''Pistols 'n' Petticoats'' is an American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

starring

Ann Sheridan Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan (February 21, 1915 – January 21, 1967) was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films ''San Quentin'' (1937) with Humphrey Bogart, ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938) with James Cagne ...

that ran on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

during the 1966-1967 television season. It was produced by Kayro/Universal Television for

CBS Productions CBS Productions, Inc. was a production arm of the CBS television network (an initialism of Columbia Broadcasting System, along with its parent company CBS Television Studios, Inc.; the radio network was founded in 1927), now a part of Paramount Gl ...

and ran from September 17, 1966 to March 11, 1967. The series was created by

George Tibbles George F. Tibbles (June 7, 1913February 21, 1987) was a composer and screenwriter. He and Ramez Idriss co-wrote "The Woody Woodpecker Song" for the 1948 short film, ''Wet Blanket Policy''; the song would receive an Academy Award nomination (Ac ...

, who wrote the show's theme song. This was one of two sitcoms that ran on CBS with the "Petticoat" name in its title at the time, the other being ''

Petticoat Junction ''Petticoat Junction'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from September 1963 to April 1970. The series takes place at the Shady Rest Hotel, which is run by Kate Bradley; her three daughters Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, and B ...

'', which was produced by

Filmways Filmways, Inc. (also known as Filmways Pictures and Filmways Television) was a television and film production company founded by American film executive Martin Ransohoff and Edwin Kasper in 1952. It is probably best remembered as the production c ...

and has no connection to this program.

Premise

''Pistols 'n' Petticoats'' chronicled the lives of the gunslinging Hanks family, which consisted of Grandpa (Andrew), his wife Grandma (Effie), widowed daughter Henrietta, granddaughter (and Henrietta's daughter) Lucy, and their pet wolf Bowser. The "Petticoats" referred to the Hanks ladies, even though Lucy (who was raised in the city) would spend more time being at odds with the rest of the clan rather than helping protect their land. The Hanks lived in the fictional town of Wretched,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, in the year 1870, where at that time, the sprawling

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

was being occupied by outlaws. It was up to the Hanks to clean up the town, which made them more popular with the citizens than with the town sheriff, Harold Sikes, who did not like having the spotlight shine on the Hanks. The Hanks also had adversaries with rival Buss Courtney and members of a nearby Indian tribe, led by Chief Eagle Shadow, and his assistants, Grey Hawk and Little Bear.

Cast

as Henrietta Hanks *

Ruth McDevitt Ruth Thane McDevitt ( Shoecraft; September 13, 1895 – May 27, 1976) was an American film, stage, radio, and television actress. Career The daughter of John Barnabas Shoecraft and Elizabeth Imber Shoecraft, McDevitt was born in Coldwater, Mich ...

as Grandma Effie Hanks *

Carole Wells Carole Wells (born August 31, 1942) is an American actress, opera singer, producer and author. Early years The daughter of a doctor, Wells was born Carole Maureen Wells in Shreveport, Louisiana, the fourth of six children in her family. Her ...

as Lucy Hanks *

Douglas Fowley Douglas Fowley (born Daniel Vincent Fowley, May 30, 1911 – May 21, 1998) was an American movie and television actor in more than 240 films and dozens of television programs, He is probably best remembered for his role as the frustrated m ...

as Grandpa Andrew Hanks *

Gary Vinson Gary Vinson (October 22, 1936 – October 15, 1984) was an American actor who appeared in significant roles in three television series of the 1960s: '' The Roaring 20s'', ''McHale's Navy'', and ''Pistols 'n' Petticoats''. Early years Vinson was ...

as Sheriff Harold Sikes * Robert Lowery as Buss Courtney *

Lon Chaney, Jr. Creighton Tull Chaney (February10, 1906 – July12, 1973), known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film '' The Wolf Man'' (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard (Dra ...

as Chief Eagle Shadow * Marc Cavell as Grey Hawk *

Alex Henteloff Alex Henteloff (born May 23, 1942) is an American actor. Born in Los Angeles, California, Henteloff has appeared mostly on television in guest-starring roles. He portrayed the attorney Arnold Drake Ripner in a recurring role (in a total of 7 ep ...

as Little Bear *

Jay Silverheels Jay Silverheels (born Harold Jay Smith; May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980) was an Indigenous Canadian actor and athlete. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the Native American companion of the Lone Ranger in the American Western television ...

as Great Bear *

Eleanor Audley Eleanor Audley ( Zellman; November 19, 1905 – November 25, 1991) was an American actress with a distinctive voice and a diverse body of work. She played Oliver Douglas's mother, Eunice Douglas, on the CBS sitcom ''Green Acres'' (1965–1969) ...

as Mrs. Teaseley

Guest stars

Read Morgan Read Lawrence Morgan (January 30, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American film and television actor. He was known for playing the role of Sergeant Hapgood Tasker in the American western television series ''The Deputy''. Life and career Morg ...

as Moose Dreyfus in "The Triangle" *

Lurene Tuttle Lurene Tuttle (August 29, 1907 – May 28, 1986) was an American actress and acting coach, who made the transition from vaudeville to radio, and later films and television. Her most enduring impact was as one of network radio's more versatile a ...

as Adelaide Coulter in "Grandma's Date" *

Judy Canova Judy Canova (November 20, 1913 – August 5, 1983),Although one source gives her birth date as November 20, 1916, (DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland ...

as Sadie in "The Golden Fleece" and Daisy Frogg in "Faint Heart Never Won Grandpa" *

Fred Willard Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries ''Wai ...

as Ben in "Quit Shootin' Folks, It's Grandma" * Simon Scott as Sloan in 1x09 "Cards Anyone"

Production notes

The series would be Ann Sheridan's last role, as she died of cancer on January 21, 1967, nearly two months before CBS cancelled the series. Of the 26 shows that were produced, Sheridan only appeared in 21 episodes.

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

used several episodes as "archive footage" for the 1967 feature film ''The Far Out West''. In the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

Chris Noel Chris Noel (Sandra Louise Noel, born July 2, 1941) is a retired American actress and entertainer. Noel is best known for her appearances in beach party movies in the 1960s, and for her work on the Armed Forces Radio And Television Service ...

was cast as Sheridan's daughter, but test audiences found her portrayal unsympathetic; she was replaced by Carole Wells.p.178 Lisanti, Tom ''Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Biker, Beach and Elvis Movies'' McFarland, 2001 Currently, both

Universal Home Video Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

and Echo Bridge Home Video hold the DVD rights to the series. ''Pistols 'n' Petticoats'' was filmed in color, which, by the fall of 1966, became the standard in all prime-time network programming.

Episodes

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, id=0126296, title=The Far Out West
''Pistols 'n' Petticoats''
at TV Shows on DVD

1966 American television series debuts 1967 American television series endings 1960s American sitcoms CBS original programming 1960s Western (genre) television series Fiction set in 1870 Television series set in the 1870s Television shows set in Colorado Television series by Universal Television Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows