Have Gun Will Travel....

[Warped9]

I have long heard of this series, but until now I have never seen anything of it.

My first introduction to it was reading it referred to in The Making Of Star Trek and other works referring to Gene Roddenberry's writing credits before Star Trek. It would be decades before my first glimpse of Paladin through a Doug Drexler cameo, in STC's first episode, dressed as a holographic version of Paladin from Have Gun. Will Travel.

This past week I have begun watching Have Gun, Will Travel from the beginning and I am presently watching Ep. 5.

Like Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, another 1950's series I watched awhile ago, this is an ideal example that a complete dramatic story can be told within the framework of a half hour, thoroughly disproving the naysayers of CBS/P's recent fanfilm guidelines decrying proper dramatic stories cannot be done in a mere 30 minutes.


The central character of Have Gun, Will Travel (for those who don't know) is Palaidin, an Old West professional gunfighter who hires out his services. Unlike the more conventionally roughedged gunfighters of most Westerns, including John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and others Paladin is well educated, well mannered, always well dressed and lives in luxury at the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco--his base of operations from where he sets out across the country to render his services.

So far I am quite enjoying this series. It's definitely different from most TV and film westerns.

 

[RJDiogenes]

This is by far my favorite mainstream Western (by mainstream, I mean discounting anything like Wild, Wild West). Paladin is a fantastic character-- intelligent, literate, and a weary optimist-- and the stories are fantastic.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

@Warped9 : What's "STC" stand for?

I love Have Gun, Will Travel. A half-hour is the perfect length for this series. Richard Boone was great in it. Definitely not a standard Western show.

Lupino, Maclagan, and Boone really experimented with their directing styles in episodes. I remember Boone helming a story with a sandstorm that -- for a B&W half-hour Western TV show made in the '50s -- was beautifully captured on film.

A particular favorite episode is "Genesis," which shows how Paladin came to be Paladin. Sort of a Secret Origin story for the character. It doesn't disappoint.

 

[Warped9]

@Warped9 : What's "STC" stand for?

STC is the common abbreviation for Star Trek Continues, the popular fan production webseries set in the original Trek series' continuity.

 

[Doug Drexler]

I'm so delighted that more of us are discovering HGWT. The foundation of Star Trek was laid there. Gene Roddenberry wrote 24 episodes of this sophisticated and unusual western. In Star Trek - The 50 Year Mission, David Gerrold, a vocal Roddenberry critic, likes to say that Gene Roddenberry never had to write for anyone, and that "...he was always a chief, never an Indian". David needs to get hip.

Many of you know that I am a big Paladin fan. Talk about a geek... I have Paladin's entire outfit. So we ended up doing a crossover with Paladin on Star Trek Continues. I think most viewers don't realize the significance. When they find out, they are delighted.

I was watching Paladin first run in the late 50's. I even have a picture of myself in my first grade class wearing a HGWT bolo tie.

Incidentally, Amazon has a terrific deal on the entire series... something like 250 episodes. Check it out.

And yes. HGWT demonstrates that doing sophisticated stories in 22 minutes is not only possible, but forces you to be more succinct and to the point. Besides, most hour shows are doing bloated 22 minute scripts

 

[Warped9]

I also want to get around to watching The Lieutenant, the one season series Roddenberry sold and produced before Star Trek. Apparently quite a few TOS alumni can be found in The Lieutenant before they appeared in Star Trek.

 

[J.T.B.]

I used to watch those every day when it was on Encore Westerns, till I had seen them all several times. I agree with Sto-vo-kory that the directing is often superb, and with Warped9 that it is a great example of a successful half-hour TV non-comedy.

If I were to rank it in the half-hour Westerns I am familiar with, I would put it at the top, but Gunsmoke would possibly tie on the strength of its wonderful character ensemble. The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp gets points for its early use of multi-episode serialized storylines (we would now say "arcs" I guess) but can sometimes be more formulaic and repetitive. Wanted Dead or Alive can also be very good, but sometimes feels limited and soundstage-y compared with HGWT's flair and frequent location shooting (and not just the Iverson ranch). The Rifleman, about the same.

Of anthologies, Death Valley Days is hit and miss for me. Some are really good, a lot are just middle of the road, sappy and maudlin. Zane Gray Theater seems quite good, but I've only seen a couple of episodes.

I am very much looking forward to checking out Rod Serling's one-season Western The Loner when it comes out on DVD in a month or so (though apparently its already available at Walmart).

As much as I'm a fan of Have Gun, Will Travel I have to say Paladin's cultured sophistication always seemed like kind of an obvious gimmick, like "Western gunslingers are rough and wild, we'll make ours the opposite." It rarely comes into play outside of the opening scenes, or him quoting some literature during his adventure. But Boone's is such a winning performance I don't care.

A particular favorite episode is "Genesis," which shows how Paladin came to be Paladin. Sort of a Secret Origin story for the character. It doesn't disappoint.

Agreed. Pretty remarkable tone they struck in that episode. Also, William Conrad, the "original" Matt Dillon, plays a pivotal role.

I'm so delighted that more of us are discovering HGWT. The foundation of Star Trek was laid there. Gene Roddenberry wrote 24 episodes of this sophisticated and unusual western.

Also agreed.

I was watching Paladin first run in the late 50's. I even have a picture of myself in my first grade class wearing a HGWT bolo tie.

