Wichita Town

*Wichita Town*
Wichita Town
	Original title card for the series
Starring	Joel McCrea; Jody McCrea; Carlos Romero; George Neise; Robert Foulk;
Country of origin	United States
No.of seasons	1
No.of episodes	26
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 30, 1959–; April 6, 1960

Wichita Townis a half-hourWestern television seriesstarringJoel McCrea,Jody McCrea,Carlos Romero,andGeorge Neisethat aired onNBCfrom September 30, 1959, until September 23, 1960.^[1]^[2]

Joel McCrea playedMarshalMike Dunbar, in charge of keeping the peace in the boomingcattle townofWichita,Kansas.His deputies were Ben Matheson, played by McCrea's real life son, Jody, and Rico Rodriquez, portrayed by Carlos Romero. Making occasional appearances were the town doctor, Nat Wyndham (played by George Neise), the blacksmith, Aeneas MacLinahan (played byRobert Anderson), and the bartender in the local saloon, Joe Kingston, played in six episodes byRobert Foulk.

The model for shows such as these had already been laid out by other Westerns such asGunsmoke,Lawman,andThe Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp,soWichita Townmay not have been unique in its plotting and structure.^{[citation needed]}The two most unusual features about the series were the presence of Joel McCrea, a favorite of Western film audiences for his performance in such films asUnion Pacific,Buffalo Bill,andRamrod,and the fact that his real life son was inWichita Town,but did not play his son.^{[citation needed]}Wichita Townwas produced byMirisch Companyand Joel McCrea's Production company forFour Star Televisionand aired for a single season.

Guest stars

Richard Coogan,formerly of NBC'sThe Californians,was cast as the Reverend Nichols in "The Devil's Choice" (1959).
Ben Cooper,as Tom Warren in "Passage to the Enemy"
Dennis Cross,as Fred Keever in "Second Chance" (1960)
Gene Evans,earlier ofMy Friend Flicka,as Otis Stockert in "The Frontiersman" (1960)
Yvonne Lime Fedderson,as Fran in "Biggest Man in Town" (1959)
Frank Ferguson,as Mayor Eric Holbein in "The Night the Cowboys Roared" (1959) and "The Frontiersman (1960)
Jock Gaynor's first acting appearance was as Joe Malone inWichita Town.Later that year he landed a supporting role on another NBC Western,Outlaws.
Ron Hagerthy,formerly ofSky King,as Tod in "Biggest Man in Town" (1959)
Ron Hayes,as Scotty in the episode "Sidekicks"
I. Stanford Jolley,as Smokey, andJohn McIntire,as Frank Matheson prior to his Chris Hale starring role inWagon Train,were cast together in the episode "Paid in Full".
Keith Larsen,star of NBC'sNorthwest Passage,appeared onWichita Townin the role of the Indian, Blue Raven, in "Seed of Hate" (1960).
Nan Leslie,formerly of NBC'sThe Californians,cast onWichita Townas Margaret Cook in "Day of Battle" (1959)
Suzanne Lloyd,as Laura in "Afternoon in Town" and "Sidekicks" (1960)
Mort Mills,as Pete Bennett in "Man on the Hill" (1959)
John M. Pickard,formerly ofBoots and Saddles,appeared twice in episodes "Wyndham's Way" and as a character named Bain in the episode "Second Chance".
Robert F. Simon,as Walt McCloud in "Second Chance"

References

^McNeil, Alex (1996).Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present.New York:Penguin Books.p. 913.ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
^Brooks, Tim;Marsh, Earle F. (2007).The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present.New York:Ballantine Books.p. 1518.ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.

External links

Wichita TownatIMDb

[McNeil-1] McNeil, Alex (1996).Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present.New York:Penguin Books.p. 913.ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.

[Brooks_and_Marsh-2] Brooks, Tim;Marsh, Earle F. (2007).The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present.New York:Ballantine Books.p. 1518.ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.

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