"The Range Rider" (1951) TV series 1951-1953

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Directors:

Thomas Carr
Don McDougall

Writers:

Buckley Angell (writer)
Eric Freiwald (writer)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | unknown

Genre:

Western

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Cast

Jock Mahoney	...	The Range Rider / ... (77 episodes, 1951-1953)
Dickie Jones	...	Dick West (77 episodes, 1951-1953)

Runtime:

30 min (78 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Flying 'A' Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The A-Team: When You Comin' Back, Range Rider?: Part 1 (#2.5)" (1983)

Lots of fun to watch, a Western for the ages

This show predated me by quite some years. I hadn't seen it until I bought a cheapo DVD at WalMart with a bunch of old Westerns on it, and it included seven Range Rider episodes - what a revelation. The stories aren't extremely deep, someone occasionally might get killed but more often they don't. The closest I can parallel it to another show would be Batman and Robin; Ranger Rider and Dick West kind of freelance about, solving problems and crimes. What I enjoy the most is the comic aspect they give to Dick West, the Range Rider's sidekick and 'the All American Boy'. (Wonder what the Jack Armstrong people thought of that one?) On one hand, Dick is right there beside the Range Rider, using his gun, getting into the fights, a character a kid back-when could really dream of being like. On the other hand Dick is also given some really funny lines; he's kind of a dopey overanxious young guy who really keeps the stories animated. I like the way they occasionally throw in a line about a blonde or a brunette, like when Dick West has to go down into a well to look for something - Range Rider tells him to see if he can see any brunettes or redheads at the bottom of the well. Actually, that brings up one of the funnier aspects of this show - in most episodes, there turns out to be a pretty young lady and Dickie inevitably becomes attracted to her. When he tells Range Rider how much he likes the girl, Range Rider brings up a few of Dickie's other past 'loves' and Dickie invariably insists that this one is "different!"

Range Rider himself is a real tough guy, no doubt, and there are appearances by some very well-known character actors, i.e. Lee Van Cleef in one episode I watched. Denver Pyle is in quite a few of the episodes as well as some others you might recognize, a couple of which you've seen in many 3 Stooges shorts. This is a fun show to watch - well worth keeping in mind if it should ever cross your path. I hope to find more episodes of it.