One of the most notable televisionWesternsof the 1960s was theJames Drury-led series,The Virginian. Behind other Western giants,GunsmokeandBonanza,The Virginianwas the third longest-running horse opera in the network’s history. With nine seasons total and just shy of 250 episodes, the series only ended because of the rural purge that wiped out most Western programs. But how didThe Virginianstart? Well, believe it or not, it originated in an earlier program — one that aired back in 1958.
‘The Virginian’ Started as an Episode of an NBC Mid-season Replacement
Of course,The Virginianitself is loosely based on the 1902 novelThe Virginian: Horseman of the PlainsbyOwen Wister. The book served as the basis for various film adaptations over the years, including two silent films in 1914 and 1923, aGary Cooper-led pre-Code talkie in 1929, a 1946 remake, and two 21st-century adaptations, one starringBill Pullmanin 2000 and the otherTrace Adkinsin 2014. Butthe most famous derivative work from Wister’s original was undoubtedlyThe Virginiantelevision series, which held the source material very loosely. Even still, before the program premiered on NBC in 1962, James Drury attempted to bring the Virginian to life a few years earlier in the network’s 1958 mid-season replacement,Decision.
According toThe Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-PresentbyTim BrooksandEarle Marsh,Decisionwas a replacement for NBC’sThe Loretta Young Showand aired only briefly on Sundays from July 1958 until September of the same year. The half-hour program was an anthology made up of other potential network pilots that NBC didn’t know what to otherwise do with. James Drury starred as “the Virginian” himself, who played the part a bit more like a strict adaptation of Wister’s book. The titular Virginian wore a belt buckle with CSA (for the Confederate States of America) plastered across it and maintained a noticeable Southern accent. However,Decision— not to be confused withThe Virginianepisode called “The Decision” — didn’t last. Despite being the first episode to air in the short-lived network replacement,NBC at first passed on “The Virginian” concept. That is, until they didn’t.
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In 1962, James Drury returned as the Virginian character, with the network changing its mindabout the program’s future after a new pilot episode, “The Executioners,” was shot. However, the character was now re-branded as a Wyoming ranch foreman with no discernable Southern accent or Confederate sympathies. More than that, a supporting cast was added, including the Virginian’s father figure, Judge Ganh (Lee J. Cobb), the book’s original villain, Trampas (Doug McClure, who plays the character as an ally in the series), the judge’s daughter Betsy (Roberta Shore), and a handful of other rotating characters throughout all nine seasons. LikeGunsmoke,The Virginianbranded itself a more adult Western, one that strayed from thegimmicky B-Western programslikeThe Lone RangerorHopalong Cassidy. Instead,The Virginiantook itself fairly seriously, much to its success.
‘The Virginian’ Became One of the Biggest TV Westerns of Its Day
WhileCheyennemay have been the first hour-long Western series, changing the game for television across the board,The Virginianwas the first 90-minute Western ever produced. Because ofthe show’s commitment to longer stories, each episode felt more like a major motion picture, one that opted to air on television instead of at the theater. Indeed, the show’s strong characters — particularly the Virginian (whose real name is never revealed) and Tramapas — kept audiences glued to the screen every Wednesday night at 7:30 for nine years. Of course, the show was re-titledThe Man from Shilohin the ninth season, with the period in Wyoming Territory history moved back a few years to the late 1890s instead of earlier that decade, but its consistency across the board (even in the wake of exiting cast members) was admirable.
Though often overshadowed by some of its longer, more successful contemporaries,The Virginianwas a triumph of the genre that pushed James Drury into stardom. The series eventually spun off on its own with the 1965 WesternLaredo, but that program only lasted a few short years. But the flagship program was a solid one.Another victim of the rural purge, the series may have lasted as long asBonanzahad the network opted to keep it around, but spending nearly a decade on television was no small feat. Many years later, James Drury and Doug McClure would reprise their roles fromThe Virginianin theKenny Rogers-ledThe Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, which smasheda dozen different TV Westernstogether. Though they played characters simply named “Jim” and “Doug,” likely to avoid any legal clashes with network higher-ups, their attire gave them away like their classic characters fromThe Virginian. Even all these years later, it’s still a joy to watch them ride off into the sunset.The Virginianis available for streaming on Spectrum TV.
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The Virginian
