Johnny Ringo (TV series)

Johnny Ringo
Mark Goddard as Cully, Don Durant as Johnny Ringo and Karen Sharpe as Laura Thomas (1959)
Genre	Western
Created by	Aaron Spelling
Written by	Aaron Spelling
Directed by	Dick Moder John English David Lowell Rich
Starring	Don Durant Mark Goddard Karen Sharpe Terence De Marney
Composers	Rudy Schrager Herschel Burke Gilbert
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	38 (list of episodes)
Production
Camera setup	Multi-camera Single-camera
Running time	25 mins.
Production company	Four Star Productions
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	October 1, 1959 (1959-10-01) – June 30, 1960 (1960-06-30)

Johnny Ringo is an American Western television series starring Don Durant that aired on CBS from October 1, 1959, until June 30, 1960. It is loosely based on the life of the notorious gunfighter and outlaw Johnny Ringo, also known as John Peters Ringo or John B. Ringgold, who tangled with Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Buckskin Franklyn Leslie.

Synopsis

This fictional account has Ringo putting aside his gunfighting ways to become the 27-year-old sheriff of fictitious Velardi in the Arizona Territory. Ringo has two deputies: William Charles Jr., or Cully, played by Mark Goddard and Case Thomas, portrayed by Terence De Marney, who is also a storekeeper and formerly the town drunk. Case is killed in a robbery in the episode "Border Town", which aired on March 17, 1960. Case's daughter, Laura Thomas, played by Karen Sharpe, is Ringo's girlfriend in the series. Michael Hinn appeared in nine episodes as George Haig.

In the episode entitled "The Posse", Richard Devon plays Jessie Mead, a former Ringo friend who storms into town asking that he be jailed for protection from a pursuing posse, which Mead claims is really a lynch mob. Mead breaks a storefront glass to compel Ringo to arrest him. Actually, Mead has conspired with three others to rob the bank while the townspeople are diverted from their regular activities to pressure Ringo into turning Mead over to "the posse", the members of which are the other criminals. Ringo urges caution, but the irate townspeople want to take the matter into their own hands.

Cast

Main cast

• Don Durant as Johnny Ringo
• Mark Goddard as Cully
• Karen Sharpe as Laura Thomas
• Terence De Marney as Case Thomas

Guest cast

Charles Aidman, John Anderson, Raymond Bailey, Whit Bissell, Willis Bouchey, Lane Bradford, Dyan Cannon, John Carradine (as the lead in the episode "The Rain Man"), Conlan Carter, Lon Chaney Jr., James Coburn, Tim Considine, Ben Cooper, Robert Culp (as Clay Horne in the series finale, "Cave-In")

Royal Dano (as Lucas Frome in "Black Harvest"), Carter DeHaven and his daughter Gloria DeHaven, Don Dubbins, Buddy Ebsen, Gene Evans, Jay C. Flippen, Mona Freeman, Dabbs Greer, Alan Hale Jr., Connie Hines, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., Arch Johnson, L. Q. Jones, Brett King, Wright King, John Larch, Martin Landau, Mort Mills, Gerald Mohr, Vic Morrow, Ed Nelson, Warren Oates, Debra Paget (as Agnes St. John, an author who witnesses a brutal stagecoach robbery in "East Is East")

William Phipps, John M. Pickard, Burt Reynolds (as Tad Stuart in "The Stranger"), Paul Richards, Wayne Rogers, Richard Rust, Walter Sande, William Schallert, Robert F. Simon, Olan Soule, Arthur Space, Harry Dean Stanton, Stella Stevens, Karl Swenson, Harry Townes, Lurene Tuttle, and Peter Whitney.

Production

Development

The program was an early creation of Aaron Spelling for Four Star Television. Spelling created Johnny Ringo at the specific request of Dick Powell as a role for Durant. It was filmed at CBS Studio Center. The pilot episode was shot as part of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, titled "Man Alone" and featured Thomas Mitchell as Case Thomas. A second pilot was shot with Terence de Marney in the role.

Gimmick guns genre

Johnny Ringo appeared at a time in the history of the television Western when creators strove to make characters interesting by equipping them with "gimmick guns", the three most famous having been Josh Randall's "mare's laig" used by Steve McQueen in CBS's Wanted: Dead or Alive, Lucas McCain's trick rifle from ABC's The Rifleman, and the shotgun with the upper and lower barrel, intended to enforce accuracy both up close and at a distance, used by Scott Brady in Shotgun Slade.

The gimmick gun introduced in the second pilot was a custom-built revolver called the LeMat, based on its historically authentic counterpart. The LeMat featured an auxiliary shotgun barrel under its primary barrel. Many episodes found Ringo getting into scrapes where that final round in the shotgun barrel was the deciding factor. Aesthetically, Ringo's LeMat most resembles the historical percussion model LeMat but features a top break cartridge-fed design.

