Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Double Barrel (Episode 4) by Grey West Sylvia Booker. Sylvia Booker was a patient admitted to Seattle Grace along with her husband Kyle following an embarrassing accident. Contents. History [ edit | edit source ] Diagnosis [ edit | edit source ] Sylvia was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm which was deemed inoperable. Hospitalization [ edit | edit source ] Following the original diagnosis that her aneurysm was inoperable, Sylvia and her husband, Kyle, took a trip to Seattle so they could visit the Space Needle. While having brunch, Sylvia slipped under the table to give Kyle "some special attention". A sudden twinge caused her to bite him and without thinking, he grabbed a fork and plunged it into her neck. After the fork was removed by Meredith, Sylvia disclosed that her aneurysm may have been the cause and Derek was brought in for a consult. Despite being told how good a surgeon Derek was, Sylvia was reluctant for him to see her, saying that so many surgeons had given hope and taken it away and that her terminal prognosis had brought her and Kyle closer together. Derek eventually convinced Sylvia to let in him operate, saying if he was successful, she could have years of decades of time with Kyle instead of just weeks. Double Barrel Brain Bypass [ edit | edit source ] As the aneurysm was too big to clip, Derek proposed a double barrel brain bypass, where arteries would be harvested from Sylvia's scalp and implanted into the brain to bypass the aneurysm. According to Derek, this procedure had been performed less than a dozen times. He had performed one and watched one. In spite of the risks, Sylvia went ahead with the surgery, which ultimately proved successful. Relationships [ edit | edit source ] Romantic [ edit | edit source ] She is married to Kyle Booker. She says they became disconnected, but reconnected when she was diagnosed with the aneurysm. They traveled together. Before her surgery, they agreed that afterward, they were going to quit their jobs and move to Paris. Cogswell & Harrison (London, England) Side-by-Side Shotgun. Shotguns of this type were once the exclusive mark of the cream of society. 1937 Cogswell & Harrison Side-by-side Double-Barrel Shotgun (breech-loading/ smokeless powder/ cartridge ammunition) In 1937, the lives of the upper class in North America were about to undergo change. At the start of World War II, the very rich lived in an exclusive world, where they were able to exercise some very exclusive privileges. When the war ended, most of these were relegated to strata near the top of a gigantic middle class. The English shotgun displayed here symbolizes the prestige of those who could afford to own it. Made before the war, the gun was a proud piece of art to the Canadian who bought it. After the war, the art was still there, but the proud symbolism had changed. Instead, a fine gun symbolized the wealth of an owner who could afford it, not necessarily a member of an aristocratic upper class. Certainly the Cogswell & Harrison gun constitutes a thing of beauty, but its ownership is no longer exclusive. - Dr. William L. Roberts, THE AMERICAN LIBERTY COLLECTION; #136. The London gunmaking firm of Cogswell & Harrison Ltd. traces its origins to a period prior to the American Revolution, when Benjamin Cogswell started a business in the British capital. Cogswell had been a pawnbroker and later the owner of a gun warehouse, and his company was not listed as a manufacturer of firearms until 1857. By this time, Cogswell's oldest son, Benjamin, had taken over the business, which was well-known for its percussion revolvers, pepperboxes, and dueling pistols. In 1860, Edward Harrison became a partner in the firm, and the name was changed to reflect this. Cogswell & Harrison entered a period of great profitability as a supplier of arms to the French during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Production facilities were located at Wimbledon, but a larger factory Harrow and shops in The Strand and New Bond Street, London, produced and marketed the firm's products until a fire totally destroyed the Harrow factory. The company purchased a new, larger factory at Gillingham and began to produce cartridges in addition to firearms. The cartridge business was later discontinued due to competition from other manufacturers. A later venture into the manufacture of propellants ended disastrously when Cogswell Harrison, Edward's grandson, was killed in an explosion at the Colnbrook powder factory in 1915. Edgar Harrison, Edward's son and Cogswell's father, also joined the firm as a partner, and in 1864, he received his first patent for a pinfire double shotgun featuring an underlever that both opened the gun's action and brought it to half-cock. Edgar also held patents both singly and with others for hammerless shotguns, a combination walking stick/airgun, clay pigeon traps, and a bicycle. Cogswell & Harrison introduced the Victor hammerless gun in 1879. Other firsts for the company include the Avant Tout hammer ejector gun, introduced in 1888, and a single trigger double shotgun that appeared on the market in 1895. The firm's first over-and-under design was completed in 1945 after a lengthy development period. In addition to its line of shotguns, the company also produced double rifles in calibers ranging from .400 to .577. In 1908, Cogswell & Harrison purchased Moore and Grey, an established firm that had marketed Cogswell & Harrison-produced arms under its own name. The firm also opened shops in Piccadilly at the Avenue de l'Opera in Paris. These were frequented by gentlemen sportsmen, as were the shooting schools operated by the company. Cogswell & Harrison firearms were purchased by at least five reigning monarch, and the Maharajah of Johore maintained a standing annual order for two of the firm's Cosmos shotguns, which he presented as gifts to important guests. Economic difficulties in the post-First World War period brought about a reorganization of the company in 1933. Additional changes came about with the death of Edgar Harrison in 1938 and the appointment of R. Stuart Murray and John Peskett as the firm's director and managing director. During the Second World War, Cogswell & Harrison was one of many British firms engaged in war production, and after the return of peace, C&H was purchased by the American-based International Armament Corporation. The company continued to grow under its new owners, who purchased both a new factory at Acton and the Birmingham firm of Wright Brothers. Cogswell & Harrison's British shareholders purchased the company's retail operations in 1963. After a period in which Cogswell & Harrison concentrated on the production of less expensive boxlocks and single-barrel shotguns, the firm returned its focus to high-quality sporting arms with the introduction of new management in 1993. At present, the company produces Woodward- type over-and-under shotguns, as well as Beesley self-opening sidelock ejector guns. Many of these guns are produced on a custom order-only basis, with delivery in 18 to 24 months at prices approaching $60,000. Cogswell & Harrison also offers a repair and restoration service for older guns that will provide owners with full production details including original specifications and date of manufacture. Double Barrel (Episode 4) by Grey West. In a bold effort that pays homage to one of the most historically significant chronometers – the John Arnold pocket chronometer No. 1/36 – Arnold & Son has just announced the new Arnold & Son Tourbillon Chronometer No. 36 Gunmetal. A followup to the Tourbillon Chronometer No. 36 announced during Baselworld 2017, this new version introduces dark grey and rose gold tones that serve to enhance the visual beauty and complexity of a watch that showcases the brand’s technical prowess. More importantly, the watch features a new stainless steel case with anthracite DLC coating to achieve the pronounced gunmetal look. While the inspiration for the watch is arguably one of the most important classical timepieces in the brand’s history, this model is far more contemporary in its execution and design. The original “Arnold 36” chronometer was not only the first pocket watch by John Arnold to use a larger movement with the “T” balance, but also the first to be called a “chronometer” for its superior timekeeping capabilities. This was, of course, before the COSC affiliation that term is known for today. Rather than fully replicate the piece visually, however, Arnold & Son has created something striking and modern with a movement that essentially takes place of the dial completely. Aside from the Arnold 36 chronometer, Arnold & Son is also paying tribute to the old English gunsmith tradition, which is closely related to traditional watchmaking and shares many common techniques. The case itself is large at 46mm, which is appropriate considering how much there is to appreciate on the dial side. Everything is on display and demonstrates some of the most lavishly decorated components the brand is capable of producing. The main pivoting elements such as the wheels, barrels, the tourbillon, and others are each mounted on their own bridge. The triangular, multilevel bridges (no less than thirteen) are mostly skeletonized, providing a more contemporary sense of three-dimensional depth to the entire timepiece. The inner dial bezel is also Rhodium treated with black indexes and water resistance is generous at 30m. Inside, the COSC-certified calibre A&S8600 operates at 4Hz with the help of a double barrel system that ensure 90 hours of power reserve when fully wound. It’s manually wound, with a main plate and bridges treated with a golden coating, echoing the aesthetics of the historical pocket watches made by John Arnold. The heart of the watch, the tourbillon, features a traditional construction with a top bridge, while the mirror- polished cage has the signature Arnold & Son three-spoke design, making a complete turn in 60 seconds. The main plate is also set with mirror-polished 18k gold chatons and the wheels in the gear train are embellished with circular satin finishing with chamfered and polished edges. Even the screws are beveled and feature mirror-polished heads. While complex in its execution, the movement allows for an elegant and simple time-only display with running seconds. Other features include a dual AR-coated sapphire crystal