# Trackdown (TV series)

Trackdown is an American Western television series starring Robert Culp that aired on CBS between 1957 and 1959. The series was produced by Dick Powell's Four Star Television and filmed at the Desilu-Culver Studio. Trackdown was a spin-off of Powell's anthology series, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre. The series was sponsored by the American Tobacco Company via it's Lucky Strike brand.

## Overview

Trackdown stars Robert Culp as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman. It is set in the 1870s after the American Civil War. In early episodes, stories focused on Gilman going to different Texas towns in pursuit of wanted fugitives. At midseason, the series became set in the town of Porter, Texas. Episodes touched on multiple Western themes and topics, so it was known as "the thinking man's Western".
Gilman is the de facto sheriff in Porter. His friends in the town include Henrietta Porter (portrayed by Ellen Corby). She is the widow of the town's founder and owns The Porter Enterprise newspaper. His other friends included Tenner Smith (played by Peter Leeds),owner of the local saloon, Occasionally, Gilman's duties as a Texas Ranger took him out of town, where he used his fast gun to "track down" and apprehend wanted criminals throughout the Lone Star State.
The pilot episode, "Badge of Honor", directed by Arthur Hiller, aired on Zane Grey Theatre on May 3, 1957. Gilman, then an ex-Confederate cavalry officer, returns to his Central Texas hometown, called "Crawford", after the war. He finds the town under the ruthless control of a gang led by an ex-Confederate colonel, Boyd Nelson (played by Gary Merrill). The once-courageous town sheriff (portrayed by Tom Tully) is now a drunken shell of a man Gilman had once known, who is afraid to face the outlaws. When a Texas Ranger came to town to arrest Colonel Nelson, he is fatally shot in the back. His Ranger badge falls on the dusty road. Gilman, who previously had served with the Texas Rangers, was weary of the Civil War and did not want to continue as a lawman, but after learning of the Ranger's death, he picks up the badge and finishes the job of bringing Nelson and his gang to justice.
Trackdown carried the endorsement of both the State of Texas and the Texas Rangers, an accolade no other Western television series has received. Some episodes were inspired by the actual files of the Rangers.

