# The Californians (TV series)

The Californians is a half-hour American Western television series, set during the California Gold Rush of the 1850s, which was broadcast by NBC from September 24, 1957, through August 27, 1959.

## Premise

The series was set in San Francisco, with episodes focusing on "honest men trying to clean up a wild city overrun by criminals and con men". When episodes began, Sam Brennan owned a newspaper for which Dion Patrick worked as a reporter. Patrick also sought to maintain law and order as a member of a group of vigilantes headed by storekeeper Jack McGivern.
Because the program's sponsors "were uneasy about glorifying vigilantes", the producers changed the characters and cast. In March 1958 Matthew Wayne came to San Francisco. He bought a saloon and soon was elected as the city's sheriff. Wayne became the main character, with McGivern and Patrick being phased out.
The second season began with Wayne as the city marshal, whose efforts were supported by a police department of 50 people. New characters in that season were Wilma Fansler, a widowed young operator of a gambling establishment, and Jeremy Pitt, an attorney who was "friend and foil to the marshal".

## Cast

* Dion Patrick - Adam Kennedy
* Jack McGivern - Sean McClory
* Martha McGivern - Nan Leslie
* Sam Brennan - Herbert Rudley
* Matthew Wayne - Richard Coogan
* Schaab - Howard Caine
* Wilma Fansler - Carole Mathews
* Jeremy Pitt - Art Fleming

### Guest stars

* Charles Aidman
* Frank Albertson
* Chris Alcaide
* Fred Aldrich
* John Anderson
* John Archer
* R.G. Armstrong
* Rayford Barnes
* Whit Bissell
* Robert Blake
* Willis Bouchey
* George Brenlin
* Edgar Buchanan
* James T. Callahan
* James Coburn
* Fred Coby
* Mike Connors
* Hans Conried
* Russ Conway
* Bill Coontz
* Robert O. Cornthwaite
* Ted de Corsia
* Robert L. Crawford, Jr.
* Frank Dekova
* Troy Donahue
* John Doucette
* Douglass Dumbrille
* Duke Fishman
* Douglas Fowley
* Robert Fuller
* Bruce Gordon
* Herman Hack
* Don Haggerty
* James Hong
* Russell Johnson
* Allyn Joslyn
* Robert Karnes
* Stacy Keach, Sr.
* Ray Kellogg
* Tommy Kirk
* Gail Kobe
* Michi Kobi
* Ethan Laidlaw
* Lyle Latell
* Keye Luke
* Patricia Medina
* Don Megowan
* Gerald Mohr
* Jimmy Noel
* Robert Osborne
* J. Pat O'Malley
* Richard Reeves
* Stafford Repp
* Addison Richards
* Carlos Romero
* Vito Scotti
* James Seay
* Alex Sharp
* Quentin Sondergaard
* Arthur Space
* Bob Steele
* John Sutton
* Ray Teal
* Joan Tompkins
* Sammee Tong
* Audrey Totter
* Arthur Tovey
* Maria Tsien
* Lurene Tuttle
* James Westerfield
* Peter Whitney
* Jean Willes
* Marie Windsor

## Episode list
### Season 1: 1957–58

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | "The Vigilantes Begin" | September 24, 1957 (1957-09-24) |
| 2 | 2 | "All That Glitters" | October 1, 1957 (1957-10-01) |
| 3 | 3 | "The Noose" | October 8, 1957 (1957-10-08) |
| 4 | 4 | "The Avenger" | October 15, 1957 (1957-10-15) |
| 5 | 5 | "The Search for Lucy Manning" | October 22, 1957 (1957-10-22) |
| 6 | 6 | "The Lost Queue" | October 29, 1957 (1957-10-29) |
| 7 | 7 | "The Regulators" | November 5, 1957 (1957-11-05) |
| 8 | 8 | "Man from Boston" | November 12, 1957 (1957-11-12) |
| 9 | 9 | "The Barber's Boy" | November 19, 1957 (1957-11-19) |
| 10 | 10 | "The Magic Box" | November 26, 1957 (1957-11-26) |
| 11 | 11 | "Little Lost Man" | December 3, 1957 (1957-12-03) |
| 12 | 12 | "Strange Quarantine" | December 10, 1957 (1957-12-10) |
| 13 | 13 | "Truce of the Tree" | December 17, 1957 (1957-12-17) |
| 14 | 14 | "The PO 8" | December 31, 1957 (1957-12-31) |
| 15 | 15 | "The Coward" | January 7, 1958 (1958-01-07) |
| 16 | 16 | "Panic on Montgomery Street" | January 14, 1958 (1958-01-14) |
| 17 | 17 | "China Doll" | January 21, 1958 (1958-01-21) |
| 18 | 18 | "Mr. Valejo" | January 28, 1958 (1958-01-28) |
| 19 | 19 | "The Alice Pritchard Case" | February 4, 1958 (1958-02-04) |
| 20 | 20 | "The Man from Paris" | February 11, 1958 (1958-02-11) |
| 21 | 21 | "The Duel" | February 18, 1958 (1958-02-18) |
| 22 | 22 | "Sorley Boy" | February 25, 1958 (1958-02-25) |
| 23 | 23 | "Gentleman from Philadelphia" | March 4, 1958 (1958-03-04) |
| 24 | 24 | "The Marshal" | March 11, 1958 (1958-03-11) |
| 25 | 25 | "Death by Proxy" | March 18, 1958 (1958-03-18) |
| 26 | 26 | "The Street" | March 25, 1958 (1958-03-25) |
| 27 | 27 | "J. Jimmerson Jones, Inc." | April 1, 1958 (1958-04-01) |
| 28 | 28 | "Skeleton in the Closet" | April 8, 1958 (1958-04-08) |
| 29 | 29 | "Pipeline" | April 22, 1958 (1958-04-22) |
| 30 | 30 | "The Foundling" | April 29, 1958 (1958-04-29) |
| 31 | 31 | "Second Trial" | May 6, 1958 (1958-05-06) |
| 32 | 32 | "The Inner Circle" | May 13, 1958 (1958-05-13) |
| 33 | 33 | "The Golden Bride" | May 20, 1958 (1958-05-20) |
| 34 | 34 | "Murietta" | May 27, 1958 (1958-05-27) |
| 35 | 35 | "Shanghai Queen" | June 3, 1958 (1958-06-03) |
| 36 | 36 | "Bridal Bouquet" | June 10, 1958 (1958-06-10) |
| 37 | 37 | "Golden Grapes" | June 17, 1958 (1958-06-17) |

