| The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters | |
|---|---|
| Format | Western |
| Starring | Kurt Russell Dan O'Herlihy Charles Bronson Donna Anderson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 52 minutes (without commercials) |
| Production company(s) | MGM Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Picture format | Black and white |
| Original run | September 29, 1963 – March 15, 1964 |
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters is a 26-episode western television series based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Robert Lewis Taylor. The show aired in the 1963-1964 television season and was produced by MGM Television.
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The ABC program was considered a good western aimed at young baby boomers, especially boys. It is remembered for its haunting theme music and for breakthrough performances from the then 12-year-old Kurt Russell in the role of Jaimie and Charles Bronson in the role of Linc, a stubborn wagonmaster. Although it started out with an ensemble cast, which included Dan O'Herlihy in the role of Jaimie's father, Sardius "Doc" McPheeters, by the end of the run it largely reduced to just the characters of Jaimie and Linc on a recurring basis. The character actress Donna Anderson played Jenny, the young pioneer woman who befriends Jaimie during the perilous journey west.
For several episodes, The Osmonds were cast as the singing sons of the Kissel family.
The program faced stiff competition on CBS at 7:30 Eastern on Sundays from My Favorite Martian, a sitcom with Ray Walston and Bill Bixby, and the first half of The Ed Sullivan Show. NBC aired Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color in the same time slot.
After the series was canceled, Kurt Russell and the late Charles Bronson reprised their roles of Jaimie McPheeters and Linc Murdock in the 1964 theatrical movie called Guns of Diablo, an expanded color version of the series' final episode, "The Day of the Reckoning" (March 15, 1964). Russ Conway appeared in the film as "Doc" McPheeters, replacing Dan O'Herlihy in new sequences.
The theme song for Jaimie McPheeters was also sung by The Osmonds.