| The Rounders | |
|---|---|
| Format | Comedy/Western |
| Directed by | Allen Reisner |
| Starring | Ron Hayes Patrick Wayne Chill Wills Walter Edmiston Strother Martin James Brown |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 1/2 |
| No. of episodes | 17 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Picture format | Color |
| Original run | September 6, 1966 – January 3, 1967 |
The Rounders is a 17-episode western-style situation comedy about two cowboys on the fictitious J.L. Ranch in Texas, starring Ron Hayes (1929-2005), as Ben Jones and Patrick Wayne (born 1939), a son of John Wayne, as Howdy Lewis. The M-G-M television series aired on ABC from September 6, 1966, to January 3, 1967. The program was loosely based on a 1965 film of the same name, The Rounders, starring Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda, set near Sedona, Arizona, rather than Texas.[1]
Chill Wills (1903-1978), a native Texan and formerly of CBS's Frontier Circus, appeared as the shady ranch owner, Jim Ed Love. Janis Hansen (born 1940) co-starred as Ben's girlfriend, Sally, and Bobbi Jordan played Howdy's girlfriend Ada. Jason Wingreen (born 1919) appeared as Shorty Dawes, and Walker Edmiston (1926-2007) as Regan. Character actors Strother Martin (1919-1980) and J. Pat O'Malley (1904-1985) appeared as "Cousin Fletch" and "Vince", respectively. James Brown, formerly the lieutenant on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, played "Luke".[2]
Selected episodes with notable guest stars include: "A Horse on Jim Ed Love", series premiere with Harry Carey, Jr.; "It's a Noble Thing to Do", with John Smith, formerly Slim Sherman on NBC's Laramie; "Don't Buffalo Me", with Jay Silverheels (1912-1980), formerly Tonto of The Lone Ranger, as John Tallgrass; "The Moonshine Still Shines"; "It Takes Only One to Suffer"; "The Scavenger Hunt" with Zsa Zsa Gabor as Ilona Hobson; "Some Things Are Not for Sale"; "Four Alarm Wing Ding", with Dick Haynes as a sheriff; "Horse of a Different Cutter" with Andy Devine (1905-1977) as Honest John Denton and Strother Martin as Cousin Fletch; "Polo, Anyone?", with Jay C. Flippen as Kenny Fahrbush; "Efficiency Is for Experts", and "What Elephants?", the series finale, in which Ben and Howdy try to hide an elephant in plain sight.[3]
The Rounders was broadcast on Tuesday evenings at 8:30 Eastern in the time slot following ABC's long-running military drama Combat!, then in its last season, and preceding Phyllis Diller's unsuccessful attempt at a weekly sitcom, The Pruitts of Southampton. The Rounders aired opposite The Red Skelton Show on CBS and the sitcom Occasional Wife, starring Michael Callan, on NBC.[4] Prior to The Rounders, Ron Hayes had appeared in the starring role of the syndicated series The Everglades.