Laredo (1965–1967)

Rustlers, bank robbers, and their own wild schemes: a band of Texas Rangers keeps getting in and out of trouble, under the jaundiced eye of Captain Parmalee.

Stars:

Neville Brand, Peter Brown, William Smith

Cast

Series cast summary:
Neville Brand	...	Reese Bennett (56 episodes, 1965-1967)
Peter Brown	...	Chad Cooper (56 episodes, 1965-1967)
William Smith	...	Joe Riley (56 episodes, 1965-1967)
Philip Carey	...	Capt. Edward Parmalee (56 episodes, 1965-1967)
Robert Wolders	...	Erik Hunter (26 episodes, 1966-1967)

Storyline

Rustlers, bank robbers, and their own wild schemes: a band of Texas Rangers keeps getting in and out of trouble, under the jaundiced eye of Captain Parmalee.

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Plot Keywords:

texas ranger

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Genres:

Comedy | Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 September 1965 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Denver Street, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min (56 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

Guest stars Claude Akins and George Kennedy were tested for regular roles on the series.

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Connections

Edited into Three Guns for Texas (1968)

User Reviews

Promising TV Series

I liked Peter Brown in Lawman. I like William Smith in most of his TV movies and appearances on TV series. Both of them had charisma and the ability to pull off the standard western hero role. Add to that mix Neville Brand, an actor who usually played loudmouth drunks and jerks. Which one of these is not like the other?

Laredo could have been a great western TV series. It had everything that it needed. Even the character of Parmalee, the commander of the group, was played by an excellent actor.

What sinks this show for me is Neville Brand. Back in the non-politically correct days of the 1960s, it was alright for the lead character in a TV series to be a loudmouth drunk. However, Neville Brand was not a funny guy. He did not have charisma. In most of his previous roles he played an annoying bad guy. So why was he the lead character in Laredo?

I guess someone on the internet probably knows. It baffles me. I have been watching this show on Encore's western channel, and the scenes with Brand shouting at the screen in his abrasive voice-box tone are hard to take. I wish I could fast-forward.

The rest of the cast is very good and enjoyable. This show could have been a successful, light-hearted western if they had put someone like Richard Boone in the role. Boone had the ability to be a hard-drinking rowdy, but he did it with some sense of style. He also had a comic streak that was more suited for the western genre.