| Tales of Wells Fargo | |
|---|---|
) Dale Robertson as Jim Hardie, 1958. | |
| Genre | Western |
| Created by | James Brooks Frank Gruber Gene Reynolds |
| Directed by | Earl Bellamy William F. Claxton Lewis R. Foster Jerry Hopper Leslie H. Martinson Gene Reynolds Sidney Salkow R. G. Springsteen George Waggner William Witney |
| Starring | Dale Robertson William Demarest Virginia Christine Jack Ging |
| Theme music composer | Mort Greene Harry Warren Stanley Wilson |
| Composers | Paul Dunlap Michael Greene Melvyn Lenard Morton Stevens Harry Sukman John Williams |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 201 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producers | Nat Holt Earle Lyon |
| Running time | 30 mins, (1957-1961) 60 mins. (1961-1962) |
| Production companies | Overland Productions Revue Studios |
| Distributor | MCA TV (1964-1966) NBCUniversal Television Distribution (2004-2011) |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | Black and white (1957-61) Color (1961-62) |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | March 18, 1957 – June 2, 1962 |
Tales of Wells Fargo is an American Western television series starring Dale Robertson that ran from 1957 to 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until its final season when it expanded to an hour and switched from black and white to color.
Synopsis
Set in the 1870s and 1880s, the series starred the Oklahoma native Dale Robertson as special agent Jim Hardie, noted at the time as "the left-handed gun". The series development was influenced by the biography of Wells Fargo detective Fred J. Dodge. The concept of Tales of Wells Fargo, a company troubleshooter in the American West, was also adapted by the syndicated series Pony Express, co-starring Grant Sullivan as detective Brett Clark, which aired in the 1959-1960 season, nearly coinciding with the centennial of the Pony Express. Even earlier, from 1954 to 1955, Jim Davis had starred as a railroad investigator, Matt Clark, in the syndicated Stories of the Century. Davis and Robertson, both of whom had unusual but similar-sounding speaking voices, each did the narration for their respective series. (And each actor later landed roles in 1980's primetime soaps: Davis on Dallas and Robertson on Dynasty.)
In the 1957 Christmas episode entitled "Laredo", Jim Hardie must track gunrunners across the United States/Mexican border in Laredo, Texas, a quest which keeps him from spending the holiday with friends as he had intended. Guest stars include Henry Rowland, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., Karl Swenson and Pierre Watkin.[1]
Jim Hardie usually rode a chestnut horse with a white blaze on his face and four white stockings. The horse actually belonged to Dale Robertson, and was named "Jubilee". In at least one episode in season four, Jubilee came when Hardie whistled and called his name.
Cast
- Dale Robertson as Jim Hardie, Wells Fargo agent
- William Demarest as Jeb Gaine (1961–1962)
- Virginia Christine as Ovie (1961–1962)
- Jack Ging as Beau McCloud
- Lory Patrick as Tina (1961–1962)
Notable guest stars
Broadcast history
The pilot for Tales of Wells Fargo originally premiered as an episode of the anthology series Schlitz Playhouse of Stars.
In the 1960-61 season, Wells Fargo was scheduled opposite ABC's detective series Surfside 6 and CBS's new sitcom Bringing Up Buddy, starring Frank Aletter. Wells Fargo and Surfside 6 survived another year, but Bringing Up Buddy was cancelled. Wells Fargo was the lead-in that year to a new NBC Western, Klondike, but that series, set in the gold rush town of Skagway, Alaska, survived only seventeen episodes.