and a sapphire display caseback. About. Have Gun – Will Travel is an American Western television series that aired on CBS from 1957 through 1963. It was one of the few television shows to birth a successful radio version. The radio series began November 23, 1958. Have Gun – Will Travel was created by Sam Rolfe and Herb Meadow and produced by Frank Pierson, Don Ingalls, Robert Sparks and Julian Claman. There were 225 episodes of the TV series (quite a few were written by Gene Roddenberry), of which 101 were directed by Andrew McLaglen and 19 were directed by series star Richard Boone. Origin of the title: “Have Gun – Will Travel” The title was a catchphrase used in personal advertisements in American newspapers during the early 190os onward, indicating that the advertiser was ready to do anything. A form common in theatrical advertising was “Have tux, will travel,” and this was the inspiration for the writer Herb Meadow. The television show popularized the phrase in the 1960s, and many variations were used as titles for other works such as Have Space Suit—Will Travel by Robert Heinlein. Filming locations. Unlike most other western TV serials, entire episodes of Have Gun – Will Travel were filmed outdoors and quite a distance from the Paramount Studios backlot. Beginning in Season Four, filming locations were often given in the closing credits. Locations included Bishop and Lone Pine, California, Between Bend and Sisters, Oregon in an area now known as Paladin estates and the Abbott Ranch near Prineville, Oregon. The Character called: Paladin. The show followed the adventures of “Paladin“, a gentleman gunfighter (played by Richard Boone on television, and by John Dehner on radio), who preferred to settle problems without violence the difficulties brought his way by clients when possible. When forced, he excels in fisticuffs and, under his real name, was a dueling champion of some renown. His name “Paladin” is derived from that of the foremost knight warriors in Charlemagne’s court. He is a gentleman gunfighter who travels around the Old West working as a mercenary gunfighter for people who hire him to solve their problems for them. Paladin typically would charge high fees to clients who could afford to hire him, obtensibly $1000 per job, but would provide his services for free to poor people who needed his help. Like many western TV shows, Have Gun – Will Travel was set during the latter part of the Reconstruction Era after the Civil War. Paladin is a former Union cavalry officer, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, and a veteran of the American Civil War. The radio show explicitly states the year in the opening of every episode with the introduction, “San Francisco, 1875. The Carlton Hotel, headquarters of the man called … Paladin!” Paladin’s permanent place of residence is the Carlton Hotel*, a luxury hotel in San Francisco, where lives the life of a successful businessman and cultured bon vivant, wearing elegant bespoke suits, consuming fine wine, playing the piano, and attending the opera and other cultural events. *(a fictional hotel ostensibly patterned after the real-world and very famous Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company) He is an expert chess player, poker player, and swordsman. He is highly educated, able to quote classic literature, philosophy, and case law, and speaks several languages. He was a polyglot, capable of speaking any foreign tongue required by the plot. (notably: French, German, Italian, Chinese and several others) He also had a thorough knowledge of ancient history and classical literature, and he exhibited a strong passion for legal principles and the rule of law. Paladin was also a world traveler. His exploits had included an 1857 visit to India, where he had won the respect of the natives as a hunter of man- eating tigers. Due to his luxurious lifestyle, many persons who met him initially mistook him for a dandy from the East Coast of the United States. But when out on his “business trips”, he dressed entirely in black (hat, shirt and trousers), carried a derringer under his belt, used calling cards with a chess knight emblem, and wore a stereotypical western-style black gunbelt with the same chess knight symbol attached to the holster. Paladin’s routine switch from the expensive light-colored suit of his genteel urbane persona in San Francisco to his alter ego, who wears all-black attire for quests into the lawless and barren Western frontier, is also a chess reference. The knight symbol refers to his name – a nickname or working name – and his occupation as a champion-for-hire. The theme song of the series refers to him as “a knight without armor”. In “The Road to Wickenburg”, Paladin draws a parallel between his methods and the chess piece’s movement: “It’s an attack piece, the most versatile on the board. It can move eight different ways, over barriers, and [is] always unexpected.” This calling card was the identifying graphic of the Have Gun – Will Travel series. How Paladin came to be known as “Paladin” Paladin took on his role by happenstance, as revealed in a flashback during the first episode of the final season (“Genesis” Episode 193). To pay off a gambling debt, he had