Sadly Over-hyped

A Masterpiece!

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

WHEN THIS SERIES hit the airwaves, it was about the biggest thing around. Everyone watched. Everybody knew who this new star was. An adult Western had come to the American Broadcasting Company. CHEYENNE was indeed ABC's answer to the CBS Saturday night centerpiece, GUNSMOKE.THE MAIN CHARACTER, as portrayed by star, Clint Walker, was a sort of mysterious in origin; but was definitely a sort of benevolent drifter. His drifting all around the West, changing jobs and interacting with various townsfolk guaranteed that there would be a broad spectrum of story lines with which to nourish and nurture the series. As we recall, it never seemed to be monotonous or boring; as a healthy balance was struck between Gunplay, Horseplay and Screenplay.ALTHOUGH GOOD WRITING, characterization and generous helping of the well established Horse Opera tradition greatly contributed to the series' successful run, one other puzzle part also played a lion's share in rounding up the great audience that it did have.THAT OTHER ELEMENT was Mr. Clint Walker, himself.AS A RELATIVE NEWCOMER, he had to have learned much of his skills as an actor as a sort of "on the job trainee." His height (6'6"), powerful & athletic physique, natural good looks and richly tonal voice all were definite advantages in his early career; but he cultivated the persona of "the strong & silent type." This type of leading man had served others well; with the names of John Wayne, Gary Cooper and Randolph Scott being prime examples.INSTEAD OF DISPLAYING excessive physical and vocal energy, the production team and Clint went for underplaying of the role. That too greatly contributed to the longevity it had on the TV schedule.BITTER DISPUTES OVER contractual matters caused there to be an unexpected hiatus for the tall horseman as both Management and Labor, in the persons of Warner Brothers Pictures and star Clint Walker argued over some restrictive clauses in the stars contract. In it, he was verboten to accept any other roles and would not be used by the studio outside of the Cheyenne part he originated.WHILE THIS PAPER war was raging, Jack Warner & cohorts managed to keep this hour long slot in their possession. The "CHREYENNE" hour was supplanted by the alternate presentation of the Western, BRONCO (with Ty Hardin) and Western Comedy SUGARFOOT (with Will Hutchins).AFTER PEACE BETWEEN Walker and the Warners had been declared, the reinstatement of a now movie star Clint Walker and CHEYENNE came to pass. But the peace treaty did have certain provisions that altered the schedule radically. After that conflict was concluded, there was established a three way "Starting Rotation" with episodes of CHEYRENNE, BRONCO and SUGARFOOT being presented on successive weeks.NO ONE SEEMED to care about this troika of an arrangement; not Clint Walker, not Warner Brothers, not us either, right Schultz?

Cheyenne fans should check out Clint's website. He has lots of photos for sale and will autograph them as well. The series was great in that Cheyenne's dedication to fairness and truth never waivered. It was a good example for kids unlike today's shows. Clint Walker deserves a lot of credit for making this show a well deserved hit. It was interesting that the producers never provided him with a "named" horse like was done in a few other westerns. He always rode "a horse." He sometimes traded them or lost them, just never named them or seemed to care much about them. I was disappointed the show didn't provide him that opportunity; guess there were so many shows the writers couldn't be distracted with a single horse story line. In any event, it's a small complaint about a truly great TV western.

