# The Texan (TV series)

The Texan is a Western television series starring film and television actor Rory Calhoun, which aired on the CBS television network from 1958 to 1960.

## Synopsis

Rory Calhoun plays gunman Bill Longley, "The Texan," who travels across Texas from town to town in the wake of the Civil War. His reputation as a gunfighter precedes him and often brings trouble wherever he ends up next.

## Episodes
### Series overview

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released | Rank | Average viewership (in millions) |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released | Rank | Average viewership (in millions) |
| 1 | 37 | 37 | September 29, 1958 (1958-09-29) | June 15, 1959 (1959-06-15) | 15 | 12.4 |
| 2 | 41 | 41 | September 14, 1959 (1959-09-14) | September 5, 1960 (1960-09-05) | Not in top 30 | TBA |

### Season 1 (1958–59)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | "Texan in Town" "Law of the Gun" | Erle C. Kenton | Harry Kronman | September 29, 1958 (1958-09-29) |
| Featuring Neville Brand, John Larch and Karl Swenson. ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "The Man with the Solid Gold Star" | Hollingsworth Morse | Robert Hardy Andrews | October 6, 1958 (1958-10-06) |
| Featuring Thomas Gomez and Robert Burton. ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "The Troubled Town" | Hollingsworth Morse | Samuel A. Peeples | October 13, 1958 (1958-10-13) |
| Featuring James Drury, Pat Conway, Harry Dean Stanton and Walter Sande. ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "The First Notch" | Hollingsworth Morse | Herbert Little, Jr. & David Victor | October 20, 1958 (1958-10-20) |
| Featuring J. Carrol Naish and Peggie Castle. ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "The Edge of the Cliff" | Allen H. Miner | Paul Franklin | October 27, 1958 (1958-10-27) |
| Featuring Mike Connors. ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Jail for the Innocents" | Erle C. Kenton | Story by : Harry Landers Teleplay by : Jack Roberts & Laszlo Vadnay | November 3, 1958 (1958-11-03) |
| Featuring Vaughn Taylor. ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "A Tree for Planting" | Robert Florey | Harry Kronman | November 10, 1958 (1958-11-10) |
| Featuring James Westerfield, Martin Garralaga and Paul Fix. ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "The Hemp Tree" | Erle C. Kenton | Paul Franklin | November 17, 1958 (1958-11-17) |
| Featuring Michael Landon and Stuart Randall. ||||||
| 9 | 9 | "The Widow of Paradise" | Robert B. Sinclair | Phil Shuken & John L. Greene | November 24, 1958 (1958-11-24) |
| Featuring Russell Thorson. ||||||
| 10 | 10 | "Desert Passage" | Erle C. Kenton | Martin Berkeley & Clarke E. Reynolds | December 1, 1958 (1958-12-01) |
| Featuring R.G. Armstrong. ||||||
| 11 | 11 | "No Tears for the Dead" | Erle C. Kenton | Harry Kronman | December 8, 1958 (1958-12-08) |
| Featuring Michael Pate, Beverly Washburn and Ray Teal. ||||||
| 12 | 12 | "The Easterner" | Erle C. Kenton | Jack Roberts & Tom Monroe | December 15, 1958 (1958-12-15) |
| Featuring Fay Spain and Jack Elam. ||||||
| 13 | 13 | "A Time of the Year" | Robert Florey | Harry Kronman | December 22, 1958 (1958-12-22) |
| Featuring George Macready. ||||||
| 14 | 14 | "The Lord Will Provide" | Erle C. Kenton | Phil Shuken & John L. Greene | December 29, 1958 (1958-12-29) |
| Featuring Milton Frome, Ellen Corby, Ross Elliott and Francis McDonald. ||||||
