Though The Range Rider is far from being what I would consider a great TV Western, it is a fairly enjoyable and good-natured program, all the same.Starring Jack Mahoney, as the heroic title character, this show also stars Dickie Jones, as "Rider's" all-American sidekick, Dick West.Featuring plenty of hard-riding action, bare-knuckle brawling and gun-play galore (as well as some cornball humour thrown in for good measure), The Range Rider's emphasis was on rugged masculinity with story-lines (though sometimes convoluted) that were oftentimes quite plausible.Showcasing some really excellent stunt-work, The Range Rider (which ran from 1951-1953) was filmed in b&w. Its episodes were all 30 minutes in length.

Jack or Jock Mahoney as he was known depending on what point in his career he was played The Range Rider for a few seasons on television. The show was part of Gene Autry's Flying Crown stable of television shows.I remember The Range Rider because of the fact that Mahoney really did favor the old fashioned frontiersman manner of dress. Other than a cowboy hat and the regulation six shooter, he wore buckskins and Indian moccasins. His youthful companion Dick West favored the more traditional cowboy garb, in fact his outfit was black like Hopalong Cassidy's. We never did learn what the Range Rider's real name was. He just rode into town with Dick, righted the wrongs and left all in 30 minutes with commercial breaks. Dick Jones who played Dick West was in fact a good rider himself, he could match Jock Mahoney's stuntman background in many ways. As a child actor you might remember him best for being the young Senate page who sported a Boy Ranger badge in the Senate and encouraged Jimmy Stewart to fight on. He was also the kid who died on the gold wagon train heading east in Virginia City. But it was a good thing he could ride and shoot because he was annoying. I guess the Range Rider put up with it as coming with the territory.Jock Mahoney later went on to become Yancey Derringer and later on was one of Hollywood's Tarzans. He might not have had the physique of Johnny Weissmuller or Gordon Scott, but the man was athletic as all get out.Thanks to Gene Autry for bringing us the Range Rider when I was a lad.

I used to watch this show when it came on Sunday nights about 6 or 6:30 p.m. Ironically, this was the same time as Roy Rogers came on, and he was my hero. I don't think we either got the right channel or perhaps we didn't have a TV at the time. Anyway, the Range Rider was sponsored by Table Talk pies, those kind that your mother could put in your lunchbox. They had fruit fillings and a awful of crust. They work great in school cafeteria food fights. Anyway, Jock Mahoney would come on after the show to do the commercial and he would say something like "Have Mom pick up several flavors the next time she goes shopping, and don't forget to save the lemon for Dad." Mahoney later told the story of how he was stopped on the street one day by a guy who said how much his kids liked the show and complimented Mahoney. Jocko smiled and then the guy said, "but that part about saving the lemon pie for Dad. I actually liked the other flavors. I can't stand the lemon pie." Enjoyed Jocko doing the crouper mount (where the rider runs up to the horse and vaults into the saddle). We used to do that on the seesaw at school until somebody at the other end would step off. We would come down hard and then walk around bowlegged for a while. Oooh, man, that smarts.

I remember seeing this series as a very young girl (born in 1956) when I lived in England. I remember very little about the series except having a girlish crush on Dick.The only other thing I remember was an episode where Dick ends up flying over a wall into a pigsty. The Range Rider says something, Dick replies, the RR says "Indeed?" and Dick replies "No, in pig muck".I howled with laughter and told everyone I knew over the next few days.Even now, every time I hear anyone say "Indeed?", I have to stop myself from delivering Dick's reply.For that wonderful memory alone, I am grateful.