Branded
Encyclopedia
Branded is a Western
series which aired on NBC
from 1965 through 1966, sponsored by Procter & Gamble
in its Sunday night 8:30pm Eastern Time period, and starred Chuck Connors
as Jason McCord, a United States Army
Cavalry
captain who had been drummed out
of the service following an unjust accusation of cowardice
.
, his buttons are pulled off, and his saber
is broken, while a drum plays over the opening theme song ("Branded, scorned as the one who ran. What do you do when you're branded, and you know you're a man? Wherever you go for the rest of your life you must prove ... you're a man.") He is then sent out of the gates of the fort where this occurred, and the gates are closed behind him. This scene was repeated each week as the theme song, composed by Dominic Frontiere
, with lyrics by Alan Alch, recounted the series' background story, and the main title credits were presented. New viewers could easily be brought in on what had been going on, a very common device at the time used in many other programs as well.
The shows' lyrics tell the story of the protagonist in short fashion:
All but one man died......
There at Bitter Creek.....
And they say he ran away....
Branded! Marked with a cowards shame.....
What do you do when you're branded, when you fight for your name?
He was innocent.....,
Not a charge was true.......,
But the world will never know..
.
Branded, scorned as the one who ran,
What do you do when you're branded, and you know you're a man.
Wherever you go, for the rest of your life
You must prove.........., you're a man.......
The opening sequence was one of the longer ones in television at the time at 1:15
and the closing theme seemed to have even more story;
Closing credits lyrics:
Branded!…friends are a thing unknown.....what do you do when you’re branded? Well you go on alone
Of his General Reed...and the men who died...he can never-speak-the-truth…
Branded! That’s not the way to die...what can you do when you’re branded? Can you live-with-a-lie?
Branded!!
In the series, McCord traveled throughout the Old West, continually confronted by people who refused to believe his notorious reputation for cowardice was undeserved, requiring him to prove them wrong.
Notable guest stars included Chris Alcaide
, Russ Conway
, Burt Reynolds
, Don Collier
, Burgess Meredith
, John Carradine
, Pat Conway
, Janet De Gore
, Chad Everett
, I. Stanford Jolley
, June Lockhart
, Gregg Palmer
, Dolores del Río
, and Lee Van Cleef
. John M. Pickard
, formerly of the related series, Boots and Saddles
, appeared in six episodes as General Phil Sheridan.
, the show was co-produced for most of its run by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions in association with Sentinel Productions, Inc. Goodson-Todman was primarily known not for Westerns or dramatic shows, but almost exclusively for game and panel shows such as What's My Line?
and The Price is Right
. Present-day US rights to Branded came into the ownership of King World before it became CBS Television Distribution
, making Branded one of the very few Goodson-Todman properties that FremantleMedia
neither owns nor distributes. Many stations that carry Branded today usually schedule the program alongside another King World-distributed program about drifters in the Old West, Aaron Spelling
's The Guns of Will Sonnett
, which starred Walter Brennan
alongside Norman "Dack" Rambo
.
The series followed Connors's highly popular series The Rifleman
, but it did not have that show's longevity, lasting only 48 episodes divided between only two seasons. The first 13 episodes were filmed in black & white, while the remaining 35 episodes were filmed in color.
* In color
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series which aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from 1965 through 1966, sponsored by Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
in its Sunday night 8:30pm Eastern Time period, and starred Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain in the 1960s ABC hit Western series The Rifleman....
as Jason McCord, a United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
Cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
captain who had been drummed out
Drumming out
Drumming out is the historical act of being dishonorably dismissed from military service to the sound of a drum. In modern figurative use it refers to any act of expulsion or dismissal in disgrace.-Origin:...
of the service following an unjust accusation of cowardice
Cowardice
Cowardice is the perceived failure to demonstrate sufficient mental robustness and courage in the face of a challenge. Under many military codes of justice, cowardice in the face of combat is a crime punishable by death...
.
Description
The opening scene of the series was a depiction of McCord's cashiering: his hat is pulled off, his epaulets are torn from his uniformUniform
A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...