Ratings
For its first two years, the series was in the top ten of the Nielsen Ratings. During the 1957-58 season, it was ranked #3,[3] and during the 1958-59 season, it was ranked #7.[4]
Home media
Timeless Media Group released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1.[5]
| DVD name | Ep # | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete First and Second Seasons | 52 | October 25, 2011 |
Merchandise
The television series also spawned a number of publications for young readers, including the hardcover book Danger at Dry Creek (Golden Press, 1959), a series of Dell Comics and Little Golden Books. One of the artists who created this comic book adaptation was Russ Heath.[6]
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Run Time | Color | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||||
| 1 | 14 | March 18, 1957 | July 8, 1957 | 30 min | black & white | ||
| 2 | 38 | September 9, 1957 | May 26, 1958 | 30 min | black & white | ||
| 3 | 39 | September 8, 1958 | June 15, 1959 | 30 min | black & white | ||
| 4 | 37 | September 7, 1959 | May 30, 1960 | 30 min | black & white | ||
| 5 | 39 | September 5, 1960 | July 10, 1961 | 30 min | black & white | ||
| 6 | 34 | September 30, 1961 | June 2, 1962 | 60 min | color | ||
Season 1 (1957)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Thin Rope" | March 18, 1957 |
| 2 | 2 | "The Hasty Gun" | March 25, 1957 |
| 3 | 3 | "Alder Gulch" | April 8, 1957 |
| 4 | 4 | "The Bounty" | April 15, 1957 |
| 5 | 5 | "A Time to Kill" | April 22, 1957 |
| 6 | 6 | "Shotgun Messenger" | May 7, 1957 |
| 7 | 7 | "The Lynching" | May 13, 1957 |
| 8 | 8 | "Renegade Raiders" | May 20, 1957 |
| 9 | 9 | "Rio Grande" | June 3, 1957 |
| 10 | 10 | "Sam Bass" | June 10, 1957 |
| 11 | 11 | "The Hijackers" | June 17, 1957 |
| 12 | 12 | "Stage to Nowhere" | June 24, 1957 |
| 13 | 13 | "Jesse James" | July 1, 1957 |
| 14 | 14 | "The Silver Bullets" | July 8, 1957 |
Season 2 (1957-58)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 1 | "Belle Star" | September 9, 1957 |
| 16 | 2 | "Two Cartridges" | September 16, 1957 |
| 17 | 3 | "Apache Gold" | September 23, 1957 |
| 18 | 4 | "John Wesley Hardin" | September 30, 1957 |
| 19 | 5 | "The Target" | October 7, 1957 |
| 20 | 6 | "The Feud" | October 14, 1957 |
| 21 | 7 | "Billy the Kid" | October 21, 1957 |
| 22 | 8 | "The Auction" | October 28, 1957 |
| 23 | 9 | "Hank (Chips)" | November 4, 1957 |
| 24 | 10 | "Man in the Box" | November 11, 1957 |
| 25 | 11 | "The Kid" | November 18, 1957 |
| 26 | 12 | "The Barbary Coast" | November 25, 1957 |
| 27 | 13 | "Ride with the Killer" | December 2, 1957 |
| 28 | 14 | "The Inscrutable Man" | December 9, 1957 |
| 29 | 15 | "The General" | December 16, 1957 |
| 30 | 16 | "Laredo" | December 23, 1957 |
| 31 | 17 | "The Witness" | December 30, 1957 |
| 32 | 18 | "Doc Bell" | January 7, 1958 |
| 33 | 19 | "Stage West" | January 13, 1958 |
| 34 | 20 | "Hoss Tamer" | January 20, 1958 |
| 35 | 21 | "Hide Jumpers" | January 27, 1958 |
