''Tombstone Territory'' is an American Western television series starring Pat Conway and Richard Eastham. The first two seasons aired on ABC from 1957 to 1959. The first season was sponsored by Bristol-Myers (consumer products) and the second season by Lipton (tea/soup) and Philip Morris (Marlboro cigarettes). The third and final season aired in syndication from 1959 until 1960. The program was produced by Ziv Television.
Overview
This program took place in the boomtown of Tombstone, Arizona Territory, one of the Old West's most notorious towns and the site of the shootout known as the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Located south of Tucson, Tombstone was then known by the sobriquet "the town too tough to die". The program's theme song, "Whistle Me Up a Memory", was written by William M. Backer and performed by Jimmy Blaine.
The series did not deal with real characters in the history of Tombstone in the 1880s, such as Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, or the Clanton gang, with the exception of Curly Bill Brocius, who appeared in the first season. It was about fictional characters in the American Southwest. The first episode opens, according to the narrator, on August 4, 1881. Conway played Sheriff Clay Hollister. Eastham, the only other actor besides Conway to appear in all the episodes, played Harris Claibourne, editor of '' The Tombstone Epitaph'' (an actual
newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
that still exists in limited form). Eastham, originally a singer in opera and on Broadway, also narrated the series in a deep
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
voice,Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', New York: Penguin Books, 1996, 4th ed., p. 849, describing each episode as an actual report from the newspaper's archives.
Gerald Mohr played Doc Holliday in the first-season ''Tombstone Territory'' episode titled "Doc Holliday in Durango", initially broadcast in 1958. The previous year, Mohr had portrayed Holliday in an episode of '' Maverick'' titled " The Quick and the Dead" starring James Garner and Marie Windsor. Mohr's version of Holliday was identical in both series.
The ending credits indicate, "This series is produced with the full cooperation of Clayton A. Smith, editor of the ''TOMBSTONE EPITAPH'' and D'Estell Iszard, historian".
The program was a notable early example of a television network imitating itself. At the time it was airing ''Tombstone Territory'', whose main character resembled Wyatt Earp in everything but name, ABC also was broadcasting ''
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' is the first Western television series written for adults.Pat Conway as Sheriff Clay Hollister
* Richard Eastham as Harris Clayton Claibourne, editor
* Gilman Rankin starred as Deputy Charlie Riggs in eight episodes, only appearing in the first season.
Geronimo
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On April 2, 2013, Timeless Media Group released season 1 on DVD in Region 1.
As of late 2014, The Complete Series of all 91 episodes has been released on DVD.
Syndication
Reruns aired on FETV from 2021 to 2022, and as of 2022, the show is aired daily on Grit as a part of its daytime schedule.
Merchandising
The TV show was also adapted into a comic book by Dan Spiegle, distributed by
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...