''The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok'' is an American Western television series that ran for eight seasons from April 15, 1951, through September 24, 1958. The

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American film production company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. ''Screen Gems'' has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the de ...

series began in syndication, but ran on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

from June 5, 1955, through 1958, and, at the same time, on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

from 1957 through 1958. The

Kellogg's Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets con ...

cereal company was the show's national sponsor. The series was also exported to Australia during the late 1950s.

Synopsis

''The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok'' starred

Guy Madison Guy Madison (born Robert Ozell Moseley; January 19, 1922 – February 6, 1996) was an American film, television, and radio actor. He is best known for having played Wild Bill Hickok in the Western television series ''The Adventures of Wild Bill ...

as the legendary

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

lawman (in real life, also a

gunfighter Gunfighters, also called gunslingers () or in the late 19th and early 20th century gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in shootouts. Today, the term "gunslin ...

)

United States Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the United States federal judi ...

James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, and

Andy Devine Andrew Vabre Devine (October 7, 1905 – February 18, 1977) was an American character actor known for his distinctive raspy, crackly voice and roles in American frontier, Western films, including his role as Cookie, the sidekick of Roy Rogers ...

as his comedy sidekick, Jingles P. Jones. The series was set in the 1870s, with Hickok and Jones based at Fort Larabee.

Production

The series was produced by William F. Broidy Productions. It consisted of 113 episodes, the last 13 of which were made in color. In 1957

bought the Broidy company's assets, which included 100 ''Hickok'' episodes on film. Tommy Carr was the director.

cereals sponsored it.

Episodes

Other media

Devine and Madison portrayed their roles on Mutual

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

from April 1, 1951, to 1956. During the 1950s, several episodes of the television show were spliced together and released as 16 feature films by Allied Artists.

Guest stars

Mike Ragan Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

appeared in three episodes, as Gus in "The Tax Collecting Story", as Collier in "Mexican Rustlers Story" (both 1951), and Malone in "The Doctor's Story" (1953). *

Carole Mathews Carole Mathews (born Jean Deifel, also credited as Jeanne Francis; September 13, 1920 – November 6, 2014) was an American film and television actress. Early years Born in Montgomery, Illinois, near Chicago, Mathews lived with her grandmoth ...

appeared twice, first as Miss Jennings in "The Slocum Family" (1951) and then as Anne Hardy in "Blacksmith Story" (1952). *

Ewing Mitchell Ewing Young Mitchell (December 29, 1910 – September 3, 1988) was an American character actor of film and television best known for his role as Sheriff Mitch Hargrove in 26 episodes between 1956 and 1959 of the aviation adventure series with ...

, as Mr. Harker in "Chain of Events" (1953) *

Gloria Saunders Gloria Ella Saunders (September 29, 1927 – June 4, 1980 ) was an American actress of film and television, primarily from the late 1940s to 1960. Career Saunders acting career began on stage. She was discovered when she performed in a produ ...

, as Sally Jones in "Boulder City Election" (1951) *

William Tannen William Tannen (November 17, 1911 – December 2, 1976) was an American actor originally from New York City. Tannen was the son of actor Julius Tannen. William Tannen became active in drama — both acting and writing — while a student at ...

, as Rand in "The Doctor's Story" (1953) and as Tom Maples in "The Maverick" (1954)

Award nominations

References

External links

*
''The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok''
at CVTA

Collection of Stephen Lodge. {{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, The 1951 American television series debuts 1958 American television series endings 1950s Western (genre) television series Television series set in the 1870s CBS original programming American Broadcasting Company original programming Cultural depictions of Wild Bill Hickok First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Black-and-white American television shows Television series by Screen Gems Television series by Sony Pictures Television