Tuesday, February 14, 2012

When History Tales Were on Prime Time


Look at this listing of some television shows that ran from 1949 to 1970:

26 Men, Adventures of Jim Bowie, Adventures of Kit Carson, The Alaskans, Annie Oakley, Bat Masterson, The Big Valley, Black Saddle, Bonanza, Boots and Saddles, Branded, Brave Eagle, Broken Arrow, Bronco, Buckskin, Buffalo Bill Jr., The Californians, Casey Jones, Cheyenne, Cimarron City, Cimarron Strip, The Cisco Kid, Colt 45, Custer, Dakotas, Davy Crockett, Death Valley Days, Deputy, Dundee and the Culhane, Frontier Doctor, Fury, Gene Autry, The Gray Ghost, Guns of Will Sonnett, Gunslinger, Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, High Chapparal, Hondo, Hopalong Cassidy, Iron Horse, Johnny Ringo, Judge Roy Bean, Klondike, Lancer, Laramie, Laredo, Lawman, Law of the Plainsman, Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Loner, The Lone Ranger, Mackenzie's Raiders, Maverick, Men from Shiloh, Northwest Passage, Range Rider, Rawhide, Sgt Preston of the Yukon, Sheriff of Cochise, Stagecoach West, Steve Donovan - Western Marshal, The Rebel, Restless Gun, The Rifleman, Rin Tin Tin, Riverboat, Road West, Roy Rogers, Rough Riders, Stoney Burke, Sugarfoot, The Swamp Fox, Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Tales of Wells Fargo, Tate, Temple Houston, Texas John Slaughter, Tombstone Territory, Trackdown, Union Pacific, The Virginian, Wagon Train, Wanted Dead or Alive, Wild Bill Hickok, Wild Wild West, Wichita Town, Yancy Derringer, Zorro.

I bet that many of you grew up watching at least seven of those shows. Setting aside the issue of historical accuracy, there was a lot of history on prime time in those days.

It is a shame that we've moved so far away from those subjects.

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