Cowboy G-Men seems to have slipped through the cracks of history.
The series ran for 1 season (1952-3) of 39 episodes. Russell Hayden not only was the star, but also a producer. Jackie Coogan, 12 years before The Addams Family etched his name in pop culture lore, played Stoney Crockett, the sidekick to government agent Pat Gallagher (Hayden). Until then, Coogan had been best remembered for starring opposite Charlie Chaplin several years earlier in "The Kid".
At best, this was a cookie cutter Western. Seen one, seen them all, it seems. You could sub Gallagher & Crockett for, say for example, Wild Bill Hickok (who debuted a year earlier), and there wouldn't be much difference.
Let's check out a sample episode, "Running Iron":
So why did it fail? Because the airwaves were already overrun with Westerns.
Rating: B.
I don't know if "overwhelmed by Westerns" is fair, since Westerns were extremely popular on TV and would be for another decade. True, it would mean having to stand out in some way but I think it was no worse than the competition at the time. 1952 was rather early in terms of TV programming (and seemed to also favor sitcoms at the time as well).
ReplyDeleteSitoms and crime dramas, just as equally as Westerns, it would seem.
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