Cheyenne! Many Firsts For This Show

The Warner Bros. Television story began in 1955 and it began with Cheyenne. In those early pioneering days, comedy was the king of the small screen, but Warner Bros. Television targeted a different genre, the dramatic series—and carved out an important new and very successful niche.

Cheyenne’s legacy consists of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on ABC from 1955 to 1963. The show was the first hour-long western, and in fact the first hour-long dramatic series of any kind, with continuing characters, to last more than one season.

Clint Walker was the star and played the roll of Cheyenne Bodie. Another first includes a strike by Walker for better terms and a increased residuals in the 58–59 season. The interim saw the introduction of a virtual Bodie-clone called Bronco Layne, played by Ty Hardin, a native of Texas. Hardin was featured as the quasi main character during Bodie’s absence. When Warners renegotiated Walker’s contract and the actor returned to the show in 1959, Bronco was spun off as a show in its own right and became independently successful. In the clip below, you’ll see Dan Blocker as a deputy…a recurring role for a few seasons until he was cast in Bonanza.