The Gabby Hayes Show
Encyclopedia
The Gabby Hayes Show is a general purpose western
television series in which the film
star and Roy Rogers
confidant, George "Gabby" Hayes (1885–1969), narrated each episode, showed clips from old westerns, or told tall tale
s for a primarily children's audience. The first Hayes program ran on NBC
at 5:15 p.m. Eastern for fifteen minutes three times per week and preceded the puppet series, Howdy Doody
. It aired from December 11, 1950, to January 1, 1954. The second version was a half-hour broadcast on Saturday mornings, carried for only thirteen weeks from May 12 to July 14, 1956, on ABC
.
The show was sponsored by Quaker Oats' puffed cereals, which were "shot from guns". As was common at the time, the host delivered the commercial. This often included Hayes firing a small cannon loaded with the cereal at the camera, while warning the viewers to "Watch out for your televisionary sets!"
Wright King (born 1923) appeared on the program in 1950-1951 in the roles of both bandit Sam Bass
and the youthful Mark Twain
.
In 1953, the 15-minute episodes of The Gabby Hayes Show were nominated for an Emmy Award
for children's programming. Hayes retired after the close of the 1956 series.
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...
television series in which the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
star and Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
confidant, George "Gabby" Hayes (1885–1969), narrated each episode, showed clips from old westerns, or told tall tale
Tall tale
A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some such stories are exaggerations of actual events, for example fish stories such as, "that fish was so big, why I tell ya', it nearly sank the boat when I pulled it in!" Other tall tales are completely...
s for a primarily children's audience. The first Hayes program ran 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...
at 5:15 p.m. Eastern for fifteen minutes three times per week and preceded the puppet series, Howdy Doody
Howdy Doody
Howdy Doody is an American children's television program that was created and produced by E. Roger Muir and telecast on NBC in the United States from 1947 until 1960. It was a pioneer in children's television programming and set the pattern for many similar shows...
. It aired from December 11, 1950, to January 1, 1954. The second version was a half-hour broadcast on Saturday mornings, carried for only thirteen weeks from May 12 to July 14, 1956, on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
.
The show was sponsored by Quaker Oats' puffed cereals, which were "shot from guns". As was common at the time, the host delivered the commercial. This often included Hayes firing a small cannon loaded with the cereal at the camera, while warning the viewers to "Watch out for your televisionary sets!"
Selected episodes from 1956
Selected episodes and guest stars from archival footage include:- "Ambush Trail" (I. Stanford JolleyI. Stanford JolleyIsaac 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...
as Bolton) - "Enemy of the Law" (Tex RitterTex RitterWoodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
as Tex) - "Fighting VigilanteVigilanteA vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
s" (Lash La RueLash La RueAlfred "Lash" LaRue was a popular western motion picture star of the 1940s and 1950s. He had exceptional skill with the bull whip, and taught Harrison Ford how to use a bullwhip in the Indiana Jones movies...
, known as the cowboyCowboyA cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
with the bullwhipBullwhipA bullwhip is a single-tailed whip, usually made of braided leather, which was originally used as a tool for working with livestock.Bullwhips are pastoral tools, traditionally used to control livestock in open country...
, as Cheyenne Davis) - "Ghost TownGhost Town"Ghost Town" is the title of a 1981 song by the British ska band, The Specials. The song spent three weeks at number one and ten weeks in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. Addressing themes of urban decay, deindustrialisation, unemployment and violence in inner cities, the song is remembered for...
Renegades" (La Rue and William FawcettWilliam Fawcett (actor)William "Bill" Fawcett was a character actor in Hollywood B-films and in television. His career extended from 1946 until the early 1970s. He is probably best remembered for his role as the cantankerous, rusty-voiced Pete Wilkey of the Broken Wheel Ranch on the NBC series Fury, co-starring Peter...
, later of NBC's FuryFury (TV series)Fury is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1955–1960, starring Peter Graves as Jim Newton , Bobby Diamond as Jim's adopted son, Joey Clark Newton, and William Fawcett as ranch hand Pete Wilkey...
series, as Jonas Watson) - "His Brother's Ghost" (Buster CrabbeBuster CrabbeClarence Linden "Buster" Crabbe was an American athlete and actor, who starred in a number of popular serials in the 1930s and 1940s.-Birth:...
as Billy Carson) - "NavajoNavajo peopleThe Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
Kid" (Jolley) - "Overland Riders" (Crabbe)
- "Shadow Valley", with Eddie DeanEddie Dean (singer)Eddie Dean was an American western singer and actor whom Roy Rogers and Gene Autry termed the best cowboy singer of all time. Dean was best known for "I Dreamed Of A Hill-Billy Heaven" , which became an even greater hit in 1961 for Tex Ritter....
and Roscoe AtesRoscoe AtesRoscoe Ates was an actor and musician in primarily western films and television.-Early years:Ates was born in the rural hamlet of Grange, Mississippi, northwest of Hattiesburg. Grange is no longer included on road maps...
as Soapy Jones. Both Dean and Ates were co-stars of the 1950 ABC series The Marshal of Gunsight PassThe Marshal of Gunsight PassThe Marshal of Gunsight Pass is a 1950 live broadcast western television series starring Russell Hayden , former Country music singer Eddie Dean , and Riley Hill as Marshal #1, Marshal #2, and Marshal #3, respectively. Hayden is not identified by a character name. Dean uses his own name in the...
. - "Stage to Mesa City" (La Rue)
- "StagecoachStagecoachA stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
Outlaws" (Crabbe and Jolley) - "Terrors on Horseback" (Crabbe and Jolley)
- "Three in the Saddle" (Ritter)
- "Wild Horse PhantomWild Horse Phantom- Cast :*Buster Crabbe as Billy Carson*Falcon as Billy's Horse*Al St. John as Fuzzy Jones*Janet Warren as Marian Garnet*Kermit Maynard as Link Daggett, Gang Leader*Budd Buster as Ed Garnet*Hal Price as Clipp Walters*Robert Meredith as Tom Hanlon...
" (Crabbe and Kermit MaynardKermit MaynardKermit Maynard was an American actor and stuntman. He appeared in 280 films between 1927 and 1962. He was a younger brother of actor Ken Maynard. He was born in Vevay, Indiana, and died in North Hollywood, California, from a heart attack. He is interred at Valhalla Memorial Park...
, brother of western film star Ken MaynardKen MaynardKen Maynard was an American motion picture stuntman and actor.-Biography:Born Kenneth Olin Maynard in Vevay, Indiana, he was one of five children. His younger brother, Kermit Maynard, also became a stuntman and actor....
)
Wright King (born 1923) appeared on the program in 1950-1951 in the roles of both bandit Sam Bass
Sam Bass
Sam Bass was a nineteenth-century American train robber and outlaw.-Early life:Bass was orphaned at the age of 10. For the next five years, he and his siblings lived with an abusive uncle. In 1869, he set out on his own and spent the next year in Mississippi...
and the youthful Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
.
In 1953, the 15-minute episodes of The Gabby Hayes Show were nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for children's programming. Hayes retired after the close of the 1956 series.