| 15 | 15 | "The Duchess of Denver" | Erle C. Kenton | Joseph Landon | January 5, 1959 (1959-01-05) |
| Featuring Dolores Donlon and Gerald Mohr. ||||||
| 16 | 16 | "A Quart of Law" | Robert Gordon | Harry Kronman | January 12, 1959 (1959-01-12) |
| Featuring Edgar Stehli. ||||||
| 17 | 17 | "Outpost" | Erle C. Kenton | Martin Berkeley & Clark Reynolds | January 19, 1959 (1959-01-19) |
| Featuring Les Tremayne and Patrick McVey. ||||||
| 18 | 18 | "The Peddler" | Robert Gordon | Laszlo Vadnay | January 26, 1959 (1959-01-26) |
| Featuring Lou Jacobi. ||||||
| 19 | 19 | "Return to Friendly" | Erle C. Kenton | Harry Kronman | February 2, 1959 (1959-02-02) |
| Featuring James Philbrook and Mary Webster. ||||||
| 20 | 20 | "The Man Behind the Star" | Alvin Ganzer | Martin Berkeley & Clark Reynolds | February 9, 1959 (1959-02-09) |
| Featuring Richard Jaeckel, Jean Willes and Brian Donlevy. ||||||
| 21 | 21 | "The Ringer" | Erle C. Kenton | George F. Slavin | February 16, 1959 (1959-02-16) |
| 22 | 22 | "The Eyes of Captain Wylie" | Unknown | Unknown | February 23, 1959 (1959-02-23) |
| Featuring Chill Wills. ||||||
| 23 | 23 | "The Marshal of Yellow Jacket" | Robert Gordon | Story by : Louis L'Amour Teleplay by : Harry Kronman | March 2, 1959 (1959-03-02) |
| Featuring Robert J. Wilke, Kathryn Card and Kenneth MacDonald. ||||||
| 24 | 24 | "No Love Wasted" | Robert Florey | Harry Kronman | March 9, 1959 (1959-03-09) |
| Featuring Lon Chaney Jr. ||||||
| 25 | 25 | "A Race for Life" | Erle C. Kenton | Barney Slater | March 16, 1959 (1959-03-16) |
| Featuring Frank Ferguson and Ralph Moody. ||||||
| 26 | 26 | "Letter of the Law" | George Archainbaud | Story by : Irving Wallace Teleplay by : Irving Wallace & Jack Roberts | March 23, 1959 (1959-03-23) |
| Featuring R.G. Armstrong, Trevor Bardette, Stuart Randall and Norman Alden. ||||||
| 27 | 27 | "Private Account" | Robert Gordon | Harry Kronman | April 6, 1959 (1959-04-06) |
| Featuring Jesse White and Karen Sharpe. ||||||
| 28 | 28 | "Caballero" | Robert Gordon | Barney Slater | April 13, 1959 (1959-04-13) |
| Featuring Cesar Romero, Mari Blanchard and Whit Bissell. ||||||
| 29 | 29 | "Blood Money" | Leslie Goodwins | Dean Riesner | April 20, 1959 (1959-04-20) |
| Featuring Ralph Meeker, Dorothy Provine and Robert J. Wilke. ||||||
| 30 | 30 | "No Place to Stop" | Erle C. Kenton | Louis L'Amour | April 27, 1959 (1959-04-27) |
| Featuring Denver Pyle and Strother Martin. ||||||
| 31 | 31 | "Reunion" | Robert Gordon | Harry Kronman | May 4, 1959 (1959-05-04) |
| 32 | 32 | "Badlands" | Leslie Goodwins | Martin Berkeley & Clark Reynolds | May 11, 1959 (1959-05-11) |
| Featuring Stephen McNally and Myron Healey. ||||||
| 33 | 33 | "South of the Border" | Joe Parker | Don Martin | May 18, 1959 (1959-05-18) |
| Featuring Jack Elam, John Doucette and Joyce Meadows. ||||||
| 34 | 34 | "The Smiling Loser" | Robert Gordon | Jerry D. Lewis | May 25, 1959 (1959-05-25) |
| Featuring Eddie Quillan and Harry Lauter. ||||||
| 35 | 35 | "The Sheriff of Boot Hill" | Erle C. Kenton | Sid Harris | June 1, 1959 (1959-06-01) |
| Featuring Reed Hadley and Denver Pyle. ||||||
| 36 | 36 | "The Gunfighter" | Erle C. Kenton | Story by : Joel Kane & Lee Karson Teleplay by : Donald S. Sanford | June 8, 1959 (1959-06-08) |
| 37 | 37 | "The Man Hater" | Robert Gordon | David Evans | June 15, 1959 (1959-06-15) |
| Featuring Lori Nelson, William Tannen and Charles Horvath. ||||||

