''Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers'' is a television series broadcast in the United States by NBC during its 1956-57 season. In a period in which much of the programming on U.S. television consisted of Westerns, ''Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers'' could best be described as an "Eastern". It consisted of the adventures of a fictional regiment of the famed real-life cavalry of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

. The leading characters were the 77th's officers: the commander, Colonel Standish (Patrick Whyte) and two of his lieutenants, William Storm ( Warren Stevens) and Michael Rhodes ( Phil Carey). Rhodes was portrayed as a Canadian, purportedly because the actor portraying him, a native of New Jersey, could not be coached to produce a credible English accent. George Archainbaud earned a nomination from the Directors Guild of America as well from the Emmys in 1957 for his direction of the episode "The Traitor," which first aired Nov. 19, 1956. The series failed in the ratings opposite ''

Lassie Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a full-length novel called ''Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with another fic ...

'' on CBS and ended its run after six months on the air. It was sponsored by General Foods. ''Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers'' was produced by

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

. Bert Leonard created the series and was its producer.

References

*Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, '' The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows'' 1956 American television series debuts 1957 American television series endings Television series by Screen Gems American adventure television series NBC television dramas Television shows set in the British Raj {{US-drama-tv-prog-stub

See also

References