About This Item
Wonderful tales of the Old West laden with history and adventure are presented in Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, a half-hour western anthology TV series that debuted on CBS, October 5, 1956 and ran for 5 whole seasons. Dick Powell served as the host for the entire series and also starred as various characters in 15 episodes. The series was originally based on the short stories and novels of western author Zane Grey, but as the series continued, new material was included. Aaron Spelling, who later became a legend in Hollywood, wrote twenty Zane Grey episodes. Zane Grey Theatre was also ground-breaking for producing five episodes which were spun-off into subsequent TV series (1) Track down (from Season one's InchBadge of HonorInch) starring Robert Culp as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman, (2) the Rifleman (from Season 2's InchThe SharpshooterInch) with Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain, (3) Black Saddle (from Season 2's InchThreat of ViolenceInch with Chris Alcaide instead of series star Peter Breck as Clay Culhane), (4) Johnny Ringo (from Season 3's InchMan AloneInch) starring Don Durant, and (5) the Westerner (from Season 3's InchTrouble at Tres CrucesInch) starring Brian Keith as Dave Blassingame. In addition, Wanted Dead or Alive, with Steve McQueen playing the bounty hunter Josh Randall, was a CBS spinoff of Track down, and Law of the Plainsman, starring Michael Ansara as a Harvard-educated, Native American U.S. Marshal was an NBC spin-off of the Rifleman.