Syndication as The Westerners

For syndicated reruns, the show was combined with three other Western series from the same company, Black Saddle starring Peter Breck, Law of the Plainsman starring Michael Ansara, and Sam Peckinpah's critically acclaimed creation, The Westerner starring Brian Keith, under the umbrella title The Westerners, with additional hosting segments featuring Keenan Wynn

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"The Arrival"	Howard W. Koch	Aaron Spelling	October 1, 1959 (1959-10-01)
2	"Cully"	Howard W. Koch	Stephen Lord	October 8, 1959 (1959-10-08)
3	"The Accused"	Lamont Johnson	Frederick Louis Fox	October 15, 1959 (1959-10-15)
4	"A Killing for Cully"	Howard W. Koch	David Chandler	October 22, 1959 (1959-10-22)
5	"The Hunters"	Howard W. Koch	Barney Slater	October 29, 1959 (1959-10-29)
6	"The Posse"	John English	Robert Sherman	November 5, 1959 (1959-11-05)
7	"Ghost Coach"	John English	Richard Levinson & William Link	November 12, 1959 (1959-11-12)
8	"Dead Wait"	William D. Faralla	John Falvo	November 19, 1959 (1959-11-19)
9	"The Rain Man"	Dick Moder	Richard Levinson & William Link	November 26, 1959 (1959-11-26)
10	"The Cat"	Frank Baur	T : Stephen Lord; S/T : Richard Newman	December 3, 1959 (1959-12-03)
11	"Love Affair"	Don Taylor	Stephen Lord	December 17, 1959 (1959-12-17)
12	"Kid with a Gun"	Paul Henreid	T. E. Brooks	December 24, 1959 (1959-12-24)
13	"Bound Boy"	Tom Gries	Tom Gries	December 31, 1959 (1959-12-31)
14	"East Is East"	Laurence Stewart	Wilton Schiller	January 7, 1960 (1960-01-07)
15	"The Poster Incident"	Dick Moder	P. K. Palmer	January 14, 1960 (1960-01-14)
16	"Die Twice"	Dick Moder	Frederick Louis Fox	January 20, 1960 (1960-01-20)
17	"Four Came Quietly"	R. G. Springsteen	Frederick Louis Fox	January 28, 1960 (1960-01-28)
18	"The Liars"	Laurence Stewart	Barney Slater	February 4, 1960 (1960-02-04)
19	"Mrs. Ringo"	Laurence Stewart	T : Stephen Lord; S/T : Peggy Witt	February 11, 1960 (1960-02-11)
20	"The Assassins"	David Lowell Rich	Teddi Sherman	February 18, 1960 (1960-02-18)
21	"The Reno Brothers"	Dick Moder	S : Stephen Lord & Aaron Spelling; T : John Falvo	February 25, 1960 (1960-02-25)
22	"The Raffertys"	Paul Henreid	S : Martin Berkeley; T : David Chandler	March 3, 1960 (1960-03-03)
Marshal Adam Polk is played by Thomas B. Henry
23	"Uncertain Vengeance"	Laurence Stewart	John Falvo & Dan Spelling	March 10, 1960 (1960-03-10)
24	"Border Town"	Don Taylor	Richard Levinson & William Link	March 17, 1960 (1960-03-17)
25	"The Gunslinger"	Robert M. Leeds	Stephen Lord	March 24, 1960 (1960-03-24)
26	"The Vindicator"	William D. Faralla	John Marsh	March 31, 1960 (1960-03-31)
27	"Black Harvest"	Dick Moder	John Falvo	April 7, 1960 (1960-04-07)
28	"Judgement Day"	Dick Moder	Frederick Louis Fox	April 14, 1960 (1960-04-14)
29	"The Killing Bug"	Tom Gries	Tom Gries	April 28, 1960 (1960-04-28)
30	"Soft Cargo"	Dick Moder	Barney Slater	May 5, 1960 (1960-05-05)
31	"Single Debt"	Arthur Hilton	Tony Habeeb	May 12, 1960 (1960-05-12)
32	"The Stranger"	Dick Moder	James Hurley	May 19, 1960 (1960-05-19)
33	"The Derelict"	David Lowell Rich	John Marsh	May 26, 1960 (1960-05-26)
34	"Shoot the Moon"	Dick Moder	Charles A. Wallace	June 2, 1960 (1960-06-02)
35	"Killer, Choose a Card"	Don Taylor	Patricia Jenkins	June 9, 1960 (1960-06-09)
36	"Coffin Sam"	Dick Moder	Dan Spelling	June 16, 1960 (1960-06-16)
37	"Lobo Lawman"	Dick Moder	Charles A. Wallace	June 23, 1960 (1960-06-23)
38	"Cave-In"	William D. Faralla	John Marsh	June 30, 1960 (1960-06-30)

Reception

Johnny Ringo scored good ratings, but was dropped at the request of a sponsor, Johnson Wax Company. After the cancellation of Johnny Ringo, Mark Goddard went on to co-star as Det. Sgt. Chris Ballard in still another Four Star Productions TV series, The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor on ABC, replacing Lee Farr. He later went on to the CBS-TV series, Lost in Space.

References

• McNeil, Alex. Total Television (1996). New York: Penguin Books ISBN 0-14-024916-8
• Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (1999). New York: Ballantine Books ISBN 0-345-42923-0

External links

• Johnny Ringo at IMDb
• Golden Wheel Saloon -- showcasing Mark Goddard/Johnny Ringo.
• Johnny Ringo Fan/Tribute site Archived 2009-03-25 at the Wayback Machine