''Sugarfoot'' is an American Western television series that aired for 69 episodes on ABC from 1957-1961 on Tuesday nights on a "shared" slot basis – rotating with ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

'' (first season); ''Cheyenne'' and '' Bronco'' (both second and fourth seasons); and ''Bronco'' (third season). The

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

production stars Will Hutchins as Tom Brewster, an Easterner who comes to the

Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as ...

to become a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

. Brewster was a correspondence-school student whose apparent lack of

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

skills earned him the nickname "Sugarfoot", a designation even below that of a tenderfoot. ''Sugarfoot'' was the first comedy western TV series, debuting five days before '' Maverick''. Hutchins was the only regular on the show. In four episodes, Hutchins also plays the dual role of Abram Thomas, "the Canary Kid", leader of an outlaw gang who is a dead ringer for Brewster. In each of these episodes, Brewster is joined in the fight against the Canary Kid's plans by Christopher Colt—i.e., Wayde Preston crossing over from his role in the simultaneously produced WB series '' Colt .45''. Towards the end of the run, Jack Elam was cast in two of the final five episodes as Brewster's occasional sidekick Toothy Thompson, but the series was cancelled shortly thereafter.

Background

''Sugarfoot'' had no relation to the 1951

Randolph Scott George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American film actor, whose Hollywood career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in dramas, come ...

Western film '' Sugarfoot'' aside from the studio owning the title (and the theme music), but its pilot episode was a remake of a 1954 Western film called '' The Boy from Oklahoma'' starring Will Rogers Jr. as Tom Brewster. The pilot and premiere episode, "Brannigan's Boots", was so similar to ''The Boy from Oklahoma'' that

Sheb Wooley Shelby Fredrick Wooley (April 10, 1921 – September 16, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He recorded a series of novelty songs, including the 1958 hit rock-and-roll comedy single "The Purple People Eater", and under the name ...

and

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 took up acting, and appeared in dozens of movies and TV sho ...

reprised their roles from the film. As played by Rogers in the film, Brewster carried no gun, disliked firearms in general, and vanquished villains with his roping skills (''à la''

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

) if friendly persuasion failed. Perhaps for practical reasons, the pilot altered the character slightly and made Brewster more like the typical Western hero—reluctant to use guns (or any other kind of violence), but able and willing to do so if necessary. That remained his stance throughout the series, and the title song mentions that Sugarfoot carries a rifle and a law book. Whenever he enters a saloon, Sugarfoot refuses liquor and orders sarsaparilla "with a dash of cherry". (Sarsaparilla is a drink similar to root beer, both of which are not alcohol-based.) ''Sugarfoot'' was one of the earliest products of the alliance between ABC and the fledgling Warner Bros. Television Department, chaired by William T. Orr. During the same period, other similar programs appeared, including '' Maverick'', ''

'', '' Bronco'', '' Lawman'', and '' Colt .45''. Hutchins appeared as Sugarfoot in crossover episodes of ''Cheyenne'' and ''Maverick'', and in an installment of ''Bronco'' called "The Yankee Tornado" with Peter Breck as a young

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

. Jack Kelly appeared as Bart Maverick in the ''Sugarfoot'' episode "A Price on His Head". James Garner made an appearance as Bret Maverick at the end of the episode "Misfire".

Cast

Cast of "Brannigan's Boots"

* Will Hutchins as Tom "Sugarfoot" Brewster *

Merry Anders Merry Anders (born Mary Helen Anderson; May 22, 1934 – October 28, 2012) was an American actress who appeared in a number of television programs and films from the 1950s until her retirement from the screen in 1972. Early life Anders was born ...

as Katie Brannigan * Louis Jean Heydt as Paul Evans * Dennis Hopper as Billy the Kid * Arthur Hunnicutt as Pop Purty *

Chubby Johnson Charles Randolph "Chubby" Johnson (August 13, 1903 – October 31, 1974) was an American film and television supporting character actor with a genial demeanor and warm, country-accented voice. Early years Johnson was the son of entertaine ...

Postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

Wally Higgins *

as Shorty * Ainslie Pryor as Mayor Barney Turlock *

as Pete

Cast of ''The Boy from Oklahoma'' film (1954)

* Will Rogers Jr. as Sheriff Tom Brewster *

Nancy Olson Nancy Ann Olson (born July 14, 1928) is an American retired actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Sunset Boulevard (film), Sunset Boulevard'' (1950). She co-starred with William Holden in ...

as Katie Brannigan * Lon Chaney Jr. as Crazy Charlie * Anthony Caruso as Mayor Barney Turlock * Wallace Ford as Postmaster Wally Higgins * Clem Bevans as Pop Pruty, Justice of the Peace *

Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. From 1962 to 1986, G ...

as Steve * Louis Jean Heydt as Paul Evans *

as Pete Martin *

as Shorty * Tyler MacDuff as Billy the Kid * James Griffith as Joe Downey

Guest stars

Episodes

Season 1: 1957–1958

Season 2: 1958–1959

Season 3: 1959–1960

Season 4: 1960–1961

Background and production

After several episodes aired in the second season, a disappointed Hutchins complained in a letter to executive director William T. Orr that the scripts were written so that the lead character Sugarfoot was not particularly needed in many of the episodes. Sugarfoot Tommy Rettig Will Hutchins 1958

Sugarfoot Tommy Rettig Will Hutchins 1958

Wayde Preston, who played Christopher Colt on the ABC Western ''Colt .45'', appeared four times in that same role on ''Sugarfoot'' in the episodes dealing with "The Canary Kid," a role also played by Will Hutchins.

Reception

''Sugarfoot'' finished at #24 in the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

for the 1957-1958 season and #21 for 1958-1959.

Release

Home media

has released all four seasons on MOD (manufacture on demand) DVD-R's in Region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection.

In popular culture

* In an episode of ''

Arrested Development ''Arrested Development'' is an American satire, satirical television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz. It follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family and is presented in a Serial (radio and television), serialized format, inco ...

'' titled " Spring Breakout", ''Sugarfoot'' is mentioned and the theme song is presented. * The series debuted in 1958 in the United Kingdom but only in the Midlands area. In 1960, it was aired nationally in the UK by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

,Radio Times, week commencing September 4, 1960. at which point it was renamed ''Tenderfoot'' despite the fact that it kept the theme song which refers to the character as "Sugarfoot". After 1964, the series returned to ITV, this time not just restricted to the Midlands, where it was once again billed under its original name.

References

External links

*
Roy Huggins' Archive of American Television Interview
{{William T. Orr shows 1957 American television series debuts 1961 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company television dramas Black-and-white American television shows American English-language television shows Live action television shows based on films Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios 1950s Western (genre) television series 1960s Western (genre) television series Television series about lawyers Television shows set in Oklahoma Western (genre) heroes and heroines