-From the mid-1940s through the mid-'70s, television audiences enjoyed more than 100 different western series.

They reflected our attitudes and helped define us as a nation.

-All of the things that we think of as the American values are tied up in that John Wayne kind of persona.

-It's part of the American culture, part of the whole background of America, and it's very romantic.

-I don't know -- it's our heritage, it's...

The west was our frontier, and I just like westerns.

-I think the public loves westerns.

I think they still love westerns.

And I don't know why they don't put them back on TV, because I think there's a huge audience for them.

-Together, they created the most popular genre of TV's first decades.

They are the pioneers of television.

-The court in Virginia city doesn't own the ponderosa.

We do.

-They created the characters we loved to idolize.

-I never wanted to be an actor.

I got stuck in it and kind of liked what I was doing, had fun.

-It's my job to keep the peace here in town, and I'll do it.

But I'll do it my own way.

-Big Jim Arness, that man was as big as a tree.

I mean, he was huge.

-Now, you stay away from that girl, or I'll kill you.

I mean it, I'll kill you!

-She was a ground-breaking woman.

I mean, I think she never fit in any category.

She did pretty much anything that she wanted to do.

-Pa!

Oh, Pa, I'm so glad to see you!

-I think "Daniel Boone" was popular -- well, primarily because of Fess Parker, and I think he himself was a very popular person.

-He didn't try to be a star.

He just played his part up to the hilt.

-You're looking a lot better, just since you joined this train.

How you making out these days?

-Well, I'll be Frank with you, major, I'm making an effort, but it sure ain't easy.

-They re-created a world we longed to visit.

-Westerns, to me, make an awful lot of sense.

Because it's one of those kind of things that you can lose yourself in.

-It was escapism fare, it's everything right and good about TV.

It's like 143 women I kissed and 118 fights.

-Promise me you won't let papa talk you into marrying me.

-Anything to please a lady.

-I never met a woman I didn't like.

I mean, to go to work and kiss a woman?

Are you serious?

Hello!

-You mean to say you overpowered him single-handed and unarmed?

-Yep, and I'd hate to do it ever' day.

-By heaven, I'm going to have to change my opinion of your fighting ability, Daniel.

-It was a fun show, too.

There was a lot of humor in it, a lot of camaraderie.

-She lived for the moments we'd have -- "today's the burning building!

Today's the earthquake!"

-She was devastatingly good and really focused.

-You think he loved his son, even at the end?

-I think a father never stops loving his son, Mark.

-I couldn't have been happier.

There was nothing else I would have wanted to do more than what I was doing.

-Tell me something.

How can you and the Indian be friends?

-A lot of the stories that we did -- about slavery, about race relations -- I mean, it was really groundbreaking at the time.

-The one thread that runs through us is the western.

And it had its run, it's had its period, and we were there to celebrate it.

-Maybe it never really existed, even, but at least romantically and -- and in our imaginations, that existed.

The western existed.

Man: "The West," take 2.

Action.

-Decades before television, westerns were going strong, a staple of the movies.

When TV launched in the late 1940s, no one was quite sure if westerns would work on the small screen.

But after the first few shows hit the air, the answer was clear.

Audiences loved TV westerns.

The 1959 season alone saw more than 30 different westerns on the schedule.

As Hollywood ramped up production, every back lot was busy with cowboys and horses.

-On any given day, there might be half a dozen western companies shooting on that.

And you'd be getting ready for a shot and lining up or trying to rehearse or something, and here comes Dick Boone with a posse, riding through your shot, you know.

And there's my brother, Jim Arness, over there.

So those were great days.

A lot of work.

[ Chuckling ] -Over the decades, audiences have enjoyed more than 100 western TV series.

A few stand above the rest.

Central Oklahoma, in the 1930s dust bowl.

Perhaps the worst place in America to live, in the midst of the most severe depression ever.

For one young boy here, named Jimmy, the disaster cut even deeper.

In 1933, his mother died, when he was just 5 years old.

His stepmother beat him.

Yet out of this nightmare came one of America's most upbeat performers, the man who took the old west cowboy and added a smile.

His name was James Garner.

His signature character was Bret Maverick.

-Sheriff, it isn't often I can say this.

I feel like I'm leaving Sunny Acres a better place than I found it.

-Ha!

-I never wanted to be an actor.

I got stuck in it and kind of liked what I was doing, had fun.

-After moving to California in the 1950s, James Garner landed a series of small acting roles.

But nothing quite clicked for him until he was picked to play Bret Maverick.

