What Might've Been: The Cowboys (1974)

The Cowboys, a 1974 mid-season replacement series for ABC, was spun from a 1972 movie of the same name, which starred John Wayne & Roscoe Lee Browne. It was a rare instance of Wayne's character getting killed off, particularly by the film villain.

Still, Warner Bros. sold a series version to ABC, and that's where the trouble began.

The network, for whatever reason, decided to trim the series from an hour-long show to a half-hour. Four of the boys in the movie crossed over into the series, but only two of the actors---Robert Carradine & A. Martinez---reprised their roles from the movie, while Clay O'Brien & Sean Kelly were given different roles. Moses Gunn replaced Browne as the lads' mentor. Clint Howard (ex-Gentle Ben) was added.

So why did it fail? The network tampering all but doomed the show before it started. I remember sitting at home with my folks watching the show, as they'd watch just about any Western.

No clips are available, but, via Wikipedia, we have a still shot of the cast of the series.



It ain't much, but it'll do.

Rating: A-.