by the Sioux. As a grade schooler,I used to play Pahoo with the neighborhood recreations of the show. I kept a rubber knife in my collar, a toy double barrel under a shoulder carried blanket and a headband with a couple of down pointing feathers. When trouble started, my friend would signal, "Pahoo" and I'd throwback the blanket to give them both barrels. And I never forgot the all important black bars on the cheeks. I never got good with the knife pass routine.

If only this wonderful little show were easily available on DVD! The Feb 19, 1959 episode "Hell or High Water" depicts Yancy saving New Orleans from flood by dynamiting the levee! This episode alone might have prevented the disaster following Katrina...or not. Anyway, this was a marvelous program that remains simultaneously a relic of its era and a charming, romantic, and sincere homage to the great American city of New Orleans. It was only on for one brief year, and, though I was no more than a toddler when it showed, the unique images of Jock Mahoney's Yancy and his stoic Indian sidekick Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah,so powerfully effected my psyche I never forgot them--just like so many other reviewers here. Yet for years, whenever I described the show to fellow Boomers, they shook their head. Nobody else remembered Yancy Derringer. At least not until the Great Mr. Gore invented the Internet! Huzzah and hooray for us all! In 2009 I finally encountered someone with a single old VHS copy of the above episode, so I happily renewed my childhood thrill. CBS--please release this golden oldies treasure.

I loved this series when I was a kid. The main thing I remember was that it had an espionage component, and Yancy was always undercover. Pahoo was totally cool and carried unusual weapons: Pahoo carried a sawed off shotgun over his shoulder, and a big knife, I think. This was the first wire work for stunts that I ever saw. When the shotgun blast hit the bad guys it would send them flying across the room. You saw all this on TV! It's a commonplace type of rigging nowadays, but then it was completely new. I think Yancy carried a sword cane as well as his derringers which were concealed around his body. Would love to see an episode again.

From what I remember of the monochrome series, Yancey and his partner were the original "Miami Vice"-coolness embodied. Similar partnerships were seen in TV, such as Robert Urich and his partner "Hawk" as the PI. There was also Wild, Wild West, with Robert Conrad and his partner...but Yancey was just plain smooth..I have known about Jock Mahoney's history as a stunt man, from his days as an actor with the Three Stooges as the handsome, (albeit clumsy)guitar playing cowboy to Range Rider, to Yancey, to Tarzan, and beyond, but what about X Brand, his faithful Native American partner? Who was the actor, and was "X Brand" a tongue-in-cheek reference to the 50's commercials that compared their products to "Brand X"? Does anyone know his biog? I would hope that TVLand or some other enterprise would give us all a chance to enjoy Yancey and Pahoo again...

This show was different type of western. What I call a "gimmick" western that were all over TV in the late fifties. A lot of the gimmicks had to do with the weapons involved by the main character. Think "Rifleman", "Wanted Dead or Alive". But this show had a Native American trailing the main character as his person body guard. Just to make thing interesting Mr. Derringer carried two with him, one was in his hat, and the second up his sleeve! Mr Derringer was sort of a 19th century James Bond of sorts. Working undercover for a government official, Derringer new all the good and near bad people of New Orleans. Too bad this show didn't last. Jock Mahoney had just enough "cool"and sense of humor to play this part to the hilt. Plus there so interesting semi regulars that were being developed. The greatest one year western that came out in the fifties.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Yancy Derringer was essentially an informer. The premise of this show was that Derringer who carried several on his person was a most unofficial agent for Kevin Hagen the Yankee colonel in Reconstruction New Orleans.

Jock Mahoney was the title character and he was a former Confederate colonel of the plantation gentry who has gracefully come to accept the defeat of the south. There are however a lot of hotheads who have all kinds of wild schemes and Hagen wants someone who can find out and can quash them or at least inform him.

The white suited and courtly Yancy Derringer was about as far as you could get from Mahoney's other series where he was the buckskin, moccasin clad Range Rider. Mahoney had a silent Pawnee sidekick played by X Brands who took care of backshooters and others who had sinister designs.

I doubt Yancy Derringer could be made today. The blacks in it were still quite subservient to Marse Yancy. He may have been a good master who never used the whip and never sold any slaves, but slavery was still slavery.

Not a bad show for its time though.

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.

Does anybody know if "Yancy Derringer" was actually based on a book or maybe an old New Orleans legend? I tried to find it in amazon.com, but was not successful. If anybody knows please tell me at waldenpond88@hotmail.com. Thanks!

Loved the series when it was on German TV in 1967 and am very lucky that I could find it last fall online. It's as great as it was 42 years ago....some things fortunately never change :)!

My favorite episodes are the ones with Beverly Garland playing river pirate Coco LaSalle, "The Belle from Boston" and the episodes about Yancy's family mansion Waverly like "Old Dixie".

I've be re-watching the series....and am simply amazed at X Brands. His skill with his knife is extraordinary. Yancy can flip Pahoo's knife back over his shoulder... and X Brands catches it amid spin and puts it into his shoulder sheath in one seemingly effortless move. AMAZING!!! Also his sign language seems to be very accurate.

