Klondike (TV series)
Klondike is a forgotten 17-episode half-hour American western television series starring Ralph Taeger (1936-2015) and James Coburn (1928-2002) that aired on NBC from October 10, 1960, until February 13, 1961.
It faced stiff competition from The Danny Thomas Show comedy series on CBS and the second half of the first-season detective series Surfside 6 starring Troy Donahue (1936-2001) on ABC. Klondike followed Dale Robertson's Tales of Wells Fargo on the NBC schedule.[1]
Synopsis
Klondike is set during the early days of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897 in the town of Skagway, Alaska in the Klondike region of Alaska. Joi Lansing (1929-1972) appeared in seven episodes as Goldie and Mari Blanchard starred in fourteen episodes as Kathy O'Hara.
Ralph Taeger played the "good guy" Mike Halliday, described by one observer as "Clint Walker without the charisma," and James Coburn portrayed the con man, Jeff Durain. When Klondike did not attract a large audience, NBC cancelled the show but shifted Taeger and Coburn to play detectives in Mexico in the short-lived Acapulco series. Klondike is related to the hour-long 1959-1960 ABC series The Alaskans starring Roger Moore (1927-2017) and Dorothy Provine (1935-2010), also set in the port city of Skagway and during the 1890s.[2]
In the debut episode, the characters rush to Alaska to search for gold. Other episodes included "The Golden Burro" with Edgar Buchanan (1903-1979) about a burro that could find and dig for gold; "Bathhouse Justice," in which a bathhouse serves as a courtroom in a murder case; "Sure Thing, Men" (with Tyler McVey as Emil Watkins) in which the group seeks a mining site only to run afoul of an old sourdough; "88 Keys to Trouble" in which someone releases all the inmates from the jail; "Saints and Stickups," in which a person of apparent moral bearing robs a stagecoach, and "Swing Your Partner," in which a group comes to town and dances the night away. In the series finale, "The Hostages," featuring Chris Alcaide and Lon Chaney, Jr. (1906-1973), some townspeople are held hostage for their gold. The others work to free them, and to salvage the treasure for which they had all labored so diligently. Lawrence Dobkin, Emory Parnell, and Olan Soule appeared in "The Man Who Owned Skagway." Ron Hayes was cast as Harold Enright, along with Lane Bradford in the episode "Sitka Madonna," referring to the town of Sitka. Judson Pratt guest starred as Dan Sheean in the episode "The Unexpected Candidate."[2]
Various episodes of the series were directed by Sam Peckinpah (1925-1984) and William Conrad (1920-1994). Supporting roles were played by Western tough guy L. Q. Jones as Joe Teel[3] and Karl Swenson (1908-1978) in two different roles.[4]
List of episodes
| Episode # | Episode Title | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Klondike Fever" | October 10, 1960 |
| 2 | "River Of Gold" | October 24, 1960 |
| 3 | "Saints and Stickups" | October 31, 1960 |
| 4 | "The Unexpected Candidate" | November 7, 1960 |
| 5 | "88 Keys To Trouble" | November 14, 1960 |
| 6 | "Swoger's Mule" | November 21, 1960 |
| 7 | "Sure Thing, Men" | November 28, 1960 |
| 8 | "Taste Of Danger" | December 5, 1960 |
| 9 | "Bare Knuckles" | December 12, 1960 |
| 10 | "Halliday's Club" | December 19, 1960 |
| 11 | "Bathhouse Justice" | December 26, 1960 |
| 12 | "Swing Your Partner" | January 9, 1961 |
| 13 | "The Golden Burro" | January 16, 1961 |
| 14 | "Queen Of The Klondike" | January 23, 1961 |
| 15 | "The Man Who Owned Skagway" | January 30, 1961 |
| 16 | "Sitka Madonna" | February 6, 1961 |
| 17 | "The Hostages" | February 13, 1961 |
References
- ↑ 1960-1961 United States Network Television Schedule.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Klondike. Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved on June 27, 2020.
- ↑ L. Q. Jones. Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved on June 26, 2020.
- ↑ Karl Swenson. Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved on June 26, 2020.
