Westerns

Episode aired Jan 25, 2011

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

YOUR RATING

Documentary History

This episodes reviews various contributions to the western genre on early US television. Maverick (1957), starring 'James Garner' was an early success and noted for its humor. The Rifleman (... Read allThis episodes reviews various contributions to the western genre on early US television. Maverick (1957), starring 'James Garner' was an early success and noted for its humor. The Rifleman (1958) was created by Sam Peckinpah, later noted for his more violent take on westerns. It ... Read allThis episodes reviews various contributions to the western genre on early US television. Maverick (1957), starring 'James Garner' was an early success and noted for its humor. The Rifleman (1958) was created by Sam Peckinpah, later noted for his more violent take on westerns. It starred Chuck Connors as a single parent raising his young son. Bonanza (1959) with Lorne ... Read all

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

YOUR RATING

Director
- Steve Boettcher
Stars
- Kelsey Grammer(voice)
- James Garner
- Ed Ames

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3User reviews

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Featured review

5/10

Narrator Kelsey Grammar should learn how to pronounce Western States

In a documentary about "Westerns", you would think that the narrator would at least learn how to pronounce the name of the western states that are prominently featured in this genre. Maybe he should actually watch Bonanza in which NEVADA is pronounced correctly and not mispronounced as the regionally uneducated narrator has done.

This PBS documentary does a decent job of covering the genre but omits entirely some important examples of television westerns. The actors who were interviewed for this documentary are certainly not the most important or prominent in this genre. I would hope that east coast centric PBS/WNET would make better decisions on choosing a narrator who actually knows more about the western USA.

reference: xradio . us / western-states-for-dummies

P.S. the PBS "about series" link for Westerns is broken

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