The TV series, "Cheyenne," was one of several Western themed weekly programs on television in 1950s America. Its success and that of so many others like it in that decade seemed almost assured. Many children of the 1940s grew up with Western matinée movies at local theaters. Those were the days before TV took off five years after the end of World War II. I recall vividly my frequent Saturday bicycle rides with my brother or neighborhood friends to the Swan Theater in Columbus, NE. Those kids' matinees cost just nine cents, and that left a penny out of our dime for a bag of popcorn. Most of the matinée movies we saw weren't new. They were films from the past decade or more that we probably hadn't seen. When a new Western movie came out we might get to see it at an evening showing at the bigger Columbus Theater. Of course, the price there was 20 cents and popcorn cost a nickel. But we kids were happy with the matinees following the adventures of Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, John Wayne, the Cisco Kid, Lash Larue and the Lone Ranger. With the rapid rise of TV at the start of the 1950s, the movie houses began to see a steady decline in audience numbers. And, those daytime Western entertainers of the past were getting into the new medium as well. The Gene Autry show aired from 1950 to 1955, and the Roy Rogers show ran from 1951 to 1957. Hopalong Cassidy had a TV series from 1952-54, and the Cisco Kid was a favorite TV series from 1950-56 starring Duncan Renaldo. The Lone Ranger, who was played by different actors in movies, as was The Cisco Kid, had a long-running TV series from 1949-57, with a 30-minute weekly show that starred Clayton Moore. It ran for 221 episodes. Moore also starred in the 1956 feature length film, "The Lone Ranger."With Westerns so firmly established among the viewing public, it's no wonder that new Western series would become very popular on TV. But, the new series and heroes took on a little more mature look. Now they appealed as much to adults as to kids. Indeed, many of the latter were now the adults themselves. "Cheyenne" was one of the favorites among the many long-running Western TV serials. It ran from 1955 to 1962 and starred Clint Walker. It was second in popularity only to "Gunsmoke," which became the longest running live action TV series in history, airing from 1955 to 1975. And, the enduring popularity of Westerns would continue in the movies and on TV through the 1970s. "Maverick" aired from 1957 to 1962, "Have Gun – Will Travel" ran from 1957 to 1963, and "Wagon Train" ran from 1957 to 1965. Even before these faded out, other series were born. "The Rifleman" aired from 1958 to 1963,"Rawhide" ran from 1959 to 1965 and "Bonanza" ran from 1959 to 1973. More Western series' were born as some of the earlier ones faded. "The Wild Wild West" and "The Big Valley" both ran from 1965-69, and "How the West Was Won," aired from 1976 to 1979.Those were times and a type of wholesome entertainment that the whole family could enjoy. Few of today's theater offerings or TV programs fit that category. And, today's $5 and $10 theater popcorn is a far cry from the five or 10 cents one paid in 1950 — even adjusted for inflation. Top movie stars in the 1940s might make $100,000 for a single movie. Today they get $5 to $10 million or more. Inflation in the movie industry appears to be about 500 to 1,000 percent greater than for the American economy overall. That may be one reason why so many more people stay home and watch TV instead of going to the movies.

I too enjoy watching the old Cheyenne re-runs! He's truly the most beautiful man I've ever seen. The bare chest scenes are nice, but he seems to get beat up in every episode. That kills me, but I know he'll always triumph in the long run, after all it's his show! I have to force myself to remember he is now 81 years old. He has a web site where you can purchase autographed posters, and send emails. He seems to stay pretty active. I love watching all the old westerns on cable. The Rifleman, and the Big Valley are also among my favorites. The Westerns channel is the first place I go when I turn on the television, as long as I can beat my husband to the remote!

