''Pony Express'' is an American Western television series about the adventures of an agent in the 1860s of the Central Overland Express Company, better known as the

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. During its 18 months of opera ...

. The half-hour program starring Grant Sullivan and Don Dorrell was created by California National Productions. ''Pony Express'' ran for thirty-five episodes in syndication from the fall of October 1959 until May 1960. In its final days, the series just managed to coincide with the centennial of the

(April 3, 1860).

Overview

The series featured two recurring roles: Grant Sullivan as Brett Clark, a roving investigator for the company, and Don Dorrell as Donovan, a young Pony Express rider. The majority of the weekly episodes involved Clark and Donovan solving various Pony Express mysteries.

Production

''Pony Express'' was filmed at

Iverson Movie Ranch A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated for use as a set in the creation and production of motion pictures and television shows. These were developed in the United States in southern California, because of the climate. Movi ...

in Chatsworth in

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It was one of several western-themed television shows produced by CNP, such as '' Boots and Saddles'' (1957–1958). CNP created the series for the 100th anniversary of the actual Pony Express. The ''Pony Express'' pilot, the first Western

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

shot in color, was shot in February 1957 with James Best in the lead. This version did not sell (although Best was included in a ''TV Guide'' photo feature on upcoming TV westerns in June of that year) but was later aired, slightly re-edited, as an episode of the syndicated series.

Guest stars

Claude Akins Claude Aubrey Akins (May 25, 1926 – January 27, 1994) was an American character actor. He played Sonny Pruit in '' Movin' On'', a 1974–1976 American drama series about a trucking team; Sheriff Lobo on '' The Misadventures of Sheriff Lob ...

* James Best * George Brenlin * Steve Brodie * Whitney Blake * Sebastian Cabot * Paul Carr * Walter Coy * Ross Elliott * William Fawcett * Joe Flynn *

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 ...

Dabbs Greer Robert William "Dabbs" Greer (April 2, 1917 – April 28, 2007) was an American character actor in film and television for over 60 years. Greer appeared in nearly 100 film roles and in nearly 600 television episodes of various series. He pl ...

* Rex Holman * Dale Ishimoto * I. Stanford Jolley * Dick Jones * Douglas Kennedy * Ethan Laidlaw *

Norman Leavitt Norman Turner Leavitt (December 1, 1913 – December 11, 2005) was an American film and television actor. Life and career Leavitt was born in Lansing, Michigan. He began his stage career in 1935, appearing as a wedding guest in the Broa ...

* Bethel Leslie * Nobu McCarthy * Howard McNear * Mort Mills * Donald Murphy *

Gregg Palmer Palmer Edwin Lee (January 25, 1927 – October 31, 2015), known by his stage name Gregg Palmer, was an American film and television actor. He was known for playing Tom McLowery in the final season of the American Western (genre), western televis ...

* James Parnell *

Slim Pickens Louis Burton Lindley Jr. (June 29, 1919 – December 8, 1983), better known by his stage name Slim Pickens, was an American actor and rodeo performer. Starting off in the rodeo, Pickens took up acting, and appeared in dozens of movies and TV sho ...

* Denver Pyle *

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...

* Madlyn Rhue

Episodes

References

External links