Execution

Time machine transports outlaw Albert Salmi from 1880's hangman's rope to 1960's New York City.

Time travel was of course a series staple, only here it's explored with more humor and insight than most. Two elements stand out for me. Salmi's portrayal of the crudely inarticulate cowboy is stunningly realistic from archaic speech patterns to crackling voice quality to squinty-eyed stare, all of which suggest a hard life on the trail. I doubt any of the many cowboy shows of the time produced quite this level of authenticity. There's also the unexpectedly funny details of transporting a "19th century primitive" into a "20th century urban jungle", as the script puts it. The barroom scene with Salmi and a flummoxed Manhattan bartender is as comically inventive as any in the series. Having the cowboy react frantically to the intolerable noise level of the city is both grimly humorous and tells us a lot about a hundred years of "progress". Too bad the episode is marred by a highly implausible struggle between a scrawny Than Wyenn and the burly Salmi, for which the director should take the blame-- what was he thinking. Anyway, it's a very entertaining and revealing half-hour with the usual TZ dollop of irony thrown in.