### Season 2: 1958–59

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
| 38 | 1 | "Dishonor for Matt Wayne" | September 23, 1958 (1958-09-23) |
| 39 | 2 | "Mutineers from Hell" | September 30, 1958 (1958-09-30) |
| 40 | 3 | "Lola Montez" | October 7, 1958 (1958-10-07) |
| 41 | 4 | "A Girl Named Sam" | October 14, 1958 (1958-10-14) |
| 42 | 5 | "The Salted Gold Mine" | October 21, 1958 (1958-10-21) |
| 43 | 6 | "Overland Mail" | October 28, 1958 (1958-10-28) |
| 44 | 7 | "Prince of Thieves" | November 11, 1958 (1958-11-11) |
| 45 | 8 | "Hangtown" | November 18, 1958 (1958-11-18) |
| 46 | 9 | "Dangerous Journey" | November 25, 1958 (1958-11-25) |
| 47 | 10 | "Halfway House" | December 2, 1958 (1958-12-02) |
| 48 | 11 | "The Painless Extractionist" | December 9, 1958 (1958-12-09) |
| 49 | 12 | "Old Sea Dog" | December 16, 1958 (1958-12-16) |
| 50 | 13 | "The Long Night" | December 23, 1958 (1958-12-23) |
| 51 | 14 | "The Man Who Owned San Francisco" | December 30, 1958 (1958-12-30) |
| 52 | 15 | "The First Gold Brick" | January 6, 1959 (1959-01-06) |
| 53 | 16 | "The Painted Lady" | January 13, 1959 (1959-01-13) |
| 54 | 17 | "Bella Union" | January 20, 1959 (1959-01-20) |
| 55 | 18 | "Crimps' Meat" | January 27, 1959 (1959-01-27) |
| 56 | 19 | "Corpus Delicti" | February 3, 1959 (1959-02-03) |
| 57 | 20 | "A Turn in the Trail" | February 17, 1959 (1959-02-17) |
| 58 | 21 | "Wolf's Head" | February 24, 1959 (1959-02-24) |
| 59 | 22 | "Cat's Paw" | March 3, 1959 (1959-03-03) |
| 60 | 23 | "Gold-Tooth Charlie" | March 10, 1959 (1959-03-10) |
| 61 | 24 | "Stampede at Misery Flats" | March 17, 1959 (1959-03-17) |
| 62 | 25 | "Guns for King Joseph" | March 24, 1959 (1959-03-24) |
| 63 | 26 | "Deadly Tintype" | March 31, 1959 (1959-03-31) |
| 64 | 27 | "A Hundred Barrels" | April 21, 1959 (1959-04-21) |
| 65 | 28 | "The Fugitive" | April 28, 1959 (1959-04-28) |
| 66 | 29 | "The Fur Story" | May 5, 1959 (1959-05-05) |
| 67 | 30 | "One Ton of Peppercorns" | May 12, 1959 (1959-05-12) |
| 68 | 31 | "The Bell Tolls" | May 19, 1959 (1959-05-19) |
| 69 | 32 | "An Act of Faith" | May 26, 1959 (1959-05-26) |

## Production

Producer Louis F. Edelman initially offered The Californians to ABC-TV. After that network was unable to obtain sponsors, Edelman offered it to NBC. Robert Bassler was the show's first producer. Felix Feist replaced him in January 1958. The Californians initially was broadcast on Tuesdays from 10 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time. In April 1959 it was moved to 9 - 9:30 p.m. E. T. on Tuesdays, and in July 1959 it was moved to Thursdays from 7:30 to 8 p.m. E. T.
The Californians theme song, "I've Come to California", was sung by the Ken Darby Singers. Darby also scored the program.
The Californians had competition from The West Point Story, which was broadcast by the American Broadcasting Company, and The $64,000 Question by CBS. In its second season, the western competed with The Garry Moore Show on CBS and the crime/police reality show Confession, hosted by Jack Wyatt, on ABC.