"The Roy Rogers Show" (1951) TV series 1951-1957

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Directors:

George Blair
John English

Writers:

Dwight Cummins (writer) (34 episodes)
Milton Raison (writer) (27 episodes)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Release Date:

30 December 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

The Double R Ranch featured "The King of the Cowboys" Roy, his "Smartest Horse in the Movies" Trigger...

Plot Keywords:

Horse | Stars Married In Real Life | Horse Actor | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Roy Rogers	...	Roy Rogers / ... (100 episodes, 1951-1957)
Dale Evans	...	Dale Evans (100 episodes, 1951-1957)
Trigger	...	Trigger / ... (100 episodes, 1951-1957)
Pat Brady	...	Pat Brady / ... (100 episodes, 1951-1957)
Bullet	...	Bullet (100 episodes, 1951-1957)
Harry Harvey	...	Sheriff Tom Blodgett / ... (52 episodes, 1951-1957)

Runtime:

30 min (100 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Filming Locations:

Andy Jauregui Ranch - Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall, California, USA

Company:

Roy Rogers Productions

Trivia:

Pat Brady's horse was Phineas.

Quotes:

[title sequence]
Announcer: "The Roy Rogers Show," starring Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys; Trigger, his golden palomino; and Dale Evans, Queen of the West; with Pat Brady, his comical sidekick; and Roy's wonder dog, Bullet.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bíódagar (1994)

Soundtrack:

Happy Trails To You

Mustard and Custard

I just picked a copy of a joint biography of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and the story behind the television series was an interesting one.

Both were winding up their contracts at Republic Pictures where they didn't make much money from the studio itself. Herbert J. Yates ran a pinch penny operation to say the least. Their money came from Roy's shrewd business sense and merchandising of the Rogers/Evans name. But they decided to get into the new medium of television.

The problem they foresaw was Yates selling or leasing their old films for television showing while they were making new product. So Roy and Dale had to go to court to enjoin Yates from selling the films so as not to compete with the weekly half hour western show they were planning. The films eventually made it to television, but not until after the series went into syndication. By that time Republic Pictures was no more.

I certainly remember the show as a kid watching it. It was little more than an extension of the films. No doubt existed that Roy and Dale would rout the bad guys in the end.

Roy operated out of the Double R Bar Ranch and Dale had her own business, very advanced thinking especially for folks as conservative as these two were. Instead of a saloon she ran a small diner type establishment for travelers who were going by car or horse.

What I remember best was Pat Brady though. He was a funny guy who was a friend of Roy and Dale, but he was more of a hindrance at times than a help. Roy had the patience of Job with him, but Dale would really get exasperated at times.

Pat didn't ride a horse, he had a jeep which he named NellyBelle. The jeep I swear had its own personality. One thing you could always depend on, that in a crisis that jeep would always let you down. Pat had his own swear oath, a G rated one to be sure. I've never heard anyone else use the phrase 'mustard and custard' and it was usually directed at that cantankerous jeep NellyBelle.

Roy's show ran for about six seasons and by that time the western was becoming more of an adult enterprise for television as well as the big screen. Still I do have fond memories of it and I even use Happy Trails as my way of saying goodbye.