This reluctant hero was something new to television, and perfectly suited to Jim Garner.

-It was very new to me.

It was all new to me.

I -- I didn't know what I was doing.

-Audiences found Garner's attitude so fresh and fun that "Maverick" quickly shot to the top of the ratings.

-If I did my homework, I could stay up and watch "Maverick," and it was like a big treat for me.

I just thought there was something about him that was just so special, and I just -- he was like my biggest hero on television.

-It wasn't just audiences that enjoyed James Garner's work.

-I think every woman who ever worked with him always felt that they had a special -- I know I felt -- "Oh, no, we had something special," you know?

-He was a real -- a real guy's guy, and so nice to work with.

I loved him.

Loved him.

-Perhaps what James Garner's costars loved most was his ability to listen to their performances and react -- a rare skill that was especially effective when Garner was teamed with a like-minded costar.

-It makes it easier, oh, my God, yes.

You know, I get somebody like that, I can just bounce off him.

You know, watch him act.

-James Garner became so popular so fast that he soon saw opportunities beyond "Maverick," and left the series in 1960.

But he wasn't done with westerns.

10 years later, he returned with his personal favorite, a TV series called "Nichols," and a string of popular western movies.

-Hey, Jake, how do you think we ought to split whatever we find?

60/40?

-60 for who and 40 for who?

-There, you see, see what gold does to men?

We haven't even found anything, and already we're arguing about it.

-60 for who and 40 for who?!

-I just wish you could see the greed in your face.

-What you mean is 60 for you and 40 for me!

-Well, thank you, Jake.

That's very generous of you.

-In his westerns, and later, on "The Rockford Files," James Garner played a character who was different from anything else on television.

Here was a good guy who avoided fights, who would rather leave town than face the bad guys.

But audiences loved "Maverick" -- because they loved James Garner.

-Good afternoon, Mr. Maverick.

-Good afternoon, Mr. Bates.

-You think you've got me worried with this little maneuver, sitting here, whittling and watching the bank?

-Well, I hadn't given it much thought.

Do i?

-I carry a gun, and I haven't had a real good fight since I got to be a banker.

-Now, how will a fight get me back my 15,000?

-It won't.

Got any other way in mind?

-I'm working on it.

-Maverick, you're a real clown.

-You can see what he's thinking.

He's one of those actors where, if he's thinking, "I want to get out of here," you can see that he wants to get out of here.

-Well, I'm just so pleased that people accepted my performances as they did -- with a smile, and enjoyed them and gave them a little giggle.

[ Glass shatters, man yells ] -If James Garner played the antihero, then who best fit the role of the classic good guy -- the brave, gun-toting, no-nonsense TV cowboy?

[ Firing ] -"The Rifleman"!

-"The Rifleman" series had an unusual pedigree...

Created by one of the most controversial figures in Hollywood, Sam Peckinpah.

Gun violence was a centerpiece of Sam Peckinpah's movies.

In an era when bloodshed on westerns was often sanitized, Peckinpah pulled no punches.

-[ Screaming ] -He brought a new kind of violence to the screen.

It was the first time that you ever saw a bullet enter a person and -- and go out.

And, you know, the explosion of the blood and everything else.

Everybody went, "Ahh!

This is terrible!"

[ Gunshots, women screaming ] [ Crash ] -While shocking to many, Peckinpah's appetite for screen violence was just one facet of a complicated and uniquely talented artist.

-He was gifted of god when he was born with this incredible ability to just smile at you and make you want to give him the best thing you've got.

And that's why everyone worked over their head with Sam.

-He loved actors -- I mean, you could be the worst actress -- actor or actress in the world, and he'd take his time and work with you and bring out the thing that he wanted, you know, easy, and the first thing you know, made you look good.

[ Theme plays ] -Coming before his films, "The Rifleman" was the first series Peckinpah created for television.

The rapid-fire gunplay attracted audiences, but Peckinpah had something much deeper in mind.

He envisioned the story of a young boy, played by Johnny Crawford, who would learn about the harsh, painful realities of life.

-Pa!

-Pa, look out!

Look out, Pa!

He's gonna kill you, Pa!

[ Gunshot ] -Stay low, Mark!

-Are you all right, son?

-Uh-huh.

-Get behind me.

-Sam Peckinpah's vision for the series was never fully realized, and he left "the Rifleman" after the first season.

The gunplay stayed, but in Peckinpah's absence, the series developed a warm side... -Sure is a favoring wind.

-...Highlighting the bond Between father and son.