| 36 | 22 | "The Walking Mountain" | February 3, 1958 |
| 37 | 23 | "Bill Longley" | February 10, 1958 |
| 38 | 24 | "The Prisoner" | February 17, 1958 |
| 39 | 25 | "Dr. Alice" | February 23, 1958 |
| 40 | 26 | "The Sooners" | March 3, 1958 |
| 41 | 27 | "Alias Jim Hardie" | March 10, 1958 |
| 42 | 28 | "The Johnny Ringo Story" | March 17, 1958 |
| 43 | 29 | "The Newspaper" | March 24, 1958 |
| 44 | 30 | "Special Delivery" | March 31, 1958 |
| 45 | 31 | "Deadwood" | April 7, 1958 |
| 46 | 32 | "The Gun" | April 14, 1958 |
| 47 | 33 | "The Reward" | April 21, 1958 |
| 48 | 34 | "The Pickpocket" | April 28, 1958 |
| 49 | 35 | "Scapegoat" | May 5, 1958 |
| 50 | 36 | "The Renegade" | May 12, 1958 |
| 51 | 37 | "The Break" | May 19, 1958 |
| 52 | 38 | "The Sniper" | May 26, 1958 |
Season 3 (1958-59)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 53 | 1 | "The Gambler" | September 8, 1958 |
| 54 | 2 | "The Manuscript" | September 15, 1958 |
| 55 | 3 | "White Indian" | September 22, 1958 |
| 56 | 4 | "The Golden Owl" | September 29, 1958 |
| 57 | 5 | "The Faster Gun" | October 6, 1958 |
| 58 | 6 | "Butch Cassidy" | October 13, 1958 |
| 59 | 7 | "End of the Trail" | October 20, 1958 |
| 60 | 8 | "A Matter of Honor" | November 3, 1958 |
| 61 | 9 | "The Most Dangerous Man" | November 10, 1958 |
| 62 | 10 | "The Gunfighter" | November 17, 1958 |
| 63 | 11 | "The Deserter" | November 24, 1958 |
| 64 | 12 | "The Killer" | December 1, 1958 |
| 65 | 13 | "The Counterfeiters" | December 8, 1958 |
| 66 | 14 | "Cow Town" | December 15, 1958 |
| 67 | 15 | "The Happy Tree" | December 22, 1958 |
| 68 | 16 | "The Dealer" | December 29, 1958 |
| 69 | 17 | "Showdown Trail" | January 5, 1959 |
| 70 | 18 | "Luke Frazer" | January 12, 1959 |
| 71 | 19 | "Wild Cargo" | January 19, 1959 |
| 72 | 20 | "The Cleanup" | January 26, 1959 |
| 73 | 21 | "Fort Massacre" | February 2, 1959 |
| 74 | 22 | "The Town That Wouldn't Talk" | February 9, 1959 |
| 75 | 23 | "Lola Montez" | February 16, 1959 |
| 76 | 24 | "The Branding Iron" | February 23, 1959 |
| 77 | 25 | "The House I Enter" | March 2, 1959 |
| 78 | 26 | "The Legacy" | March 9, 1959 |
| 79 | 27 | "The Rawhide Kid" | March 16, 1959 |
| 80 | 28 | "Toll Road" | March 23, 1959 |
| 81 | 29 | "The Tired Gun" | March 30, 1959 |
| 82 | 30 | "Terry" | April 6, 1959 |
| 83 | 31 | "The Last Stand" | April 13, 1959 |
| 84 | 32 | "Bob Dawson" | April 20, 1959 |
| 85 | 33 | "The Tall Texan" | April 27, 1959 |
| 86 | 34 | "Doc Holliday" | May 4, 1959 |
| 87 | 35 | "Kid Curry" | May 11, 1959 |
| 88 | 36 | "The Little Man" | May 18, 1959 |
| 89 | 37 | "The Daltons" | May 25, 1959 |
| 90 | 38 | "The Bounty Hunter" | June 1, 1959 |
| 91 | 39 | "Clay Allison" | June 15, 1959 |
Season 4 (1959-60)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 92 | 1 | "Young Jim Hardie" | September 7, 1959 |
| 93 | 2 | "Desert Showdown" | September 14, 1959 |
| 94 | 3 | "The Warrior's Return" | September 21, 1959 |
| 95 | 4 | "The Jackass" | September 28, 1959 |
