Pistols 'n' Petticoats

Pistols 'n' Petticoats is an American Western sitcom starring Ann Sheridan that ran on CBS during the 1966-1967 television season. It was produced by Kayro/Universal Television for CBS Productions and ran from September 17, 1966 to March 11, 1967. The series was created by George Tibbles, who wrote the show's theme song. This was one of two sitcoms that ran on CBS with the "Petticoat" name in its title at the time, the other being Petticoat Junction, which was produced by Filmways and has no connection to this program.

Pistols 'n' Petticoats
The town drunk raises a stir with the Hanks family.
Genre	Sitcom Western
Created by	George Tibbles
Written by	Del Moore George Tibbles Paul West
Directed by	David Alexander Joe Connelly Lawrence Dobkin Leslie Goodwins Harry Harris Sidney Lanfield Joseph Pevney Alan Rafkin
Starring	Ann Sheridan Ruth McDevitt Carole Wells Douglas Fowley Gary Vinson
Theme music composer	Jack Elliott George Tibbles
Opening theme	"Pistols 'n' Petticoats"
Composers	Jack Elliott Stanley Wilson
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26
Production
Producer	Joe Connelly
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Kayro-UTV Productions Universal Television
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 17, 1966 (1966-09-17) – March 11, 1967 (1967-03-11)

Premise

Pistols 'n' Petticoats chronicled the lives of the gunslinging Hanks family, which consisted of Grandpa (Andrew), his wife Grandma (Effie), widowed daughter Henrietta, granddaughter (and Henrietta's daughter) Lucy, and their pet wolf Bowser. The "Petticoats" referred to the Hanks ladies, even though Lucy (who was raised in the city) would spend more time being at odds with the rest of the clan rather than helping protect their land.

The Hanks lived in the fictional town of Wretched, Colorado, in the year 1870, where at that time, the sprawling Old West was being occupied by outlaws. It was up to the Hanks to clean up the town, which made them more popular with the citizens than with the town sheriff, Harold Sikes, who did not like having the spotlight shine on the Hanks. The Hanks also had adversaries with rival Buss Courtney and members of a nearby Indian tribe, led by Chief Eagle Shadow, and his assistants, Grey Hawk and Little Bear.

Cast

• Ann Sheridan as Henrietta Hanks
• Ruth McDevitt as Grandma Effie Hanks
• Carole Wells as Lucy Hanks
• Douglas Fowley as Grandpa Andrew Hanks
• Gary Vinson as Sheriff Harold Sikes
• Robert Lowery as Buss Courtney
• Lon Chaney Jr. as Chief Eagle Shadow
• Marc Cavell as Grey Hawk
• Alex Henteloff as Little Bear
• Jay Silverheels as Great Bear
• Eleanor Audley as Mrs. Teaseley

Guest stars

• Read Morgan as Moose Dreyfus in "The Triangle"
• Lurene Tuttle as Adelaide Coulter in "Grandma's Date"
• Judy Canova as Sadie in "The Golden Fleece" and Daisy Frogg in "Faint Heart Never Won Grandpa"
• Fred Willard as Ben in "Quit Shootin' Folks, It's Grandma"
• Simon Scott as Sloan in 1x09 "Cards Anyone"

Production notes

Ann Sheridan in 1966

The series would be Ann Sheridan's last role, as she died of cancer on January 21, 1967, nearly two months before CBS cancelled the series. Of the 26 shows that were produced, Sheridan only appeared in 21 episodes. Universal Pictures used several episodes as "archive footage" for the 1967 feature film The Far Out West.

In the pilot episode Chris Noel was cast as Sheridan's daughter, but test audiences found her portrayal unsympathetic; she was replaced by Carole Wells.^[1]

Currently, both Universal Home Video and Echo Bridge Home Video hold the DVD rights to the series.

Pistols 'n' Petticoats was filmed in color, which, by the fall of 1966, became the standard in all prime-time network programming.

Episodes

No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
0	"Pilot"	Earl Bellamy	John McGreevey	UNAIRED
1	"A Crooked Line"	Unknown	Unknown	September 17, 1966 (1966-09-17)
2	"No Sale"	Unknown	Unknown	September 24, 1966 (1966-09-24)
3	"Bitter Blossom O'Brien"	Unknown	Unknown	October 1, 1966 (1966-10-01)
4	"Sir Richard of Wretched"	Joseph Pevney	George Tibbles	October 8, 1966 (1966-10-08)
5	"The Hank and the Indian War"	Unknown	Unknown	October 15, 1966 (1966-10-15)
6	"The Triangle"	Unknown	Unknown	October 22, 1966 (1966-10-22)
7	"A Wagonload of Wives"	Joe Connelly	Story by : Del Moore Teleplay by : George Tibbles	October 29, 1966 (1966-10-29)
8	"The Ross Guttley Story"	Alan Rafkin	George Tibbles	November 5, 1966 (1966-11-05)
9	"The Gun Runners"	Lawrence Dobkin	Bud Freeman	November 12, 1966 (1966-11-12)
10	"Lookout Point"	Unknown	Unknown	November 19, 1966 (1966-11-19)
11	"Quit Shootin' Folks, It's Grandma"	Unknown	Unknown	November 26, 1966 (1966-11-26)
12	"Shootout at the O'Day Corral"	Leslie Goodwins	George F. Slavin & Stanley Adams	December 3, 1966 (1966-12-03)
13	"Grandma's Date"	Unknown	Unknown	December 10, 1966 (1966-12-10)
14	"Here Comes Trouble"	Unknown	Unknown	December 17, 1966 (1966-12-17)
15	"Willie the Kid"	Ezra Stone	Lois Hire	December 24, 1966 (1966-12-24)
16	"Wretched Beautiful"	Unknown	Unknown	December 31, 1966 (1966-12-31)
17	"Faint Heart Never Won Grandpa"	Unknown	Unknown	January 7, 1967 (1967-01-07)
18	"The Stranger"	Unknown	Unknown	January 14, 1967 (1967-01-14)
19	"Beware the Hangman"	Unknown	Unknown	January 21, 1967 (1967-01-21)
20	"A Man for Hank"	David Alexander	Paul West	January 28, 1967 (1967-01-28)
21	"Petrified Wretched"	Ezra Stone	George Tibbles	February 4, 1967 (1967-02-04)
22	"The Golden Fleece"	Ezra Stone	Lois Hire	February 11, 1967 (1967-02-11)
23	"Peace Offering"	Unknown	Unknown	February 18, 1967 (1967-02-18)
24	"The Taming of Sorry Water"	Unknown	Unknown	February 25, 1967 (1967-02-25)
25	"Colonel Comes to Town"	Unknown	Unknown	March 4, 1967 (1967-03-04)
26	"Harold's Double"	Unknown	Unknown	March 11, 1967 (1967-03-11)

References

1. p.178 Lisanti, Tom Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Biker, Beach and Elvis Movies McFarland, 2001

External links

• Pistols 'n' Petticoats at IMDb
• The Far Out West at IMDb
• Pistols 'n' Petticoats at TV Shows on DVD
• Pistols 'n' Petticoats at TV Party