-Due east.

-Here was a loving single father, raising his boy -- something no TV western had seen before.

-You sure know a lot about a lot of things.

-You will, too, son, when you get to be an old man like me.

-[ Laughs ] -They were pretty bold in showing the relationship of the father and son and having them express their affection for each other.

-The father -- the Rifleman -- was played by an actor uniquely suited to a role that combined the tough guy and the tender father, Chuck Connors.

-Look, Mark, there's a lot of people in this world who are lonely, who want very badly to love and be loved.

I don't think we should call it "funny."

No matter how they go about trying -- well, trying not to be lonely anymore, you understand me?

-Yeah.

-Let's go -- we've got a nice smoked ham for our own supper.

-At 6 feet, 5 inches, Chuck Connors had a roughneck resume few actors could match.

The son of a longshoreman, Connors drove tanks in the army, then played for the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Cubs.

It was a larger-than-life persona that often scared those who did not know him.

-He intimidated a lot of people, and he enjoyed doing that.

[ Laughs ] So I got a kick out of him.

I knew him probably better than anybody else on the set, you know.

And we were very close, and I was very comfortable around him.

And a lot of other people were afraid of him.

[ Laughs ] -"The Rifleman" wasn't the only western with a father-son relationship at the center.

That same theme was the foundation for one of TV's most popular westerns ever.

[ Gunshots ] -Feeling all right, Pa?

-Yeah, I'm all right.

Fine.

You know something?

You boys look awful good to me.

[ Theme playing ] -Set in Nevada, "Bonanza" looked like a western.

But at its core, it was a family drama centering on three sons and their father, Ben Cartwright, played by Lorne Green.

-Not only was he the good Ben Cartwright, but he was kind of like the father of everybody.

He was the father of the set, you know, everybody would look up to him like that.

-And I think "Bonanza," a lot of its success was because of that family and the way they existed on the screen with their characters, with one another.

-We wouldn't be having all this trouble if you hadn't gone and lost that chili bowl I always fit on your head.

-Just take it easy -- it's getting thin enough up there like it is.

-Keep your head still.

Are you still putting that salad oil on your hair?

-Hog lard.

-I don't know what you're so worried about.

You ain't going to look any different when I get done.

-Yeah, but I'll feel different.

-When Pernell Roberts left the series, "Bonanza" didn't miss a beat, as Michael Landon and Dan Blocker picked up the slack.

-Dan Blocker was the most down-to-earth.

He was the most, like, you know, a guy that you'd go out and have a beer with.

-A fan favorite, Dan Blocker's affable nature showed through in his character, Hoss.

-Oh, I'll fit you.

-Hi, brother.

You still playing nursemaid to that little dog you found?

-I can't hardly help it none, can I, if this poor little critter hangs around?

You smell something?

-Oh, it's me, yeah, I was setting some traps for the wolves that were bothering the cattle.

Caught a skunk in one of them.

-You sure did -- look here, when I get through with old shorty here, why don't you jump in?

-When "Bonanza" premiered, Michael Landon was just 22.

Yet he immediately began laying the groundwork for his future by learning all he could about every aspect of the business.

-He would do his thing on the stage, and he would complete his "little Joe" character, and then he would go hang out in the editing rooms and talk to the editors.

-Within three years, Michael Landon was writing scripts for "Bonanza."

And a few years after that, he began directing episodes.

When "Bonanza" ended, Landon was perfectly positioned to create his own series -- the equally popular "Little House on the Prairie."

-Michael Landon was such a wonderful director, and he gave me an inspiration of, "let's do this thing right."

You know, "let's see what happens."

People still talk to me about it, you know, that they saw that wonderful "House on the Prairie," and they loved it.

-He was funny -- he had a great sense of humor.

And then he would get very serious, you know, about... About the work.

He was just a great guy to work with, and the crew just loved him.

-Unlike many of its contemporaries, "Bonanza" wasn't afraid to tinker with the western genre.

One episode might address a serious issue, like racial discrimination.

The next might be a pure comedy.

-I was the big buffoon.

"Gosh almighty, let me at that.

I'll light that."

[Imitates explosion] You know, and he'd go flying across the road.

It was a great, great episode, and great fun to do.

-My character thinks he's part horse.

[ Horse whinnies ] And that was one of the reasons I wanted to do it.

He dies, saving Michael Landon and a horse.

And I died up, as opposed to down.

I felt the guy was -- [Grunts] I felt the guy wasn't ready to die, and so I died coming forward, instead of falling backwards.

