The Virginian (TV series)
| The Virginian | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Also known as | The Men from Shiloh |
| Genre | Western |
| Written by |
Morton Fine & David Friedkin Burt Kennedy Harold Swanton Winston Miller Richard Jessup True Boardman Frank Chase John Hawkins & Ward Hawkins Don Ingalls Roy Huggins Leslie Stevens |
| Directed by | David Friedkin Burt Kennedy Ted Post Don McDougall Abner Biberman William Witney James Sheldon Earl Bellamy Michael Caffey Richard L. Bare Joseph Pevney Bernard McEveety Paul Stanley |
| Starring |
James Drury Doug McClure Lee J. Cobb Charles Bickford John McIntire Clu Gulager Gary Clarke Randy Boone Roberta Shore Diane Roter Sara Lane Don Quine |
| Theme music composer |
Percy Faith (seasons 1–8) Ennio Morricone (season 9) |
| Opening theme | "Lonesome Tree" conducted by Stanley Wilson |
| Ending theme | "Lonesome Tree" conducted by Stanley Wilson |
| Composer(s) |
Percy Faith Richard Shores Dave Grusin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 9 |
| No. of episodes | 249 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Charles Marquis Warren Norman Macdonnell Frank Price Roy Huggins |
| Producer(s) |
Morton Fine David Friedkin Joel Rogosin Winston Miller Cy Chermak Frank Telford Arthur H. Nadel Don Ingalls Paul Freeman Warren Duff Jules Schermer |
| Cinematography |
Benjamin H. Kline Lionel Lindon Enzo Martinelli John Russell Walter Strenge |
| Running time | 75 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Revue Studios (1962–1963) Universal Television (1963–1971) |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | Color 4:3 |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | September 19, 1962 – March 24, 1971 |
| The Virginian | |
|---|---|
James Drury as the Virginian in the Universal series by the same name.
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| First appearance | "The Executioners" (1962) |
| Last appearance | "Jump-up" (1971) |
| Created by | Owen Wister |
| Portrayed by | James Drury |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Foreman of the Shiloh Ranch in Medicine Bow, Wyoming |
The Virginian (known as The Men from Shiloh in its final year) is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. It was a spin-off from a 1958 summer series called Decision. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute Western series (75 minutes excluding commercial breaks). Immensely successful, it ran for nine seasons—television's third longest running western, behind Bonanza at 14 seasons and 430 episodes, and Gunsmoke at 20 seasons and 635 episodes. The series is loosely based on the novel of the same name.
When Revue Productions' popular hour-long series Wagon Train moved from the NBC network to ABC, The Virginian was proposed to replace it. From the beginning, the series was filmed in color on 35mm film.
Set in the late 19th century, and loosely based on the 1902 novel by Owen Wister, the series revolved around the tough foreman of the Shiloh Ranch, played by James Drury. His top hand Trampas (Doug McClure) and he were the only characters to remain with the show for the entire run. As in the book, the foreman went only by the name "The Virginian". The Virginian's real name was never revealed in the nine years the show was on the air. The series was set in Medicine Bow, Wyoming. Various references in the first season indicate that setting is about 1898 – in episode 5, "The Brazen Bell", guest star George C. Scott quotes from Oscar Wilde's The Ballad of Reading Gaol, which was first published in 1898, in episode 7, "Riff Raff", several of the main characters join Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders, the volunteer cavalry unit formed in 1898, and in episode 11, "The Devil's Children", the grave marker for one of the characters that dies in the episode states 1898 as the year of death. The series circled around the foreman's quest to maintain an orderly lifestyle at Shiloh. The ranch was named after the two-day American Civil War Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee. The Virginian's white Appaloosa was named Joe D., and Trampas' buckskin horse was named Buck. As the show progressed, Trampas became the more developed of the characters, and it continues to be the role for which actor Doug McClure was best known.
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