Yancy Derringer

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.

I remember the show vividly; it was rerun on NBC afternoons later in the '60's. I live close to New Orleans, locale of the show, and met Mr. Mahoney at a rodeo the summer after the show ended. He was very friendly, let me hold his derringer, which was maybe not wise to do, told me where he bought it, etc. He stayed until the last autograph hound left. What really made the show was his athleticism with stunts, fights, falls, jumps, etc. One show had him trying to open a large box with his back to Pahoo; he made a gesture with his hand, keeping it up in the air shoulder height, and X Brands threw a large knife to Mr. Mahoney who caught it without looking. I read later that they thought it up as a gag, and decided to try it. It went on the first take. He became a stepfather to Sally Field, who seems to have had difficulties with him in that role, but he was really one of a kind in film. Later he had a stroke while horseback in "Kung Fu"; Burt Reynolds made a film about stunt men in the mid seventies with Brian Keith and Sally Field, the name of which I cannot remember, but it was a homage to stunt guys; Brian Keith's character had a stroke in the movie, reminding me of Mr. Mahoney; later, I read that Burt Reynolds said this was a bow to Mr. Mahoney. I was only 12, and got a kick out of the constant westerns at the time, but he gave it a distinctive feel. In TV Guide, he called it a "Southern". What was also interesting was his ensemble which came to include Mickey Morton, Lee Paul, Kelly Thorsen, etc. He was 6-4, and these guys topped him! Frances Bergen, Francine in the role, was wife of Edgar Bergen, whose daughter was Candice Bergen.

Sonmetimes it is hard to understand just why a television series is so short lived.Lack of popularity is the most common reason of course;sometimes the death of a star ends its run prematurely.In the case of Yancy Derringer, it was corporate greed.Originally financed and owned by the writers and Jock Mahoney, it was so successful in its initial season that the network insisted on buying it.Jock Mahoney and the others refused;the network responded by concealing it.End of Yancy Derringer.

The theme song was one of the most distinctive of 1950's television.It outlived its series,and can be frequently heard as b background music on episodes of "The Rifleman" made in the early 1960's.

It is certainly strange that, considering how many fine TV series were made in the first 20 years of TV, so very few are ever shown,except for "I Love Lucy" and a few others.

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!