been forced by his creditor to hunt down and kill a mysterious gunman called Smoke (played by Boone without his moustache and with grey-white hair). When they meet Smoke gives the Paladin character his nickname, calling him a noble paladin , after the name of a group of well-meaning, but mercenary, medieval knights of Charlemagne’s court. Subsequently, Smoke reveals during his death scene that he had not been a criminal gunfighter, but instead had protected the nearby town from the man who had sent Paladin. During a funeral service in the town, Paladin then finds out that Smoke was truly the protector of the townspeople. At the end of the episode, Paladin adopts Smoke’s black outfit and confronts the other man (portrayed by William Conrad, who also directed the episode). It is implied that Paladin kills him, thus protecting the town. The episode was unusually allegorical and mythical for a popular Western in 1962. Paladin’s Equipment, Skills and Strategy. Paladin’s primary weapon was a custom-made .45 caliber Colt Single Action Army revolver that was perfectly balanced and of excellent craftsmanship. It had a one-ounce trigger pull and a rifled barrel. The accuracy was given as “one inch to the right at fifty feet”. The lever-action Marlin rifle strapped to his horse’s saddle was rarely used. The derringer (a double-barrel Remington in most episodes, a single- barrel Colt in some) Paladin hid under his belt had saved his life numerous times. Paladin’s intuitive sense of chesslike strategy – often anticipating moves ahead of his adversary, and backing it up with formidable skills in all areas of personal combat – plus his epicurean tastes and implied lust for women (when relaxing in San Francisco) made him very much a “James Bond” of the old West. Ever a man of refinement, Paladin even carried a few expensive cigars in his boot when out on adventure. Paladin’s advantage over adversaries was not his special equipment, nor his marksmanship. Paladin’s true advantage was his rich education. He had an uncanny ability to relate ancient events to current situations. When the enemy was surrounding him, Paladin could usually make some insightful quip about General Marcellus and the siege of Syracuse or something similar, and then use this insight to his advantage. Burying a rancher killed by Indians, he recited John Donne’s “Death Be Not Proud” above the grave. In other episodes he quoted lengthy Shakespearean passages from memory. A male role model who memorized poetry was unique in a 1950s television series. Like a chess master, he sought control of the board through superior position, and usually killed only as a last resort. In the final episode of the radio show, Paladin returns to the East to claim a family inheritance. In the 1972–74 series Hec Ramsey , set at the end of the 19th century, Boone stars as an older former gunfighter turned early forensic criminologist. It is not true Ramsey says, at one point, in his younger days as a gunfighter, he had worked under the name Paladin. The origin of this myth is Boone stating in an interview, “Hec Ramsey is Paladin – only fatter.” Naturally, he merely meant the characters had certain similarities: Ramsey, for his part, was practically buffoonish, imparting a measure of humor to Hec Ramsey missing from Have Gun – Will Travel , compared to the erudite Paladin. In the 2-part 1991 TV mini-series, The Gambler – The Luck Of The Draw , a poker game is played by the rules of “the late Mr. Paladin” in the hotel Paladin stayed at. Paladin had died. Recurring Characters: Hey Boy and Hey Girl. The major recurring character in the show was the Chinese bellhop at the Carlton Hotel, known as Hey Boy (real name Kim Chang), played by Kam Tong. According to author and historian Martin Grams, Jr., Hey Boy was featured in all but the fourth of the show’s six seasons, with the character of Hey Girl, played by Lisa Lu, replacing Hey Boy for season four while while Kam Tong pursued a career with the “Mr. Garlund” television series. In the 1957 episode “Hey Boy’s Revenge”, Lu appears playing Hey Boy’s sister, Kim Li. In that episode, the audience also learns that Hey Boy’s name is Kim Chan. (We also learn that Paladin can read Chinese in at least a rudimentary way.) In another episode from the first season, “The Singer”, Hey Boy responds to a stranger who addresses him with “Hey you!” by annoyingly responding that it is “Hey Boy”, and not “Hey you”. In the season/episode sequencing used by Netflix, Kam Tong (Hey Boy) did actually appear in three episodes of Season 4. Episode 1 (“The Fatalist”), Episode 2 (“Love’s Young Dream”), and Episode 9 (“The Marshal’s Boy”). Complete list of Directors, Writers, and Actors in the entire series. Other recurring characters. Olan Soule, who had a long career in movies and television, appeared in eleven episodes as Mitchell, or McGinnis, or Matthews (depending on the episode) as the Hotel Carlton’s manager/front desk clerk. He is also called Mr Cartwright, the assistant manager, in the episode, “Hobson’s Choice”. He was spelled a few times by Peter Brocco, another oft-seen character actor who also appeared in “The Cream of the Jest” as the scientist employed to make Paladin’s custom-made cartridges