-The only girl in a male cast.

[Laughs] I loved being the only girl.

Everybody on it was adorable.

They couldn't have been nicer.

All the boys were great.

-Throughout its 14-year run, "Bonanza" never had an ongoing female character.

That edict came from the series creator, David Dortort, who believed too many men on TV were weak and beholden to women.

"Bonanza" would be a series about fathers and sons, not mothers and wives.

-Well, they killed off enough girls, so I guess -- [ Chuckling ] you know, yeah, female actresses were always afraid to come on the show, because they knew they'd get killed off somehow.

-Little Joe, you sure do smell better than you did this afternoon.

-[ Laughing ] -Thanks a lot!

-If you gentlemen will excuse me.

-Oh, yes, of course.

-Hey, Pa, I'm going to see if I can't rustle me up one of them little fillies.

-While no woman lasted long on "Bonanza," that wasn't true of all westerns.

1965 saw the premiere of the first major TV western with a woman in the leading role.

[ Theme playing ] Barbara Stanwyck was a movie star long before "The Big Valley"... Best known for playing strong women, with a career that dated back to the 1920s.

-[ Chuckling ] Oh, well.

Maybe that little kiss was worth it.

-Good thing for you.

The last little kiss you'll get from this working girl.

-Backstage, Stanwyck was known as perhaps the kindest person in Hollywood, always showing an interest in even the lowest-paid stage hand.

-I'm on a peace mission.

-She was so professional.

She knew every crew member's name.

She knew everything -- "Hey, Jack, how's your dog?

Is your mother okay?

Is your this okay?"

-She did know everybody by their first name.

She made it her business to do that, because when you do that, she knew very well, they take extra care of you -- when you acknowledge the fact that they are there and you appreciate them.

-She knew their families.

At the end of the day, she said "good night" to them, every one.

Well, they just -- they just loved her.

They'd do anything for her.

-In "The Big Valley," Stanwyck played the matriarch of the Barkleys, a wealthy western family.

At a time when most women on TV were deferential, Stanwyck insisted on playing Victoria Barkley as a tough, no-nonsense leader.

-But in this instance, I am concerned, Because the... Wrong choice could be so very wrong.

-You don't have very much faith in your daughter, do you?

Are you concerned for her virtue or the Barkley name?

-[Laughs] Oh, no, the Barkley name has withstood many severe blows in the past and will withstand many more in the future.

Does that answer your question?

-She was a ground-breaking woman.

I mean, I think she never fit in any category.

She did pretty much anything that she wanted to do.

-Stanwyck's daughter on "The Big Valley" was played by Linda Evans, an inexperienced newcomer who had stumbled into acting a few years before, at her parents' insistence.

-They made me take drama in junior high school because I was so shy, I wouldn't get up and give a book report.

So I was sort of forced to get into acting.

But I wasn't thinking of it as a career.

It was only a way to pass English.

[ Laughs ] -Almost by accident, Evans began landing small acting roles.

She had no aspirations.

Acting was just a way to earn some extra income.

-I kept thinking somebody was going to find out I didn't know what I was doing.

You know, I was just so surprised -- it was like I couldn't -- I would go out for a commercial or a part, and they would give it to me!

And it would be like, "Don't they know I don't know what I'm doing?"

And so I mostly showed up in terror, hoping that I could get through it and get the check and that nobody would notice.

-Landing the role of Audra on "The Big Valley" was a major career boost for Linda Evans.

But as the first day of production grew closer, she became increasingly nervous about meeting a big star like Barbara Stanwyck.

-The minute that I met her, I knew... [ Voice breaking ] She was an absolute pussycat in her heart.

She was the softest lady inside, and all of that exterior was to make sure you didn't find out that this gentle little thing was inside of her.

-Stanwyck took Evans under her wing, and the two became lifelong friends.

-Well, you know, it was almost as if she thought of me as her daughter.

Audra was her daughter.

And my mom died during "Big Valley," and she came up to me one day on the set, and she said, "Audra, I know no one will ever replace your mom, but I'll be your mom from now on."

And she was there for me.

-Well, if those women are so fascinating, why isn't he married by now?

-One woman is rarely enough for a man like Scott Breckenridge.

The need for conquest is too strong.

They simply aren't the marrying kind.

-Aren't they?

-Perhaps the most important lesson Linda Evans learned from Barbara Stanwyck was to not be afraid of life, to cherish every moment, appreciate the joy of each day.

-Everything he touches turns to gold.

-She lived for the moments we'd have -- "Today's the burning building!

