The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok

The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok is an American Western television series that ran for eight seasons from April 15, 1951, through September 24, 1958. The Screen Gems series began in syndication,^[1] but ran on CBS from June 5, 1955,^[2] through 1958, and, at the same time, on ABC from 1957 through 1958.^[3] The Kellogg's cereal company was the show's national sponsor.^[1] The series was also exported to Australia during the late 1950s.^{[citation needed]}

The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Andy Devine as Jingles
Genre	Western
Directed by	Wesley Barry William Beaudine Thomas Carr Will Jason Louis King S. Roy Luby Jean Yarbrough
Starring	Guy Madison Andy Devine
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	8
No. of episodes	113 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer	William F. Broidy
Cinematography	Henry Freulich John J. Martin William A. Sickner
Editors	Carl Pierson S. Roy Luby
Running time	25 mins.
Production company	Romson Productions
Original release
Network	Syndication CBS (1955-1958) ABC (1957-1958)
Release	April 15, 1951 (1951-04-15) – September 24, 1958 (1958-09-24)

Synopsis

The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok starred Guy Madison as the legendary Old West lawman (in real life, also a gunfighter) United States Marshal James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, and Andy Devine as his comedy sidekick, Jingles P. Jones. The series was set in the 1870s, with Hickok and Jones based at Fort Larabee.^[4]

Production

The series was produced by William F. Broidy Productions. It consisted of 113 episodes, the last 13 of which were made in color.^[5] In 1957 Screen Gems bought the Broidy company's assets, which included 100 Hickok episodes on film.^[6] Tommy Carr was the director. Kellogg's cereals sponsored it.^[5]

Episodes

Main article: List of The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	13		April 14, 1951 (1951-04-14)	July 8, 1951 (1951-07-08)
2	13		October 14, 1951 (1951-10-14)	January 6, 1952 (1952-01-06)
3	22		January 27, 1952 (1952-01-27)	June 30, 1952 (1952-06-30)
4	13		September 13, 1953 (1953-09-13)	December 6, 1953 (1953-12-06)
5	13		November 21, 1954 (1954-11-21)	February 13, 1955 (1955-02-13)
6	13		September 4, 1955 (1955-09-04)	November 27, 1955 (1955-11-27)
7	13		September 2, 1956 (1956-09-02)	November 25, 1956 (1956-11-25)
8	13		February 19, 1958 (1958-02-19)	May 16, 1958 (1958-05-16)

Other media

Devine and Madison portrayed their roles on Mutual radio from April 1, 1951, to 1956.^[7]

During the 1950s, several episodes of the television show were spliced together and released as 16 feature films by Allied Artists.^[5]

Title	Director	Cast	Year
The Ghost of Crossbones Canyon	Frank McDonald	Russell Simpson, Gordon Jones, John Doucette	1952
Behind Southern Lines	Thomas Carr	Rand Brooks, Jonathan Hale	1952
Trail of the Arrow	Thomas Carr	Monte Blue, Terry Frost, Raymond Hatton	1952
The Yellow Haired Kid	Frank McDonald	William Edward Phipps, David Bruce, Marcia Mae Jones	1952
Border City Rustlers	Frank McDonald	Gloria Talbott, Isabel Randolph, George J. Lewis	1953
Secret of Outlaw Flats	Wesley Barry, Frank McDonald	Kristine Miller, John Crawford, Richard Avonde	1953
Six Gun Decision	Frank McDonald	Gloria Saunders, David Sharpe, Lyle Talbot	1953
Two Gun Marshal	Frank McDonald	Michael Vallon, Pamela Duncan, Francis McDonald	1953
Marshals In Disguise	Frank McDonald	Anthony Sydes, John Eldredge, Guy Beach	1954
Outlaw's Son	Frank McDonald	Sally Fraser, Robert Hyatt, Fred Kelsey	1954
Trouble on the Trail	Frank McDonald	Martha Hyer, Robert Blake, Byron Foulger	1954
The Two Gun Teacher	Frank McDonald	Carole Mathews, Ann Carroll, Rory Mallinson	1954
The Matchmaking Marshal	Frank McDonald	Bobby Jordan, Anna Lee Carroll, Forrest Taylor	1955
Phantom Trails	Wesley Barry, Frank McDonald	Byron Foulger, Robert Filmer, Harry Harvey Jr.	1955
Timber Country Trouble	Frank McDonald	Frances Charles, Henry Blair, Harry Lauter	1955
The Titled Tenderfoot	Frank McDonald	Jeanne Cagney, Marshall Reed, Clayton Moore	1955

Guest stars

• Mike Ragan appeared in three episodes, as Gus in "The Tax Collecting Story", as Collier in "Mexican Rustlers Story" (both 1951), and Malone in "The Doctor's Story" (1953).
• Carole Mathews appeared twice, first as Miss Jennings in "The Slocum Family" (1951) and then as Anne Hardy in "Blacksmith Story" (1952).
• Ewing Mitchell, as Mr. Harker in "Chain of Events" (1953)
• Gloria Saunders, as Sally Jones in "Boulder City Election" (1951)
• William Tannen, as Rand in "The Doctor's Story" (1953) and as Tom Maples in "The Maverick" (1954)

Award nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category
1955	Emmy Award	Nominated	Best Western or Adventure Series

References

1. "Breakfast cereal mascots: Beloved and bizarre". CBS News. 7 April 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
2. Hawes, William (December 26, 2001). Filmed Television Drama, 1952-1958. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-1132-0. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
3. Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 34–37. ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.
4. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. pp. 1177–1178. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
5. Erickson, Hal (1989). Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947-1987'. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 101–102. ISBN 0-7864-1198-8.
6. "SG Purchases Broidy Assets". The Billboard. April 13, 1957. p. 28. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
7. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4. Retrieved May 28, 2021.

External links

• The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok at IMDb
• The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok at CVTA
• Behind-the-scenes production photos Collection of Stephen Lodge.