using Paladin’s own formulation for smokeless gunpowder. Notable guest stars. June Lockhart appeared twice in the role of Dr. Phyllis Thackeray. Her first appearance was in the episode “No Visitors”. In “The Return of Dr. Thackeray”, which aired May 17, 1958, Paladin’s physician friend diagnoses a cook with smallpox. Dr. Thackeray worries that the disease will infect the nearby ranch hands employed by wealthy ranch owner Sam Barton, played by Grant Withers, because Barton refuses to permit his workers to be vaccinated. Singer Johnny Western, who performed the series theme song, appears in this episode as an angry gunslinger. Theme songs. The program’s opening theme song was composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann. Its closing theme song, “Ballad of Paladin,” was written by Johnny Western, Richard Boone, and Sam Rolfe, and was performed by Western. Historical setting. Like many TV westerns, Have Gun Will Travel was set during the turbulent “Reconstruction Period” after the Civil War. Unfortunately, most TV writers take liberties in regard to historical facts. The historical errors in various episodes are too numerous to list. But here’s a sample: In the third season episode, “Pancho”, Paladin meets a teenager named Doroteo Arango, a man who would later be better known as Pancho Villa. The real Pancho Villa was not born until 1878! Writers. Many of the writers who worked on Have Gun – Will Travel went on to gain fame elsewhere. Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek , Bruce Geller created Mission: Impossible , and Harry Julian Fink is one of the writers who created Dirty Harry (the opening title and theme scene of the Dirty Harry sequel Magnum Force would feature the same Paladin -like sequence of a handgun slowly cocked, and then finally pointed toward the camera, with a line of dialogue). Sam Peckinpah wrote one episode, which aired in 1958. Both Star Trek and Mission: Impossible were produced by Desilu Productions and later, Paramount Television, which also now owns the rights to Have Gun – Will Travel through its successor company, CBS Television Distribution. The Have Gun – Will Travel radio show. The Have Gun – Will Travel radio show broadcast 106 episodes on CBS between November 23, 1958, and November 22, 1960. It was one of the last radio dramas featuring continuing characters and the only significant American radio adaptation of a television series. John Dehner (a regular on the radio series version of Gunsmoke ) played Paladin, and Ben Wright usually (but not always) played Hey Boy. Virginia Gregg played the role of Miss Wong, Hey Boy’s girlfriend, before the television series began featuring the character of Hey Girl. Unlike the small-screen version, in this medium, there was usually a tag scene back at the Carlton at both the beginning and the end of the episode. Initially, the episodes were adaptations of the television program as broadcast earlier the same week, but eventually, original stories were produced, including a finale (“Goodbye, Paladin”) in which Paladin left San Francisco, apparently forever, to claim an inheritance back East. The radio version of the show was written by producer/writer Roy Winsor. Dell Comics’ “Have Gun–Will Travel” There were three novels based on the television show, all with the same title as the show. The first was a hardback written for children, published by Whitman in 1959 as part of a series of novelizations of television shows. It was written by Barlow Meyers and illustrated by Nichols S. Firfires. The second was a 1960 paperback original, written for adults by Noel Lomis. The last book, called A Man Called Paladin, written by Frank C. Robertson and published in 1963 by Collier-Macmillan in both hardback and paperback, is based on the television original episode, “Genesis,” by Frank Rolfe. This novel is the only source where a name is given to the Paladin character, Clay Alexander, but fans of the series do not consider this name canonical. Dell Comics published a number of comic books with original stories based on the television series. In 2001, a trade paperback book titled The Have Gun – Will Travel Companion was published, documenting the history of the radio and television series. The 500-page book was authored by Martin Grams, Jr. and Les Rayburn. Home video and DVD. All of the episodes were released on VHS by Columbia House. CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) has released the first five seasons of Have Gun – Will Travel on DVD in Region 1. Note: In the second-season DVD, two of the episodes are mislabeled. On disk three, the episode titled “Treasure Trail” is actually “Hunt the Man Down,” and on disk four, “Hunt the Man Down” is “Treasure Trail”; the “Wire Paladin” in each case refers to the other episode. Keywords: American Westerns, Richard Boone, Have Gun Will Travel, Paladin, Free English Course for speakers of Russian language. Американский вестерн, Ричард Бун, у Gun Will Travel, Паладин, Бесплатный курс английского языка для говорящих на русском языке. User Reviews. Wanted: Dead or Alive has always been my favourite TV western. I first watched it as a seven year old in the mid '60s, even then it was in reruns. Right from the