, his buttons are pulled off, and his saber
Sabre
The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger...
is broken, while a drum plays over the opening theme song ("Branded, scorned as the one who ran. What do you do when you're branded, and you know you're a man? Wherever you go for the rest of your life you must prove ... you're a man.") He is then sent out of the gates of the fort where this occurred, and the gates are closed behind him. This scene was repeated each week as the theme song, composed by Dominic Frontiere
Dominic Frontiere
Dominic Frontiere is an American composer, arranger, and jazz accordionist. He is known for composing the theme and much of the music for the first season of the television series The Outer Limits.-Early years:...
, with lyrics by Alan Alch, recounted the series' background story, and the main title credits were presented. New viewers could easily be brought in on what had been going on, a very common device at the time used in many other programs as well.
The shows' lyrics tell the story of the protagonist in short fashion:
All but one man died......
There at Bitter Creek.....
And they say he ran away....
Branded! Marked with a cowards shame.....
What do you do when you're branded, when you fight for your name?
He was innocent.....,
Not a charge was true.......,
But the world will never know..
.
Branded, scorned as the one who ran,
What do you do when you're branded, and you know you're a man.
Wherever you go, for the rest of your life
You must prove.........., you're a man.......
The opening sequence was one of the longer ones in television at the time at 1:15
and the closing theme seemed to have even more story;
Closing credits lyrics:
Branded!…friends are a thing unknown.....what do you do when you’re branded? Well you go on alone
Of his General Reed...and the men who died...he can never-speak-the-truth…
Branded! That’s not the way to die...what can you do when you’re branded? Can you live-with-a-lie?
Branded!!
In the series, McCord traveled throughout the Old West, continually confronted by people who refused to believe his notorious reputation for cowardice was undeserved, requiring him to prove them wrong.
Notable guest stars included Chris Alcaide
Chris Alcaide
Christopher "Chris" Alcaide was an American actor particularly known for his role in television westerns. He surfaced to national attention as Deputy Joshua Tate in the 1956 film Gunslinger, co-starring Beverly Garland as a woman marshal.In 2003, Alcaide was among recipients, including the Sons of...
, Russ Conway
Russ Conway (actor)
Russ Conway was a Canadian-American character actor who appeared on film and television between 1947 and 1975.-Early years:...
, Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
, Don Collier
Don Collier
Donald Collier is an American radio personality and a former actor, particularly known for his role in television westerns during the 1960s. He played U.S. Marshal Will Foreman in the 1960-1962 NBC series Outlaws, with Barton MacLane , Jock Gaynor , and Bruce Yarnell...
, Burgess Meredith
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
, John Carradine
John Carradine
John Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
, Pat Conway
Pat Conway
Patrick Douglas Conway, known as Pat Conway , was an American actor best known for his role as young but tough Sheriff Clay Hollister on the ABC and then syndicated western television series Tombstone Territory . He was a maternal grandson of silent film star Francis X...
, Janet De Gore
Janet De Gore
Janet De Gore is a former actress best known for her supporting roles on two television series, The Law and Mr. Jones on ABC and The Real McCoys, renamed The McCoys in its last season on CBS . In The Law and Mr...
, Chad Everett
Chad Everett
Chad Everett is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and television series but is probably best known for his role as Dr. Joe Gannon in the 1970s television drama Medical Center.-Early life:...
, I. Stanford Jolley
I. Stanford Jolley
Isaac Stanford Jolley, Sr., known as I. Stanford Jolley was a prolific American character actor of film and television, primarily in western roles as cowboys, law-enforcement officers, or villains...
, June Lockhart
June Lockhart
June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, but with memorable performances on stage and in film too. She is remembered as the mother in two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr...
, Gregg Palmer
Gregg Palmer
Gregg Palmer, originally Palmer Lee is an American actor, known primarily for his prolific work in television westerns...
, Dolores del Río
Dolores del Río
Dolores del Río was a Mexican film actress. She was a star of Hollywood films during the silent era and in the Golden Age of Hollywood...
, and Lee Van Cleef
Lee Van Cleef
Lee Van Cleef was an American film actor who appeared mostly in Western and action pictures. His sharp features and piercing eyes led to his being cast as a villain in scores of films such as High Noon, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and The Good The Bad and the Ugly.-Early life:Van Cleef was...
. John M. Pickard
John Pickard (American actor)
John M. Pickard was an American actor who appeared primarily in television Westerns.-Early life and career:...