When "Cheyenne" debuted on 9/20/1955, "The Lone Ranger" had already been running for six seasons and had two more to go. Warner Brothers, specifically Jack Warner, tapped Clint Walker to be it's first TV Western hero, and raised the bar a considerable notch over the series made famous by Clayton Moore (and John Hart for one season). Walker was a no nonsense but laid back hero, almost droll by comparison with 'B' movie Western stars that preceded him, and that almost certainly added to his fame and popularity as Cheyenne.The Season I DVD compilation includes all fifteen episodes of the series' first season 1955/56. Series guest star James Garner appeared in three of them, as many as L.Q. Jones, who portrayed Cheyenne's map making sidekick Smitty in three of the first four shows. Garner's character was different each time out. Other notable guests in the first season included Myron Healey, Dennis Hopper, Barton MacLane, and even a young Michael Landon in an uncredited appearance.One of the interesting things about that first season is that two of the episodes were direct lifts of movies starring Humphrey Bogart. 'The Argonauts' (#1.3) swipes scenes and dialog from "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" in a similar story of greedy gold prospectors, but at least credits B. Traven as the author of the novel on which both were based. However 'Fury at Rio Hondo' (#1.12) credits James Gunn with writing that story, but nowhere mentions Ernest Hemingway as the author of "To Have And Have Not". Once again, the story's plot and characters parallel the Bogart film; the Lauren Bacall role is handled by Peggie Castle, but she doesn't quite cut it as the sexy nineteen year old Bacall did in the original movie. For his part, Bodie was no Bogey.On that score, Clint Walker was competent as the laconic drifter Cheyenne Bodie, but like George Reeves in "The Adventures of Superman" TV series, he didn't have a lot to work with, and didn't rise much above the material, unless you consider his six and a half foot stature. Don't get me wrong, I like both Walker and "Cheyenne" and enjoy the shows, but if you consider the acting, the best you can say is that it was uneven. And the episodes, some were almost comical trying to be serious. Consider Episode #1.11, 'Quicksand', in which Cheyenne challenges a Comanche Chief in a battle to the death in a bed of muck. They start out standing upright, and slowly start to sink inch by inch until each proves the point that they would rather die than be proved a coward. Then, when the Comanche chief mounts his horse to ride away, he's no longer covered by mud!As big as Walker was, it's interesting to see him cast opposite actors who came close to him in size; Don Megowan comes to mind from Episode #1.13 - 'Star in the Dust', as a sheriff who hires Cheyenne on as a deputy. That's one example, but it happened with some regularity. Kind of makes you wonder where all those big bad guys came from in the Old West.The Season I DVD set contains a nice 'Legacy of Cheyenne' feature in which the seventy nine year old Walker talks about his early life and 'discovery' by Van Johnson, who put him in touch with an agent. That contact eventually led to a role as a Sardinian Captain of the Guard in "The Ten Commandments". Warner Brothers took an interest based on that role, and bought his contract from producer Hal Wallis with the Cheyenne role in mind. Originally, the show aired as part of an anthology series on the ABC network; other posters on this board have done a nice job of outlining that history.My favorite show of the series - Episode #7.1, debuting the 1962 season, titled "The Durango Brothers". Mama Hortense Durango (Ellen Corby) enlists her three renegade sons (Jack Elam, Charlie Briggs, and Mickey Simpson) to kidnap Cheyenne in order to marry him off to sister Lottie (Sally Kellerman!!!) - it's hilarious! Needless to say, Cheyenne finishes the show, the season and the series still single."Cheyenne" began a great Western tradition at ABC, to be followed not only by that network, but CBS and NBC as well. Not many though, could ride as tall in the saddle as the original, and Clint Walker can rest easy knowing that there aren't many TV heroes that are admired as much as Cheyenne Bodie.*Addendum - posted 12/13/09 - From Episode #64, Season 4 - "Gold, Glory and Custer, Requiem" - Cheyenne Bodie's Indian name from the Southern Cheyenne is revealed to be 'Touch the Sky'. Seems more than appropriate.

In commerating the Golden 50th Anniversary of this program,the series "Cheyenne" was one of the first television series produced by a major film studio of the era,and one of five western-adventure shows from Warner Brothers,and a couple dozen of other shows they did for the studio,which not only made Warners a household name,but also was the pinnacle status of the success of the American Broadcasting Company(that MADE that network)from the mid 1950's to the early 1960's under the stewardship of Executive Producer William T. Orr and the creative genius of Roy Huggins,who were also later on the driving force behind the Warner Brothers detective shows(in which all were on the same network)during that same period."Cheyenne" was the first TV-western produced by the studio,and it is the most fondly remembered of TV's "Golden Age Of Westerns",and it was the driving force behind this show that Warners produced four more Westerns after the success of "Cheyenne". This show was a huge hit for ABC-TV at the time mostly because of its star,Clint Walker as the title character. It also brought out other westerns as well that followed including James Garner as "Maverick" which premiered in 1957,and continued through 1962,producing 124 episodes. Then that same year Will Hutchins star as "Sugarfoot"(1957-1961),which produced 61 episodes,then afterwards in 1958 came Ty Hardin as "Bronco"(1958-1962), which produced 68 episodes,not to mention the action-adventure short-lived series titled "The Alaskans" with Roger Moore,which ran from 1959 through 1960,producing 37 episodes. There were other Westerns as well that Warners produced during the mid-1960's as well especially with the Western satire spoof "F-Troop" which premiered in 1965 producing 37 episodes which ran until 1967,and the last of Warner Brothers Westerns came that same year in 1965 with Christopher Jones in "The Legend of Jesse James",which lasted one season. It is to note here that out of all the Warner Brothers produced Westerns that had the longest-running stanza out of all of them,"Cheyenne" remained on ABC-TV for eight seasons,producing 108 episodes running from its debut in 1955 to the final episode of the series in 1963. Only "Maverick" became the second longest-running Western for the studio,which debut in 1957 and ended in 1962,withstood a five-year run.What set "Cheyenne" apart from other TV-westerns of their day? First off,there were different sets of elements that were found of other shows but this one was totally the opposite and above the competition in which lay the foundation for the casting of Clint Walker as Cheyenne Brodie. Clint Walker's character was a good-looking fellow with a 48-inch chest(which seems to get bared at least once in every episode)who didn't succeed just on his acting ability,which was passable.The only thing that was successful was the action scenes in which Cheyenne would be fighting ruthless outlaws,savage Indians,and even deadly gunslingers who may have there way with him,but Cheyenne didn't back down from any fight,and because of his massive size,he could tackle any man while still have the aura of a "gentle giant". Even with the "beefcake" scenes had an non-threatening quality about them since television and what was to be shown on television had to go through the censors was about as riveting as they could get,but lets face it,"Cheyenne" delivered the goods and then some with more Westerb action and adventure then it could handle thanks to the starring presence of Clint Walker especially with the unique qualities that he brought to this series."Cheyenne" also brought out some of the most special guest stars ever assembled and some of them,like per se James Garner,would go on to make a name for himself years later on his own WB-produced series, "Maverick". And not to mention others like Micheal Landon,Peter Graves, and others that were on the adventure set each week. In all a great series from TV's Golden Age.Happy Golden 50th Anniversary CHEYENNE