Wanted Dead or Alive
Title card
GenreWestern
Starring
Theme music composer
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes94 (list of episodes)
Production
ProducerVincent Fennelly
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time25 mins.
Production companies
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 6, 1958 (1958-09-06) –
March 29, 1961 (1961-03-29)
Related
Trackdown

Wanted Dead or Alive is an American Western television series starring Steve McQueen as bounty hunter Josh Randall. It aired on CBS for three seasons from 1958–1961. The black-and-white program was a spin-off of a March 1958 episode of Trackdown, a 1957–1959 Western series starring Robert Culp. Both series were produced by Vincent Fennelly for Four Star Television in association with CBS.[1][2]: 895 

The series made McQueen, known for the concept of "cool" in entertainment,[1] a television star.[3]: 105  He later became the first TV star to cross over into comparable status on the big screen.[4]

Synopsis

Randall pleads with a mother (Virginia Gregg) to obtain medical treatment for her son. (1959)

Josh Randall is a Confederate veteran and bounty hunter with a soft heart. He often donates his earnings to the needy, and helps his prisoners if they have been wrongly accused.

Although Randall is a bounty hunter, he doesn't only chase and capture men on wanted posters. He also settles a family feud, frees unjustly jailed or sentenced men, helps an amnesia victim recover his memory, and finds missing husbands, sons, fathers, a fiancée, a suitor, a daughter who had been captured many years earlier by Indians, an Army deserter, a pet sheep, and even Santa Claus. This variety, as well as his pursuit of justice and not just money, contributed to the show's attraction and popularity.[5]: 52 

Except for a few episodes at the beginning of the series, Randall rode an energetic horse named Ringo.[6]: 88 

Beginning with the 1959 episode, "Amos Carter", actor Wright King would appear in a supporting role as Jason Nichols, an eager young deputy sheriff turned bounty hunter. By the start of the third season, Nichols had been dropped. The episode, "The Partners", in which Nichols killed three men who Randall felt could have been taken alive, is often considered the episode that broke up the partnership, although that was actually only the second episode with Wright King and long before the last episode he appeared in.[7]

Three hard mother-grabbin' years, but I learned my trade and it gave me discipline. McQueen, commenting about his experience on the series.[8]

Cast

Main

Steve McQueen played Josh Randall, the primary character, appearing in all 94 episodes.

Recurring

Guest stars

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedRankAverage viewership (in millions)
First airedLast aired
136September 6, 1958 (1958-09-06)May 9, 1959 (1959-05-09)16[9]28.0[9]
232September 5, 1959 (1959-09-05)May 21, 1960 (1960-05-21)9[10]28.7[10]
326September 21, 1960 (1960-09-21)March 29, 1961 (1961-03-29)TBATBA

Production

Development

Vincent Fennelly and Four Star Television were considering a spinoff of their current series, Trackdown, which itself was a spinoff of Zane Grey Theater. At the time, McQueen's manager, Hillard Elkins, was also representing Trackdown star Robert Culp. Elkins knew of the spinoff plan and suggested McQueen for the role.[6]: 83  McQueen's style was exactly what Fennelly was looking for to fill the role. Initially not interested in doing Westerns, McQueen agreed to the role based on his ability to connect with Fennelly and his vision for the role of Randall.[11]: 258–259  The pilot was filmed before McQueen did The Blob in 1958.[6]: 83 

Four Star founder, Dick Powell, was initially hesitant about McQueen in the lead role due to McQueen's short stature, as well as his inability to ride horses, but he changed his mind after seeing early clips of the first episode.[5]: 50  It was Powell's idea to give the character of Josh Randall a gimmick weapon.[5]: 50 

Prior to initial filming, Steve McQueen did not know how to ride horses and was forced to learn for the show's production.[5]: 50 

McQueen had a reputation for being difficult to work with, and he fired three stunt men within the first day's filming, including Richard Farnsworth. Ultimately, that job went to Loren Janes, who also doubled for McQueen in a number of movies.[12]

Although the show and its episodes are fiction, bounty hunters were common in the American West, and there is some historical basis for the stories.[11]: 258 

McQueen's initial salary for the show was $750 per episode, but due to the show's popularity, that climbed to $100,000 per year, which was extremely high for the time.[11]: 259 [5]: 52  The time slot change for the third season that ultimately ruined the show's ratings may have been CBS's way of killing the show due to ever increasing production costs.[5]: 89  Another factor was McQueen's strained relationship with Viceroy cigarettes, the show's sponsor.[6]: 85 

The show helped launch the careers of several directors.[6]: 88 

Writing

Writers included Samuel A. Peeples, Tom Gries and Charles Beaumont.