start the show had the coolest lead-in ever with the camera focused squarely on Josh Randall's 'hogleg' as he slowly walks up to a wanted poster and rips it away from the board. There was something 'mighty' intriguing about the lone bounty hunter who brought in many more bad guys alive than dead. And then there was that sawed-off Winchester '86 and those large 45-70 caliber cartridges. I never did figure out how Josh could load so fast. It couldn't have taken more than three rounds in its magazine, but Josh could easily get off four or five rounds in rapid succession. What about Josh's horse? He/she seemed to prefer to walk sideways but could back up as well as Trigger. Great memories, no doubt. I've viewed countless westerns over the years and I am firmly convinced that absolutely no one but Steve McQueen could have played TV's purest bounty hunter. Todays version is colourized and I think that's fantastic. Even my kids will sit and watch from time to time. This show has been a favorite of mine from the time it first aired in the late fifties. As another reviewer astutely pointed out, TV westerns of the day were rife with 'gimmick' weapons such as "The Rifleman"'s "rifle", or maybe "Yancy Derringer's", umm, "Derringer". In "Wanted Dead Or Alive", the gimmick weapon-du-jour was Josh Randall's sawed-off Winchester. These "weapons" were never meant to portray reality (well, "Yancy Derringer's" Derringer may be an exception). Rather, they were meant to catch the attention of those rabid "baby boomer" kids whose parents were fortunate enough to own a television. Realistic or not, these weapons were "cool" to every "boomer" kid, and the networks were keenly aware of that fact. As such, the networks may have felt compelled to "out-weapon" one another from time to time. Few who were born after, including most all of the reviewers here who have focused on the technical inaccuracies, ambiguities, and anachronisms of Josh Randall's weapon, have meaningful first-hand insight into what any of this was about. "MeTV" has been airing re-runs of "Wanted Dead Or Alive" for several months now. I watch it every day. To me, it has been like renewing the acquaintance of a long-lost friend. Steve McQueen's portrayal of the "benevolent bounty hunter" is so convincing, and the story lines so compelling, that you come away believing that bounty hunters were the ultimate "good guys". And as those of us "boomer kids" fondly remember, the "good guys" always won. Steve McQueen's first big exposure in either film or television was, of course, "The Blob", the filming of which was completed long before WDOA went into production. According to IMDb, it was McQueen's performance in "The Blob" that caught the attention of Four-Star executive Dick Powell. This, in turn, resulted in McQueen's casting as Josh Randall. As I recall, it was some time after "Wanted Dead Or Alive" first aired on television that "The Blob" finally went into theatrical release. By that time, McQueen was already a "star" (at least to us "boomer" kids), and we went to the theater, not just to see "The Blob", but also to see "Josh Randall" as a "teenager". Talk about an anachronism!! Many viewers have panned this series. It was hockey and implausible at times. However, I recently watched the series again on the Westerns Channel and offer these observations: When "Wanted" first came out in 1958, network TV was flooded with formulaic Warner Brothers westerns. With few exceptions they were all mostly repetitive and forgettable. My picks for exceptions are, obviously, Gunsmoke, which stood above the others, Have Gun Will Travel, Maverick and Josh Randall's Wanted Dead or Alive. For the mid 1950s McQueen's character was ground breaking. He was the first anti-hero in a horse opera. Even when grouped with the line up of special gimmicks westerns (the rapid fire Winchester of The Rifleman; the weird Colt of The Rebel; Wyatt Earp's Buntline Special), Randall and his hog leg stood out. Never mind that he didn't reload and the mechanics of the weapon were implausible, the series worked. It was unique. McQueen was unique. I was 11 years old when the series started and it hooked me. Sure, it is difficult to watch it today without a laugh or question about its relation to reality. But back then it was cool and so was McQueen. And as someone else commented, only McQueen could have played the character of Josh Randall. For that matter, look at all his motion pictures. I don't believe any other actor could have made those films what they were. Even 25 years after his death, McQueen is as popular as he ever was. As far as I can see, only John Wayne still has that kind of appeal. I'm just old enough to remember when Wanted Dead or Alive was first run, when I first went to the show to see The Magnificent Seven, and when I first realized Steve McQueen was on his way to being a "star". I received the boxed set of the first season of this groundbreaking show this past Christmas and have been having great fun with it ever since. McQueen is the real star of the show, honing his craft for later career moves, with the truly offbeat story lines and resolutions coming in a close second. Forget that it's 1877, he was in the Union Army in 