, formerly of the related series, Boots and Saddles
Boots and Saddles (TV series)
Boots and Saddles is an American Western television series that aired in syndication from 1957 to 1958. The series was created by Robert A. Cinader.-Synopsis:...
, appeared in six episodes as General Phil Sheridan.
Production
Created by Larry CohenLarry Cohen
Lawrence G. "Larry" Cohen is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is best known as a B-Movie auteur of horror and science fiction films - often containing a police procedural element - during 1970s and 1980s...
, the show was co-produced for most of its run by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions in association with Sentinel Productions, Inc. Goodson-Todman was primarily known not for Westerns or dramatic shows, but almost exclusively for game and panel shows such as What's My Line?
What's My Line?
What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
and The Price is Right
The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed...
. Present-day US rights to Branded came into the ownership of King World before it became CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution is a global television distribution company, formed from the merger of CBS Corporation's two domestic television distribution arms CBS Paramount Domestic Television and King World Productions, including its home entertainment arm CBS Home Entertainment...
, making Branded one of the very few Goodson-Todman properties that FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia, Ltd. is the content and production division of Bertelsmann's RTL Group, Europe's second largest TV, radio, and production company...
neither owns nor distributes. Many stations that carry Branded today usually schedule the program alongside another King World-distributed program about drifters in the Old West, Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling was an American film and television producer. As of 2009, Spelling's eponymous production company Spelling Television holds the record as the most prolific television writer, with 218 producer and executive producer credits...
's The Guns of Will Sonnett
The Guns of Will Sonnett
The Guns of Will Sonnett is a Western television series set in the 1870s which ran on the ABC television network from 1967 to 1969. The series was the first production collaboration between Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas, who would later go on to produce one of ABC's most-memorable hits, The Mod...
, which starred Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
alongside Norman "Dack" Rambo
Dack Rambo
Norman Jay Rambeau , professionally known as Dack Rambo, was an American actor, most notable for appearing as Walter Brennan's grandson Jeff in the ABC series The Guns of Will Sonnett, as Steve Jacobi in All My Children, as cousin Jack Ewing on CBS's Dallas, and as Grant Harrison on the NBC soap...
.
The series followed Connors's highly popular series The Rifleman
The Rifleman
The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...
, but it did not have that show's longevity, lasting only 48 episodes divided between only two seasons. The first 13 episodes were filmed in black & white, while the remaining 35 episodes were filmed in color.
Season 1 (black and white)
| Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1-1 | "Survival" | January 24, 1965 |
| 1-2 | "The Vindicator" (pilot) | January 31, 1965 |
| 1-3 | "The Test" | February 7, 1965 |
| 1-4 | "The Rules of the Game" | February 14, 1965 |
| 1-5 | "The Bounty" | February 21, 1965 |
| 1-6 | "Leap Upon Mountains..." | February 28, 1965 |
| 1-7 | "Coward, Step Aside" | March 7, 1965 |
| 1-8 | *"The Mission" (part one) | March 14, 1965 |
| 1-9 | *"The Mission" (part two) | March 21, 1965 |
| 1-10 | *"The Mission" (part three) | March 28, 1965 |
| 1-11 | "The First Kill" | April 4, 1965 |
| 1-12 | "Very Few Heroes" | April 11, 1965 |
| 1-13 | "One Way Out" | April 18, 1965 |
| 1-14 | "That the Brave Endure" | April 25, 1965 |
| 1-15 | "Taste Of Poison" | May 2, 1965 |
| 1-16 | "Price Of A Name" | May 23, 1965 |
Season 2 (color)
| Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 2-1 | "Judge Not" | September 12, 1965 |
| 2-2 | "Now Join the Human Race" | September 19, 1965 |
| 2-3 | "Mightier Than the Sword" | September 26, 1965 |
| 2-4 | "I Killed Jason McCord" | October 3, 1965 |
| 2-5 | "The Bar Sinister" | October 10, 1965 |
| 2-6 | "Seward's Folly" | October 17, 1965 |
| 2-7 | "Salute the Soldier Briefly" | October 24, 1965 |
