I’ve found a few channels on my streaming service that show old Western TV shows like Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Virginian, The Rifleman, etc. I’ve been watching those lately because they put me in the mood to write Western stories. The good guys always win and the bad guys are usually punished somehow. Of course, in my stories, the lads would be considered “bad guys” by most of the average citizens, but the principle is the same.
Here are some of those old Western TV shows you might try to look up on your streaming service or YouTube:
- Gunsmoke (1955-1975): the tales of Marshall Matt Dillon and the rough and tumble town of Dodge City was the longest running prime-time drama of all time, until surpassed by Law & Order: SVU in 2019.
- The Big Valley (1965-1969): Barbara Stanwyck played the matriarch of the Barkley family, wealthy land-owners.
- Bonanza (1959-1973): another long-running show, with a single father of three sons trying to run his ranch and keep order on the range.
- The High Chaparral (1967-1971): an American man marries a Mexican woman and their blended family fights for the right and to keep the ranch running on the frontier.
- The Lone Ranger (1949-1957): a mysterious masked man and his Indian companion battle crime in the Old West.
- The Virginian (1962-1971): adventures on a cattle ranch, with the title character as their foreman.
- The Rifleman (1958-1963): Chuck Connors as the title character, a single man raising his son on the frontier.
- The Wild, Wild West (1965-1969): almost science-fiction; the adventures of a pair of Secret Service agents who investigate crimes.
- Alias Smith & Jones (1971-1973): a pair of outlaws attempts to go straight.
- Rawhide (1959-1966): a never-ending cattle drive.
- Wagon Train (1957-1965): a never-ending wagon train.