Buffalo Bill Jr. | |
---|---|
Genre | Western |
Written by |
John K. Butler Oliver Drake Paul Franklin Eric Freiwald Paul Gangelin Maurice Geraghty Orville H. Hampton Samuel Newman Robert Schaefer |
Directed by |
George Archainbaud William A. Berke Thomas Carr John English William McCarthy Frank McDonald Don McDougall Ray Nazarro Robert G. Walker |
Starring |
Dick Jones Harry Cheshire Nancy Gilbert Bob Woodward |
Composer(s) | Carl Cotner |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 42 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
Gene Autry Armand Schaefer |
Producer(s) |
Louis Gray Eric Jenson |
Running time | 30 mins. |
Production company(s) | Flying A Productions |
Release | |
Original network | Syndication |
Picture format | Black-and-white |
Audio format | Monaural |
Original release | March 1, 1955 – September 21, 1956 |
Buffalo Bill Jr. is an American western television series with Dick Jones (1927-2014) in the title role of a young fictional marshal in West Texas. The series aired in syndication from March 1, 1955, until September 21, 1956.
Jones was a native of Snyder in Scurry County south of Lubbock on the Texas South Plains; the series, however, is set in southwestern Texas near the Rio Grande River, the boundary with Mexico. In the series format, he is cast as Buffalo Bill Jr., with Nancy Gilbert as his younger sister, Calamity, who at the age of twelve is training to be a telegraph operator at the station at nearby Wiley Junction. The two were orphaned years earlier in the Black Hills of South Dakota following a massacre of their wagon train. The children were rescued and adopted by Judge Ben "Fair and Square" Wiley, played by Harry V. Cheshire, whom they often called "Uncle Ben". Cheshire was an older character actor originally from Emporia, Kansas. With a raspy voice, he frequently played the parts of bankers and western townsmen but occasionally outlaws too. Judge Wiley is also a diversified frontier businessman. The sign on his shop reads, "Wileyville General Store / Groceries - Hardware - Dry Goods / Judge Ben 'Fair 'n' Square' Wiley, Prop. / Justice of the Peace / Town Marshal / Physician & Surgeon / Blacksmith / Haircuts - Legal Advice / By Appointment Only". Wiley brings Bill and Calamity to fictional Wileyville, a Texas town which he founded himself.