Wanted: Dead or Alive
Encyclopedia
Wanted: Dead or Alive is an American
Western
television series starring Steve McQueen
as the bounty hunter
Josh Randall. It aired on CBS
for three seasons from 1958-1961. The black-and-white
program was a spin-off
of a March 1958 episode of Trackdown
, a 1957-1959 western series starring Robert Culp
as a Texas Ranger
named Hoby Gilman. Both series were produced by Four Star Television
.
The series launched McQueen into becoming the first television star to cross over into comparable status on the big screen.
veteran and bounty hunter
with a soft heart. He often donates his earnings to the needy and helps his prisoners if they have been wrongly accused.
Randall carries a shortened Winchester Model 1892
carbine, called the "Mare's Leg
," in a holster patterned after "gunslinger
" rigs then popular in movies and television.Randall had the ability to draw and fire this gun with blazing speed,as fast as , or in many cases much faster than , his adversaries with handguns that were much smaller.
and produced by Four Star Productions. Writers included Samuel A. Peeples
and Charles Beaumont
.
In the Christmas 1958 episode, Jay North
, later star of CBS's Dennis the Menace, asks Santa for a new shotgun for his father. Other guest stars included Noah Beery, Jr.
, Lon Chaney, Jr.
, Alan Hale, Jr.
, James Best
, James Coburn
, John Dehner
, DeForest Kelley
, Michael Landon
, Warren Oates
, Suzanne Storrs
, and William Schallert
.
There were two types of footage for the show's opening titles. In Seasons 1 and 2, a close-up on the 'Mare's Leg' gun in its holster on Randall's leg zooms out to show Randall striding to an outdoor bulletin board, from which he takes a 'Wanted' Poster and then glares at the viewer. For the final season, a black screen reveals the flash and sound of three shots from the 'Mare's Leg;' as Randall advanced toward the viewer, there was a lighted close-up on the gun as it was holstered, and then Randall's head and shoulders were seen.
The first season theme song was written and conducted by Bill Loose. It was replaced by a new theme titled "Wanted". This theme was used until the end of the series and was written and conducted by Herschel Burke Gilbert
.
; the colorized version aired on at least 50 independent television stations
.
released season 1 of Wanted: Dead or Alive on DVD in Region 1. In 2007, BCI Eclipse acquired the distribution rights to the series and released the final two seasons on DVD. Season 2 was released on July 17, 2007, and season 3 on October 16, 2007. These releases are now out of print as BCI Eclipse ceased operations in December 2008.
In June 2009, Mill Creek Entertainment
acquired the rights to the series and have subsequently re-released the first two seasons. On August 25, 2009, they released an 11-disc box set featuring all 94 episodes of the series on DVD for the very first time.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Western
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 starring Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
as the bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
Josh Randall. It aired 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...
for three seasons from 1958-1961. The black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
program was a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
of a March 1958 episode of Trackdown
Trackdown
Trackdown is an American Western television series starring Robert Culp that aired on CBS between 1957 and 1959. The series offered more than seventy episodes and was produced by Dick Powell's Four Star Television and filmed at the Desilu-Culver Studio...
, a 1957-1959 western series starring Robert Culp
Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
as a Texas Ranger
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
named Hoby Gilman. Both series were produced by Four Star Television
Four Star Television
Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Ida Lupino, and Charles Boyer, the company produced many well-known shows of the early days of...
.
The series launched McQueen into becoming the first television star to cross over into comparable status on the big screen.
Synopsis
McQueen's character of Josh Randall is a ConfederateConfederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
veteran and bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
with a soft heart. He often donates his earnings to the needy and helps his prisoners if they have been wrongly accused.
Randall carries a shortened Winchester Model 1892
Winchester Model 1892
The Winchester Model 1892 was a lever-action repeating rifle designed by John Browning as a smaller, lighter version of his large-frame Model 1886, and which replaced the Model 1873 as the company's lever-action for smaller dual-use rounds such as the .44-40 .-History:When asked by Winchester to...
carbine, called the "Mare's Leg
Mare's Leg
The Mare’s Leg was the name given to a customized shortened rifle by Steve McQueen’s character on the television series Wanted: Dead or Alive...
," in a holster patterned after "gunslinger
Gunslinger
Gunfighter, also gunslinger , is a 20th century word, used in cinema or literature, referring to men in the American Old West who had gained a reputation as being dangerous with a gun...
" rigs then popular in movies and television.Randall had the ability to draw and fire this gun with blazing speed,as fast as , or in many cases much faster than , his adversaries with handguns that were much smaller.
Production
The series was filmed in black and white at the Selznick StudiosDavid O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
and produced by Four Star Productions. Writers included Samuel A. Peeples
Samuel A. Peeples
Samuel Anthony Peeples was an American writer. He published several novels in the Western genre, often under the pen name Brad Ward, before moving into series television after being given a script assignment by Frank Gruber...
and Charles Beaumont
Charles Beaumont
Charles Beaumont was a prolific American author of speculative fiction, including short stories in the horror and science fiction subgenres. He is remembered as a writer of classic Twilight Zone episodes, such as "The Howling Man", "Miniature", and "Printer's Devil", but also penned the...
