''The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok'' 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 ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

that ran for eight seasons from April 15, 1951, through September 24, 1958. The

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 ...

series began in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

, but 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 ...

from June 5, 1955, through 1958, and, at the same time, on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from 1957 through 1958. The

Kellogg's The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toaste ...

cereal company was the show's national sponsor. The series was also exported to Australia during the late 1950s.

Synopsis

''The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok'' starred

Guy Madison Guy Madison (born Robert Ozell Moseley; January 19, 1922 – February 6, 1996) was an American film, television, and radio actor. He is best known for playing Wild Bill Hickok in the Western television series ''The Adventures of Wild Bill Hicko ...

as the legendary

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 ...

lawman (in real life, also a

gunfighter Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the te ...

)

United States Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforcem ...

James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, and

Andy Devine Andrew Vabre Devine (October 7, 1905 – February 18, 1977) was an American character actor known for his distinctive raspy, crackly voice and roles in Western films, including his role as Cookie, the sidekick of Roy Rogers in 10 feature fil ...

as his comedy sidekick, Jingles P. Jones. The series was set in the 1870s, with Hickok and Jones based at Fort Larabee.

Production

The series was produced by William F. Broidy Productions. It consisted of 112 episodes, the last 13 of which were made in color. In 1957

bought the Broidy company's assets, which included 100 ''Hickok'' episodes on film. Tommy Carr was the director.

cereals sponsored it.

Episodes

Season 1 (1951)

Season 2 (1951-52)

Season 3 (1952)

Season 4 (1953)

Season 5 (1954-55)

Season 6 (1955)

Season 7 (1956)

Season 8 (1958)

Other media

Devine and Madison portrayed their roles on Mutual

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

from April 1, 1951, to 1956. During the 1950s, several episodes of the television show were spliced together and released as 16 feature films by Allied Artists.

Guest stars

Mike Ragan Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

appeared in three episodes, as Gus in "The Tax Collecting Story", as Collier in "Mexican Rustlers Story" (both 1951), and Malone in "The Doctor's Story" (1953). *

Carole Mathews Carole Mathews (born Jean Deifel, also credited as Jeanne Francis; September 13, 1920 – November 6, 2014) was an American film and television actress. Early years Born in Montgomery, Illinois, near Chicago, Mathews lived with her grandmothe ...

appeared twice, first as Miss Jennings in "The Slocum Family" (1951) and then as Anne Hardy in "Blacksmith Story" (1952). *

Ewing Mitchell Ewing Young Mitchell (December 29, 1910 – September 3, 1988) was an American character actor of film and television best known for his role as Sheriff Mitch Hargrove in 26 episodes between 1956 and 1959 of the aviation adventure series wit ...

, as Mr. Harker in "Chain of Events" (1953) * Gloria Saunders, as Sally Jones in "Boulder City Election" (1951) *

William Tannen William Tannen (November 17, 1911 – December 2, 1976) was an American actor originally from New York City, who was best known for his role of Deputy Hal Norton in fifty-six episodes from 1956 to 1958 of the ABC/Desilu western television ser ...

, as Rand in "The Doctor's Story" (1953) and as Tom Maples in "The Maverick" (1954)

Award nominations

References

External links

*
''The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok''
at CVTA

Collection of Stephen Lodge. {{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, The 1951 American television series debuts 1958 American television series endings 1950s Western (genre) television series Television series set in the 1870s CBS original programming American Broadcasting Company original programming Cultural depictions of Wild Bill Hickok First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Black-and-white American television shows Television series by Sony Pictures Television