| 96 | 5 | "The Stage Line" | October 5, 1959 |
| 97 | 6 | "The Train Robbery" | October 12, 1959 |
| 98 | 7 | "Double Reverse" | October 19, 1959 |
| 99 | 8 | "Tom Horn" | October 26, 1959 |
| 100 | 9 | "The Quiet Village" | November 2, 1959 |
| 101 | 10 | "Home Town" | November 16, 1959 |
| 102 | 11 | "End of a Legend" | November 23, 1959 |
| 103 | 12 | "The Return of Doc Bell" | November 30, 1959 |
| 104 | 13 | "Woman with a Gun" | December 7, 1959 |
| 105 | 14 | "Long Odds" | December 14, 1959 |
| 106 | 15 | "Wanted: Jim Hardie" | December 21, 1959 |
| 107 | 16 | "Relay Station" | December 28, 1959 |
| 108 | 17 | "Cole Younger" | January 4, 1960 |
| 109 | 18 | "The Easterner" | January 11, 1960 |
| 110 | 19 | "The Governor's Visit" | January 18, 1960 |
| 111 | 20 | "The Journey" | January 25, 1960 |
| 112 | 21 | "The Canyon" | February 1, 1960 |
| 113 | 22 | "Red Ransom" | February 8, 1960 |
| 114 | 23 | "The English Woman" | February 15, 1960 |
| 115 | 24 | "Forty-Four Forty" | February 29, 1960 |
| 116 | 25 | "The Late Mayor Brown" | March 7, 1960 |
| 117 | 26 | "Black Trail" | March 21, 1960 |
| 118 | 27 | "The Great Bullion Robbery" | March 21, 1960 |
| 119 | 28 | "The Outlaw's Wife" | March 28, 1960 |
| 120 | 29 | "The Town" | April 4, 1960 |
| 121 | 30 | "The Trading Post" | April 11, 1960 |
| 122 | 31 | "Dead Man's Street" | April 18, 1960 |
| 123 | 32 | "Threat of Death" | April 25, 1960 |
| 124 | 33 | "Dealer's Choice" | May 2, 1960 |
| 125 | 34 | "Pearl Hart" | May 9, 1960 |
| 126 | 35 | "Vasquez" | May 16, 1960 |
| 127 | 36 | "Kid Brother" | May 23, 1960 |
| 128 | 37 | "Man for the Job" | May 30, 1960 |
Season 5 (1960-61)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 129 | 1 | "Day of Judgement" | September 5, 1960 |
| 130 | 2 | "Angry Town" | September 5, 1960 |
| 131 | 3 | "Doc Dawson" | September 19, 1960 |
| 132 | 4 | "The Kinfolk" | September 26, 1960 |
| 133 | 5 | "A Study in Petticoats" | October 17, 1960 |
| 134 | 6 | "All That Glitters" | October 24, 1960 |
| 135 | 7 | "Run for the River" | November 7, 1960 |
| 136 | 8 | "Leading Citizen" | November 14, 1960 |
| 137 | 9 | "The Killing of Johnny Lash" | November 21, 1960 |
| 138 | 10 | "The Wade Place" | November 28, 1960 |
| 139 | 11 | "Jeff Davis' Treasure" | December 5, 1960 |
| 140 | 12 | "The Bride and the Bandit" | December 12, 1960 |
| 141 | 13 | "Escort to Santa Fe" | December 19, 1960 |
| 142 | 14 | "Frightened Witness" | December 26, 1960 |
| 143 | 15 | "The Border Renegade" | January 2, 1961 |
| 144 | 16 | "Captain Scoville" | January 9, 1961 |
| 145 | 17 | "The Has-Been" | January 16, 1961 |
| 146 | 18 | "Town Against a Man" | January 23, 1961 |
| 147 | 19 | "The Barefoot Bandit" | January 30, 1961 |
| 148 | 20 | "The Hand That Shook the Hand" | February 6, 1961 |
| 149 | 21 | "The Washburn Girl" | February 13, 1961 |
| 150 | 22 | "The Diamond Dude" | February 27, 1961 |
| 151 | 23 | "A Show for Silver Lode" | March 6, 1961 |
| 152 | 24 | "Fraud" | March 13, 1961 |