.
In the Christmas 1958 episode, Jay North
Jay North
Jay North is an American actor. Beginning a prolific career as a child actor at the age of six, North became a household name during the early 1960s for his role as the well-meaning, but mischievous, Dennis Mitchell on the CBS situation comedy Dennis the Menace, based on the comic strip created...
, later star of CBS's Dennis the Menace, asks Santa for a new shotgun for his father. Other guest stars included Noah Beery, Jr.
Noah Beery, Jr.
Noah Lindsey Beery , known professionally as Noah Beery, Jr. or just Noah Beery, was an American actor specializing in warm, friendly character parts similar to the ones played by his uncle Wallace Beery, although Noah Beery, Jr., unlike his uncle, seldom broke away from playing supporting...
, Lon Chaney, Jr.
Lon Chaney, Jr.
Lon Chaney, Jr. , born Creighton Tull Chaney, was an American character actor. He was best known for his roles in monster movies and as the son of famous silent film actor, Lon Chaney...
, Alan Hale, Jr.
Alan Hale, Jr.
Alan Hale, Jr. was an American film and television actor, best known for his role as Skipper on the popular sitcom Gilligan's Island. Hale was the lookalike son of popular supporting film actor Alan Hale, Sr....
, James Best
James Best
James Best is an American actor best known for his role as bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the CBS television series The Dukes of Hazzard. He has also worked as an acting coach, artist, and musician.-Early years:...
, James Coburn
James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
, John Dehner
John Dehner
John Dehner was an American actor in radio, television, and films, playing countless roles, often as a droll villain. Between 1941 and 1988, he appeared in over 260 films and television programs. Prior to acting, Dehner had worked as an animator at Walt Disney Studios, and later became a radio...
, DeForest Kelley
DeForest Kelley
Jackson DeForest Kelley was an American actor known for his iconic roles in Westerns and as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy of the USS Enterprise in the television and film series Star Trek.-Early life:...
, Michael Landon
Michael Landon
Michael Landon was an American actor, writer, director, and producer. He is widely known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza , Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie , and Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven...
, Warren Oates
Warren Oates
Warren Mercer Oates was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah including The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia...
, Suzanne Storrs
Suzanne Storrs
Suzanne Storrs was a former Miss Utah and an American television actress who appeared in sixteen different television series between 1954 and 1961, usually as the beautiful leading lady, including Maverick with James Garner , Wanted Dead or Alive with Steve McQueen , Sugarfoot Suzanne Storrs...
, and William Schallert
William Schallert
William Joseph Schallert is an American actor who has appeared in many films and in such television series as The Smurfs, The Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, The Patty Duke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Waltons, Bonanza, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Get...
.
There were two types of footage for the show's opening titles. In Seasons 1 and 2, a close-up on the 'Mare's Leg' gun in its holster on Randall's leg zooms out to show Randall striding to an outdoor bulletin board, from which he takes a 'Wanted' Poster and then glares at the viewer. For the final season, a black screen reveals the flash and sound of three shots from the 'Mare's Leg;' as Randall advanced toward the viewer, there was a lighted close-up on the gun as it was holstered, and then Randall's head and shoulders were seen.
The first season theme song was written and conducted by Bill Loose. It was replaced by a new theme titled "Wanted". This theme was used until the end of the series and was written and conducted by Herschel Burke Gilbert
Herschel Burke Gilbert
Herschel Burke Gilbert was a prolific orchestrator, musical supervisor and composer of film scores as well as television scores and theme songs, including the themes for The Rifleman , Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater and The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor...
.
Colorized version
In December 1987, thanks to Four Star International, Wanted: Dead or Alive became the first vintage TV series to be completely colorizedFilm colorization
Film colorization is any process that adds color to black-and-white, sepia or monochrome moving-picture images. It may be done as a special effect, or to modernize black-and-white films, or to restore color films...
; the colorized version aired on at least 50 independent television stations
Independent station
An independent station is in the category of television terminology used to describe a television station broadcasting in the United States or Canada that is not affiliated with any television network....
.
1987 film
In 1987, New World Pictures adapted the series into a low-budget film of the same name; Rutger Hauer played modern-day bounty hunter Nick Randall, Josh's grandson.DVD releases
On June 7, 2005, New Line Home VideoNew Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
released season 1 of Wanted: Dead or Alive on DVD in Region 1. In 2007, BCI Eclipse acquired the distribution rights to the series and released the final two seasons on DVD. Season 2 was released on July 17, 2007, and season 3 on October 16, 2007. These releases are now out of print as BCI Eclipse ceased operations in December 2008.
In June 2009, Mill Creek Entertainment
Mill Creek Entertainment
Mill Creek Entertainment is a home entertainment company that manufactures movie and television DVD compilation box sets at "value" prices. Nashville's Amity Entertainment is an affiliate to Mill Creek...
acquired the rights to the series and have subsequently re-released the first two seasons. On August 25, 2009, they released an 11-disc box set featuring all 94 episodes of the series on DVD for the very first time.
| DVD name | Ep# | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Season One | 36 | August 25, 2009 |
| Season Two | 32 | March 9, 2010 |