O Rei da Polícia Montada

Here is another old television show that brings back fond memories. My dad used to get a special charge out of this show, yelling "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" after the introduction. All of kids would excited.

What I remember most, to be honest, is Preston's dog, "King" and our hero, played by Dick Simmons, who looked like an honest-to-goodness Mountie, telling the dog at the end of many episodes, "Well, King, this case is closed."

If I recall, there was nothing supernatural about this, no Superman or Batman stuff, just a straight action story that most times involved the great scenery of the North. That also made it different as most of the stuff we watched was the either the above or the many good westerns that were available in the '50s. This show offered a totally different atmosphere, although it was the same simple good guys-vs.-bad guys stuff, easy to follow and easy to like.

"On King! On you huskies!" I loved this show! The redoubtable Sgt Preston always used to end the show by saying to his dog, "Well, King, this case is closed!" The show was created by George W. Trendle & Fran Stryker who also created The Lone Ranger & The Green Hornet!

With these words, Sergeant Preston and his loyal dog, Yukon king always got their man. Played by Richard Simmons, Sergeant Preston patrolled the western reaches of the Canadian frontier in the 1890s. Action and justice in such locales as Yellowknife, Dawson, and Whitehorse were seen each Saturday morning by the same kids who had just finished watching The Lone Ranger and Sky King.

The series episodes featured stories set against the harsh extremes of the Yukon winter and summers in the Canadian Rockies. To match the climate, Preston would trade his dogsled for his horse, Rex. King was along wherever the good sergeant went.

Simmons was the perfect embodiment of Sergeant Preston, the pride of the Northwest Mounted. To this day (despite Due South) when I picture a Mountie......it's always Sergeant Preston. And of those of who watched the show as kids, who can forget that stirring theme music and the words with which Sergeant Preston closed each episode, "Well King, this case is closed."

The 78 half-hour episodes of the "kiddie" television adventure series "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" were originally broadcast on CBS during the 1955 to 1958 broadcast seasons; and in syndication for many years after.

This was one of many transplants to early television from network radio. It was created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker who also put together both the radio and television versions of "The Lone Ranger" and the radio version of "The Green Hornet".

At a time of look-alike westerns filmed on the back-lots of Hollywood, "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" offered viewers the white landscape of Canada's Yukon Territory. It was actually filmed each winter in the mountains of Big Bear Lake, in southern California.

Like "The Lone Ranger", each week the story's setting and characters were described by the narrator in the opening credits: "Sergeant Preston of the Northwest Mounted Police with Yukon King, swiftest and strongest lead dog breaking the trail in the relentless pursuit of lawbreakers, in the wild days of the Yukon. Back to the days of the Gold Rush, as Sergeant Preston, with his wonder dog, Yukon King, meets the challenge of the Yukon".

The gold rush he is talking about occurred in the 1890's as Canada's desolate western frontier found itself suddenly occupied by a swarm of gold crazed miners, cutthroats, and tenderfeet. It was up to Sgt. Preston (his first name is never used) to track down thieves, murderers, and claim jumpers. The job left him no time for romance even though his Boston Blackie mustache, red uniform, puffed-out trousers, and DI hat must have driven the ladies crazy.

No doubt the education of baby boomers on NWMP lore was responsible for the successful introduction of "Dudley Do-right" to "Rocky and and His Friends/The Bullwinkle Show" (1959-1964).

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I remember watching this program as a kid. There were no fancy special effects, no blood and gore, just edge of your seat excitement. There was a clear distinction between the good guys and the bad guys, and the good guys won. The dedicated Sargent Preston, and his faithful dog King, fighting the elements and the bad guys. You always knew who the hero was, and the bad guys always got what they deserve. Perhaps if there were shows like this today, children would have a better sense of right and wrong. Clear definitions of right and wrong, where the objective is to bring the wrongdoer to justice, not smash, mutilate or destroy them. No super powers, no high technology, just plain old fashioned using your brain. Clear values and no gratuitous violence.