### Season 2 (1959–60)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 38 | 1 | "No Way Out" | Erle C. Kenton | Barney Slater | September 14, 1959 (1959-09-14) |
| Featuring Joe Turkel. ||||||
| 39 | 2 | "Image of Guilt" | Erle C. Kenton | John R. Roberts & Joe Conway | September 21, 1959 (1959-09-21) |
| Featuring Chris Alcaide and Don Haggerty. ||||||
| 40 | 3 | "Cattle Drive" | Edward Ludwig | Gerald Drayson Adams | September 28, 1959 (1959-09-28) |
| Featuring Claude Akins and Whitney Blake. ||||||
| 41 | 4 | "The Dishonest Posse" | Robert Florey | Martin Berkeley | October 5, 1959 (1959-10-05) |
| Featuring Peter Whitney, Bill Erwin, Henry Rowland, Bing Russell and Nestor Paiva. ||||||
| 42 | 5 | "Blue Norther" | Robert Florey | Paul Leslie Peil | October 12, 1959 (1959-10-12) |
| 43 | 6 | "Traildust" | Edward Ludwig | John L. Greene & Phillip Shuken | October 19, 1959 (1959-10-19) |
| Featuring Brian Donlevy, Addison Richards and Nan Peterson. ||||||
| 44 | 7 | "The Telegraph Story" | Edward Ludwig | Edmund Morris | October 26, 1959 (1959-10-26) |
| 45 | 8 | "Stampede" | Erle C. Kenton | Samuel A. Peeples | November 2, 1959 (1959-11-02) |
| Part 1. Featuring Michael Dante, Mario Alcalde, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez and Shirley Knight. ||||||
| 46 | 9 | "Showdown at Abilene" | Erle C. Kenton | Samuel A. Peeples | November 9, 1959 (1959-11-09) |
| Part 2. Featuring BarBara Luna, Roy Barcroft and Charles Horvath. ||||||
| 47 | 10 | "The Reluctant Bridegroom" | Unknown | Unknown | November 16, 1959 (1959-11-16) |
| Part 3. Featuring Ralph Moody. ||||||
| 48 | 11 | "Trouble on the Trail" | Erle C. Kenton | Samuel A. Peeples | November 23, 1959 (1959-11-23) |
| Part 4. Featuring Michael Dante, Mario Alcalde, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez and Kay E. Kuter. ||||||
| 49 | 12 | "Cowards Don't Die" | Edward Ludwig | Harry Kronman | November 30, 1959 (1959-11-30) |
| Featuring Karl Swenson, Robert J. Wilke and Bern Hoffman. ||||||
| 50 | 13 | "Border Incident" | Edward Ludwig | Gerald Drayson Adams | December 7, 1959 (1959-12-07) |
| Featuring Claude Akins, Whitney Blake and Rodolfo Hoyos Jr. ||||||
| 51 | 14 | "Dangerous Ground" | Edward Ludwig | Harry Kronman | December 14, 1959 (1959-12-14) |
| Part 1. Featuring Alan Hale Jr. and Kipp Hamilton. ||||||
| 52 | 15 | "End of Track" | Edward Ludwig | Harry Kronman | December 21, 1959 (1959-12-21) |
| Part 2. ||||||
| 53 | 16 | "Rough Track to Payday" | Unknown | Unknown | December 28, 1959 (1959-12-28) |
| Featuring Myrna Dell, Gregg Barton and Neely Edwards. ||||||
| 54 | 17 | "Friend of the Family" | Edward Ludwig | Harry Kronman | January 4, 1960 (1960-01-04) |
| Featuring John Dehner and James Coburn. ||||||
| 55 | 18 | "The Taming of Rio Nada" | Edward Ludwig | Samuel A. Peeples | January 11, 1960 (1960-01-11) |
| Part 1. Featuring Barbara Stuart. ||||||
| 56 | 19 | "Sixgun Street" | Erle C. Kenton | Samuel A. Peeples | January 18, 1960 (1960-01-18) |
| Part 2. ||||||
| 57 | 20 | "The Terrified Town" | Erle C. Kenton | Samuel A. Peeples | January 25, 1960 (1960-01-25) |
| Part 3. ||||||
| 58 | 21 | "Thirty Hours to Kill" | Robert Florey | Story by : Paul Gangelin & John R. Roberts Teleplay by : John R. Roberts | February 1, 1960 (1960-02-01) |
| Featuring Mort Mills and Katherine Squire. Actor Morris Ankrum is credited as the sheriff but actor Stacy Keach Sr. (uncredited) actually appears as the character. ||||||
| 59 | 22 | "Quarantine" | Edward Ludwig | Milton Raison | February 8, 1960 (1960-02-08) |
| Part 1. Featuring Lita Baron, Duncan Lamont, Frank Ferguson, Don Beddoe and Douglas Kennedy. ||||||
| 60 | 23 | "Buried Treasure" | Edward Ludwig | Milton Raison | February 15, 1960 (1960-02-15) |
| Part 2. Featuring Alan Hale Jr. ||||||