| 153 | 25 | "Stage from Yuma" | March 20, 1961 |
| 154 | 26 | "Prince Jim" | March 27, 1961 |
| 155 | 27 | "The Remittance Man" | April 3, 1961 |
| 156 | 28 | "The Jealous Man" | April 10, 1961 |
| 157 | 29 | "Something Pretty" | April 17, 1961 |
| 158 | 30 | "Lady Trouble" | April 24, 1961 |
| 159 | 31 | "Moment of Glory" | May 1, 1961 |
| 160 | 32 | "The Lobo" | May 8, 1961 |
| 161 | 33 | "Rifles for Red Hand" | May 15, 1961 |
| 162 | 34 | "Gunman's Revenge" | May 22, 1961 |
| 163 | 35 | "The Repentant Outlaw" | May 29, 1961 |
| 164 | 36 | "A Quiet Little Town" | June 5, 1961 |
| 165 | 37 | "Bitter Vengeance" | June 12, 1961 |
| 166 | 38 | "John Jones" | June 26, 1961 |
| 167 | 39 | "The Dowry" | July 10, 1961 |
Season 6 (1961-62)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 168 | 1 | "Casket 7.3" | September 30, 1961 |
| 169 | 2 | "The Dodger" | October 7, 1961 |
| 170 | 3 | "Treasure Coach" | October 14, 1961 |
| 171 | 4 | "Death Raffle" | October 21, 1961 |
| 172 | 5 | "Tanoa" | October 28, 1961 |
| 173 | 6 | "Mr. Mute" | November 4, 1961 |
| 174 | 7 | "Jeremiah" | November 11, 1961 |
| 175 | 8 | "A Fistful of Pride" | November 18, 1961 |
| 176 | 9 | "Defiant at the Gate" | November 25, 1961 |
| 177 | 10 | "Man of Another Breed" | December 2, 1961 |
| 178 | 11 | "Kelly's Clover Girls" | December 9, 1961 |
| 179 | 12 | "A Killing in Calico" | December 16, 1961 |
| 180 | 13 | "New Orleans Trackdown" | December 23, 1961 |
| 181 | 14 | "Trackback" | December 30, 1961 |
| 182 | 15 | "Money-Run" | January 6, 1962 |
| 183 | 16 | "Return to Yesterday" | January 13, 1962 |
| 184 | 17 | "Reward for Gain" | January 20, 1962 |
| 185 | 18 | "Assignment in Gloribee" | January 27, 1962 |
| 186 | 19 | "Incident at Crossbow" | February 3, 1962 |
| 187 | 20 | "Portrait of Teresa" | February 10, 1962 |
| 188 | 21 | "Hometown Doctor" | February 17, 1962 |
| 189 | 22 | "The Traveler" | February 24, 1962 |
| 190 | 23 | "Winter Storm" | March 3, 1962 |
| 191 | 24 | "Chauncey" | March 17, 1962 |
| 192 | 25 | "Who Lives by the Gun" | March 24, 1962 |
| 193 | 26 | "To Kill a Town" | March 31, 1962 |
| 194 | 27 | "End of a Minor God" | April 7, 1962 |
| 195 | 28 | "Remember the Yazoo" | April 14, 1962 |
| 196 | 29 | "The Angry Sky" | April 21, 1962 |
| 197 | 30 | "Royal Maroon" | April 28, 1962 |
| 198 | 31 | "The Gold Witch" | May 5, 1962 |
| 199 | 32 | "Don't Wake a Tiger" | May 12, 1962 |
| 200 | 33 | "The Wayfarers" | May 19, 1962 |
| 201 | 34 | "Vignette of a Sinner" | June 2, 1962 |
References
- ^ "Laredo; Tales of Wells Fargo". Internet Movie Database. December 23, 1957. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ CTVA.biz
- ^ "TV Ratings: 1957-1958". classictvhits.com.
- ^ "TV Ratings: 1958-1959". classictvhits.com.
- ^ Lambert, David (September 9, 2011). "Tales of Wells Fargo - 'The Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons' 6-DVD Tin". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ https://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/heath_russ.htm