Dead Man's Gun (1997–1999)

INFORMATION FROM IMDb

Plot Summary
A cursed revolver brings violence to a variety of owners in the American West.

Set in the Old West, this anthology follows the eponymous artifact,
a handsome yet cursed gun that brings either disaster or fortune to whomever possesses it.
In some cases in the former, the gun's more villainous owners
are often killed at the end of the episode,
though there are some points where they live and thusly suffer for their misdeeds.

Similar to shows like The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, there are often twist endings to the stories. For example, in the episode, "The Collector", the main character discovers that his servant is actually the infamous criminal, El Lobo, who then scalps him. However, the series finale, "A Just Reward", gives a twist ending to the series as a whole when it is ultimately revealed that the gun's original owner was the Grim Reaper.

Series Cast
Kris Kristofferson ... Narrator (41 episodes, 1997-1999)
Jim Shield ... Frank Sparks / ... (3 episodes, 1998-1999)
Chilton Crane ... Emma Spence / ... (3 episodes, 1998-1999)
Robert Thurston ... Bank Manager / ... (3 episodes, 1997-1998)
Zook Matthews ... Brennan / ... (3 episodes, 1997-1999)
Dave 'Squatch' Ward ... Joe Bob Willis / ... (3 episodes, 1997-1998)
Danny Virtue ... John Taylor / ... (3 episodes, 1997-1998)
Jerry Walliser ...
Bar Fly #1 / ... (3 episodes, 1997-1999)
Gary Lauder ... Angry Husband / ... (3 episodes, 1997-1999)
John Payne ... Pirate #1, Actor / ... (2 episodes, 1997-1998)
Henry Winkler ... Hangman / ... (2 episodes, 1997-1998)
Edward Asner ... Jebusi McKinney (1 episode, 1997)
and many, many more...

Series Directed
Brenton Spencer ... (5 episodes, 1997-1998)
Sturla Gunnarsson ... (4 episodes, 1997-1999)
Neill Fearnley ... (3 episodes, 1997-1998)
René Bonnière ... (2 episodes, 1997-1998)
William Gereghty ... (2 episodes, 1997-1998)
Brad Turner ... (2 episodes, 1997-1998)
Joseph L. Scanlan ... (2 episodes, 1997)
Paul Etherington ... (2 episodes, 1998-1999)
Ken Girotti ... (2 episodes, 1998-1999)
Ken Jubenvill ... (2 episodes, 1998)
Charles Wilkinson ... (2 episodes, 1998)
and many more...

Series Produced
David Dewar ... line producer / coordinating producer (31 episodes, 1997-1999)
Ian Hay ... associate producer (22 episodes, 1998-1999)
Ogden Gavanski ... line producer (19 episodes, 1997-1998)
Larry Sugar ... producer (18 episodes, 1997-1998)
Henry Winkler ... executive producer (17 episodes, 1997-1998)
and many more...

Trivia
The origin of the cursed revolver is not revealed until the series finale, "A Just Reward," at the end of season two.

Filming Locations
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Fort Steele, British Columbia, Canada
Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada
Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, Canada

Dead Man's Gun was a western anthology series that ran on Showtime from 1997 to 1999.
The series followed the travels of a gun as it passed to a new character in each episode.
The gun would change the life of whoever possessed it.

Each episode was narrated by Kris Kristofferson. The executive producer was Henry Winkler.

User Review

The S & W is the real star
13 July 2004 | by skoyles (Calgary AB Canada)

Quote from SKO

A dark and depressing Western repertory series centred around what appears to be a beautiful S&W Russian (or Schofield) single action revolver, probably .44 Russian calibre. This in itself makes it worth watching at least once to see a Western featuring something other than the ubiquitous 1873 Colt Single Action Army revolver. "Dead Man's Gun" comes off as something bred from old 1950s Western morality series, Richard Boone's repertory series and a large chunk of "Twilight Zone" or "Outer Limits". Several episodes have a twist at the end with a sting in the tail. Strong stars such as John Ritter,John Glover and producer Henry Winkler turn in fine performances, but maybe the handgun is the real star. The cynical and often sardonic look at human nature may well be accurate but can get one down after a few episodes.