1864, which would make him 8-10 years older than his real age at the time. Forget that his sawed off Winchester 1892 didn't exist in this time frame, that it fired short pistol ammunition like .44-40 and possibly .45 Colt, that it couldn't possibly accept the long .30-30 cartridges on his belt that weren't developed until the Winchester 1894 came along. In the first episode he has to bury a murdered doctor and he pulls a U.S. military shovel circa 1944 from under his saddle. While he puts 19th century cuffs on some prisoners, ties some with rope, on one occasion he puts old fashioned leg irons on a prisoner's hands, way too dangerous and way too stupid for a pro like Josh Randall. In a feat too fantastic to believe, an outlaw takes away his sawed off Winchester and removes the firing pin without the aid of tools and without so much as removing the bolt from the receiver. Of course there's also that sawed off rifle of his that sometimes has a D-ring on the lever and sometimes a teardrop ring, a gun barrel that changes from round to hexagon, and a gun barrel that always has a bigger bore than the .30 caliber slug in a .30-30 shell. And let's not forget that the outdoor scenes seldom match the geography of the story lines and that more times than not they use the same western street sound stage for towns ranging from Wyoming to Arizona to Texas with just the store front names changing! All this in just the first half of the first season. LOL. The show is all about watching McQueen, watching the offbeat stories that sometimes beg for more time for storytelling, and watching for all the goofs. It's great fun and well worth the time even 50 years later! "Wanted-Dead or Alive" was a half hour western series appearing on CBS television for three seasons from 1958-1961. The series actually got its start as an episode of another popular TV series of the time, "Trackdown", during the second half of the '57-'58 TV season. "Wanted-Dead or Alive" starred Steve McQueen as bounty hunter Josh Randall in what was a very good start to an outstanding acting career in feature films. As played by McQueen, Josh Randall was the most laconic of a broad television landscape of would-be laconic western series heroes. Josh Randall carried a sawed-off 44/40 Winchester carbine (his "Mare's Leg", as he called it) on his hip instead of the traditional Colt 45 pistol. This of course played into the TV "cool factor" as his weapon made a much louder, more devastating sound when fired and of course had much more "stopping power" upon impact with the intended victim. Cool! Although "Wanted-Dead or Alive" was truly nothing out of the ordinary in terms of content or quality compared to other like fare of the period but Steve McQueen as Josh Randall and his unique weapon made this a "must watch" series. Only Paladin was better and "cooler" than Josh. Wanted, Dead or Alive was a star vehicle in the truest sense of the term. It was a western calculated to exhibit the talent and charisma of its star, Steve McQueen. It lasted for three seasons before McQueen decided to devote full time to the big screen. McQueen was after some of the most dangerous fellows in the old west, plenty who could shoot a lot better than he. His character Josh Randall needed an equalizer. In John Wayne's classic western El Dorado, you remember that Duke discovers that James Caan can't hit the broad side of a mountain with a regular six shooter. Before going to El Dorado to aid Robert Mitchum, they stop off and see a gunsmith who fixes Caan up with a Josh Randall special. After that Caan's of considerable help to Wayne and Mitchum. Of course the sawed off shotgun was also an evil weapon in the wrong hands. Take note of the Dan Duryea western, The Bounty Killer, a very Freudian piece where Duryea becomes hated and feared as a bounty hunter until an innocent bystander gets shot with it. But with McQueen you knew the weapon was on the side of law and order. As for his Josh Randall character, you can see a bit of him in all the people Steve McQueen brought to the screen like Virgil Hilts, Nevada Smith, all the way to his last two films, Tom Horn and Pappa Thorsen. Wanted, Dead or Alive was most folks first exposure to a screen legend. I wish that westerns like that were made today. "Wanted: Dead or Alive" was one of the "greatest" if not the "best" of the Four Star produced television Westerns to come out of the late- 1950's and continued into the early-1960's that made an unknown actor by the name of Steve McQueen into a bonafide star. This was his first and only attempt to star in a weekly series before he went on to become a huge theatrical star in his own right. His first big exposure in either film or television. Long before "Wanted:Dead or Alive" went into production,Steve McQueen was already making headway as a huge star in the 1958 theatrical release "The Blob"(which was released in theaters by Paramount Pictures on September 12, 1958)that became a runaway box office hit. But it was McQueen's performance in "The Blob" that caught the attention of Founder and Executive of Four Star Television Dick Powell. It was here that Steve McQueen made his television appearance as bounty hunter Josh Randall in an episode of another