Sergeant Preston of the Yukon (TV series)

Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
Richard Simmons as Sergeant Preston with Yukon King, 1955
Created by	George W. Trendle Fran Striker
Starring	Richard Simmons
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	78
Production
Running time	22–24 minute
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 29, 1955 – September 25, 1958

In 1955, the same year the radio show ended, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon premiered as a television series. Richard Simmons starred as Sgt. Preston, and was supported by Yukon King and Rex, now played by real animals. The dog cast as King was not a husky, however, but a large Alaskan Malamute. Charles Livingstone, who had worked on the radio version, directed several episodes. Though no plotlines seem to have been re-used from the radio show, they were generally built upon the same themes. The same few buildings were regularly seen as part of many settlements in the shows. The additional visual component of the snowy Yukon, however, did give the television version a different feel but like all such films when filmed on a stage set, the frosty breath of people in Arctic conditions could not be simulated. Generally, however, there was an outdoor feel though a few times shadows on the skyline could be seen. Genuine outdoor scenes were added to give the show some reality though the viewer could not help but notice a sameness to them as they were all filmed in the same area and reused at times.

Mainly filmed at Ashcroft, Colorado, the series was telecast on CBS from September 29, 1955, to September 25, 1958. The first two seasons were produced by Trendle-Campbell-Meurer, and the show was broadcast in the same time slot as ABC's The Lone Ranger. In its last season, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon was purchased and produced by the Jack Wrather Corporation.

In 1955, the Quaker Oats company gave away land in the Klondike as part of the Klondike Big Inch Land Promotion which was tied in with the television show. Genuine deeds each to one square inch of a lot in Yukon Territory, issued by Klondike Big Inch Land Co. Inc., were inserted into Quaker's Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice cereal boxes.^[1]

Timeless Media Group released a 2-disc best-of set featuring 10 episodes from the series on DVD in Region 1 on November 21, 2006.^[2]

Infinity Entertainment has released all 3 seasons of the series on DVD in Region 1.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Cast

Richard Simmons as Sergeant William Preston

Guest stars

The guest stars on Sergeant Preston included:

• Francis De Sales appeared in five episodes, concluding as Cy Bartok in "The Diamond Collar".
• Kelo Henderson, a future Golden Boot winner who appeared as Pete Hollis in the 1958 episode "Escape to the North".
• Ed Hinton appeared twice in 1956 as Barry Jeffers in "Remember the Maine" and as Lefty "Red" Burke in "The Rookie".
• I. Stanford Jolley guest starred as Sam Haley in "The Fancy Dan" (1956) and as Frisco in "Gold Rush Patrol" (1958)
• Tyler MacDuff appeared as Bill Corey in "Lost River Roundup" in 1957
• John M. Pickard appeared four times in 1956-1957 in different roles, including the role of Red Brody in "Old Ben's Gold".

References

External links

• Sergeant Preston of the Yukon at TV.com
• Sergeant Preston of the Yukon at the Internet Movie Database