Today's the earthquake!"

Or, "Today --" you know, it was like all of these things just -- I would come to work, and she would just be so excited we were going to do it.

You know, and I'd be strapped to the wall and the walls would be on fire, and I'd think, "This is fun?"

And I ended up actually loving it.

-With two strong female roles, "The Big Valley" was unusual for a TV western.

But it didn't stretch the genre nearly as far as another series that premiered the same year, perhaps the most unconventional western ever.

"The Wild Wild West" defied definition.

It was set in the old west, with science fiction-like gadgets... And a leading man right out of "James Bond."

-The show is bizarre.

You know, it's escapism fare.

That's the best two words I can say to apply to that show and what that show is.

-Just stay right there.

-For many, the main appeal of the series was star Robert Conrad... Whose tough-guy image was well earned.

When Robert Conrad was just 6 years old, his mother took him to a boxing gym in Chicago and insisted he learn to fight.

He did.

On a fall day in 1949, playing high school football, young Robert was on the receiving end of a particularly brutal hit.

I was out of breath, and I couldn't get up right away.

And there was this screamer -- "Get up, get up, get up!

Get up!"

And the guy who was with me says, "Who is she?"

I said, "Oh, that's my mother."

-Robert Conrad's physical skills were critical to the production of "Wild Wild West."

Given the show's elaborate action sequences, the only way to keep the series on budget was for Conrad to do his own stunts.

For that, he was well prepared.

-The good thing about working with someone like Robert is, you don't get hurt doing that, because he's in control.

-All of the different art forms that have to do with fighting, I mean, he was quite unique in that area.

Even -- if he was kicking somebody, he was doing a proper kind of -- a proper kind of a kick.

-Well, it's like a dance routine.

You know, it's the same thing.

You practice certain steps when you dance.

And when you do a choreographed fight, you do the same thing.

-So working with Robert was a pleasure, because as we worked out the choreography, it was, you know, precision.

No one got hurt.

-Now!

-The unexpected, Mr. West, to add a little spice to a struggle.

[ Grunts ] [ Screams ] -But even the most choreographed fight scene required a certain amount of improvising in the moment.

-He was small.

He was a short guy.

You know that -- you'd try not to fall on him.

[Laughs] They'd say, "Don't fall on that man.

But enjoy it, and go with your character."

So he had all these ways of attacking you that made you, you know, go down.

If he was doing it and it was so choreographed that everyone would know it, then it wouldn't work.

So you had to go with the flow of the thing to make it work.

-Robert Conrad surrounded himself with expert stunt people.

-[ Screaming ] -But one visiting actor wasn't so experienced and made a mistake that nearly cost Conrad his life.

-We had choreographed it.

I was to jump off the second floor onto the chandelier, and this guy was supposed to stop my forward motion.

I was supposed to kick him through a window.

He was late coming to me.

And he didn't stop my forward momentum.

My hands slid, and I fell about 15 feet to the floor and had a high temporal concussion, a 6-inch linear fracture of the skull.

-Rushed to the hospital, Conrad spent months in recovery.

Production was shut down.

-The following year, shooting resumed right where it left off, with James West on the floor.

Robert Conrad insisted that the footage of his near-fatal fall remain in the episode.

"Wild Wild West" wasn't a one-man show.

Robert Conrad had Ross Martin to play off of.

-Sheila is very pretty and very charming, but I don't trust her.

-Well, now, you get to be an old codger like me, you'll learn to admire and revere the fair sex as I do.

-I wouldn't trust you, either.

Conrad: He was so totally different than myself -- I mean, he spoke five languages fluently, he was studying law before he became an actor.

-The pairing was perfect, and audiences responded.

-Oh, you did it!

I don't want to say anything, but I helped.

-Oh, thank you!

Thank you.

You're certainly welcome.

Yes, you've made my whole day.

-"Wild Wild West" was the surprise hit of 1965.

"Wild Wild West" was still going strong in 1969 when CBS abruptly cancelled it.

The reason wasn't ratings.

Rather, it was pressure from the government.

-Senator Pastore of Rhode Island thought it was too violent.

And he told me that the show had been cancelled, not for ratings -- it was in the 30s then -- but because of the violence.

-Senator Pastore's pressure to cancel "Wild Wild West" was ironic, given that, just two years earlier, Senator Robert Byrd had pressured CBS not to cancel his favorite western.

Byrd's speech on the senate floor helped save the series that would eventually become the longest-running western in TV history, "Gunsmoke."