When "Cheyenne" debuted on 9/20/1955, "The Lone Ranger" had already been running for six seasons and had two more to go. Warner Brothers, specifically Jack Warner, tapped Clint Walker to be it's first TV Western hero, and raised the bar a considerable notch over the series made famous by Clayton Moore (and John Hart for one season). Walker was a no nonsense but laid back hero, almost droll by comparison with 'B' movie Western stars that preceded him, and that almost certainly added to his fame and popularity as Cheyenne.The Season I DVD compilation includes all fifteen episodes of the series' first season 1955/56. Series guest star James Garner appeared in three of them, as many as L.Q. Jones, who portrayed Cheyenne's map making sidekick Smitty in three of the first four shows. Garner's character was different each time out. Other notable guests in the first season included Myron Healey, Dennis Hopper, Barton MacLane, and even a young Michael Landon in an uncredited appearance.One of the interesting things about that first season is that two of the episodes were direct lifts of movies starring Humphrey Bogart. 'The Argonauts' (#1.3) swipes scenes and dialog from "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" in a similar story of greedy gold prospectors, but at least credits B. Traven as the author of the novel on which both were based. However 'Fury at Rio Hondo' (#1.12) credits James Gunn with writing that story, but nowhere mentions Ernest Hemingway as the author of "To Have And Have Not". Once again, the story's plot and characters parallel the Bogart film; the Lauren Bacall role is handled by Peggie Castle, but she doesn't quite cut it as the sexy nineteen year old Bacall did in the original movie. For his part, Bodie was no Bogey.On that score, Clint Walker was competent as the laconic drifter Cheyenne Bodie, but like George Reeves in "The Adventures of Superman" TV series, he didn't have a lot to work with, and didn't rise much above the material, unless you consider his six and a half foot stature. Don't get me wrong, I like both Walker and "Cheyenne" and enjoy the shows, but if you consider the acting, the best you can say is that it was uneven. And the episodes, some were almost comical trying to be serious. Consider Episode #1.11, 'Quicksand', in which Cheyenne challenges a Comanche Chief in a battle to the death in a bed of muck. They start out standing upright, and slowly start to sink inch by inch until each proves the point that they would rather die than be proved a coward. Then, when the Comanche chief mounts his horse to ride away, he's no longer covered by mud!As big as Walker was, it's interesting to see him cast opposite actors who came close to him in size; Don Megowan comes to mind from Episode #1.13 - 'Star in the Dust', as a sheriff who hires Cheyenne on as a deputy. That's one example, but it happened with some regularity. Kind of makes you wonder where all those big bad guys came from in the Old West.The Season I DVD set contains a nice 'Legacy of Cheyenne' feature in which the seventy nine year old Walker talks about his early life and 'discovery' by Van Johnson, who put him in touch with an agent. That contact eventually led to a role as a Sardinian Captain of the Guard in "The Ten Commandments". Warner Brothers took an interest based on that role, and bought his contract from producer Hal Wallis with the Cheyenne role in mind. Originally, the show aired as part of an anthology series on the ABC network; other posters on this board have done a nice job of outlining that history.My favorite show of the series - Episode #7.1, debuting the 1962 season, titled "The Durango Brothers". Mama Hortense Durango (Ellen Corby) enlists her three renegade sons (Jack Elam, Charlie Briggs, and Mickey Simpson) to kidnap Cheyenne in order to marry him off to sister Lottie (Sally Kellerman!!!) - it's hilarious! Needless to say, Cheyenne finishes the show, the season and the series still single."Cheyenne" began a great Western tradition at ABC, to be followed not only by that network, but CBS and NBC as well. Not many though, could ride as tall in the saddle as the original, and Clint Walker can rest easy knowing that there aren't many TV heroes that are admired as much as Cheyenne Bodie.*Addendum - posted 12/13/09 - From Episode #64, Season 4 - "Gold, Glory and Custer, Requiem" - Cheyenne Bodie's Indian name from the Southern Cheyenne is revealed to be 'Touch the Sky'. Seems more than appropriate.

I always watched Cheyenne when I was real young never missed the show. It was one of my favorite shows of all times. Clint Walker was very nice looking. And a great body for back then. His shows were always exciting, never dull. He seem to have a heart of gold, very well mannered. I would always get my chores done just to go and watch Cheyenne. And then all of my brothers and sisters would join in and watch too. I just can't figure out why Cheyenne is not rerunning like the other shows such as Bonanza, Raw Hide, Gunsmoke. Cheyenne was just as classy or in some cases more classy than these shows. But I liked them all. Thank You Angelmom53