The Monroes (1966 TV series)
Encyclopedia
The Monroes is a 26-segment Western
television series which ran on ABC
during the 1966-1967 season – the story of five orphans trying to survive as a family on the frontier
in the area about what is now Grand Teton National Park
near Jackson
in northwestern Wyoming
.
Michael Anderson, Jr.
, then 24, played the oldest brother, Clay Monroe. Barbara Hershey
, at 18, starred as sister Kathy Monroe. Keith Schultz and his brother Kevin Schultz
, aged 13, played twins Jefferson (Big Twin) Monroe and Fennimore (Little Twin) Monroe, respectively. Tammy Locke
played the youngest sibling, red-haired Amy Monroe.
Other stars included Buck Taylor
, prior to his role as gunsmith
-turned-deputy Newly O’Brien on CBS
’s Gunsmoke
; he is featured in ten episodes as John "Brad" Bradford. Taylor’s father Dub Taylor
portrays Cyrus in two episodes. Liam Sullivan played the character Major Mapoy, and Ron Soble was cast as Jim. Ben Johnson
, who later starred in the 1971 film
, The Last Picture Show
, was cast as Sleeve in The Monroes. James Westmoreland portrayed Ruel Jaxon in eleven episodes, and Robert Middleton
played Barney Wales in ten segments. James Brolin
, later Dr. Steve Kiley on Robert Young
’s Marcus Welby, M.D.
series, appeared in four episodes of The Monroes.Wayne Maunder
guest starred on The Monroes in the 1967 episode "Race for the Rainbow". This marked Maunder's first-ever screen appearance, but he used the name "Jack Wilder" until reverting thereafter to "Maunder", his actual name. Maunder later gained starring roles in two other westerns, Custer
and Lancer
.
The Monroes premiered at 8 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, September 7, 1966, with the episode entitled “The Intruders”, with Russ Conway
appearing as Albert Monroe, the father of the Monroe family. “Wild Dog of the Tetons” aired on October 5. “Lost in the Wilderness” ran on November 30, and “Gold Fever” aired on December 14. The series was unable to develop sufficient audience to remain on the air, and its concluding episode, “The Ghost of Paradox”, aired on March 15, 1967.
The introduction was set in the Wyoming high country – the family dog was even named “Snow" – but the scripts themselves were filmed at 20th Century Fox
television in Century City, California. The directors of The Monroes were Earl Bellamy
and Robert Douglas. Anderson and Hershey both won “Western Heritage Awards”; she for the episode “The Intruders”.
Though it benefited from the lead-in of ABC’s popular Batman
series, The Monroes faced stiff competition for the last hour of NBC
’s The Virginian
starring James Drury
and Doug McClure
(and also set in Wyoming) and CBS’s second half of Lost in Space
starring Guy Williams and June Lockhart
and the full showing of The Beverly Hillbillies
starring Buddy Ebsen
and Irene Ryan
.
Episode Guide
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 which ran 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...
during the 1966-1967 season – the story of five orphans trying to survive as a family on the frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
in the area about what is now Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park is a United States National Park located in northwestern Wyoming, U.S. The Park consists of approximately and includes the major peaks of the long Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Only south of Yellowstone...
near Jackson
Jackson, Wyoming
Jackson is a town located in the Jackson Hole valley of Teton County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 8,647 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Teton County....
in northwestern Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
.
Michael Anderson, Jr.
Michael Anderson, Jr.
Michael Joseph Anderson, Jr. is an English actor.He was born in Hillingdon, Middlesex, into a theatrical family. His grandparents and great-great-aunt were acclaimed actors. His father is the film director Michael Anderson, Sr. He is the stepson of actress Adrienne Ellis, and stepbrother of...
, then 24, played the oldest brother, Clay Monroe. Barbara Hershey
Barbara Hershey
Barbara Hershey , also known as Barbara Seagull, is an American actress. In a career spanning nearly 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema, in several genres including westerns and comedies...
, at 18, starred as sister Kathy Monroe. Keith Schultz and his brother Kevin Schultz
Kevin Schultz
Kevin Edward Schultz is an American photographer and actor, best known for his headshot photographs of famous actors such as Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen....
, aged 13, played twins Jefferson (Big Twin) Monroe and Fennimore (Little Twin) Monroe, respectively. Tammy Locke
Tammy Locke
Tammy Locke is an American actor and performer, known for her work as a child actor in The Monroes and other films and TV series.-Early life:...
played the youngest sibling, red-haired Amy Monroe.
Other stars included Buck Taylor
Buck Taylor
Walter Clarence "Buck" Taylor, III is an American actor and water color artist best known for his role as gunsmith-turned-deputy Newly O'Brien in 113 episodes during the last eight seasons of CBS's Gunsmoke television series . In recent years, he has painted the portrait of his friend and Gunsmoke...
, prior to his role as gunsmith
Gunsmith
A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds firearms. This occupation is different from an armorer. The armorer primarily maintains weapons and limited repairs involving parts replacement and possibly work involving accurization...