This is where "Gunsmoke" began, on radio... [ Radio tuning ] ...With William Conrad As Marshal Dillon.

-Matt Dillon.

I'm a U.S.

Marshal here.

I'd like to talk to you.

-Fine, go ahead and talk.

-Well, here's some advice.

Don't do it -- take the next train, and get out of town.

-When "Gunsmoke" moved to television, William Conrad wasn't considered because network executives thought his weight would turn away viewers.

[ Telephone rings ] CBS then called John Wayne to offer him the series.

Fellow actor Mike Connors was there when the call came in.

-He was talking, and I'm standing there, hearing the whole thing, and he said, "No, no, I'm not interested in television.

I don't want to play a cowboy on television," but, he says, "However, I got a guy under contract, would be perfect for it.

His name is Jim Arness, and he would be absolutely perfect for the part," and he said, "Okay, yeah, right after we finish shooting, I'll send him over."

-James Arness wasn't sure he wanted to do a television show.

But John Wayne talked him into it.

-And he was thinking of my best good, and turned out, he was totally right.

I would have been crazy to pass that up, you know.

It turned into a 40-year job for me here, you know.

-Well, anyway, they'll hang him.

-I hope the judge agrees with you, doc.

-Why shouldn't he?

-Because the only evidence I've got against him so far is circumstantial.

I don't see where I can get anything else.

-Well, then, you should have shot him right there where you found him.

-[ Chuckling ] It's a good thing you're not a law man, doc.

-Maybe if I was, there wouldn't be so many killings around here.

-I doubt that.

-Premiering in 1955, "Gunsmoke" soon became the most popular television show in America.

For many, the reason for the show's appeal was star James Arness.

-Big Jim Arness -- that man was as big as a tree.

I mean, he was huge!

I mean, I'm a fairly tall fellow, but I felt like -- you know, he was about 6'7" or something like that.

And on screen, that huge power manifested itself, and it was a very popular show.

-Number one, I'd say, would be big Jim himself.

Matt Dillon was a great character, and Jim is a great character.

And he played it as a wonderful human being.

-Unlike previous western heroes, Matt Dillon never wanted to draw his gun.

-He hated violence.

If I had to shoot, if Matt Dillon had to shoot somebody, and you'd cut around to him, you could see the fact of -- that he had just hated to have to do that, and he felt a sort of revulsion over it.

And that's something, I think, hadn't really been done much, if at all, up to that point.

-Everywhere James Arness went, he was greeted as a hero, an American icon who seemed to have all the virtues of his fair-minded character, Marshal Matt Dillon.

-I know that there's a question that I have, and certainly many of our viewers have also.

Do you ever lose your identity and are addressed as "Mr. Dillon" as you walk down the street, and among your friends?

-Oh, sure, sure.

-I imagine at one time or another, your children are calling you "Marshal."

-Oh, yeah, I get a lot of that, but I certainly don't mind it.

It's all to the good.

-Well, certainly, of course, this is a program that we see on Channel 2 and on CBS.

How does it feel to be the star of the nation's number-one television program?

-Well, it's wonderful, it's really an awful lot of fun.

I just hope it lasts for a while, that's all.

-Well, very fine, sir, it's been a real pleasure talking with you.

-Before "Gunsmoke," most TV westerns were aimed primarily at children.

But this series took the genre in a new direction.

-This was not to be a weekly shoot-'em-up, bang-bang thing.

They wanted to do stories about people and problems in the old west, and did it well for 20 years.

-In the early years, nearly all "Gunsmoke" episodes revolved around the show's main characters, a close-knit group that included Amanda Blake as Miss Kitty and Milburn Stone as Doc Adams.

Later, Ken Curtis would join the cast, as did Burt Reynolds, whose role as the town blacksmith launched him into the national spotlight.

-I'm going to have to leave Dodge soon, go someplace else.

-Why?

-Well, I've been enough trouble to you already.

-The way to keep you out of trouble is having you around where I can keep an eye on you.

-"Gunsmoke"'s first breakout character was Chester, played by Dennis Weaver.

Because Weaver had a leading-man look, the producers wanted to find a way to make him appear more like a sidekick.

Weaver came up with Chester's stiff leg.

-Had I known that I was going to be doing that for nine years, I might have had a different thought about it.

Because did you ever try and build a campfire with a stiff leg, or worst of all, did you ever try to put your boot on without bending your knee?

I had to take yoga lessons to do some of that stuff.

-After eight seasons, "Gunsmoke"'s ratings were in decline.

