Created by Herb Meadow Perhaps the only genre more popular than private eyes in television's early years was the western, so it didn't long before someone came up with the idea of combining the two. By far the most successful attempt (and one of the first) was Have Gun, Will Travel, which made it debut … Continue reading Sam Logan (The Man from Blackhawk)
Tag: Western
Old Red & Big Red Amlingmeyer
Created by Steve Hockensmith “So how is it,” I hear you ask, “that a couple no-account saddle bums like you and your brother came to be so fired-up excited about detectifying like a proper English gentleman detective?” To which I say, “Who’s a no-account saddle bum?” -- Otto puts a little spit in the pan. … Continue reading Old Red & Big Red Amlingmeyer
Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch
Created by Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) It could be argued -- and given a beer or two, I would -- that town-taming gunslingers VIRGIL COLE and EVERETT HITCH are private eyes in deed, if not in name. Roaming the old West in the last part of the nineteenth century, essentially serving as lawmen-for-hire, there are at least … Continue reading Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch
Wyatt Earp
As written by Patrick Culhane (pseud. of Max Allan Collins), Robert B. Parker, Loren D. Estleman & Charles Knief Brave, courageous and bold... and a P.I.? WYATT EARP, of course, was a real person, a legendary lawman in the Old West. Dime novels, movies, TV and radio -- we're all more than familiar with the "story." … Continue reading Wyatt Earp
Caleb York
Created by Max Allan Collins & Mickey Spillane Max Allan Collins picks up the reins on a story idea by his old pal Mickey, and lets fly on a rootin,' tootin' honest-to-God western series revolving around former Wells Fargo detective CALEB YORK, who wanders the South West, a gun-for-hire tracking down assorted desperadoes and dispatching … Continue reading Caleb York
Jim Hardie (Tales of Wells Fargo)
Created by James Brooks, Frank Gruber and Gene Reynolds JIM HARDIE was the tall, good-looking hombre who starred in (and narrated) Tales of Wells Fargo (1957-62, NBC), arguably the second-most successful hybrid of the private eye and western genres in the early days of American television. Have Gun, Will Travel also lasted an impressive six seasons, while Shotgun Slade … Continue reading Jim Hardie (Tales of Wells Fargo)
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Cowboy Eyes The case of the cowboy as P.I. isn't that far-fetched, actually. Scratch a steely-eyed two-fisted righter of wrongs, and the Continental Op peeks out... Heck, my earliest heroes were all cowboys. I had my plastic six guns, a red felt cowboy hat and a chip on my shoulder, and anyone who asked my … Continue reading My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Shotgun Slade
Created by Frank Gruber (1904-69) The two hottest genres in the early days of television drama were the Western and the private eye drama, and within a few years, four different shows attempted to combine the two. But unlike Have Gun Will Travel, The Man from Blackhawk or Tales from Wells Fargo, TV's SHOTGUN SLADE was perhaps … Continue reading Shotgun Slade
John Quincannon & Sabina Carpenter
John Quincannon Created by Bill Pronzini Pseudonyms include Jack Foxx, Alex Saxon, Brett Halliday, William Jeffrey, Romer Zane Grey, and Robert Hart Davis (1943 --) Sabina Carpenter Created by Marcia Muller From Bill Pronzini, creator of The Nameless Detective, comes Old West former Secret Service agent JOHN QUINCANNON and his partner, former Pinkerton operative SABINA … Continue reading John Quincannon & Sabina Carpenter