Im wilden Westen

This Series was quite popular for many years. They used a rather strange approach to production, taking a cast and crew to a location (ie: Flagstaff) and shooting 3 episodes to be split up during the season. It was the quintiessential American western of the time. Sometimes quite good, sometimes very very bad. Wish the episodes were still about somewhere.

This is one of the few early Western shows that was more accurate about depicting actual Indians and Mexicans in a much more favorable light. Too many of it's contemporary westerns created and perpetuated stereotypes that are still believed to this day. No it's not completely accurate, but it's much more authentic the most series were at the time. It's 60 years on am I still enjoy itbecause it does show that people can be good even when times are bad.

This was truly one of the great series from the Golden Age of Television. They had a distinguished roster of hosts: Stanley Andrews (1952-1964), Ronald Reagan (1964-1965), Rosemary DeCamp (1965), Robert Taylor (1966-1969), Dale Robertson (1969-1970). It was definitely one of the "must see" shows in my home at that time.

One of the elements that set it apart was that the programs were based on historical people, legends, and incidents. I give it an 8 out of 10 only because like the Hollywood westerns of that time, little or no attention was paid to have the characters and props match the era in which the programs were but I guess they had a tight budget. I watched shows today from the 1850's to the 1890's and everyone was wearing the same clothes and had hair and grooming styles from the 1950's. Also because it was only 30 minutes long, I guess it was necessary to edit the stories and sometimes they did not match up with what really happened.

This was the last series that Ronald Reagan acted in before he entered politics and regardless of what critics said about him, his acting chops were spot on and he looked like he enjoyed participating in this show. I wish he had gotten involved in it earlier and had gotten to perform more in the episodes. Like his son Ron Reagan said when he was asked what his father might have done if he had stayed in acting, Ron said he thought his father would have ended up hosting something like "Unsolved Mysteries". Ronald Reagan could not have picked a better show to end his acting career with. Rest in peace lady and gentlemen. A job well done.

I remember watching "Death Valley Days" back in the sixties on Saturday afternoons with my father and my five brothers. I have only recently begun watching the program as I can now receive it on the Western Encore Channel on cable. I really appreciate this show because it a western that features more than just cowboys & Indians. There are plenty of episodes that focus upon prospectors, missionaries, newspaper reporters, teachers, naturalists, telegraph operators and mail deliverer. The action takes primarily in San Francisco and the state of California but the viewer is has taken to the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. It is always fun to spot the actors on the show who were on their way up or down in Hollywood. I even saw a very young Clint Eastwood on an episode just recently.

In the early 50s, this show had some wonderful episodes. I believe most of the early episodes, in black & white, were based on true stories. Later, they included more 'legends' and the show eventually was produced in color. I quit watching it during its later years, when color came in, Ronald Reagan was the host, and the stories got flimsier -- although in some of these later stories you can see some young actors who later went on to become Hollywood stars. My favorite host was the original 'Old Ranger'.