The Roy Rogers Show is an American Western television series
that broadcast one hundred episodes on NBC for six seasons between December 30, 1951 and June 9, 1957.
The show starred Roy Rogers as a ranch owner, Dale Evans as the proprietor
of the Eureka Cafe in fictional Mineral City, and Pat Brady as Roy’s sidekick and Dale's cook.
Brady's jeep Nellybelle had a mind of her own and often sped away driverless
with Brady in frantic pursuit on foot. Animal stars were Roy's Palomino horse, Trigger
and his German Shepherd wonder dog, Bullet.
The show was filmed at the Samuel Goldwyn Studio, and originally sponsored by General Foods
(Post Cereals and Jell-O).
The show's theme song, “Happy Trails”, was written by Dale Evans
and sung over the end credits by Rogers and Evans.
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.
Beginning in 1961, CBS broadcast reruns of The Roy Rogers Show for three and a half seasons
on Saturday mornings. Reruns also aired in France in 1962.
Reruns are currently being aired on RFD-TV, which also sells T-shirts and plush toys of Trigger and Bullet.
Like Rogers’s films, 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 blend 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, claim jumpers, rustlers, and other "bad guys."
The show was merchandised for the juvenile market with
comic books, play sets, western costumes, and many other item
The Roy Rogers Show
was a popular TV series of the 50's.
They were also screened at the same time as Roy's popular movies.
As the user review says, everyone just played themselves!!
The song 'Happy Trails' becoming extremely popular.
The strange mixture of wild west with the modern world at the time,
was something we also experienced in some of Duke's early westerns.
Filmed in familiar locations to Duke fans,
and featured many of the days character actors.
The series was followed some years later in 1962 by the ill-fated
See:-
The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show
It was an attempt to revive Roy's and Dale's flagging popularity,
but was cancelled some months later.
User Review
QuoteDisplay More3 October 2005 | by jonesy74-1 (United States)
Not to be derogatory, but I always wondered why Roy Rogers
was the King of the Cowboys and John Wayne wasn't.
What WAS John Wayne, anyway? Oh yeah, The Duke.
Oh well. I guess it was because Wayne couldn't sing with the Sons of the Pioneers,
although Wayne did sing a little in "Hatari"
and didn't have that bad of a voice... but I digress.
Who could resist Roy Rogers' charm? I mean, he was the nicest guy in the world.
He even smiled while he was roundin' up the bad guys after they'd been bested.
Dale had the best post-menopausal vibrato I'd ever heard after she got a little older
- but she was Roy's partner and could pull her gun on an ornery desperado
as fast as any of the ranch hands.
Roy had Trigger (horse) and Bullet (dog), but, Pat Brady had Nellybell (a jeep).
Pat Brady was played by Pat Brady, just as Roy Rogers played
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans played Dale Evans.
Were there any actors in this series who played anyone
other than themselves? I mean, did Trigger and Bullet
even have different names than their stage names?
Pat was a great comedian - goofy face and lovable.
A great sidekick for Roy.
And of course, Roy and Dale sang "Happy Trails" at the end of each show.
That right there was worth the half hour watch.