Nice. My cowboy outfits when I was a kid (in the '70s) were more the Gene Autry/Roy Rogers type. I'm not sure how authentic Paladin's black leather bomber jacket was for the 1870s, but it sure looked cool.

 

[Warped9]

Paladin did one other thing that was counter to portraying the conventional "good guy:" his attire was all black in his travels.

The other point I can't help but smile over is the thought wearing all black would be crazily hot out on the trail.

 

[Forbin]

I also picked up the DVDs, encouraged by Mr. Drexler's facebook post. The way I watch things - one ep a week during Sunday lunch - it'll be quite a while watching all 200-some eps. I'm only 5 in, but I'm definitely enjoying it.

Interesting that an episode preaching tolerance, respect and equality toward native Americans cast Italian actor Anthony Caruso as said Native American. Like, we'll preach being nice to them, but we won't hire them.

 

[Forbin]

Oh - other famous faces in the first few eps include Charles Bronson and Angie Dickenson!

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I didn't see it until a few years ago and it's a great series with a lot of familiar faces. I like how Paladin always sees the job through but not always in the way his employers wanted when there's injustice. It's also amusing how close everything is to San Francisco.

 

[J.T.B.]

Paladin did one other thing that was counter to portraying the conventional "good guy:" his attire was all black in his travels.

True, and probably the inspiration for later TV Western "good guys dressed like bad guys" like Adam Cartwright, Nick Barkley and Buck Cannon.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Wanted Dead or Alive can also be very good, but sometimes feels limited and soundstage-y compared with HGWT's flair and frequent location shooting (and not just the Iverson ranch).

I don't mind that stagey, theatrical look-- in fact, I like it-- but Have Gun, Will Travel did have some amazing location shooting, and they seemed to find more interesting locations as time went on. And I got a kick out of Wanted Dead Or Alive, too. I always wanted Paladin to meet Josh. Talk about opposite personalities.

 

[Forbin]

So let's see, I watch one episode every Sunday during lunch, there are 280-some eps, I'll be finished in... crap, I'll be dead by then.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

So let's see, I watch one episode every Sunday during lunch, there are 280-some eps, I'll be finished in... crap, I'll be dead by then.

I've never watched the X-Files (well, less than five or so episodes) and have thought the same thing when thinking about working through it sometime. Of course, the older I get the more I think about the time spent watching any series...

 

[Christopher]

A bit of Trek-related trivia: In their series prospectus (pitch document) for the Assignment: Earth spinoff (the version with the TOS episode as its backdoor pilot, not the earlier, half-hour version unconnected to ST), Roddenberry and Art Wallace cited Paladin as their model for the character of Gary Seven, referring to Paladin's "remarkable knowledge, attitudes and abilities" which made him seem like a man from another place and time, as well as his "detached and superior, sometimes almost condescending, perspective from which he viewed the fallible world about him." Spock, of course, was also mentioned as a successful character in the same vein.

Now, I've never actually seen HGWT, so I can't assess how accurate this was. For what it's worth, the prospectus also claims that Roddenberry was HGWT's "head writer," which I'm told is an exaggeration, to put it gently.

 

[J.T.B.]

A bit of Trek-related trivia: In their series prospectus (pitch document) for the Assignment: Earth spinoff (the version with the TOS episode as its backdoor pilot, not the earlier, half-hour version unconnected to ST), Roddenberry and Art Wallace cited Paladin as their model for the character of Gary Seven, referring to Paladin's "remarkable knowledge, attitudes and abilities" which made him seem like a man from another place and time, as well as his "detached and superior, sometimes almost condescending, perspective from which he viewed the fallible world about him." Spock, of course, was also mentioned as a successful character in the same vein.

Interesting. I've said before, I think Boone's natural onscreen affability made Paladin less of a cold, distant or dark figure than he could have been, or may have been envisioned. He can be deadly serious, but can just as easily come across as good-humored and big-hearted.

 

[Kor]

I think I've only watched very little of the "Have Gun" TV series, but I have listened to the radio drama aplenty. I am a fan of old-time radio.

Interestingly, the TV show came first.

Kor

 

[Mr. Adventure]

A bit of Trek-related trivia: In their series prospectus (pitch document) for the Assignment: Earth spinoff (the version with the TOS episode as its backdoor pilot, not the earlier, half-hour version unconnected to ST), Roddenberry and Art Wallace cited Paladin as their model for the character of Gary Seven, referring to Paladin's "remarkable knowledge, attitudes and abilities" which made him seem like a man from another place and time, as well as his "detached and superior, sometimes almost condescending, perspective from which he viewed the fallible world about him."

I haven't watched it in quite a while but the second part doesn't sound right. I don't remember Paladin being detached, he seemed quite into whatever quest he stumbled onto and always saw it to the end. He tried to do the right thing as he saw it but I never took that as him seeing himself as superior any more than any of us do when we do the same.

 

[The Old Mixer]

this is an ideal example that a complete dramatic story can be told within the framework of a half hour, thoroughly disproving the naysayers of CBS/P's recent fanfilm guidelines decrying proper dramatic stories cannot be done in a mere 30 minutes.

The Rifleman is another great example of dramatic storytelling within the economy of a half-hour time slot. And over on the sci-fi side of things, there was this little show called The Twilight Zone....

I haven't watched a lot of HGWT, but they show a couple episodes a day, six days a week on H&I.