Four Star produced series "Trackdown" starring Robert Culp titled "The Bounty Hunter"(Season 1, Episode 21 of the series)that aired on March 7, 1958. His performance was the greenlight for the spin-off to the series "Trackdown" titled "Wanted:Dead or Alive" that premiered on CBS' Saturday night schedule in prime-time on September 6, 1958. It was sometime after "Wanted" premiered on television that his movie debut in "The Blob" was released in theaters a week after his television series premiered. By that time McQueen was already a star and with his success as bounty hunter Josh Randall on "Wanted:Dead or Alive" the series became one of the biggest hits of the late-1950's and a huge ratings boost for the CBS Television Network.Out of the eight television Westerns that premiered in 1958(which included "Northwest Passage"-one of the earliest short-lived series that was produced in color,and the ones that were in classic black and white included "The Texan","Bronco", "Bat Masterson","Cimarron City","The Rough Riders",and "Yancy Derringer" not to mention the premiere of another successful Four Star produced Western "The Rifleman" which became a huge colossal hit for ABC)only "Wanted" had a premise,and it worked. "Wanted:Dead or Alive" for the three seasons that it aired on CBS, was placed on it's Saturday night time slot in prime-time between the courtroom drama "Perry Mason",and "The Gale Storm Show",and it faced strong competition against NBC's "The Perry Como Show In Color",and also the variety series "Jubilee USA" over at ABC. "Wanted:Dead or Alive" aired from September 6, 1958 until March 29, 1961 producing 94 episodes all in classic black and white and was produced by Malcolm Enterprises in association with Four Star Television and the CBS Television Network. Steve McQueen was the only actor that starred in all 94 episodes but during the show's second season McQueen's Josh Randall had a sidekick or assistant bounty hunter named Jason Nichols(Wright King) that appeared in 11 episodes from 1959-1960. Some of the best writers were in hand for some great episodes of this series ranging from D.D. and Mary Beauchamp, Don Brinkley, Calvin Clements, Christopher Knopf, Fred Freiberger, to Richard Matheson, Dan Ullman, Frank Gilroy, David Lang, Richard H. Landau, Tom Gries, Cy Chermak, Samuel A. Peeples, John Robinson, to Wells Root, George Slavin,and Tony Barrett to Ed Adamson contribute to some of the stories. Great directors ranging from Thomas Carr, George Blair, to future film director Richard Donner. Others included Harry Harris, to Murray Golden, Gene Reynolds, Don McDougall and actor-director-producer R.G. Springsteen just to name a few. The guest stars that appeared on in this series were some of Hollywood's best ranging from future "Bonanza" television stars Michael Landon and Pernell Roberts,to future box office superstars Warren Oates, James Coburn, and Martin Landau. Others were Fay Spain, Mala Powers, Nick Adams, Cloris Leachman, Paul Burke, Constance Ford, Susan Oliver, Mara Corday, to Frank Silvera, Dyan Cannon, Royal Dano, Denver Pyle, Clu Gulager, along with Mary Tyler Moore, Vic Perrin, J. Pat O'Malley, Lee Van Cleef, Claude Akins, Jay Silverheels, John Carradine, Stafford Repp, Ed Nelson, Gerald Mohr, John Lupton, Wayne Rogers, Harold J. Stone, Beverly Garland, to Howard Morris, Stephen Talbot, Jay North, Jay C. Flippen, Regis Toomey and R.G. Armstrong(who directed and star in several episodes). The best episodes from the series ranged from "Desert Seed"(Season 2, Episode 11), "Three For One"(Season 3, Episode 13), "The Prison Trail" (Season 2,Episode 31), "The Voice of Silence"(Season 3, Episode 20), "The Sheriff of Red Rock"(Season 1,Episode 13), "Eight Cent Reward:The Christmas Story"(Season 1, Episode 16), "Twelve Hours to Crazy Horse" (Season 2,Episode 12), "The Bounty"(Season 1,Episode 3) and from the premiere episode that started it all "The Martin Poster"(Season 1, Episode 1). Others included "Bounty on Josh"(Season 3, Episode 17), "The Bad Gun"(Season 2, Episode 8), "The Hostage"(Season 2,Episode 6), "The Choice"(Season 3, Episode 12), "The Trial" (Season 3, Episode 1),to "Death Divided By Three"(Season 2, Episode 29), "The Empty Cell" (Season 2, Episode 7),to the comedial "The Twain Shall Meet"(Season 3, Episode 5). The phenomenal success of the "Wanted:Dead or Alive" television series propelled Steve McQueen's career as a bonafide Hollywood superstar. And it showcased his great talent in such great theatrical films as "The Magnificent Seven","Baby,The Rain Must Fall", "Soldier In The Rain","Nevada Smith","Love With The Proper Stranger","The Reivers", "Junior Bonner", "The Getaway","The Cincinnati Kid",not to mention the movie that cemented his status as a top box office star "Bullitt"(who became one of the top ten highest grossing pictures of 1968). Not to mention his Oscar nominated performance in "The Sand Pebbles"(Oscar nominated for Best Actor in 1966),and also for his work in "Papillion" (Oscar nominated for Best Actor in 1973). And to also mentioned his work opposite Paul Newman in Irwin Allen's "The Towering Inferno",and the movie that would be his last theatrical feature was 1980's "The Hunter". the lists goes on and on.