Johnny Ringo (TV series)

Johnny Ringo
Mark Goddard as Cully, Don Durant as Johnny Ringo and Karen Sharpe as Laura Thomas (1959)
Genre	Western
Created by	Aaron Spelling
Written by	Aaron Spelling
Directed by	Dick Moder John English David Lowell Rich
Starring	Don Durant Mark Goddard Karen Sharpe Terence De Marney
Composer(s)	Rudy Schrager Herschel Burke Gilbert
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	38
Production
Camera setup	Multi-camera Single-camera
Running time	25 mins.
Production company(s)	Four Star Productions
Distributor	Peter Rodgers Organization
Release
Original network	CBS
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	October 1, 1959 (1959-10-01) – June 30, 1960 (1960-06-30)

Johnny Ringo is an American Western television series starring Don Durant that aired on CBS from October 1, 1959, until June 30, 1960. It is loosely based on the life of the notorious gunfighter and outlaw Johnny Ringo, also known as John Peters Ringo or John B. Ringgold, who tangled with Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Buckskin Franklin Leslie.

This fictional account has Ringo putting aside his gunfighting ways to become the 27-year-old sheriff of fictitious Velardi in the Arizona Territory. Ringo has two deputies: William Charles, Jr., or Cully, played by Mark Goddard and Case Thomas, portrayed by Terence De Marney, who is also a storekeeper and formerly the town drunk. Case is killed in a robbery in the episode "Border Town", which aired on March 17, 1960. Case's daughter, Laura Thomas, played by Karen Sharpe, is Ringo's girlfriend in the series. Michael Hinn appeared in nine episodes as George Haig.

The program was an early creation of Aaron Spelling for Four Star Television. Spelling created Johnny Ringo at the specific request of Dick Powell as a role for Durant. It was filmed at CBS Studio Center. The pilot episode was shot as part of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, titled "Man Alone" and featured Thomas Mitchell as Case Thomas. A second pilot was shot with Terence de Marney in the role.

In the episode entitled "The Posse", Richard Devon plays Jessie Mead, a former Ringo friend who storms into town asking that he be jailed for protection from a pursuing posse, which Mead claims is really a lynch mob. Mead breaks a storefront glass to compel Ringo to arrest him. Actually, Mead has conspired with three others to rob the bank while the townspeope are diverted from their regular activities to pressure Ringo into turning Mead over to "the posse", the members of which are the other criminals. Ringo urges caution, but the irate townspeople want to take the matter into their own hands.