Tombstone Territory
| Tombstone Territory | |
|---|---|
 Pat Conway as Clay Hollister, 1958. | |
| Genre | Western |
| Starring | Pat Conway Richard Eastham |
| Narrated by | Richard Eastham |
| Theme music composer | William M. Backer |
| Opening theme | "Whistle Me Up a Memory" performed by William M. Backer |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 91 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Frederick W. Ziv |
| Producers | Frank Pittman Andy White |
| Cinematography | Monroe P. Askins Curt Fetters Robert Hoffman |
| Editors | W. Duncan Mansfield Joseph Silver |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | Ziv Television Programs |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC (1957-1959) Syndication (1959-1960) |
| Release | October 16, 1957 – July 8, 1960 |
Tombstone Territory is an American Western series starring Pat Conway and Richard Eastham. The series' first two seasons aired on ABC from 1957 to 1959. The first season was sponsored by Bristol-Myers (Consumer Products) and the second season by Lipton (Tea/Soup) and Philip Morris (Marlboro Cigarettes). The third and final season aired in syndication from 1959 until 1960. The program was produced by Ziv Television, the company responsible for other 1950s hit TV series such as first-run syndicated Sea Hunt and Highway Patrol and NBC's Bat Masterson .
Series background
This program took place in the boom town of Tombstone, Arizona Territory, one of the Old West's most notorious towns and the site of the shootout known as the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Located south of Tucson, Tombstone was then known by the sobriquet "the town too tough to die." The program's theme song, "Whistle Me Up a Memory", was written and performed by a New York City advertising writer, William M. Backer.[1]
The series did not deal with real characters in the history of Tombstone in the 1880s, such as Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, or the Clanton Gang. It was about fictional characters in the American Southwest. Conway played Sheriff Clay Hollister. Eastham, the only other actor besides Conway to appear in all the episodes, played Harris Claibourne, editor of The Tombstone Epitaph (an actual newspaper that still exists in limited form). Eastham also narrated the series in a deep baritone voice,[2] describing each episode as an actual report from the newspaper's archives.
The Ziv TV series aired on Wednesdays on ABC in the 1957-1958 season opposite Robert Young's sitcom Father Knows Best, then broadcast on NBC. It was returned to the ABC schedule for twelve new episodes on March 13, 1959, followed by summer rebroadcasts. It replaced the first season of Charles Bronson's Man with a Camera on Friday evenings at the 9 Eastern time slot, preceding the popular detective series 77 Sunset Strip. After the network run, Tombstone Territory was placed in syndication and ran mostly outside prime time in selected markets until it ceased production. Conway and Eastham appeared in all ninety-three episodes.[2]
Cast
- Pat Conway as Sheriff Clay Hollister
- Richard Eastham as Harris Clayton Claibourne, Editor
Recurring
- Robert Foulk appeared in 1957 and 1958 as Curly Bill Brocius in three episodes, "Gunslinger from Galeville", "Ride Out at Noon" and "Skeleton Canyon Massacre".[3]
- Quintin Sondergaard was cast as Quint in eleven episodes of the two later seasons
- Gilman Rankin starred as Deputy Charlie Riggs in seven episodes
- Dennis Moore appeared as "Deputy" in five segments
- Robert J. Wilke, John Doucette, and Warren Oates all appeared three times, respectively, as Burt Foster, Apache Chief Geronimo, and Bob Pickett, as well as occasional other roles.
Guest stars
DVD release
On April 2, 2013, Timeless Media Group released season 1 on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time.[4]
As of late 2014,The complete series of all 91 episodes has been released on DVD.[5]
In 2016, reruns of the show are aired daily on GETTV as a part of its daytime schedule.
References
- ^ "TV Westerns: Tombstone Territory". fiftiesweb.com. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
- ^ a b Alex McNeil, Total Television, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, 4th ed., p. 849, ISBN 0-14-024916-8
- ^ "Robert Foulk". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
- ^ Tombstone Territory - Timeless Release of 'Season 1' is Scheduled for DVD
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/Tombstone-Territory-Complete-Episodes-Seasons/dp/B00HX8CJ5Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1416151681&sr=1-1&keywords=tombstone+territory&pebp=1416151691225
External links
- 1957 American television series debuts
- 1960 American television series endings
- 1950s American television series
- 1960s American television series
- American Broadcasting Company network shows
- Black-and-white television programs
- English-language television programming
- First-run syndicated television programs in the United States
- Television series by MGM Television
- Television shows set in Tombstone, Arizona
- Western (genre) television series