| The Adventures of Jim Bowie | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Western Adventure |
| Starring | Scott Forbes |
| Theme music composer | Ken Darby |
| Opening theme | "Jim Bowie" by The King's Men |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 76 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Louis F. Edelman |
| Producer(s) | William H. Wright Lewis R. Foster |
| Editor(s) | John Woodcock |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original run | September 7, 1956 – August 29, 1958 |
In September 1956 a TV series named "The Adventures of Jim Bowie" was aired on ABC. The show was only on the air for two years from 1956 to 1958. The series' music was unique in that is was primarily vocal, provided by Ken Darby and The King's Men (save for a few episodes in season two).
Contents |
The series stars Scott Forbes as the real-life adventurer Jim Bowie. The series initially portrayed Jim Bowie as something of an outdoors-man, riding his horse through the wilderness near his home in Opelousas where he would stumble across someone needing his assistance. He was aided by his ever-present weapon the Bowie Knife, something he designed in the first episode The Birth of the Blade. Although Bowie used the blade quite a bit in early episodes, its prominence was downplayed as the show went on.
Gradually the series shifted from the country to the city, having Bowie instead spend the majority of his time in New Orleans. He was frequently shown looking to invest his money in real estate, or coming to the aid of someone who had been swindled.
Story lines focused on the exploits of Bowie before he moved to Texas (then part of Mexico), and his death at the Alamo in 1836. During the series' two season run, Bowie encountered many historical figures of the era, such as President Andrew Jackson, Jefferson Davis, John James Audubon, Sam Houston, and Davy Crockett.
Among the actors and actresses who guest-starred more than once on the series were William Schallert, Denver Pyle, Michael Landon, Chuck Connors, Walter Coy, and June Carter Cash. Dayton Lummis appeared as General Rogers in the 1957 episode "The General's Disgrace".
Jim Bowie did not appear in the last episode of the series. Instead, he was said to be away on an important assignment, and the attention was placed on criminal Jess Miller. Miller was given the task to retrieve a great sum of money, and the episode focused on whether Miller would complete his assignment or take the money for himself. At the end there's the indication that Miller would join up with Bowie on further adventures, but no further episodes were produced.