The Virginian

The Virginian, also known as The Men From Shiloh, is an American Western-themed television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. It was the first Western to air in 90-minute installments each week (75 minutes excluding commercial breaks), and was filmed in the color format from its inception. The Virginian is the third longest running TV western with its nine seasons and 249 episodes It follows Bonanza at fourteen seasons and 430 episodes and Gunsmoke at twenty seasons and 635 episodes.  This series can still be seen on TV today.

Loosely based on the Owen Wister novel, the series revolves around a foreman, played by James Drury, who goes by the name The Virginian; his real name was never revealed in the nine years the show was on the air. The series takes place in Medicine Bow, Wyoming, and revolves around The Virginian's quest to maintain an orderly lifestyle for the ranch he works on, which is called Shiloh Ranch. The ranch was named after the Battle of Shiloh which took place for two days in Tennessee during the civil war in 1862. Other key characters besides The Virginian include ranch owner Judge Garth (played by Lee J. Cobb), his daughter Betsy (played by Roberta Shore) and loyal ranch hands, Trampas (played by Doug McClure) and Steve Hill (played by Gary Clarke). The Virginian's white horse on the show is named Joe D. and Trampas' brown horse was named Buck.

As the show progressed, Trampas became the more recognizable of the characters, and it continues to be the role for which actor Doug McClure is best known.

Randy Benton (played by Randy Boone) joined the show in the second season as a youthful ranch hand who plays guitar and sings duets of folk and country songs with Betsy Garth. In 1965 Decca Records released an LP of songs from the two singing actors. The series theme song was titled "Lonesome Tree" and was written by Percy Faith and conducted by Revue musical director, Stanley Wilson. The third season adds Deputy Sheriff Emmett Ryker (played by Clu Gulager) while the fourth season adds Garth's niece Jennifer Sommers (played by Diane Roter) upon Betsy Garth's departure from Shiloh ranch.

The ranch has several owners throughout the program's run starting with Judge Garth who is replaced briefly by Morgan Starr (played by John Dehner) who then leaves with no explanation. John Grainger (played by Charles Bickford) then becomes the new owner. Clay Grainger (played by John McIntire) takes over ownership after his brother's death. The fifth season adds a new female lead character with Grainger's grand daughter Elizabeth Grainger (played by Sara Lane) and adds grand son Stacy Grainger (played by Don Quine). The sixth season adds Holly Grainger (played by Jeanette Nolan) as the wife of McIntire's character. The seventh season adds ranch hand David Sutton (played by David Hartman). In the beginning of the seventh season, a popular Canadian Irish folk group The Irish Rovers appeared on several shows as the musical guest. The eighth season adds ranch hand Jim Horn (played by Tim Matheson).

The final owner is Colonel Alan MacKenzie (played by Stewart Granger). The final season has no female lead character in the cast and includes ranch hand Roy Tate (played by Lee Majors). In the final year when Colonel MacKenzie took over the ranch, the name of the program was changed to The Men from Shiloh and the look of the series was completely redesigned. The opening theme song now by Ennio Morricone and titles were changed reflecting a style similar to spaghetti westerns that were popular at the time. The hats worn featured much broader brims and higher crowns, the male characters wore beards and mustaches and the clothing was jauntier and more imaginative. These changes brought a better ranking (#18) in the top thirty prime time shows after the previous year saw the show slip out of the top thirty rankings for the first time ever. There seemed little that could save it as the final season brought in some big guest stars to the remaining episodes.

The studio and network were set on ending the series, as evidenced by rivals CBS and ABC making demographic moves away from rural oriented shows (see "rural purge" for more information). The final episode aired on March 24, 1971 ending its 9 season run. Bonanza ended its 14 season run on January 16, 1973.

Gunsmoke ended its 20 season run on March 31, 1975 effectively ending the era of classic western TV series that started in the 50's.