"Buffalo Bill, Jr." (1955) TV series 1955-1956

Directors:

Thomas Carr
John English

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

1 March 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Cast

Dickie Jones	...	Buffalo Bill Jr. (42 episodes, 1955-1956)
Nancy Gilbert	...	Calamity (42 episodes, 1955-1956)
Harry Cheshire	...	Judge Ben 'Fair and Square' Wiley / ... (42 episodes, 1955-1956)

Runtime:

30 min (52 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Flying 'A' Productions

Trivia:

The sign on Judge Wiley's shop reads, "Wileyville General Store / Groceries - Hardware - Dry Goods / Judge Ben 'Fair 'n' Square' Wiley, Prop. / Justice of the Peace / Town Marshal / Physician & Surgeon / Blacksmith / Haircuts - Legal Advice / By Appointment Only"

A wildly pleasant surprise

All I remembered of this kiddie Western was the theme song, a cheerful but hardly classic bit of TV doggerel. When I found a DVD with a few episodes I bought it expecting the very worst. What a surprise! Charming, well written and Dick Jones is an astounding athlete and horseman. He is obviously doing most of his stunts and doing so with a verve seldom seen anywhere. I was never a great fan of this show half century ago but now can appreciate this very fine effort, one of the last of the kiddie Westerns. Produced by Gene Autry's Flying "A" production company in the first years of the "adult" Westerns which came to dominate American television for year afterward: "Wyatt Earp", "Maverick", "Cheyenne" and "Gunsmoke" which spawned so many noble and ignoble offspring. But no matter how devoted one might be to those classic Westerns, Dick West and "Buffalo Bill Jr." is a creditable effort in entertainment that goes well beyond my expectations of a kiddie Western.