''Best of the West'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

that aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from September 1981 through August 1982.

Synopsis

The

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

spoof featured the misadventures of Sam Best (

Joel Higgins Joel Franklin Higgins (born September 28, 1943) is an American actor and singer with a stage career spanning over 40 years. Life and career A graduate of Michigan State University where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternit ...

), a

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

veteran who becomes a marshal in Copper Creek after accidentally scaring off an incompetent gunfighter called the Calico Kid (

Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...

). Sam's family was made up of his Southern-belle wife Elvira ( Carlene Watkins) and his smart-mouthed son Daniel ( Meeno Peluce). The cast also included

Leonard Frey Leonard Frey (September 4, 1938 – August 24, 1988) was an American actor. Frey received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1971 musical film ''Fiddler on the Roof''. He made his stage debut in an Of ...

as villain Parker Tillman,

Tom Ewell Tom Ewell (born Samuel Yewell Tompkins, April 29, 1909 – September 12, 1994) was an American film, stage and television actor, and producer. His most successful and most identifiable role was that of Richard Sherman in ''The Seven Year Itch'' ...

as drunken town doctor Jerome Kullens, and

Tracey Walter Tracey Walter (born November 25, 1947) is an American character actor. He has appeared in more than 170 films and television series. Life and career Walter was born and grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the son of a truck driver. He has a ...

as Tillman's clueless but kind-hearted henchman, Frog Rothchild, Jr.

Cast

as Sam Best * Carlene Watkins as Elvira Best *

as Frog Rothchild, Jr. * Meeno Peluce as Daniel Best *

as Jerome Kullens *

as Parker Tillman

Episodes

Cancellation

The series got off to a rough start, due to the pilot episode's pre-emption on the West Coast due to a special

Thursday Thursday is the day of the week between Wednesday and Friday. According to the ISO 8601 international standard, it is the fourth day of the week. In countries which adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is the fifth day of the week. Name ''Se ...

airing of a Pittsburgh Steelers-

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

game running long. In the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...

, the pilot served as the lead-in to the aforementioned game and was not affected by the NFL, though in any event the game would have aired in its entirety in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

(via

WTAE-TV WTAE-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by Hearst Television since the station's inception, making this one of two stations that have been built and signed o ...

) and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

(via

WPLG WPLG (channel 10) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States, affiliated with ABC. The station is owned by Berkshire Hathaway as its sole broadcast property. WPLG's studios are located on West Hallandale Beach Boulevard in Pembrok ...

) due to the NFL's broadcasting contracts as a result of the 1968

Heidi Game The ''Heidi'' Game or ''Heidi'' Bowl is the name given to a 1968 American Football League (AFL) game between the Oakland Raiders and the visiting New York Jets. The contest, held on November 17, 1968, was notable for its exciting finish, in whi ...

. While western markets would not be affected by the NFL broadcasting rules and could have cut early from the game (a 30-10 Dolphins victory that was decided early), most ABC affiliates opted to still air the game in its entirety and pre-empt the series anyways in favor of their local news starting early. This mishap caused for the pilot episode of the series to flop, and ratings never recovered. ABC delayed in renewing the series for a second season. Rather than wait for a renewal, Joel Higgins signed on to star in the new series ''

Silver Spoons ''Silver Spoons'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 25, 1982, to May 11, 1986, and in first-run syndication from September 27, 1986, to May 30, 1987. The series was produced by Embassy Television for the f ...

'' on NBC. At that point, ABC announced that it had decided to renew but was cancelling due to the star's departure.

Noted guest stars

In its short run, the show managed to feature an array of guest stars. The list of noted actors and actresses who appeared include: *

Dixie Carter Dixie Virginia Carter (May 25, 1939 – April 10, 2010) was an American actress. She starred as Julia Sugarbaker on the sitcom ''Designing Women'' (1986–1993) and as Randi King on the drama series ''Family Law'' (1999–2002). She was nomin ...

in Episode #19 – "The Pretty Prisoner" *

Andy Griffith Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his character ...

in Episode #5 – "The Reunion" * Al Lewis in Episodes #6 and #7 – "They're Hanging Parker Tillman, Parts 1 and 2" *

in Episode #1 – "Pilot," Episode #4 – "The Calico Kid Returns," and Episode #15 – "The Calico Kid Goes to School" *

Richard Moll Charles Richard Moll (born January 13, 1943) is an American actor. He played the role of Aristotle Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon, a bailiff on the NBC sitcom '' Night Court'' from 1984 to 1992. He has also done extensive work as a voice actor, typica ...

in Episode #2 – "The Prisoner" *

Slim Pickens Louis Burton Lindley Jr. (June 29, 1919 – December 8, 1983), better known by his stage name Slim Pickens, was an American actor and rodeo performer. Starting off in the rodeo, Pickens transitioned to acting and appeared in dozens of movies and ...

in Episode #2 – "The Prisoner" * John Randolph in Episode #11 – "The Railroad" *

Betty White Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922December 31, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of Golden Age of Television, early television, with a television career spanning almost seven decades, White was noted for her vast work i ...

in Episode #3 – "Mail Order Bride"

DVD release

On October 3, 2017, the Complete Series was released on manufactured-on-demand DVD by

CBS DVD CBS Home Entertainment (formerly CBS Video Enterprises, Inc., MGM/CBS Home Video, CBS/Fox Video and CBS Video, currently branded as CBS DVD for DVD releases and CBS Blu-ray for Blu-ray releases) is a home entertainment company owned by Paramoun ...

(distributed by

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Best Of The West 1980s American sitcoms 1981 American television series debuts 1982 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming Television series by CBS Studios Television shows set in Montana English-language television shows 1980s Western (genre) television series