With every hoofbeat, history is made.

1962 · 9 seasons · Western

6.5 Popular

Series finished

Western Drama

The Shiloh Ranch in Wyoming Territory of the 1890s is owned in sequence by Judge Henry Garth, the Grainger brothers, and Colonel Alan MacKenzie. It is the setting for a variety of stories, many more based on character and relationships than the usual western.

Country of origin: 🇺🇸 United States
Year: 1962

Channel: NBC
Studio: Universal Television · Revue Studios · NBC

Trivia & behind the scenes

Origins

James Drury first played the Virginian in a 1958 half-hour black-and-white pilot that aired as an episode of the NBC anthology series Decision, but the pilot failed to sell as a series at the time.

Origins

The Virginian was created to replace Wagon Train after that hour-long Revue Productions series moved from NBC to ABC, and became television's first 90-minute Western series.

Casting

In the 1958 pilot, the Virginian had a Southern accent and wore a belt buckle marked 'CSA', portraying him as a Confederate Civil War veteran, a backstory dropped from the later series.

Casting

Actor Dan Blocker, later famous from Bonanza, appeared in a small, nonspeaking role in the original 1958 pilot alongside Andrew Duggan and Jeanette Nolan.

Casting

The character of Trampas was rewritten from a villain who gets shot dead by the Virginian in Owen Wister's novel into a fun-loving, rowdy comic-relief cowhand for Doug McClure, who ended up the only actor besides James Drury to appear in all nine seasons.

Casting

Actor Charles Bickford, who played ranch owner John Grainger, died suddenly on November 9, 1967, shocking the cast and forcing the show to write in his brother Clay Grainger, played by John McIntire, as the new owner.

References

Guest star George C. Scott quotes Oscar Wilde's 1898 poem 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' in the season one episode 'The Brazen Bell', one of several in-show clues placing the series' setting around 1898.

Music

In 1965, Decca Records released an LP of songs performed by cast members Randy Boone and Roberta Shore, who often sang duets together on the show.

Music

For the final season, renamed The Men from Shiloh, composer Ennio Morricone wrote a new opening theme, and the show's visual style was redesigned to resemble the spaghetti Westerns popular at the time.

Trivia

An April 1965 episode titled 'We've Lost a Train' served as a backdoor pilot for the spin-off series Laredo.

Reception

The Virginian ran for nine seasons and 249 episodes, making it the third-longest-running network Western series behind Bonanza and Gunsmoke.

Memorable quotes

"My Pa always said, 'Live fast, die laughing,' that's the way to do it."

Trampas Expressing his philosophy on living

"Anyone will tell you Trampas is as trustworthy as they come. Take my word for it.

The Virginian Speaking sarcastically about Trampas's reliability

[To the Virginian] I have never heard such hollerin' and shoutin' since the last time I asked you for a day off.

Trampas Complaining to the Virginian about his loudness

"I guess you said it yourself. I'm just a dumb cowboy. Well, maybe I'm dumb enough to believe that people should be honest and dumb enough to try to stop them when they're not."

Trampas Defending his principles despite being called dumb

"The thing is, if a woman can't win an argument any other way she can always cry. Then she can't lose."

Trampas Commenting on women's tactics in arguments

"Suckers and mules, thats what work's for, and mule's got enough sense to turn his tail on it."

Trampas Expressing disdain for hard work

"No need to push me, Mister. If you're planning on making a move, make it."

Trampas Warning someone not to provoke him

"She's saving herself for some tall, good looking cowboy with hair the color of autumn wheat."

Trampas Jesting about a woman's romantic preferences

"The dead have to be buried...There’s some things you make time for..."

The Virginian Reflecting on life's priorities

"She’s just like any other woman - she thinks with her heart instead of her head."

The Virginian Making a generalization about women

"Yo."

Trampas A casual greeting or acknowledgment

Themes

ranch 19th century

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Trivia & behind the scenes

Memorable quotes

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