Pony Express (TV series)
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''Pony Express'' 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, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
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. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pi ...
. 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 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, ...
from the fall of October 1959 until May 1960. In its final days, the series just managed to coincide with the
centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at ...
of the
Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pi ...
(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 Iverson may refer to: Computing * Iverson Award, an ACM honour for APL contributions * Iverson bracket, a mathematical notation * Iverson Notation, the syntactic basis of APL (programming language) Other uses * Iverson Movie Ranch, Chatsworth, Ca ...
in Chatsworth in Los Angeles County,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. It was one of several western-themed television shows produced by CNP, including '' Boots and Saddles'' (1957–1958) and ''
Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...
'' (1959–1960) and '' Frontier'' (1955-1956). 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 States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distr ...
shot in colour, 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 *
James Best Jewel Franklin Guy (July 26, 1926 – April 6, 2015), known professionally as James Best, was an American television, film, stage, and voice actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician. Duri ...
* George Brenlin * Steve Brodie *
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* Sebastian Cabot * Paul Carr *
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*
Ross Elliott Ross Elliott (born Elliott Blum, June 18, 1917 – August 12, 1999) was an American television and film character actor. He began his acting career in the Mercury Theatre, where he performed in ''The War of the Worlds (radio), The War of t ...
*
William Fawcett William or Bill Fawcett or ''variation'', may refer to: People * William Fawcett (actor) (1894–1974), American actor who was awarded the ''Légion d'honneur'' * William Fawcett (author) (1902–1941), English journalist and writer on horses, hun ...
* Joe Flynn * Douglas Fowley *
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Rex Holman Rexford George Holman (born 1935) is an American film and television actor. Holman was born in Oklahoma. He began his screen career in 1959, appearing in the anthology television series '' The Millionaire''. In 1960 he made his film debut in ' ...
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* I. Stanford Jolley * Dick Jones * Douglas Kennedy *
Ethan Laidlaw Ethan Allen Laidlaw (November 25, 1899 – May 25, 1963) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 350 films and made more than 500 appearances on television, mainly uncredited in Westerns, between 1923 and 1962. Laidlaw was bor ...
*
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 Broadway ...
* Bethel Leslie *
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Howard McNear Howard Terbell McNear (January 27, 1905 – January 3, 1969) was an American stage, screen, and radio character actor. McNear is best remembered as the original voice of Doc Adams in the radio version of ''Gunsmoke'' and as Floyd Lawson, the ...
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* Donald Murphy *
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*
James Parnell James Parnel or Parnell (baptised 1636 – 1656) was an English Quaker preacher and author. As a teenager he became a nonconformist, visited George Fox in prison in 1653, and joined the Society of Friends. He is known as "The Boy Martyr". Persona ...
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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 transitioned to acting and appeared in dozens of movies and ...
* Denver Pyle * Burt Reynolds *
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Episodes


See also

* ''Pony Express'', film


References


External links

*
''Pony Express''
at CVTA {{DEFAULTSORT:Pony Express (TV series) 1959 American television series debuts 1960 American television series endings Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Period television series Television shows set in Colorado Television shows set in Nebraska 1950s Western (genre) television series Works about the Pony Express 1960s Western (genre) television series