The Gene Autry Show (1950-1956)

Information From IMDb

Plot Summary
The already legendary singing cowboy rode
with his comic pal Pat from town to town
bringing justice, song and his horse
Champion to the old Southwest.
Written by Ed Stephan

Series Directed
George Archainbaud (47 episodes, 1950-1955)
Frank McDonald (16 episodes, 1950-1954)
D. Ross Lederman (11 episodes, 1951-1954)
and many others....

Series Cast
Gene Autry ... Gene Autry / ... (91 episodes, 1950-1955)
Champion ... Gene's Horse / ... (91 episodes, 1950-1955)
Pat Buttram ... Pat Buttram / ... (83 episodes, 1950-1955)
Bob Woodward ... Stagecoach Driver / ... (43 episodes, 1950-1955)
Frankie Marvin ... Townsman / ... (31 episodes, 1950-1955)
Art Dillard ... Henchman / ... (26 episodes, 1950-1955)
Gregg Barton ... Stan Richter / ... (24 episodes, 1950-1955)
Boyd Stockman ... Stage Driver / ... (22 episodes, 1950-1955)
Harry Lauter ... Henchman in Plaid Shirt / ... (16 episodes, 1950-1955)
Gail Davis ... Ann Lawton / ... (15 episodes, 1950-1954)
Myron Healey ... Blake, Angry Townsman / ... (14 episodes, 1951-1955)
William Fawcett ... Crazy Charley / ... (13 episodes, 1951-1954)
and many others notably:-
Denver Pyle, Alan Hale Jr., Chuck Roberson, Clayton Moore, William Fawcett and Chill Wills

Series Writing Credits
Eric Freiwald (12 episodes, 1952-1954)
Robert Schaefer (12 episodes, 1952-1954)
Dwight Cummins (10 episodes, 1950-1954)
and many others.....

Series Produced
Louis Gray .... producer / associate producer (91 episodes, 1950-1955)
Armand Schaefer .... executive producer (8 episodes, 1950-1952)
Gene Autry .... executive producer (4 episodes, 1950-1952)

Series Original Music
Walter Greene (73 episodes, 1950-1955)

Series Cinematography
William Bradford (86 episodes, 1950-1955)
Ernest Miller (2 episodes, 1953-1954)

Trivia
Two-thirds of the way through the first season's production, Pat Buttram was severely injured in an explosion
and was hospitalized for several months. In order to complete the production run, his sidekick role was filled
in the remaining episodes by Chill Wills, Fuzzy Knight and Alan Hale Jr.. Wills and Knight wore the same costume
as Buttram so that long shots of stock footage could be easily used, but there was no disguising Hale's bulk -
he wore his own distinctive clothing.

Pat Buttram's sidekick character had a different name in the initial episodes filmed in this series -
as had been the practice in the Gene Autry B-westerns in which Buttram co-starred.
Due to the TV series' rapid shooting schedule, Autry frequently forgot the name of the character
Pat played from episode to episode, resulting in a number of botched takes. Autry finally ordered
his writers to call Pat Buttram's sidekick character "Pat Buttram" in all future scripts to eliminate the problem.

Two 1951 episodes were filmed in color to promote CBS' own color process, which wound up
not being accepted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Memorable Quotes
Gene Autry: Even if the world were a chocolate cake, Mary, there'd still be a few crumbs around.

Gene Autry: Always defend your name, son. Just like you defend your country when you need to.

Filming Locations
Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA
Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA
Corriganville, Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA
Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA
Lone Pine, California, USA
Melody Ranch - 24715 Oak Creek Avenue, Newhall, California, USA
Pioneertown, California, USA
Saugus Train Depot, Saugus, California, USA
Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park - 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Rd., Agua Dulce, California, USA

The Gene Autry Show aired for 91 episodes on CBS from July 23, 1950 until August 7, 1956,
originally sponsored by Wrigley's Doublemint chewing gum.

Series star Gene Autry had already established his singing cowboy character on radio and the movies.
Now he and his horse Champion were featured in a weekly television series of western adventures.
Gene's role changed almost weekly from rancher, to ranch hand, to sheriff, to border agent, etc.
Gene's usual comic relief and sidekick, Pat, was played by Pat Buttram, better known to later television viewers
as "Mr Haney" on "Green Acres".
During the first season, Gene's sidekick was played by Chill Wills twice (as Chill)
and by Fuzzy Knight four times (as Sagebrush).
These two actors even wore Pat's costume. Alan Hale, Jr. (a.k.a. - "The Skipper" from "Gilligan's Island")
played a bad guy in several episodes of Seasons 1 and 2, but he also played Gene's sidekick, Tiny,
in two episodes of Season 1.

By this time, Autry had established his own production company, Flying 'A' Productions,
and acted as executive director for the series.

The series lasted 5 seasons. The first 4 were in black and white,
and the final season (13 episodes) was in color.
Color was experimented with in two episodes of the first season.
The theme song Back In the Saddle Again was written by
Autry and Ray Whitley and sung by Gene Autry.

Being screened the same time as Gene's many films,
this was a very popular series in the 50's.
If you note the film locations,
many are well known to Duke's fans,
and featured in many of his early films,
and almost any western made at the time.
Featured many well known character actors of the time,
including a few of Duke's 'Pals'
Chuck Roberson, Denver Pyle, William Fawcett and even Chill Wills,
who stood in for the injured Pat Buttram in some episodes.
Even The Lone Ranger, Clayton More shows up!

See also our dedicated thread:-
Western Screen Legends- Gene Autry

Please note, for continuity, any posts made here,
will also be copied to the Gene Autry thread