I am in the process of watching all 156 episodes of LAWMAN, the Warner Bros western which ran from 1958 to 1962. I remember it from its original run, but haven't seen an episode in nigh to fifty years. I was a trifle worried it wouldn't be as good as I remembered. Back in the day critics slammed this show as being a ripoff of GUNSMOKE with the same granite-butt marshal and his saloon owner love interest, only set in Laramie rather than Dodge.The bad news? The critics had a point. Marshal Dan Troop is pretty much a clone of Marshal Matt Dillon. Miss Lily is pretty much a clone of Miss Kitty. The good news? John Russell is fabulous as the granite-butt law officer, even better in my judgment than James Arness. The gorgeous Peggy Castle is even sexier at the Birdcage than Amanda Blake was at the Long Branch. These two certainly gave the show a solid foundation.The third cast regular is the young and handsome deputy Peter Brown. Here LAWMAN departed significantly from GUNSMOKE, in which the eccentric Chester and Festus were often comic relief characters. Brown was a top-of-the-line young Warners heartthrob. His relationship with Russell's veteran marshal had a father to son quality. He was nothing like the old B western comic sidekicks who seemed the inspiration on GUNSMOKE.The production values on the show were good, better on the whole than the early GUNSMOKE's in which the indoor for outdoor sets and painted backdrops were often obvious. Not here. The guest casts were an interesting combination of young talent like Robert Fuller, Richard Long, James Drury, and Louise Fletcher with established fifties western regulars like Lee Van Cleef, Coleen Gray, Strother Martin, Jack Elam, and Slim Pickins, and a smattering of real old-timers such as Glenn Strange and Lane Chandler.All in all, this show lacked the penetrating writing which made GUNSMOKE unique, but fine performances by the three regulars, good guest casts and production values, and solid, if perhaps rarely out of the ordinary scripts, make this series one well worth rewatching.

It is a shame that this series hasn't been remastered and produced on video by Warner or some other professional movie house.Copies of most episodes are available, but are usually of poor quality, being copies of copies of copies.As I understand it, 92 episodes were produced during its run, but only 15 are noted here.Some of the series writers, such as Richard Matheson, went on to become noted authors.Excellent series, well written, well staged and well produced.Michael Weldon,Udon Thani, Thailand

John Russel was excellently cast in this Western about protecting Laramie from the badder elements of society.Russell, a former Marine, was straight and tall and worked wonderfully as the wise lawman who used his six-gun with deadly accuracy and regularity. Peter Brown as Deputy Johnny McKay was also fast in the leather slappin' dept.Brown brought the young ladies in to view the weekly adventures while Russell, I'm sure, caught the attention of both women viewers and men.This was a smart Western with a great theme song composed of male voices singing the praises of the "Lawman." Russell's steely eyes made the part of tough-guy Marshall believable. The epitome of what you would expect a real Marshall in the old west to be. Brown's good looks and athletic prowess made for some great action during the series.I was sad to see Russell cast as a villain in the 1985 Clint Eastwood film, Pale Rider. Russell will forever remain one of the ultimate lawmen in the Old West in my mind as a result of this wonderful old Western series.

Warner Bros. churned out a slew of western series in the late '50s and early '60s, some good, some not so good. "Lawman" was one of the best. John Russell, a veteran western character actor, was perfectly cast as tough Marshal Dan Troop. Russell's commanding presence, rich voice and no-nonsense demeanor fit the character perfectly. Peter Brown was well cast as Russell's eager young deputy, and beautiful Peggy Castle was a treat for the eyes as the owner of the local saloon and Russell's cat-and-mouse love interest. The show drew some good directors (Robert Altman, Burt Kennedy), had consistently interesting stories, and there was real chemistry between Russell and Brown. And, to top it off, it had what is probably the best theme song of any western series ("the lawman came from the sun, there was a job to be done . . ."). All in all, a memorable series that unfortunately didn't last as long as it should have.