The show's producers were out of ideas.

Cancellation seemed imminent.

But James Arness wanted to continue.

And so CBS came up with a solution.

The entire writing and producing staff was replaced.

The new team would rely heavily on guest stars to reinvigorate the series -- guest stars like Angie Dickinson.

-Mr. Dobie -- -Yes, ma'am?

-I'm not blaming you for what happened.

I'm not blaming anyone.

-I looked at it a couple of years ago, and I was pretty good for how early I was, you know, in my learning period, for where I was.

-James Arness's easygoing personality meant guest stars were treated like old friends, creating an environment where actors could thrive.

It was a key factor in the show's long success.

-"Gunsmoke" was wonderful to be on, because it was good material, and a wonderful cast.

And Arness was so fabulous.

-"Gunsmoke" was well positioned to weather the government's crackdown on TV violence in the late 1960s, because its stories were based on relationships more than gunplay.

Still, no one on the set liked the new restrictions.

-They came in with this big anti-violence campaign, you know, and so we had to tone down the amount of violence in each episode.

And, of course, it made the producers madder than heck, because, you know, that really put limitation on them.

They would tell you how many fights you could have -- bar fights -- and you might be able to have one shooting in an episode, and so forth.

-"Gunsmoke" rode out every challenge, airing 635 episodes -- more than any other prime time series in television history.

Even after the series ended, James Arness continued to play Matt Dillon in a number of TV movies, well into the 1990s -- nearly 50 years as America's favorite law man.

No one could match Matt Dillon for longevity, James West for toughness, or Bret Maverick for humor.

But nothing quite compared to the western hero that sparked a cultural phenomenon in 1954.

The first merchandising craze of the baby boomer generation, "Davy Crockett," starring Fess Parker.

-It was an enriching, rewarding, very memorable, and looking back, loving experience.

-Walt Disney's "Davy Crockett" miniseries premiered in September 1954.

It was a monster hit, catching everyone by surprise.

Disney saw an opportunity, and the merchandising machine kicked into high gear.

10 million coonskin caps were sold in a matter of months.

There were more than 3,000 different Crockett items.

Lunchboxes, pajamas, toothbrushes.

In today's dollars, the craze earned more than a half-billion in revenue almost overnight and provided Walt Disney with the money to build Disneyland.

They played them over and over again, and they were tremendously successful.

It did make a fortune for Disney and made the studio very prominent.

-"Davy Crockett" mania died down after about a year, but Fess Parker's popularity remained.

Disney responded by creating a very similar series called "Daniel Boone."

Parker had a new onscreen family, but no one seemed to mind.

-Well, I always worried about it a little bit, you know, whether or not it would be accepted.

Same guy, same hat, different name, different family.

-Audiences welcomed Fess Parker's new TV family, and backstage, Parker was like a surrogate father to his TV kids.

-He was my dad for 6 years.

I got to see him more than his own son, Eli, did.

And for me, I lost my father when I was a year old in a plane crash, so he really was like an adoptive father.

-Well, Fess is 6 foot 5.

And there aren't many actors that are that tall.

So poor Fess would always have to be in a hole, while the other actors were on boxes, so that they would be more of a -- you know, because, I mean, he'd stand -- -I've almost never heard him say a bad word about anybody.

He was gentle -- is gentle, and was.

And that emerged.

People saw that.

-He'd give you help if you needed help, but he was always very kind to the people that was working around him.

And he had a lot of influence on the show, and yet he didn't abuse anything in his power that he had.

But he was always trying to give people a chance to work.

And I really appreciated that in Fess Parker.

-Fess Parker worked to ensure the series reflected positive values.

The good guys won, and violence was kept to a minimum.

-It's funny, the fact that it was an action-adventure series.

There was very little killing, actually, went on.

You know, we would sometimes have fisticuffs, or we'd bash somebody with somebody, but the next day, they'd be walking around again, if you know what I mean.

There was a certain -- you know, we did shoot our flintlock rifles, but most of the times, we missed.

Except for Daniel Boone, of course -- he never missed.

-How can you and the Indian be friends?

-What's so peculiar about that?

-You're not the same color or the same race.

Your people fight against each other.

-Well, a man's what he is, regardless.

I don't think race or color has anything to do with it.

-In an era when TV was nearly all white, the "Daniel Boone" series regularly showcased African Americans in prominent parts.

Rosey Grier, for example, had a recurring role as Gabe Cooper, an escaped slave who was a close friend of Daniel Boone.

-I was doubting the fact, could I do this?