| 61 | 24 | "Captive Crew" | Erle C. Kenton | Story by : Milton M. Raison Teleplay by : Erle C. Kenton | February 22, 1960 (1960-02-22) |
| Part 3. Featuring Kipp Hamilton, Michael Pate and Mike Mazurki. ||||||
| 62 | 25 | "Showdown" | Erle C. Kenton | Harry Kronman | February 29, 1960 (1960-02-29) |
| Part 4. Featuring Alan Hale Jr., Duncan Lamont, Anthony Caruso, Hugh Sanders and Ron Hayes. ||||||
| 63 | 26 | "Borrowed Time" | Harry Harris | Harry Harris | March 7, 1960 (1960-03-07) |
| Featuring Ann Robinson, Russ Conway and Raymond Greenleaf. ||||||
| 64 | 27 | "The Governor's Lady" | Edward Ludwig | Harry Kronman | March 14, 1960 (1960-03-14) |
| Featuring Lita Baron and Myron Healey. ||||||
| 65 | 28 | "Town Divided" | Edward Ludwig | Robert Leslie Bellem | March 21, 1960 (1960-03-21) |
| Featuring Morgan Woodward, June Blair and Walter Coy. ||||||
| 66 | 29 | "The Guilty and the Innocent" | Jerry A. Baerwitz | Story by : Jerry Baerwitz Teleplay by : John Grey | March 28, 1960 (1960-03-28) |
| Featuring Robert F. Simon, Percy Helton and Denver Pyle. ||||||
| 67 | 30 | "Presentation Gun" | Jerry A. Baerwitz | Robert Leslie Bellem | April 4, 1960 (1960-04-04) |
| Featuring Stafford Repp and Robert Brubaker. ||||||
| 68 | 31 | "Ruthless Woman" | Harry Harris | Story by : Buckley Angell Teleplay by : Victor Orsatti & Buckley Angell | April 11, 1960 (1960-04-11) |
| 69 | 32 | "The Nomad" | Jerry A. Baerwitz | Rory Calhoun | April 18, 1960 (1960-04-18) |
| 70 | 33 | "Killer's Road" | Edward Ludwig | Ben Lewis & Edward Ludwig | April 25, 1960 (1960-04-25) |
| Featuring Robert J. Wilke, James Best and Lane Bradford. ||||||
| 71 | 34 | "Lady Tenderfoot" | Harry Harris | Erle C. Kenton | May 9, 1960 (1960-05-09) |
| Featuring Claire Kelly, Jack Elam and Emory Parnell. ||||||
| 72 | 35 | "The Invisible Noose" | Edward Ludwig | Jack Roberts | May 16, 1960 (1960-05-16) |
| Featuring Charles Maxwell and Bill Erwin. ||||||
| 73 | 36 | "The Mountain Man" | Louis King | Kathleen Hite, James Gunn, & Christopher Knopf | May 23, 1960 (1960-05-23) |
| Featuring Peter Palmer, Ben Wright and Harry Shannon. Rory Calhoun does not appear in this episode; this was a pilot episode for a series starring Palmer, but was not picked up. ||||||
| 74 | 37 | "Johnny Tuvo" | Edward Ludwig | Frank Chase | May 30, 1960 (1960-05-30) |
| Featuring Ron Hagerthy, Frank Wilcox, Myron Healey and Mary Webster. ||||||
| 75 | 38 | "The Accuser" | Erle C. Kenton | Story by : Frank Moss Teleplay by : Erle C. Kenton | June 6, 1960 (1960-06-06) |
| Featuring Don Haggerty and Kristine Miller. ||||||
| 76 | 39 | "Mission to Monterrey" | Erle C. Kenton | Erle C. Kenton & Will Gould | June 13, 1960 (1960-06-13) |
| Featuring Eduardo Noriega. ||||||
| 77 | 40 | "Badman" | Erle C. Kenton | Erle C. Kenton | June 20, 1960 (1960-06-20) |
| Featuring Celia Lovsky. ||||||
| 78 | 41 | "24 Hours to Live" | Robert Florey | Story by : George Callahan & Crane Wilbur Teleplay by : George Callahan | September 5, 1960 (1960-09-05) |
| Featuring Paul Birch and Wendell Holmes. ||||||

## Production

Operating on a budget of $40,000 per episode, two episodes per week were filmed on stage 11 at Desilu. Location shooting was completed at Pearl Flats.

## Release
### Broadcast

The original broadcast of The Texan aired 8:00–8:30 Monday evenings from September 1958 to September 1960 on CBS. ABC aired reruns of the program during its weekday lineup from October 1960 to March 1962, and then as part of its Saturday morning lineup from February to May 1962.

### Home media

Timeless Media Group released 70 episodes of the series on DVD.

## Reception

The show was #15 in the 1958-59 season with an average viewership of 12.4 million, but it failed to rank in the top 30 the following season.

## Media information

Like many of the television Westerns of the 1950s, The Texan was adapted to a comic by Dan Spiegle in 1960.