Filming

The premiere episode was filmed on the 20th Century Fox backlot in West Los Angeles and on location in Arizona, while the rest of the series was filmed at the Selznick Studios.[5]: 51  A number of additional shooting locations were used, with the bulk of the outdoor action sequences shot on the famed Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California, widely regarded as the most heavily filmed outdoor shooting location in the history of TV and movies. A number of sets on the Republic Pictures backlot in Studio City, California, also appears in the series, notably the Western street and the Duchess Ranch set, which, at the time of production on the series, consisted mainly of a large barn, a main house and a bunkhouse.

The series made two very visible changes in the third season. McQueen's cowboy hat was switched to one with an Arizona block, similar to the one he'd recently worn in the film, The Magnificent Seven, but very different from the hat he'd worn in the first two seasons. The other readily apparent change was the opening titles. Instead of McQueen walking down a wooden sidewalk and ripping a wanted poster from a wall, the titles open with a black screen punctuated by bright flashes as Randall fires directly at the viewer, then looms out of the darkness.

Music

The first season's theme song was written and conducted by William Loose. It was replaced by a new theme, titled "Wanted". Written and supervised by Herschel Burke Gilbert, it was used until the end of the series.

Colorized version

In December 1987, Four Star International colorized Wanted Dead or Alive, making it the first vintage television series to be completely colorized. The colorized version aired on at least 50 independent television stations.[13]

Firearms

Mare's Leg and holster

Randall carries a gimmick rifle called the "Mare's Leg" in a unique quick-draw holster.[5]: 52  The Mare's Leg was a shortened Winchester Model 1892 .44-40, with a gun belt that held .45-70 cartridges that, although they couldn't be fired from the weapon, looked more intimidating.[11]: 258  The gun itself was a real, working firearm rather than a prop, and had to be registered with the LAPD.[5]: 51 

To learn the art of the quick draw, McQueen turned to Sammy Davis Jr., who he knew from working in New York. Davis was known for being proficient with Western-style pistol work.[5]: 50–51 

Three Mare's Legs were used in the series, differing in the shape of the lever and the barrel.

Themes

Early television Westerns were aimed at a youth audience, but by the mid-1950s, Western films and television began being made to attract an adult audience. Wanted Dead or Alive was one of the several shows that came to define the "adult Western" of the era, with an attractive leading character in the primary role.[11]: 77  Unlike many television Westerns of the era, Wanted Dead or Alive focused on the action rather than character development,[14]: 55  and McQueen's method style was unique to the Westerns of the period.[5]: 52  McQueen's character was a man of few words and showed little emotion, often appearing to be interested more in the bounty hunter's reward than in justice.[11]: 256 

Although most television Westerns of the time were of the classic genre, Wanted Dead or Alive's Josh Randall was more of an antihero of the Revisionist Western genre.[12] McQueen initially had been reluctant to do a Western, but when the opportunity arose for the character to be less of the traditional hero, he felt he was able to bring more of himself into a realistic portrayal of the bounty hunter.[12]

Release

Broadcast

Wanted Dead or Alive first aired on CBS on September 6, 1958. It aired Saturday nights from 8:30–9 p.m. until September 1960. From September 1960 until March 1961, it aired on Wednesday nights, 8:30–9 p.m.[15]: 1485 

Home media

On June 7, 2005, New Line Home Entertainment released season 1 of Wanted Dead or Alive on DVD in Region 1. In 2007, BCI Eclipse acquired the distribution rights to the series, and released the final two seasons on DVD. Season 2 was released on July 17, 2007, and Season 3 on October 16, 2007.

