The Adventures of Champion

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The Adventures of Champion (subtitled Gene Autry's Champion) was a 15-minute adventure serial directed by William Burch and heard weekday afternoons on Mutual in 1949-50.

The 1940s popularity of Gene Autry on radio led to this spin-off series about the adventures of his horse, Champion, as told by Uncle Smoky. The Western mystery tales focused on young Ricky West, raised in the wilderness by his adopted Uncle Smoky, and Ricky's German Shepherd, Rebel. The program offered scant explanation of how Champion had become a wild horse who let only Ricky ride him.

Many more listeners tuned in Sunday afternoons to Gene Autry's Melody Ranch, a top CBS program from 1940 to 1956.

When The Adventures of Champion moved to CBS television for the 1955-56 season, Barry Curtis portrayed Ricky North and Jim Bannon played Sandy North.