Television Westerns

Nearly 150 Western TV series were made in the 1950s and '60s. Most of the early ones were black and white and just 30 minutes long but, since there was less advertising in those days, it was a good, meaty 30 minutes. If you're not old enough to remember them from their first time around, you might think they were just kids shows. You'd be wrong. The whole family sat down to watch "Maverick" and "Wagon Train."

In retrospect, I realize the old Westerns were frequently simplistic, idealistic, and historically inaccurate. But... who cares? They were fun. As a friend of mine recently wrote, they taught a moral lesson. Good always triumphs over evil. Not realistic? Depends on your point of view. According to most religions, one way or another, you get what's coming to you. It may be before God at the final Judgment, or it may be as a cockroach in your next incarnation, but good does, somehow, always win, even if you have to wait awhile. Even the non-religious know that "what goes around comes around...."

So, maybe cowboys aren't as cool and romantic as they were made out to be. And maybe most of the real saloon girls weren't lookers and didn't have hearts of gold. But, for a little while, these programs reminded us of what we could be, what we might do, what we could hope for. They taught us The Cowboy Way. I don't call that a bad thing. ~Sara

By title...
Also included are principle actors, the characters they played,
and run dates, where readily available.

A-B | C-D | E-F | G-H | I-J | K-L | M-N | O-P | Q-R | S-T | U-V | W-X | Y-Z

The lists you'll find when you click the links above were compiled from various Internet and print sources, as well as my own memory. I do not claim them to be either exhaustive or infallible.
Accurate corrections, additions, or constructive comments, are always welcome.

Looking for more photos?
Doug Abbott's collection includes at least one photo from every TV Western.
E-mail him!

If you want to comment on my site or on "the good old days" of TV Weserns, I'm happy to hear from you, but unless you are someone I already know, please don't ask me to trade, lend, copy, or sell anything. Sorry, I am simply not interested in doing that.