Here was another of those western series that NBC tried out for a summer run to see if it was worth bringing back as a replacement in January for one of their fall season shows that failed to catch on. But Tate never returned, and the thirteen episodes that were shot did not go into widespread syndication, so this rates as something of a one summer wonder. By the time Tate appeared, TV was glutted with guns for hire, Paladin the most popular of all over at CBS on Saturday night's Have Gun Will Travel series. He of course dressed all in black leather. On Tate, the anti-hero also had black leather, but merely as a heavy stump covering for the arm that he had lost during the War Between the States. Yep, a one-armed hero in a western, which must have broken considerable ground for hire-the-handicapped back then. Tate never had to wait long for a job, but like Paladin (this was, after all, TV) he never did anything cold-blooded, and was picky enough to only take money from people who deserved to win in the end. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the show was that the hero was played by The Marlboro Man, which is why - even though this was David MacLean's first official acting job - he looked awfully familiar to western fans. And smokers. And, yes, MacLean did die of lung cancer.
