The Roy Rogers Show

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the radio program of the same name, see The Roy Rogers Show (radio program).

The Roy Rogers Show
Harry Harvey and Roy Rogers in The Roy Rogers Show
GenreWestern
Directed by
Starring
Ending theme"Happy Trails"
Composers
  • Lou Bring
  • Nat Farber
  • Frank Worth
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons6
No. of episodes100 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Larry Kent
  • Jack Lacey
  • Roy Rogers
  • Arthur Rush
Producers
  • Bob Henry
  • Jack Lacey
CinematographyJoe Novak
Running time30 minutes
Production companyRoy Rogers Productions
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseDecember 30, 1951 (1951-12-30) –
June 9, 1957 (1957-06-09)

The Roy Rogers Show is an American

Old West. Various episodes are known to be in the public domain
today, being featured in low-budget cable television channels and home video.

Overview

The show starred Roy Rogers as a ranch owner, Dale Evans as the proprietress of the Eureka Café and Hotel[1] in fictional Mineral City,[2] and Pat Brady as Roy's sidekick and Dale's cook. Brady's Jeep Nellybelle at times had a mind of her own and sped away driverless with Brady in frantic pursuit on foot. Animal stars were Roy's Palomino horse Trigger and his German Shepherd Bullet,[1] the "Wonder Dog".

As with many Western films of the 1930s–1950s, the Roy Rogers Show featured cowboys and cowgirls riding horses and carrying

con artists
, bank robbers, claim jumpers, rustlers, and other "bad guys".

In addition to traditional Western plot themes such as

cattle rustling and bank robberies, the program featured more contemporary topics, including gun safety and conservation of natural resources. "Many of the shows expressed a moral, and several preached a Christian message."[3]

Episodes

Main article: List of The Roy Rogers Show episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
123December 30, 1951 (1951-12-30)June 15, 1952 (1952-06-15)
215September 7, 1952 (1952-09-07)June 28, 1953 (1953-06-28)
314October 11, 1953 (1953-10-11)March 14, 1954 (1954-03-14)
418September 12, 1954 (1954-09-12)May 22, 1955 (1955-05-22)
515October 9, 1955 (1955-10-09)March 24, 1956 (1956-03-24)
615October 21, 1956 (1956-10-21)June 9, 1957 (1957-06-09)

Production

Interior shots for the show were filmed at the

Post Cereals and Jell-O). The show's theme song, “Happy Trails”, was written by Dale Evans and sung by her and Rogers over the end credits of each episode.[2]

The show received an Emmy nomination in 1955 for Best Western or Adventure Series, but it lost out to the

Nielsen ratings for the 1951–1952 season and #30 for 1954–1955.[5]

Related merchandise

The show was merchandised for the youth market with

cowgirl costumes, toy pistols, longbows, and many other items. In 1957, 2 million copies of each comic book were sold. A related comic strip was syndicated to 186 newspapers.[6]

Reruns

From January 1961 until September 1964, CBS broadcast reruns of The Roy Rogers Show on Saturday mornings.

World Harvest Television and The Cowboy Channel
.

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9781440829734
    . Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780810892507
    . Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  3. ISBN 9780299210045
    . Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  4. ^ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present, 4th ed., New York: Penguin Books, 1996, p. 793
  5. ^ "Classic TV Hits", seasonal top-30 television ratings, 1950-1999. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  6. ISBN 9780899509372
    . Retrieved April 20, 2018.

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Roy_Rogers_Show&oldid=1214237967"