The Tycoon

The Tycoon was Walter Brennan's second go at a regular television series after The Real McCoys was canceled. It had an interesting premise with Brennan playing a character in a totally other world than Grandpappy Amos McCoy.

Brennan played Walter Andrews in this, millionaire industrialist who was now just the Chairman of the Board. But as Everett Sloane said when that young reporter was interviewing him in Citizen Kane, being Chairman of the Board gave him more free time than he ever had. Brennan built his company and now is retired and now just takes it easy, but uses himself and his company to help people less fortunate than he.

He had a sharp, but friendly rivalry with his company president, Jerome Cowan another veteran from the big screen like Brennan. Cowan was a bean counter by profession and by nature and he was perennially exasperated at Brennan constantly using company resources and name.

I remember one episode where Brennan was impressed by a young kid selling lemonade at a stand, impressed with his drive and ability. The kid was bored with school, but Brennan steered him right and promised him a place in the Thunder Corporation when he graduated college. If Brennan was still around you know he'd have kept his word or made real sure he got in writing from Cowan or somebody in authority.

That was the kind of stuff he did. The series failed probably because the American public was to used to the rustic Walter Brennan.

In real life Walter Brennan was very right-wing, he supported George Wallace for president in 1968 and John Schmitz in 1972. He was in real life far more the tycoon Walter Andrews as he was pretty rich than he was ever like Amos McCoy.

Too bad the show never caught on, still we might one day get to see those few episodes that did get broadcast that year of 1964.