In June 2009, Mill Creek Entertainment acquired the rights to the series under license from copyright holder StudioCanal, and has subsequently re-released the first two seasons.[16][17] On August 25, 2009, they released an 11-disc DVD box set featuring all 94 episodes of the series.[18]

Reception

Initially, the show was popular with audiences, but not popular with critics.[5]: 53  A review in Variety, September 10, 1958, noted that McQueen's characterization of the bounty hunter was "almost stuffy in its allegiance to the breed. ... Acting is ok. It's obvious what the half-hour needs is scripting and perhaps some cleaner direction."[13]: 262  However, by the third season, the ratings had crashed, some of which can be attributed to the change from its original Saturday night time slot to Wednesday nights directly opposite the popular series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.[5]: 89 

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per season of Show
SeasonTimeslot (ET)Network Episodes First aired Last airedViewership
rank		Avg. viewers
(millions)		Ref.
Date Viewers
(millions)		 Date Viewers
(millions)
1 Saturday 8:30pmCBS36 September 6, 1958 (1958-09-06)TBD May 9, 1959 (1959-05-09)TBD1628.0[9]
2 32 June 30, 2014 (2014-06-30)TBD September 22, 2014 (2014-09-22)TBD928.7[10]
3 Wednesday 8:30pm26 June 25, 2015 (2015-06-25)TBD September 10, 2015 (2015-09-10)TBDTBDTBDN/A

1986 film

In 1986, New World Pictures adapted the series into a low-budget film of the same title;[19] Rutger Hauer played modern-day bounty hunter Nick Randall, Josh's grandson.

References

  1. 1 2 Billy Hathorn, "Roy Bean, Temple Houston, Bill Longley, Ranald Mackenzie, Buffalo Bill, Jr., and the Texas Rangers: Depictions of West Texans in Series Television, 1955 to 1967", West Texas Historical Review, Vol. 89 (2013), pp. 103–104
  2. ↑ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  3. ↑ West, Richard (1987). Television Westerns: Major and Minor Series, 1946–1978. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0899502526.
  4. ↑ Todd, McCarthy (March 31, 1998). "Steve McQueen: The King of Cool". Variety. Retrieved 2023-02-15. As Daily Variety editor-in-chief Peter Bart points out, McQueen was the first TV star – 'Wanted Dead or Alive' made him one – to cross over to comparable status on the big screen.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Eliot, Marc (2012). Steve McQueen: A Biography. Crown. ISBN 978-0-307-45322-8.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Sandford, Christopher (2003). McQueen: The Biography. Taylor Trade Publications. ISBN 978-0-87833-307-3.
  7. ↑ Brode, Douglas (2010). Shooting Stars of the Small Screen: Encyclopedia of TV Western Actors, 1946–Present. Dallas: University of Texas Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-292-78331-7.
  8. ↑ "Steve McQueen: The King of Cool". Time. June 28, 1963. Retrieved 2010-07-28. He was TV's Hessian headhunter in Wanted – Dead or Alive, serving what he describes as 'three hard mother-grabbin' years, but I learned my trade and it gave me discipline.'
  9. 1 2 3 "TV Ratings – 1958".
  10. 1 2 3 "TV Ratings – 1959".
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Yoggy, Gary A. (1995). Riding the Video Range: The Rise and Fall of the Western on Television. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0021-8.
  12. 1 2 3 Gehring, Wes D. (2013-04-20). Steve McQueen: The Great Escape. Indiana Historical Society. pp. xxv–xxviii, 4, 50. ISBN 978-0-87195-309-4.
  13. 1 2 Farber, Stephen (June 7, 1987). "Will Colorizing Revitalize Old TV Series". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-07-28. In December, Four Star International will offer to independent television stations the first completely colorized version of a vintage TV series, Wanted: Dead or Alive, the Steve McQueen western that had been shown on CBS from 1958 to '61. About 50 stations have already bought the package of 94 half-hour episodes.
  14. ↑ Marill, Alvin H. (2011-06-01). Television Westerns: Six Decades of Sagebrush Sheriffs, Scalawags, and Sidewinders. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-8133-4.
  15. ↑ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Wanted Dead or Alive – Season One". Archived from the original on 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
  17. ↑ Wanted Dead or Alive – Season Two Archived 2011-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ Lambert, David (June 17, 2009). "Wanted: Dead or Alive – Cover Art for Mill Creek's Complete Series and Season 1 Sets". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on September 25, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
  19. ↑ Harmetz, Aljean (February 21, 1987). "Hollywood Revitalizing Old TV Hits as Films". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-07-28. In Wanted: Dead or Alive, New World turned the character played by Steve McQueen, a bounty hunter roaming the western United States 100 years ago, into a bounty hunter as special agent for hire in 1987. Terrorists were the bounty Rutger Hauer hunted in the $4.5 million film.
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