My wife and I loved this series when we were teenagers. It came out on DVD and we just bought it. It's even better than I remember. One thing that stuns me, is the caliber of the guest stars! - for a show that was a mid-season starter, and only went another year and a half after that, there were top-shelf actors and actresses in this show. Strother Martin, James Drury, Patrick MacNee, Juliet Mills, JD Cannon, just to name a few.I've watched eight episodes of the first half-season, as well as the pilot, and thanks to DVD can re-play scenes as much as I wish. Given my semi-invalid state the past year, I spend a lot of time watching old shows and on the computer so this is just plain GREAT entertainment.We're gonna turn our grandkids onto AS&J before we are through!

I'll always wonder: had he lived, could Pete Duel have rescued the TV Western from oblivion? Gunsmoke and Bonanza, the hoary old legends of the genre, already were teetering on their ancient last legs, with but a few more seasons to be squeezed out of them, when, out of the blue, as I remember it, came Alias Smith and Jones, whose fresh and jokey episodes became pretty wildly popular, especially with young people (that would be the likes of *me*, as I was 16 at the time). Alas, as others have already noted, Pete Duel committed suicide just as the series was hitting its stride. (The story of Duel's death made headlines across the country in a way contemporary viewers of TV dramas cannot imagine.) Roger Davis came in as a replacement and the series slid right downhill immediately thereafter--although I did like the episodes with Michele Lee. At any rate, about the only TV Western afterward to generate anything similar to Alias Smith and Jones' excitement was Kung Fu. Sidenote: James Garner's marvelous, and utterly forgotten series, Nichols, should have been the next great Western after Alias . . .What made Alias Smith and Jones tick? I always thought it was a sleek updating of what had already been a semi-comic TV Western success a few years earlier, Maverick. In fact, you can spot touches of the Bret Maverick characterization in both Heyes and Curry, along with some similar story lines and plot developments. Not to mention the lifting of the "five pat hands" trick, which Bret Maverick employed more than once. All of which should not be too much of a surprise, however, as Roy Huggins was instrumental to both series.Otherwise, watch out for the handful of episodes with Slim Pickens. "Exit from Wickenburg", the one where Slim works as the crooked bartender of a saloon/casino, is a masterpiece. It just wouldn't be a proper 1960s Western without Slim popping up every now and then.What a pity that Pete Duel succumbed to his demons. What a loss for network TV, the Western, and the many fans of Alias Smith and Jones. Who knows what could have been . . . .

The cable channel, WESTERN, is re-broadcasting all the episodes of this series. My husband, a Jones, and myself, formerly a Smith(!), have been enjoying watching these shows again. We saw them when they originally aired when we were kids. We think they have aged well and are still fun. We like seeing Smith & Jones getting into trouble and always finding a way out. And spotting guest actors who have gone on to become famous is a fun game to play. We had guessed that Roger Davis was the narrator for the first two seasons but weren't sure until we saw the credit listed on this site. We also like the fact it's a show we can watch with our 9 year old who has become a fan too!

"Alias Smith and Jones" debuted on ABC in January 1971, little more than a year after the release of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," and that's hardly coincidental. The series was undoubtedly an attempt by Universal to cash-in on the success of the Paul Newman-Robert Redford megahit. The resemblance series co-star Ben Murphy had to the man with the blue eyes wasn't coincidental either. But "Alias Smith and Jones" was created by Roy Huggins, the man who gave us "Maverick," which one could say inspired "Butch..." so if anyone had the right to pattern a series on that movie, it was Huggins. Besides, this series achieved what the overrated "Butch" only aspired to. It had wit and style, was well-written, and had a first-rate cast. There was a solid chemisty between Pete Duel and Murphy, and the guest stars were also well chosen. I have fond memories of this show, although its quality deteriorated somewhat in February 1972 when Roger Davis took over for Duel (who died on New Year's Eve 1971 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound). It would be nice to see it released on video or at least added to the lineup on TV Land.