Laredo (TV series)
| Laredo | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Title Card |
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| Format | Western/Comedy |
| Directed by | Irving J. Moore et al. |
| Starring | Neville Brand William Smith Peter Brown Philip Carey |
| Composer(s) | Stanley Wilson, Russell Garcia (theme song) |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 56 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Original run | September 16, 1965 – April 7, 1967 |
Laredo is an NBC Western television series starring Neville Brand, William Smith, Peter Brown, and Philip Carey as Texas Rangers. The program premiered on September 16, 1965, and the final new episode was broadcast on April 7, 1967. The series was produced by Universal Television.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Laredo combined action and humor with the focus on three fictitious Texas Rangers. Reese Bennett, played by Brand, is older than his two partners. Chad Cooper was played by Peter Brown, the former co-star with John Russell of ABC's Lawman. Joe Riley was portrayed by William Smith. Reese was previously an officer of the Union Army during the American Civil War. Originally from New Orleans, Chad was in the Border Patrol during the war. He joined the Rangers to search for the gunrunners who had ambushed fellow border patrolmen. Joe was a gunfighter who was at times on the wrong side of the law. He joined the Rangers to obtain protection from a sheriff. Chad and Joe tease Reese about his age: he was in his forties.
The three Rangers are led by Captain Edward Parmalee, played by Philip Carey (1925-2009), who was stern and disciplined. Robert Wolders as Erik Hunter joined the show in the second and final season. Claude Akins played Ranger Cotton Buckmeister in five episodes but never became a part of the cast. The pilot of Laredo was an episode of The Virginian called "We've Lost A Train", which was broadcast in April 1965. It was released theatrically in 1969 under the title Backtrack.
Reese's horse Cactus is mentioned in several episodes. Chad's horse called "Amigo" was actually Peter Brown's personal horse.
Among the Laredo guest stars was character actor Robert F. Simon (1908-1992), who appeared as Senator John Sparks in the episode "A Matter of Policy" (1965) and as Mr. Tinker in "The Other Cheek" (1967). Walter Coy appeared as Morrell in the 1967 episode "Like One of the Family". Gregg Palmer guest starred in the 1965 episode "The Golden Trail" and as Sergeant Mason in the 1966 segment, "The Dance of the Laughing Death". I. Stanford Jolley appeared twice, as Jarvis in "A Matter of Policy" (1965) and as Old Man in "Finnegan" (1966). Diane Roter, who played Jennifer Sommers in the parent series The Virginian, guest starred on Laredo as Lohray in "The Dance of the Laughing Death" (1966). At fourteen, Kurt Russell guest starred as an Indian, Grey Smoke, in "Meanwhile Back at the Reservation" (1966).
Three of the episodes from the first season of the series were edited into the feature film Three Guns for Texas.
[edit] Cast
- Neville Brand...Reese Bennett
- Peter Brown...Chad Cooper
- William Smith...Joe Riley
- Philip Carey...Captain Edward Parmalee
- Robert Wolders...Erik Hunter, rookie Ranger (26 episodes, 1966-1967)
- Claude Akins...Cotton Buckmeister (5 episodes, 1966-1967)
[edit] DVD releases
Timeless Media Group released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 on November 24, 2009. The 12-disc box set features all 56 episodes of the series as well as bonus features.[1]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Laredo at the Internet Movie Database
- Laredo at TV.com
