Western TV series
Bronco
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|
Also known as
|
- Cheyenne: Bronco
- The Cheyenne Show: Bronco
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Genre
| Western
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Starring
| Ty Hardin
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Theme music composer
| |
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Country of origin
| United States
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Original language
| English
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No.
of seasons
| 4
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No.
of episodes
| 68
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|
Executive producer
| William T. Orr
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Producers
| |
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Production location
| California
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Running time
| 60 mins.
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Production company
| Warner Bros. Television
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|
Network
| ABC
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Release
| September 23, 1958
(
1958-09-23
)
?
April 30, 1962
(
1962-04-30
)
|
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|
|
Bronco
is a
Western television series
on
ABC
from 1958 through 1962. It was shown by the
BBC
in the United Kingdom. The program starred
Ty Hardin
as Bronco Layne, a former
Confederate
officer who wandered the
Old West
, meeting such well-known individuals as
Wild Bill Hickok
,
Billy the Kid
,
Jesse James
,
Theodore Roosevelt
,
Belle Starr
,
Cole Younger
, and
John Wesley Hardin
.
Overview
[
edit
]
Bronco
premiered in the fall of 1958 when
Warner Bros.
executives and actor
Clint Walker
clashed over Walker's
contract
on the series
Cheyenne
. Walker had walked out on his show over such stringent clauses as a requirement that he return half of all personal appearance fees to Warner Bros., and that he only record for Warner music labels. When the two sides came to an impasse, the network hired newcomer Ty Hardin to play the new character of Bronco Layne, but kept the title of
Cheyenne
.
When Walker came back to his series,
Bronco
became a
spin-off
of
Cheyenne
.
Bronco
at first alternated with another Western series,
Sugarfoot
, featuring
Will Hutchins
. In 1960, the two began alternating with
Cheyenne
under the
Cheyenne
title.
Sugarfoot
was dropped in 1961, leaving only
Bronco
and
Cheyenne
to alternate. Other Warner Bros. Westerns in production around this time included
Maverick
with
James Garner
,
Jack Kelly
, and
Roger Moore
,
Colt .45
with
Wayde Preston
, and
Lawman
with
John Russell
; series characters occasionally crossed over into each other's series.
According to the theme song, Bronco came from the
Texas Panhandle
, but episodes of the series are set throughout the West.
In the eighth episode, "Freeze-Out" (December 30, 1958), a writer calling herself Mary Brown, played by Grace Raynor, hires Bronco to escort her to a
ghost town
in the high country, where they encounter three men amid the isolation. As it develops, Mary is not interested so much in story ideas, but in the body of a man buried in a nearby
glacier
and missing gold. Some four years before the debut of his
The Virginian
,
James Drury
plays the part of John Smith, who develops a romantic interest in Mary. Edgar Stehli (1884?1973) plays the part of "Pancake" Riddle.
[
citation needed
]
Guest stars
[
edit
]
- Peter Breck
was
Theodore Roosevelt
in "Yankee Tornado" (1961).
- Ahna Capri
appeared as the child Emily in "A Town That Lived and Died" (1962).
- Russ Conway
appeared as Willis Turner, with
Chris Alcaide
as Brutus Traxel, in "The Silent Witness" (1959).
- Walter Coy
was Sheriff Walters in "The Turning Point" (1958), Victor Leggett in "Backfire" (1959), and Sheriff Springer in "Beginner's Luck" (1962).
- Francis De Sales
was Lawrence Larson in "Hero of the Town" (1959).
- Med Flory
appeared as Vance Pelham in "Then the Mountains" (1962).
- Dean Fredericks
was Great Wolf in "Seminole War Pipe" (1960).
- Tod Griffin
was Sheriff Garth Nelson in "The Silent Witness" (1959) and Chip Garnes in "Volunteers from Aberdeen" (1960).
- Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr.
portrayed Manuel Figueres in "Flight from an Empire" (1959).
- I. Stanford Jolley
was Stover in "Brand of Courage" (1958) and Old Man Shirley in "Shadow of Jesse James" (1960).
- Douglas Kennedy
as Paul Duquesne in "Four Guns and a Prayer" (1958)
- Scott Marlowe
appeared as
John Wesley Hardin
in "The Turning Point" (1958).
- Gregg Palmer
was Colton in "Destinies West" (1962).
- Judson Pratt
was Marlow in "Manitoba Manhunt" (1961).
- Pernell Roberts
appeared as Reverend Dave Clayton in "The Belles of Silver Flats" (1959).
- Randy Stuart
was Claire Russo in "Tangled Trail" (1960).
- Olive Sturgess
was Virginia Munger in "Guns of the Lawless" (1961).
- Gary Vinson
appeared four times in different roles between 1958 and 1961: "Four Guns and a Prayer", "The Devil's Spawn" (as Bud Donner), "The Invaders", and "Cousin from Atlanta".
- Tony Young
appeared twice, as Cpl. Red Bird in "The Burning Springs" (1959) and as Tod Chapman in "One Evening in Abilene" (1962).
- Jack Nicholson
appeared as the young lover Bob in the episode "The Equalizer" in season four, episode four (1961).
Jack Elam
played Mr. Thompson in the same episode.
Episodes
[
edit
]
Series overview
[
edit
]
Season 1 (1958?59)
[
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]
Season 2 (1959?60)
[
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]
Season 3 (1960?61)
[
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]
Season 4 (1961?62)
[
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]
Release
[
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]
Home media
[
edit
]
Warner Bros.
has released the first three seasons on DVD in Region 1 via their
Warner Archive Collection
. These are manufacture-on-demand (MOD) releases, available through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.
[1]
[2]
[3]
The fourth and final season was released on May 19, 2015.
[4]
DVD Name
|
Ep #
|
Release Date
|
The Complete First Season
|
20
|
July 29, 2014
|
The Complete Second Season
|
20
|
October 14, 2014
|
The Complete Third Season
|
10
|
February 3, 2015
|
The Complete Fourth Season
|
18
|
May 19, 2015
|
References
[
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]
External links
[
edit
]