''The Adventures of Jim Bowie'' 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 that aired on

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from

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

to 1958. Its setting was the 1830s-era

Louisiana Territory The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805, until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed the Missouri Territory. The territory was formed out of the ...

. The series was an adaptation of the book ''Tempered Blade'', by Monte Barrett.

Synopsis

The series stars

Scott Forbes Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saska ...

as the real-life adventurer

Jim Bowie James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...

. The series initially portrayed Jim Bowie as something of an outdoors-man, riding his horse through the

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

near his home in

Opelousas :''Opelousas is also a common name of the flathead catfish.'' Opelousas (french: Les Opélousas; Spanish: ''Los Opeluzás'') is a small city and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190 were ...

, where he would stumble across someone needing his assistance. He was aided by the Bowie Knife, his ever-present weapon. He designed it in the first episode, ''The Birth of the Blade.'' Although Bowie used the blade quite a bit in early episodes, its prominence was downplayed as the show went on. Use of the knife in the initial episode led a reviewer for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' to write, " would seem like a wise idea for parents to keep young viewers away from the television set when the show is on." The show was one of the first TV programs criticized for on-screen violence. Gradually the series shifted from the country to the city, having Bowie instead spend the majority of his time in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. He was frequently shown looking to invest his money in real estate, or coming to the aid of someone who had been swindled. Storylines focused on the exploits of Bowie before he moved to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

(then part of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

), and his death at the Alamo in 1836. During the series' two season run, Bowie encountered many historical figures of the era, such as

President Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin; April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictoria ...

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

, and

Davy Crockett David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Re ...

. Among the actors and actresses who guest-starred more than once on the series were

William Schallert William Joseph Schallert (July 6, 1922 – May 8, 2016) was an American character actor who appeared in dozens of television shows and films over a career spanning more than 60 years. He is known for his roles on ''Richard Diamond, Private ...

Denver Pyle Denver Dell Pyle (May 11, 1920 – December 25, 1997) was an American film and television actor and director. He was well known for a number of TV roles from the 1960s through the 1980s, including his portrayal of Briscoe Darling Jr. in se ...

Michael Landon Michael Landon (born Eugene Maurice Orowitz; October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in ''Bonanza'' (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in ''Little House on the Pr ...

Chuck Connors Kevin Joseph Aloysius "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have p ...

Walter Coy Walter Darwin Coy (January 31, 1909 – December 11, 1974) was an American stage, radio, film, and, principally, television actor, arguably most well known as John Wayne's character's brother in ''The Searchers'' (1956). Early years Originally ...

June Carter Cash June Carter Cash (born Valerie June Carter; June 23, 1929 – May 15, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter and dancer. A five-time Grammy award-winner, she was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. Prior ...

, and

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 ...

Jimmy Noel Herbert James Noel (May 15, 1903 – January 31, 1985) was an American actor, musician and stuntman. Life and career Noel was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He was guitarist and singer with the trio The Rhythm Boys. Noel decided to leave ...

made walk-on appearances in six episodes. Those making single guest appearances included

Yvonne Lime Fedderson Yvonne is a female given name. It is the feminine form of Yvon, which is derived from the French name Yves and Yvette. It is from the French word ''iv'', meaning "yew" (or tree). Since yew wood was used for bows, Ivo may have been an occupatio ...

, Douglas Kennedy, and

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 ...

. Jim Bowie did not appear in the last episode of the series. Instead, he was said to be away on an important assignment, and the attention was placed on criminal Jess Miller. Miller was given the task to retrieve a great sum of money, and the episode focused on whether Miller would complete his assignment or take the money for himself. At the end there is an indication that Miller would join up with Bowie on further adventures, but no further episodes were produced. Douglas Brode wrote in his book, ''Shooting Stars of the Small Screen: Encyclopedia of TV Western Actors, 1946–Present'', that Scott Forbes, who had the title role, "stormed off the set" when he learned that the series was being canceled after two seasons, when he had understood that it would run for five seasons. He added, "In desperation, the writers fashioned the final script" without the star. The program was sponsored by

Chesebrough-Ponds Pond's is an American brand of beauty and health care products, currently owned by Unilever. History Pond's Cream was invented in the United States as a patent medicine by pharmacist Theron T. Pond (1800–1852) of Utica, New York, in 1846. M ...

Episodes

Season 1 (1956-57)

Season 2 (1957-58)

Theme Music

The theme song was "Adventurin' Man", performed by the Ken Darby Singers.Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 14. The series' music was unusual in that it was primarily vocal, provided by

Ken Darby Kenneth Lorin Darby (May 13, 1909 – January 24, 1992) was an American composer, vocal arranger, lyricist, and conductor. His film scores were recognized by the awarding of three Academy Awards and one Grammy Award. He provided vocals for ...

and The King's Men (save for a few episodes in season two).

Recurring cast members

- Jim Bowie (75 episodes) * Peter Hansen -

Rezin Bowie Rezin Pleasant Bowie ( ) (September 8, 1793 – January 17, 1841) was a planter, inventor, and mercenary. He also served three terms in the Louisiana House of Representatives. With his brother James "Jim" Bowie, Rezin Bowie smuggled slaves and ...

(17 episodes) *

Minerva Urecal Minerva Urecal (born Florence Minerva Dunnuck; September 22, 1894 – February 26, 1966) was an American stage and radio performer as well as a character actress in Hollywood films and on various television series from the early 1950s to 1 ...

- Ma Bowie (6 episodes) *

- Justinian Tebbs (8 episodes) *

(3 episodes) *

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 ...

- Preacher Homer Wilkins (2 episodes)

Home media

A two-DVD set containing 13 episodes of the program has been published.

Merchandising

The TV show was also adapted into a comic book by

Dan Spiegle Dan Spiegle (December 10, 1920 – January 28, 2017) was an American comics artist and cartoonist best known for comics based on movie and television characters across a variety of companies, including Dell Comics, DC Comics, and Marvel Comi ...

, distributed by

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...

References

Sources

*Tim Brooks & Earle Marsh, ''

The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (7th ed. 1999), pp. 14–15.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures of Jim Bowie, The 1956 American television series debuts 1958 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows Cultural depictions of American men Cultural depictions of explorers Television series by Desilu Productions Television series set in the 1830s Television shows set in New Orleans 1950s Western (genre) television series American folklore films and television series Television shows adapted into comics Cultural depictions of James Bowie