-turned-deputy Newly O’Brien on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
’s Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
; he is featured in ten episodes as John "Brad" Bradford. Taylor’s father Dub Taylor
Dub Taylor
Walter Clarence Taylor, Jr. , better known as Dub Taylor, was an American actor who worked extensively in Westerns, but also in comedy from the 1940s into the 1990s.-Early life:...
portrays Cyrus in two episodes. Liam Sullivan played the character Major Mapoy, and Ron Soble was cast as Jim. Ben Johnson
Ben Johnson (actor)
Ben "Son" Johnson, Jr. was an American motion picture actor who was mainly cast in Westerns. He was also a rodeo cowboy, stuntman, and rancher.-Personal life:...
, who later starred in the 1971 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...
, The Last Picture Show
The Last Picture Show
The Last Picture Show is a 1971 American drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, adapted from a semi-autobiographical 1966 novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry....
, was cast as Sleeve in The Monroes. James Westmoreland portrayed Ruel Jaxon in eleven episodes, and Robert Middleton
Robert Middleton
Robert Middleton, born Samuel G. Messer , was an American film and television actor known for his large size and beetle-like brow. With a deep, booming voice, Middleton trained for a musical career at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
played Barney Wales in ten segments. James Brolin
James Brolin
James Brolin is an American actor, producer and director, best known for his roles in soap operas, movies, sitcoms, and television. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin and husband of singer/actress Barbra Streisand.-Early life:...
, later Dr. Steve Kiley on Robert Young
Robert Young (actor)
Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...
’s Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marcus Welby, M.D. is an American medical drama television program that aired on ABC from September 23, 1969, to July 29, 1976. It starred Robert Young as a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner, and was produced by David Victor and David J. O'Connell...
series, appeared in four episodes of The Monroes.Wayne Maunder
Wayne Maunder
Wayne E. Maunder is a retired actor, originally from Canada, who starred in three American television series between 1967 and 1974.-Three television series:...
guest starred on The Monroes in the 1967 episode "Race for the Rainbow". This marked Maunder's first-ever screen appearance, but he used the name "Jack Wilder" until reverting thereafter to "Maunder", his actual name. Maunder later gained starring roles in two other westerns, Custer
Custer (TV series)
Custer, also known as The Legend of Custer, is a 17-episode military-western television series which ran on ABC from September 6 to December 27, 1967, with Wayne Maunder in the starring role of then Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. During the American Civil War, Custer had risen to the...
and Lancer
Lancer (TV series)
Lancer is a 1968-1970 Western television series on CBS, which starred Andrew Duggan, James Stacy, and Wayne Maunder as a father with two half-brother sons, an arrangement similar to the more successful Bonanza on NBC....
.
The Monroes premiered at 8 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, September 7, 1966, with the episode entitled “The Intruders”, with 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:...
appearing as Albert Monroe, the father of the Monroe family. “Wild Dog of the Tetons” aired on October 5. “Lost in the Wilderness” ran on November 30, and “Gold Fever” aired on December 14. The series was unable to develop sufficient audience to remain on the air, and its concluding episode, “The Ghost of Paradox”, aired on March 15, 1967.
The introduction was set in the Wyoming high country – the family dog was even named “Snow" – but the scripts themselves were filmed at 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
television in Century City, California. The directors of The Monroes were Earl Bellamy
Earl Bellamy
Earl Arthur Bellamy was an American film and television director, producer, writer, and set decorator.-Biography:...
and Robert Douglas. Anderson and Hershey both won “Western Heritage Awards”; she for the episode “The Intruders”.
Though it benefited from the lead-in of ABC’s popular Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
series, The Monroes faced stiff competition for the last hour of 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...
’s The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
starring James Drury
James Drury
James Child Drury, Jr. is an American actor probably best known for his success in playing the title role in the 90-minute weekly Western television series The Virginian, broadcast on NBC from 1962-1971...
and Doug McClure
Doug McClure
Douglas Osborne "Doug" McClure was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s...
(and also set in Wyoming) and CBS’s second half of Lost in Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
starring Guy Williams and 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...
and the full showing of The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
starring Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen was an American character actor and dancer. A performer for seven decades, he had starring roles as Jed Clampett in the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies and as the title character in the 1970s detective series Barnaby Jones, and played Barnaby Jones in the movie...
and Irene Ryan
Irene Ryan
Irene Ryan was an American actress, one of the few entertainers who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television and Broadway....
.
Episode Guide
- The Intruders
- Night of the Wolf
- Ride With Terror
- The Forest Devil
- Wild Dog of the Tetons
- Truth Has No Family
- Ordeal by Hope
- The Hunter
- War Arrow
- The Friendly Enemy
- Court Martial
- Silent Night, Deadly Night
- Lost in the Wilderness
- Gold Fever
- Range War
- Pawnee Warrior
- Mark of Death
- To Break a Colt
- Race for the Rainbow
- Gun Bound
- Killer Cougar
- Wild Bull
- Trapped
- Man Hunt
- Teaching the Tiger to Purr
- Ghosts of Paradox