For years I didn't know anyone who had heard of Yancy Derringer. I just remember as a child--I wasn't even 10 yet--I loved, Loved, LOVED it! I was so disappointed it lasted only one season. It was just so good. I looked for it for years and just now realized it is finally out on DVD. My next purchase.

I will never forget Pahoo and Yancy and how great they were together. Rest in peace X Brand and Jock. You were the absolute best and were cool way before cool was even cool.

If you ever get a chance, run to the nearest screen and watch this show.

After the "War of Northern Aggression against The South" the nation is recovering from the trauma of the war and the doubly traumatic assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. While President Lincoln's plans were to forgive and forget and let's get back to work and re-build the country. His murder brought cries of revenge thus ushering in the era of "Reconstruction". One of the reasons why the South until the late sixties early seventies was solidly Democratic.

The city of New Orleans Administrator John Colton knew he had a challenge on his hands with this assignment. The city known for its vices and underworld goings on he needed a person on the inside keeping track on what is going on. Enter Yancy Derringer, plantation owner, paddle boat owner, silver mine owner, gambler, and of course ladies man. Derringer was a Capitian in the Confederate States of America and was returning home to pick up the pieces of his life. With the aid of his loyal bodyguard Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wa translate into "Wolf Who Stands in Water" Derringer agrees to help. He is aware if things go wrong he's stuck.

You have such characters such as Madame Francine owner of his favorite home away from home Sazarack Restaurant. played by Frances Bergen (mother of Candace Bergen), The notorious river pirate "CoCo LaSalle" played by Beverly Garland, to frontiersman "Colorado Charlie" played by Kelly Thordsen, Lisa Lu playing Miss Mandarin, and to real life characters such as George Armstrong Custer played by Grant Williams.

Too bad CBS had to be greedy and try to horn in and get a piece of the action leading to cancellation. Since they are doing re-boots why not this series?

When I watched Yancy Derringer as a 6 year old, the guns were especially fascinating. Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah had a big shotgun, maybe 10 gauge. Yancy had several tiny guns that were hidden in his clothes. One in his hat, one in his boot. He could be searched, but still pull a derringer out of his sleeve. X Brands, as Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah, had the biggest shotgun I have every seen. As I recall, it had a single barrel with a mighty power. If needed, Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah could blast the bad guys with such force, smoke, kick, and noise, that it was the grand finale to any fight!

The derringers came in a variety of arrangements, with most of them having two barrels. But some may have had more than two. The smallest derringer had only one barrel. There was a trick derringer, if my memory as a boy serves me correctly. One trick derringer was up Yancy's sleeve on a spring-loaded mechanism. It had scissor shaped metal supports that would expand to full length on command of a gesture. The contraption would spring out of his sleeve into Yancy's hand into the right firing position. The gesture that triggered the spring to release was for Yancy to press his elbow against his side. One derringer was hidden in his belt buckle. Toy stores sold belts with hidden derringers after that show!

Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah would carry his shotgun with him wherever he went, but with poise and dignity which seemed non-threatening. X Brands' dispassionate face would seldom display any emotion. He spoke slowly and deeply, with somber meaning that always was important. Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah was tall and strong. In a fight, I only remember his 8 gauge shotgun: as the ultimate weapon in any New Orleans brawl. It could knock down a wall!

In reference to the review by edalweber: Henry Russell never worked with Herschel Burke Gilbert on music for the Rifleman. Not that Mr. Gilbert never deferred to other composers on construction of soundtracks, Mr. Russell died in 1968 and Mr. Gilbert retired from series work around the same time. The Rifleman was one of his signature projects and interviews of his work on that show and others can be found on YouTube. The iconic composer would never casually lift another's music and just place in a series running simultaneously on the television schedule and Mr Gilbert's contribution to the Rifleman series was so distinct another composer's work would certainly stick out like a sore thumb!

The writing is very fine, especially for the period. The Native American, Asian and African American characters are all well rounded, well spoken and treated with the respect they deserve without going over-board. Mahoney and Brand are an excellent team and their stunts are outstanding. Let's see Hoss or Matt Dillon do their Erroll Flynn-type stunts. The setting of New Orleans is much more sophisticated than western no-name towns. They have visitors from other countries and story lines reflective of the post Civil War period.

As far as I knew, Mahoney did the spectacular grand-staircase leap in 1948's The Adventures Of Don Juan, doubling for Errol Flynn, jumping onto Robert Douglas' character. You can see it in the trailer.

I mention that because the Yancy Derringer franchise is brimming with stunt-jumps and trick knife-throws, like the cast & crew are having fun with the audience. Why open a window or a door when you can smash it down or dive head-first through it. The show is amazing.

Perhaps its real star is New Orleans, presented as a hyper-mythical oasis of 'the Old South'... full of shadows, mystery, decadence, redemption, and sundry bayou-skullduggery. The costumes, hairstyles, and set-designs are a positively 'European' reflection of the city's post-war reputation. The dialogue is snappy and some of the series' characters, mainly the women, can chew the scenery with the best of 'em. -Snappy dialogue that very much includes the sign-language between Derringer and Pahoo. I've never seen sign-language so explicit and intrinsic. Lastly, no pun intended, the show's theme-song definitely tugs at the heart-strings. Superb.

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.