Because that was not my nature.

I was afraid to talk, and all that.

And yet it was wonderful, wonderful training for me.

And I was playing a very good role.

I wasn't one of those roles that you had to act up and be very ethnic.

-When I was 12 years old, they took my mama one way and me another.

I swore that if I ever found out where she was, I was going to come for her.

-All right, say you find her.

Then what?

You're going to need some help.

You're going to need money and furs, and I'm going to go with you.

-I don't need nobody's help to do this.

-Well, you're getting it, whether you want it or not.

-A lot of the stories that we did -- about slavery, about race relations -- I mean, it was really groundbreaking at the time.

But we could do it in such a way that nobody was preaching, nobody -- it was just part of the story.

-It was the right thing to do.

And we got some really good performances.

So I enjoyed very much, working with people like Rafer Johnson, who was an Olympic champion.

-I'd like to thank you, but I don't know how.

-Well, we'll talk about that when you're better.

Right now, you need some rest.

-How much better can a man feel, Mr. Boone?

-My friends call me "Daniel."

-Broadcast in an era of racial unrest, the series was especially careful in its portrayal of violence.

One scene with Rosey Grier's character was cut when the producers had second thoughts about how the character's violent reaction to racism might send the wrong message to viewers in 1960s America.

-I was doing things like turning the wagon over, and, of course, they cut that out, because they didn't want to show violence.

Because violence is very provocative, in terms of other people going through situations and they feel that they've been wronged.

-"Daniel Boone" wasn't the only western to address issues of race.

But very few TV westerns had people of color in regular starring roles.

[ Theme playing ] -Hey, amigo, what you doing here?

-Oh, I just thought you might like to know about those two new men that you hired.

-Yeah, what about them?

-They have left.

-One major exception was "High Chaparral."

-I think they went toward the Tucson road.

-Tucson road.

-I am going after them, in case you would like to join me and follow after them.

-He could find humor in anything.

He was always laughing, which some reviewers mentioned.

Eventually, Henry Darrow as Manolito will stop laughing as much, and so -- -Manolito was a breakout character that suddenly thrust Henry Darrow into the limelight.

Ironically, he had just changed his name from Delgado to Darrow to avoid being typecast.

-I'm not a Latin actor, Hispanic actor -- I'm an actor who happens to be of Spanish heritage.

-Mexican characters were not new to TV westerns.

Cisco Kid and Zorro had been around since the beginning.

-For a professional knife thrower, that fellow is not so good, pancho.

-Cisco, he's getting closer and closer.

-Hey, what are you worried about?

He hasn't hit you yet.

-Cisco, this is no time for jokes, not even good ones.

-I wasn't joking, pancho.

-What made "High Chaparral" different was that it presented a more realistic view of Mexican American culture and family life, including Hispanic actors speaking in Spanish.

-They'd say, "Linda, henry, you guys come up with some dialogue."

And, of course, it would be in Spanish.

-I am Mrs. Undefined-- -Victoria.

-No le digas nada.

-¿Por qué no?

-On the surface, "High Chaparral" was a glossy, big-budget action western.

But the series' more subtle message was that Mexicans, Anglos, and Native Americans all had a place in the American story.

This theme of racial tolerance was repeated over and over on American television westerns -- on "Gunsmoke," "Bonanza," "The Rifleman," "Daniel Boone."

At a time in America when racial conflict was everywhere, TV westerns gave us hope.

By looking back, they helped us see the future.

From the mid-1940s through the mid-'70s, television audiences enjoyed more than 100 different western series.

They reflected our attitudes and helped define us as a nation.

Even today, when we imagine a sheriff or a cowboy or the wild west, the image we conjure was likely created by a TV western.

The western is us.

-All of the things that we think of as the American values are tied up in that John Wayne kind of...Persona.

-It's part of the American culture, part of the whole background of America, and it's very romantic.

-Well, I think the western is the most simple version of a morality play that you can do.

-Those cowboys will bunch up and shoot it out with every man wearing a badge.

Be the worst slaughter Dodge has ever seen.

It's about as fool an idea as I've ever heard.

-The basic message of "Gunsmoke" was, there's always going to be the duality.

There's going to be the bad and there's going to be the good, and most of the time, the good will win out.

-The loner, the man who faced the world by himself, and by golly, won out.

-But at the end of the show, dad puts his arms around his sons and says to the country, "We're okay.

We're okay."

-The legacy of TV westerns remains.

The shows we loved, the heroes we respected.

The pioneers of television.

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