The Roy Rogers Show

The Roy Rogers Show
Harry Harvey and Roy Rogers in The Roy Rogers Show
Genre Western
Directed by George Blair
John English
Leslie H. Martinson
Don McDougall
Christian Nyby
Robert G. Walker
Starring Roy Rogers
Dale Evans
Pat Brady
Trigger, the Golden Palomino
Bullet, the Wonder Dog
Ending theme "Happy Trails"
Composer(s) Lou Bring
Nat Farber
Frank Worth
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 6
No. of episodes 100 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Larry Kent
Jack Lacey
Roy Rogers
Arthur Rush
Producer(s) Bob Henry
Jack Lacey
Cinematography Joe Novak
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) Roy Rogers Productions
Distributor ABC Film Syndication
(1958-1960)
DreamWorks Classics
NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network NBC
Picture format Black-and-white
Audio format Monaural
Original release December 30, 1951 – June 9, 1957

The Roy Rogers Show is an American Western television series that broadcast 100 episodes on NBC for six seasons between December 30, 1951 and June 9, 1957.

Format

The show starred Roy Rogers as a ranch owner, Dale Evans as the proprietress of the Eureka Café and Hotel[1] in fictional Mineral City,[2] and Pat Brady as Roy’s sidekick and Dale's cook. Brady's jeep Nellybelle at times had a mind of her own and sped away driverless with Brady in frantic pursuit on foot. Earlier, during the show's 1952 episodes, the jeep was called LuLubelle. Animal stars were Roy's Palomino horse Trigger and his German Shepherd Bullet,[1] the "Wonder Dog".

Plot

Like Rogers’s and many other Western films of the 1930s through 1950s, the series featured traditional cowboys and cowgirls riding horses and carrying six-shooters in a contemporary setting where they coexisted with automobiles, telephones, and electric lighting. No attempt was made in the scripts to explain or justify this strange amalgamation of 19th-century characters with 20th-century technology. Typical episodes followed the stars as they rescued the weak and helpless from the clutches of dishonest lawmen, con artists, bank robbers, claim jumpers, rustlers, and other "bad guys."

In addition to traditional Western plot themes such as cattle rustling and bank robberies, the program featured more contemporary topics, including gun safety and conservation of natural resources. "Many of the shows expressed a moral, and several preached a Christian message."[3]

Production

Interior shots for the show were filmed at the Samuel Goldwyn Studio, with much of the outdoor action footage filmed on the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California The program was originally sponsored by General Foods (Post Cereals and Jell-O). The show's theme song, “Happy Trails”, was written by Dale Evans and sung by her and Rogers over the end credits of each episode.[2]

The show received an Emmy nomination in 1955 for Best Western or Adventure Series, but it lost out to the syndicated Stories of the Century, an anthology series starring and narrated by Jim Davis.[4] The series finished #27 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1951-1952 season and #30 for 1954-1955.[5]

The show was merchandised for the juvenile market with comic books, playsets, cowboy and cowgirl costumes, toy pistols, longbows, and many other items. In 1957, 2 million copies of each comic book were sold. A related comic strip was syndicated to 186 newspapers.[6]

Reruns

From January 1961 until September 1964, CBS broadcast reruns of The Roy Rogers Show on Saturday mornings.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 LoBrutto, Vincent (2018). TV in the USA: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas [3 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. pp. 111–112. ISBN 9781440829734. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  2. 1 2 Terrace, Vincent (2013). Television Introductions: Narrated TV Program Openings since 1949. Scarecrow Press. p. 148. ISBN 9780810892507. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  3. ↑ White, Raymond E. (2006). King of the Cowboys, Queen of the West: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Popular Press. p. 91. ISBN 9780299210045. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  4. ↑ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present, 4th ed., New York: Penguin Books, 1996, p. 793
  5. ↑ "Classic TV Hits", seasonal top-30 television ratings, 1950-1999. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  6. ↑ Phillips, Robert W. (1995). Roy Rogers: A Biography, Radio History, Television Career Chronicle, Discography, Filmography, Comicography, Merchandising and Advertising History, Collectibles Description, Bibliography, and Index. McFarland. pp. 44–45. ISBN 9780899509372. Retrieved 20 April 2018. 
Collection of Stephen Lodge.
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