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(More customer reviews)There was a time back in the 1950s and '60s when primetime network programming relied so much on Westerns that nearly every night of the week featured at least one. While some rode off into the sunset without much ado, one of the best, and longest-running, "Wagon Train," set the bar for style and authenticity that few other Western series ever achieved.
This DVD set, all 3,900 minutes of it, presents the 1963 season -- all 32 90-minute episodes filmed in color, as well as 16 classic episodes (black and white) from the series' other seven seasons. The show, based on the legendary John Ford Western feature film "Wagon Master," starred Ward Bond (who reprised his role from the Ford film), John McIntire, Robert Horton, Robert Fuller, Frank McGrath, Terry Wilson, Denny Scott Miller and Michael Burns. Each week the show told the stories of a wagon train heading west from Missouri to California in the days following the Civil War.
What set the series apart from many of its contemporaries was the show's impeccable attention to details: Most of the actors were trained horsemen or cowboys; set dressings and wardrobe were as authentic as possible, and nearly every minute of it was filmed on location across California and surrounding states, which took the West out of the backlot and into, well, the West.
"The Western on television was so successful because it appealed to the entire family," said Fuller, who joined the cast in 1963 as the wagon train's scout Cooper Smith (he replaced Robert Horton), fresh from his starring role in another Western series, "Laramie." "At the end of a hard day of work and school, the family could all watch the show together and escape from the worries of the day. I know it sounds corny, but it was true."
It took seven days to film each 90-minute episode, Fuller said, and almost all of it was location work. "We shot a lot in Lone Pine [California] up north and Thousand Oaks, which back then actually had 1,000 oaks [trees]," he said, laughing.
"There's no way a Western series could be filmed the way we did 'Wagon Train,'" Fuller added. "No way. First of all, there are no picture horses left. Back in the day, there were two large horse ranches in Hollywood that had 1,000 picture horses apiece. These horses were trained to stand still in front of a camera, do falls, tricks, move to a mark on cue. And many of the guys who did these shows were real cowboys. They were all Western riders. They're all gone now."
That attention to detail and realism it was set "Wagon Train" apart from its contemporaries, including "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke."
"No other series attempted a full season of 90-minute episodes in color because the budget was outrageous for the day," Fuller said. "And look at the wardrobe on 'Bonanza.' All those tailored, made-to-fit clothes. Look at those great-looking pants that Michael Landon wore (laughs) -- and they never got dirty. 'Gunsmoke' was shot entirely on a soundstage. Those shows were good, but we were worlds apart."
Fuller would go on to star in numerous television series and guest star on countless others, most notably "Emergency!" in which he starred as Dr. Kelly Brackett for seven years in the 1970s. He now makes his home on a sprawling ranch in Texas with his wife, actress Jennifer Savidge ("St. Elsewhere").
"I think this DVD set is really going to make a lot of folks very happy, folks who remember the show from their youth," Fuller said. "But I also think it's gonna make a whole new generation see what television could do very well, and what an important, exciting series 'Wagon Train' was"
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16 DVD Box Set- The Complete Color Season! One of the longest running and most popular of all the television westerns, Wagon Train topped the ratings for eight seasons in the late 1950s and 1960s.Inspired by John Ford's classic 1950 film, Wagon Master, Wagon Train debuted on Wednesday, September 18, 1957 on the NBC Television network. Ward Bond, who starred in Wagon Master, re-created his role from the film as Wagon Master Major Seth Adams. He was joined by costars Robert Horton as Head Scout Flint McCullough, Frank McGrath as the cook Charlie Wooster, and Terry Wilson as Assistant Wagon Master Bill Hawks, who all brought their skills as horsemen as well as wonderful western actors to the show, giving Wagon Train a special, western flavor.Each well-crafted episode focused on a personal story of courage and perseverance of not just the main cast, but of the westward-bound emigrants as they made the perilous journey by Conestoga wagon from the banks of the Mississippi to California's Pacific shores in the face of great odds.The cast was joined each week by Hollywood's brightest stars in guest roles. The ensemble acting, wonderful scripts and great western scenery soon made Wagon Train a fixture in American homes on Wednesday nights, as millions of Americans of all ages tuned in to NBC for classic family entertainment.When Ward Bond passed away during the 4th season, he was replaced by John McIntire as Christopher Hale, who took over as the new Wagon Master, a role he played till the series ended in 1965. There were other cast changes as well. Denny Scott Miller took on the role of assistant scout Duke Shannon in 1961, and when Robert Horton left the show in 1963, the producer Howard Christie brought in Robert Fuller (Laramie) as the new scout, Cooper Smith. Christie also brought Michael Burns onboard the wagon train as Barnaby West, a teenager looking for his lost father on the trail. One-time stunt man Frank McGrath's character Charlie Wooster, Wagon Train's irrepressible cook, was the only cast member to remain with the show for its entire run. Another big change to Wagon Train in 1963, its 7th season, was the expansion from a one-hour format in black and white, to 90 minutes in color. In its longer format, the 7th season combined both expanded story lines and remarkable color photography of the scenic western landscape, and allowed for greater character and plot line development.Guest stars continued to grace Wagon Train, including performances by Barbara Stanwyck, Ronald Reagan, Peter Falk, Suzanne Pleshette, Bruce Dern, Rhonda Fleming, Burgess Meredith, Neville Brand, Annette Funicello and many, many more!These 32 color episodes of that 7th season are fully restored and mastered from the original NBC Universal masters by TMG, which is proud to present them for the first time on DVD.Bonus DVDs: 16 Classic Episodes of Wagon Train on 4 DVD discs - These classic episodes of Wagon Train span the entire series, from Season 1 with Ward Bond and Robert Horton, to season 8, when the series returned to a one-hour, black and white format with John McIntire, Robert Fuller and Denny Scott Miller. Reproduced from NBC Universal's original masters, these 16 black and white episodes have never before been released on DVD.Many fine guest stars appear in these stories of the great westward migration of the 1800s, including Anne Bancroft, Harry Carey Jr., Dan Duryea, Harry Von Zell and Ann Sheridan.Bonus DVD: Interviews - An exclusive look behind the scenes with two of Wagon Train's most memorable actors, Robert Fuller and Denny Scott Miller, who played Scout Cooper Smith and Duke Shannon. These two stars speak freely about the family of creative people who brought you Wagon Train, from the wranglers and stunt men, to the stars and the producers of the hit series.
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