| Tales of Wells Fargo | |
|---|---|
Dale Robertson as Jim Hardie, 1957. |
|
| Genre | Western |
| Created by | James Brooks Frank Gruber Gene Reynolds |
| Directed by | Earl Bellamy William F. Claxton Lewis R. Foster Jerry Hopper Leslie H. Martinson Gene Reynolds Sidney Salkow R.G. Springsteen George Waggner William Witney |
| Starring | Dale Robertson |
| Theme music composer | Mort Greene Harry Warren Stanley Wilson |
| Composer(s) | Paul Dunlap Michael Greene Melvyn Lenard Morton Stevens Harry Sukman John Williams |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 200 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Nat Holt Earle Lyon |
| Running time | 30 mins, (1957-1961) 60 mins. (1961-1962) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Picture format | Black-and-white (1957-61) Color (1961-62) |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original run | March 18, 1957 – June 2, 1962 |
Tales of Wells Fargo is an American Western television series that ran from March 18, 1957 to June 2, 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until its final season when it expanded to an hour.
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Set in the 1870s and 1880s, the series starred the Oklahoma native Dale Robertson as special agent Jim Hardie, noted at the time as "the left-handed gun". The concept of the Wells Fargo series, a company troubleshooter in the American West, was also adapted by the syndicated series Pony Express, co-starring Robert Ivers, which ran in the 1959-1960 season, nearly coinciding with the centennial of the Pony Express.
In the 1960-61 season, West Fargo was scheduled opposite ABC's detective series Surfside 6 and CBS's new sitcom Bringing Up Buddy, starring Frank Aletter. Wells Fargo and Surfide 6 survived another year, but Bringing Up Buddy was cancelled. Wells Fargo was the lead-in that year to a new NBC Western, Klondike, but that series, set in the Alaskan gold rush town of Skagway, survived only 17 episodes.
For its first two years, the show was also in the top ten Nielsen Ratings. During the 1957-58 season, it was ranked #3,[1] and during the 1958-59 season, it was ranked #7.[2]
On October 25, 2011, Timeless Media Group will release Tales of Wells Fargo- The Complete first and second seasons on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time.[3]
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete First and Second Seasons | 52 | October 25, 2011 |
The TV show also spawned a number of publications for young readers, including the hardcover book Danger at Dry Creek (Golden Press, 1959), a series of Dell Comics and Little Golden Books.