"Rawhide" is the best Western television series out of all of them - with only "Maverick" and "Wagon Train" rivalling "Rawhide" in terms of popularity. The general public were introduced to Clint Eastwood, after his career had largely consisted of a few bits parts in films. This series would launch him on his way to eventual stardom. In all honesty, Eastwood is the most remembered regular cast member, even though he is billed second after Eric Fleming. That all changed after Fleming left "Rawhide" just before the shows last season. During the making of the series, Clint Eastwood travelled to Italy to make two of his Spaghetti Western trilogy. When those films became box office sensations, his fan mail for "Rawhide" suddenly increased. Lasting over 200 episodes and several years, the overall story concerned a group of herders and drovers who are transporting a huge herd of cattle from one part of America to another. Along the way, they encounter adventures and dangers of all kinds. As a result, their task was frequently interrupted. In some episodes, only a few of the regular cast made an appearance. One example, was when Clint Eastwood is sent to a Mexican village to acquire fresh water for the herders but unwittingly is engulfed in a warm between two waring Mexican families (shades of "A Fistful of Dollars"). He was the only regular cast member and Eastwood carried the episode well. "Rawhide" isn't without a sense of humour by any means. This is supplied by the cook Wishbone and his rather dimwitted assistant Mushy. It is very funny in light hearted moments as Wishbone is usually chastising his assistant for some mistake or other. The series was usually filmed on location throughout and this is very important, otherwise the 50 minute running time would feel heavy- going and laborious. I can highly recommend this show.

It ran 8 seasons, but it's first, in early 1959, and it's last, in the autumn of 1965, were shorter than seasons 2-7. CBS chief William Paley canceled Rawhide's production after watching the 1st show of season 8, in September, 1965, because he disliked the series without Eric Fleming as Gil Favor, who had departed after season 7. The last new episode aired on December 7, 1965. The lone 1966 CBS broadcast, on January 4, 1966, was a rerun. I have often wondered why Rawhide didn't switch to color filming for it's last season? Most of the big westerns of the 1960s had gone over to color by 1965. CBS was broadcasting in color that autumn, for many of their sitcoms, but westerns like Gunsmoke and Rawhide remained in black and white. Gunsmoke was the last western (and last prime time network series to switch to color) on September 17, 1966, for the episode Snap Decision.

These were simple, friendly stories about the same Old West you may have read about as a kid. Did it really exist? Who cares? The time and place these video plays were set in is made of the same clay and light as the one where "The Twilight Zone" was set. Both relied on a degree of attention to plot and character by the viewer as necessary to the presentation of morality plays you don't see anymore. What do you do when the local sherriff threatens to hang your man when his townfolk are desperate to find the rustler taking their livestock, but you know he's not guilty? How do you cope with a proud boss when you need his best judgment, but only you know his wife has run off with another man? This is where the stories that, for a while, we thought of as "cliche'" originally came from. That was before we thought of anything not based on jiggle or teen angst as too much trouble to think about. (Though, lately, "reality" shows have relieved us of having to think at all.)If you want to be reminded of just what a great storytelling medium TV can be, watch this show (currently on the Hallmark Channel, c. 2003). Be warned, though: you'll be spoiled for such fare as "Fear Factor" and "Dawson's Creek," thereafter. Maybe even for "Buffy," though I know you don't believe that.

In watching this old Western on the Hallmark Channel, I've come to enjoy it. A favorite of my mother's when she was a girl, who, like many others, thought Gil Favor was the handsome one. I sat down and watched them on this cattle drive and have come to enjoy the show.And of course, Clint Eastwood, co-stars as Rowdy Yates. I was told that back in the day, critics said he wouldn't amount to anything. Guess he showed them.