Some Westerns were based in part on real-life people. Tales of Wells Fargo, which ran for five seasons (1957-62), was one of those shows. No, Jim Hardie, the protagonist played by Dale Robertson, wasn't a real person, but was inspired by a real life Wells Fargo agent.
Tales falls into the category of Western crime drama, as Hardie often worked undercover to solve cases. After four seasons in a half-hour format, Revue & NBC expanded the show to an hour for the final season, switching from black & white to color.
The episode, "Silver Bullets", from the first season, is about Hardie going undercover to shut down a crooked casino. I wonder, though, if they weren't trying to fool the audience into thinking it was a homage to The Lone Ranger, which had ended its run a year earlier.
Rating: A.
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