| The Young Riders | |
|---|---|
DVD cover of the first Season 1 box set |
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| Genre | Western |
| Created by | Ed Spielman |
| Starring | Stephen Baldwin Josh Brolin Brett Cullen Travis Fine Don Franklin Melissa Leo Ty Miller Christopher Pettiet Gregg Rainwater Yvonne Suhor Clare Wren Anthony Zerbe |
| Composer(s) | John Debney |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 68 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jonas McCord |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 45–48 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Original run | September 20, 1989 – July 23, 1992 |
The Young Riders is an American Western television series created by Ed Spielman that presents a fictionalized account of a group of young Pony Express riders based at the Sweetwater Station in the Nebraska Territory during the years leading up to the American Civil War.[1] The series premiered on ABC on September 20, 1989 and ran for three seasons until the final episode aired on July 23, 1992.[1]
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Filming of the original pilot for the series took place in California. After the ABC network picked it up, the series production moved to Tucson, Arizona, with filming in "Mescal", a western-themed movie town operated by Old Tucson Studios.[2]
Before the series premiere, producers of the 1988 film Young Guns filed a lawsuit against ABC and the series producers, claiming the series title combined with its plot infringed on their trademark.[3]
In the second season, Don Franklin joined the cast to portray the character Noah Dixon. In doing so, he became the third African-American actor to hold a starring role in a television western – after Raymond St. Jacques who had co-starred on the final season of Rawhide as cattle drover Simon Blake (1965) and Otis Young who co-starred with Don Murray on the shortlived (1968–69) TV series The Outcasts. Having never ridden a horse before, Franklin was sent to "Cowboy Camp" for 3–4 days where he learned how to mount and dismount, and the basics of riding. Desiring to also work behind the cameras, Franklin talked with producers about writing and directing an episode for the series. In an interview, he noted that the series producers were very receptive and was regularly encouraging the cast to not only make suggestions, but also follow through with them. When the cast noted that they didn't like the series becoming a "guest-villain-of-the-week", it was changed to refocus back on the individual characters and their relationships with each other. Franklin himself also encouraged that more black characters be included in the series.[4]
Many prominent actors guest-starred on the show, including James Gammon, Kelli Williams, Fisher Stevens, Della Reese, Melissa Michaelsen, David Carradine, Stacy Keach, Sr., Pernell Roberts, David Soul, Cynthia Nixon, Richard Roundtree, Buck Taylor, Nick Ramus, Jamie Walters, Frances Fisher, Kelli Williams, James Cromwell, William Russ, Rebecca Staab, Peter MacNicol, Tim Thomerson, Stan Shaw and Bart the Bear.
In its first year on the air, The Young Riders was plagued by low ratings. In November 1989, it ranked 60th out of 84 programs for its time slot in the Nielsen ratings.[5] In its second season, the series made a dramatic turn around, winning its time slot five out of its first seven weeks, and consistently outperformed its generally highly popular competition China Beach and Twin Peaks. Though still only ranked 57th in the Neilsen Ratings, it was enjoying a consistent popularity over the other network channel offerings and began building a "small, but loyal" following among teens and young adults.[6]
Diane Holloway of the Austin-American Statesman felt it offered a new take on the standard Western, and praised the series for its "beautiful" cinematography.[5] The Philadelphia Inquirer's Ken Tucker heavily criticized the series when it premiered considering it "one of the season's most pretentious bombs" and feeling "everything about [it] is overdone" including the acting. Considering it a rip off of the films Young Guns and The Long Riders, Tucker considered the series failed at period authenticity and thought the riders dressed no different from 1980s young adults.[7] Writing for The Atlanta Journal, Phil Kloer agreed with Tucker, also calling the series a rip off of Young Guns. Kloer considered the pilot to be "not particularly good or bad", and felt the series was doomed to fail quickly. He did, however, praise the series cinematography as being "more like a film than a TV series, very beautiful with lots of soft light".[3] Ron Miller of TV Weekly, however, praised the series when it was released. As it entered its second season, he renewed his praise, noting the more successful series was now "thumbing its nose at all the prognosticators" who had considered it unlikely to succeed.[6]
MGM released the first season of The Young Riders as a single Region 1 DVD box set on March 21, 2006. No other season sets have been released thus far.[1]
The season 1 set was released to Region 2 (Europe) on January 15, 2007.[8]
All three seasons of the show are available to view via Netflix (streaming only) as of November 2010.
All three seasons of the show are currently available for viewing on Hulu as of March 2011.