ALL SCI-FI

[Pow]

DVD was a western anthology television show which ran from 1952~1970 for 452 episodes.

Coming in at 18 years, it is the second longest running TV western series just after Gunsmoke which ran for 20 seasons.

What makes this half-hour show interesting is that all of the episodes are based upon real incidents. I'm sure there is the usual ''artistic license'' taken with the truth by Hollywood.

Still, it makes the show intriguing knowing that these people they feature did in fact exist & there is an element of reality to their stories.

Someone kindly posted many DVD episodes on Youtube.
As a lifelong western (and science-fiction devotee of course) I've been really getting a kick out of these episodes.

And it is fun to do research after viewing these episodes on these true life characters & incidents to get the full story.

Highly recommend DVD to any other western fans & historians for an enjoyable half hour.

[Bud Brewster]

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Ah yes, those were the days. My father (a devoted fan of Westerns) watched this series, and I saw some of the episodes with him.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, popular series like this one often had only one or two sponsors who subsidized entire seasons, and the cast members would appear in the commercials.

Death Valley Days was sponsored for years by 20 Mule Team Borax (an unusual name for a household product), and the Old Ranger who introduced each episode would would be part of the commercials, too.


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_______Death Valley Days Classic TV Commercial


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

[Bud Brewster]

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Thanks. I didn't know that! I corrected my post by removing the word "soap".

When I said that Borax was an "unusual name for a household product" I was just thinking about how products are usually given appealing names like "Dawn" dish washing detergent and "Zest" bath soap.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

From Wikipedia.

Death Valley Days was created by Ruth Woodman and ran on the radio from 1930 until 1945.

The television show had a succession of hosts over its eighteen year run.

Stanley Andrews was "The Old Ranger" and hosted the show from 1952 until 1970.

Ronald Reagan hosted from 1964~1966.

Rosemary De Camp hosted the series in 1965.

Robert Taylor from 1966~1969.

And finally Dale Robertson from 1969~1970.

Some episodes were shot in Kanab, Utah, while the majority of the episodes were filmed in Hollywood.

As the series continued on the air, episodes began to focus on nearly any portion of the American West, not just on Death Valley country.

The first two seasons of the show were produced by Gene Autry's Flying A Productions. Flying A also produced Sky King.

McGowan Productions took over for the 1954~1959 seasons.

Filmaster Productions took over in 1959. Filmaster also produced the first several seasons of the CBS western Gunsmoke.

Sidebar: I always admired the fact that the stories were based upon real life historical stories. Kinda like what Jack Webb did with all his TV series that were based upon real cases.

I also admire the fact that a number of episodes were based upon Ruth Woodman scripts. Female writers for television were extremely rare — almost unheard of —back in that era.

[Bud Brewster]

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Mike, thanks again for resurrecting a fond memory from my happy childhood days!

My father was a lifelong fan of Westerns, so the fact that I remember the name of the series, along with seeing the opening shot of the 20-mule team, is probably just because my father was watching it.

Dad was pleased with the oil painting I did of him in the late 1970s.


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But he passed away in 2000 and never got to see the jpeg of a "Western" version I made of a few years ago, using Paint.net. I'm sure he'd have loved it.

It magically transforms him from the retired manager of Delta Air Lines' landing gear maintenance shop at the Jet Base in Atlanta into the "Top Hand" at the Bar ASF Ranch!


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Those are marvelous oil paintings you did, Bruce, of your dad.

My dad also loved westerns, so I grew up watching 'em and loving them too. His other enjoyment was any of the law enforcement or private detective shows. I've also enjoyed those but I'm less drawn to them these days, although I do like Blue Bloods with Tom Selleck. Maybe I became weary of police/detective shows since there are so many....and they keep on a comin.

But I'll never tire of SF or westerns, guess I'm biased.