| 2-8 | "The Richest Man In Boot Hill" | October 31, 1965 |
| 2-9 | "Fill No Glass For Me" (part one) | November 7, 1965 |
| 2-10 | "Fill No Glass For Me" (part two) | November 14, 1965 |
| 2-11 | "The Greatest Coward On Earth" | November 21, 1965 |
| 2-12 | "$10,000 For Durango" | November 28, 1965 |
| 2-13 | "Romany Roundup" (part one) | December 5, 1965 |
| 2-14 | "Romany Roundup" (part two) | December 12, 1965 |
| 2-15 | "A Proud Town" | December 19, 1965 |
| 2-16 | "The Golden Fleece" | January 2, 1966 |
| 2-17 | "The Wolfers" | January 9, 1966 |
| 2-18 | "This Stage Of Fools" | January 16, 1966 |
| 2-19 | "A Destiny Which Made Us Brothers" | January 23, 1966 |
| 2-20 | "McCord's Way" | January 30, 1966 |
| 2-21 | "Nice Day For A Hanging" | February 6, 1966 |
| 2-22 | "Barbed Wire" | February 13, 1966 |
| 2-23 | "Yellow For Courage" | February 20, 1966 |
| 2-24 | "Call To Glory" (part one) | February 27, 1966 |
| 2-25 | "Call To Glory" (part two) | March 6, 1966 |
| 2-26 | "Call To Glory" (part three) | March 13, 1966 |
| 2-27 | "The Ghost Of Murietta" | March 20, 1966 |
| 2-28 | "The Assassins" (part one) | March 27, 1966 |
| 2-29 | "The Assassins" (part two) | April 3, 1966 |
| 2-30 | "Headed For Doomsday" | April 10, 1966 |
| 2-31 | "Cowards Die Many Times" | April 17, 1966 |
| 2-32 | "Kellie" | April 24, 1966 |
DVD releases
Timeless Media Group released both seasons of Branded on DVD in Region 1 in 2004-2005. Season 1 was released on August 3, 2004, while season 2 was released on February 8, 2005. On February 16, 2010, Timeless Media Group released Branded: The Complete Series, a 6-disc box set featuring all 48 episodes of the series as well as several bonus features. Three minutes are missing from each segment.In popular culture
- In the 1998 Coen brothers's film The Big LebowskiThe Big LebowskiThe Big Lebowski is a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Jeff Bridges stars as Jeff Lebowski, an unemployed Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler, who is referred to as "The Dude". After a case of mistaken identity, The Dude is introduced to a millionaire also named...
, Branded is mentioned several times in connection with the (fictitious) former writer of the show, Arthur Digby Sellers. According to the character Walter Sobchak, Sellers wrote 156 episodes, "the bulk of the series." In reality, the run of Branded did not consist of even a third that many episodes. Later in the film, the main character "The Dude" (Jeff BridgesJeff BridgesJeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges is an American actor and musician. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart....
), sings the theme song to Branded while intoxicated in the back of a Malibu, CA police car. - In the 2003 film Looney Tunes: Back in ActionLooney Tunes: Back in ActionLooney Tunes: Back in Action is a 2003 American live action/animated adventure comedy film directed by Joe Dante and starring Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Timothy Dalton, and Steve Martin. The film is essentially a feature-length Looney Tunes cartoon, with all the wackiness and surrealism typical...
, D.J. Drake (played by Brendan FraserBrendan FraserBrendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series , and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man , George of the Jungle , Dudley Do-Right , Monkeybone ,...
) is fired as security guard at the Warner Bros.Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
studio in a scene lifted directly from the opening of the show. - The series Married... with ChildrenMarried... with ChildrenMarried... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...
episode "All Night Security Dude" parodies the series opening when Al BundyAl BundyAl Bundy is a fictional character from the U.S. television series Married... with Children. He was played by Ed O'Neill.-Character history:...
is fired from his replacement job as a high school security guard in the same fashion as McCord, while the theme song plays. Afterward, while he sulks with his broken night stickClub (weapon)A club is among the simplest of all weapons. A club is essentially a short staff, or stick, usually made of wood, and wielded as a weapon since prehistoric times....
, Al quotes the song's lyric to his wife Peggy by asking, "What can I do when I'm branded and I know I'm a man?" - In the Video Game Fallout New Vegas there was a battle at Bitter Springs by the New California Republic with same incident as the series.