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.
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 12 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 9:00 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 91 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 11 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, as Burt Foster, Apache Chief Geronimo, and Bob Pickett, respectively, as well as occasional other roles.
Guest stars
Episode list
Season 1 (1957–58)
| Nº | Ep | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Gunslinger from Galeville" | October 16, 1957 |
| 2 | 2 | "Reward for a Gunslinger" | October 23, 1957 |
| 3 | 3 | "Ride Out at Noon" | October 30, 1957 |
| 4 | 4 | "Revenge Town" | November 6, 1957 |
| 5 | 5 | "A Bullet for an Editor" | November 13, 1957 |
| 6 | 6 | "Killer Without a Conscience" | November 20, 1957 |
| 7 | 7 | "Guns of Silver" | November 27, 1957 |
| 8 | 8 | "Desert Survival" | December 4, 1957 |
| 9 | 9 | "Apache Vendetta" | December 11, 1957 |
| 10 | 10 | "Ambush at Gila Gulch" | December 18, 1957 |
| 11 | 11 | "Sermons and Six Guns" | December 25, 1957 |
| 12 | 12 | "The Youngest Gun" | January 1, 1958 |
| 13 | 13 | "Shoot Out at Dark" | January 8, 1958 |
| 14 | 14 | "The Rebels' Last Charge" | January 15, 1958 |
| 15 | 15 | "Gun Fever" | January 22, 1958 |
| 16 | 16 | "Mexican Bandito" | January 29, 1958 |
| 17 | 17 | "Tong War" | February 5, 1958 |
| 18 | 18 | "Postmarked for Death" | February 12, 1958 |
| 19 | 19 | "Johnny Ringo's Last Ride" | February 19, 1958 |
| 20 | 20 | "Outlaw's Bugle" | February 26, 1958 |
| 21 | 21 | "Geronimo" | March 5, 1958 |
| 22 | 22 | "The Return of the Outlaw" | March 12, 1958 |
| 23 | 23 | "Guilt of a Town" | March 19, 1958 |
| 24 | 24 | "Cave-In" | March 26, 1958 |
| 25 | 25 | "Skeleton Canyon Massacre" | April 2, 1958 |
| 26 | 26 | "Strange Vengeance" | April 9, 1958 |
| 27 | 27 | "The Tin Gunman" | April 16, 1958 |
| 28 | 28 | "The Outcasts" | April 23, 1958 |
| 29 | 29 | "Doc Holliday in Durango" | April 30, 1958 |
| 30 | 30 | "Triangle of Death" | May 7, 1958 |
| 31 | 31 | "Pick up the Gun" | May 14, 1958 |
| 32 | 32 | "The Assassin" | May 21, 1958 |
| 33 | 33 | "The Lady Gambler" | May 28, 1958 |
| 34 | 34 | "Fight for a Fugitive" | June 4, 1958 |
| 35 | 35 | "Legacy of Death" | June 11, 1958 |
| 36 | 36 | "The Gatling Gun" | August 27, 1958 |
| 37 | 37 | "The Black Marshal from Deadwood" | September 3, 1958 |
| 38 | 38 | "Thicker Than Water" | September 10, 1958 |
| 39 | 39 | "Rose of the Rio Bravo" | September 17, 1958 |
Season 2 (1959)
| Nº | Ep | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 1 | "Whipsaw" | March 13, 1959 |
| 41 | 2 | "Marked for Murder" | March 20, 1959 |
| 42 | 3 | "Payroll to Tombstone" | March 27, 1959 |
| 43 | 4 | "Day of the Amnesty" | April 3, 1959 |
| 44 | 5 | "Trail's End" | April 10, 1959 |
| 45 | 6 | "The Black Diamond" | April 17, 1959 |
| 46 | 7 | "The Man from Brewster" | April 24, 1959 |
| 47 | 8 | "Gun Hostage" | May 1, 1959 |
| 48 | 9 | "Warrant for Death" | May 8, 1959 |
| 49 | 10 | "Surrender at Sunglow" | May 15, 1959 |
| 50 | 11 | "Grave Near Tombstone" | May 22, 1959 |
| 51 | 12 | "Death Is to Write About" | May 29, 1959 |
Season 3 (1959–60)
| Nº | Ep | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 52 | 1 | "Red Terror of Tombstone" | October 9, 1959 |
| 53 | 2 | "The Gunfighter" | October 16, 1959 |
| 54 | 3 | "Stolen Loot" | October 23, 1959 |
| 55 | 4 | "The Writer" | October 30, 1959 |
| 56 | 5 | "Payroll Robbery" | November 6, 1959 |
| 57 | 6 | "The Horse Thief" | November 13, 1959 |
| 58 | 7 | "The Legend" | November 20, 1959 |
| 59 | 8 | "Premature Obituary" | November 27, 1959 |
| 60 | 9 | "Dangerous Romance" | December 4, 1959 |
| 61 | 10 | "Self-Defense" | December 11, 1959 |
| 62 | 11 | "The Marked Horseshoe" | December 18, 1959 |
| 63 | 12 | "The Noose That Broke" | December 25, 1959 |
| 64 | 13 | "Mine Disasters" | January 1, 1960 |
| 65 | 14 | "Eyewitness" | January 8, 1960 |
| 66 | 15 | "The Capture" | January 15, 1960 |
| 67 | 16 | "State's Witness" | January 22, 1960 |
| 68 | 17 | "The Target" | January 29, 1960 |
| 69 | 18 | "The Bride" | February 5, 1960 |
| 70 | 19 | "Female Killer" | February 12, 1960 |
| 71 | 20 | "The Lady Lawyer" | February 19, 1960 |
| 72 | 21 | "Silver Killers" | February 26, 1960 |
| 73 | 22 | "Holcomb Brothers" | March 4, 1960 |
| 74 | 23 | "Young Killer" | March 11, 1960 |
| 75 | 24 | "Coded Newspaper" | March 18, 1960 |
| 76 | 25 | "Memory" | March 25, 1960 |
| 77 | 26 | "Revenge" | April 1, 1960 |
| 78 | 27 | "The Hostage" | April 8, 1960 |
| 79 | 28 | "The Governor" | April 16, 1960 |
| 80 | 29 | "The Kidnapping" | April 22, 1960 |
| 81 | 30 | "Girl from Philadelphia" | April 29, 1960 |
| 82 | 31 | "The Fortune" | May 6, 1960 |
| 83 | 32 | "The Innocent Man" | May 13, 1960 |
| 84 | 33 | "The Siesta Killer" | May 20, 1960 |
| 85 | 34 | "The Return of Kansas Joe" | May 27, 1960 |
| 86 | 35 | "Betrayal" | June 3, 1960 |
| 87 | 36 | "The Treaty" | June 10, 1960 |
| 88 | 37 | "The Outlaw" | June 17, 1960 |
| 89 | 38 | "The Injury" | June 24, 1960 |
| 90 | 39 | "Crime Epidemic" | July 1, 1960 |
| 91 | 40 | "Juan Diega" | July 8, 1960 |
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.
Merchandising
The TV show was also adapted into a comic book by Dan Spiegle, distributed by Dell Comics. [6]
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 Archived 2013-01-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ https://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
- ^ https://www.lambiek.net/artists/s/spiegle_d.htm
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 programs
- First-run syndicated television programs in the United States
- Television series by MGM Television
- Television shows set in Tombstone, Arizona
- Western (genre) television series
- Television programs adapted into comics