## Episodes
### Season 1: 1957–58

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | "The Marple Brothers" | Thomas Carr | John McGreevey | October 4, 1957 (1957-10-04) |
| 2 | 2 | "Law in Lampasas" | Thomas Carr | Norman Jacobs | October 11, 1957 (1957-10-11) |
| 3 | 3 | "The San Saba Incident" | Don McDougall | D.D. Beauchamp | October 18, 1957 (1957-10-18) |
| 4 | 4 | "Easton, Texas" | Thomas Carr | John Robinson | October 25, 1957 (1957-10-25) |
| 5 | 5 | "Like Father" | John English | John Robinson | November 1, 1957 (1957-11-01) |
| 6 | 6 | "Sweetwater, Texas" | Don McDougall | Norman Jacobs | November 8, 1957 (1957-11-08) |
| 7 | 7 | "Alpine, Texas" | Thomas Carr | Fred Freiberger | November 15, 1957 (1957-11-15) |
| 8 | 8 | "Self-Defense" | Thomas Carr | John Robinson | November 22, 1957 (1957-11-22) |
| 9 | 9 | "End of an Outlaw" | Thomas Carr | Curtis Kenyon | November 29, 1957 (1957-11-29) |
| 10 | 10 | "Look for the Woman" | Don McDougall | Daniel B. Ullman | December 6, 1957 (1957-12-06) |
| 11 | 11 | "The Town" | Don McDougall | Sam Peckinpah | December 13, 1957 (1957-12-13) |
| 12 | 12 | "Man and Money" | Don McDougall | Daniel B. Ullman | December 27, 1957 (1957-12-27) |
| 13 | 13 | "The Reward" | Don McDougall | Fred Freiberger | January 3, 1958 (1958-01-03) |
| 14 | 14 | "The Farrand Story" | Don McDougall | John Robinson | January 10, 1958 (1958-01-10) |
| 15 | 15 | "Right of Way" | Don McDougall | Don Clark | January 17, 1958 (1958-01-17) |
| 16 | 16 | "The Witness" | Thomas Carr | Christopher Knopf | January 24, 1958 (1958-01-24) |
| 17 | 17 | "The Toll Road" | Don McDougall | Fred Freiberger | January 31, 1958 (1958-01-31) |
| 18 | 18 | "The Young Gun" | Thomas Carr | Daniel B. Ullman | February 7, 1958 (1958-02-07) |
| 19 | 19 | "The Wedding" | Don McDougall | Sidney Marshall | February 14, 1958 (1958-02-14) |
| 20 | 20 | "The Trail" | Don McDougall | John Robinson | February 28, 1958 (1958-02-28) |
| 21 | 21 | "The Bounty Hunter" | Don McDougall | John Robinson | March 7, 1958 (1958-03-07) |
| 22 | 22 | "The Judge" | Don McDougall | John Robinson | March 14, 1958 (1958-03-14) |
| 23 | 23 | "The House" | Thomas Carr | John Robinson | March 21, 1958 (1958-03-21) |
| 24 | 24 | "The Boy" | Thomas Carr | John Robinson | March 28, 1958 (1958-03-28) |
| 25 | 25 | "The Pueblo Kid" | Don McDougall | Frank Bert | April 4, 1958 (1958-04-04) |
| 26 | 26 | "The Winter Boys" | Don McDougall | Frank Bert | April 11, 1958 (1958-04-11) |
| 27 | 27 | "The Mistake" | Don McDougall | John Robinson | April 18, 1958 (1958-04-18) |
| 28 | 28 | "The Deal" | Don McDougall | John Robinson | April 25, 1958 (1958-04-25) |
| 29 | 29 | "The Jailbreak" | Don McDougall | John McGreevey | May 2, 1958 (1958-05-02) |
| 30 | 30 | "The End of the World" | Don McDougall | John Robinson | May 9, 1958 (1958-05-09) |
| 31 | 31 | "The Brothers" | Don McDougall | D.D. Beauchamp | May 16, 1958 (1958-05-16) |
| 32 | 32 | "The Governor" | Don McDougall | Fred Freiberger | May 23, 1958 (1958-05-23) |

### Season 2: 1958–59

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 33 | 1 | "Killer Take All" | Donald McDougall | Norman Jacob | September 5, 1958 (1958-09-05) |
| 34 | 2 | "Outlaw's Wife" | Donald McDougall | Frank Burt | September 12, 1958 (1958-09-12) |
| 35 | 3 | "Chinese Cowboy" | Donald McDougall | Bob Barbash | September 19, 1958 (1958-09-19) |
| 36 | 4 | "The Set Up" | Thomas Carr | John Robinson | September 26, 1958 (1958-09-26) |
| 37 | 5 | "A Stone for Benny French" | Donald McDougall | Christopher Knopf | October 3, 1958 (1958-10-03) |
| 38 | 6 | "Trapped" | Donald McDougall | D. D. Beauchamp & Mary M. Beauchamp | October 10, 1958 (1958-10-10) |
| 39 | 7 | "Matter of Justice" | Thomas Carr | David Lang | October 17, 1958 (1958-10-17) |
| 40 | 8 | "Tenner Smith" | Donald McDougall | John Robinson | October 24, 1958 (1958-10-24) |
| 41 | 9 | "The Avenger" | Thomas Carr | Fred Freiberger | October 31, 1958 (1958-10-31) |
| 42 | 10 | "The Schoolteacher" | Thomas Carr | Fred Freiberger | November 7, 1958 (1958-11-07) |
| 43 | 11 | "Deadly Decoy" | Donald McDougall | George F. Slavin | November 14, 1958 (1958-11-14) |
| 44 | 12 | "Sunday's Child" | R.G. Springsteen | Maurice Tombragel | November 21, 1958 (1958-11-21) |
| 45 | 13 | "Day of Vengeance" | R.G. Springsteen | Dan Ullman | November 28, 1958 (1958-11-28) |
| 46 | 14 | "Three-Legged Fox" | Donald McDougall | Christopher Knopf | December 5, 1958 (1958-12-05) |
| 47 | 15 | "The Kid" | Thomas Carr | John Robinson | December 12, 1958 (1958-12-12) |
| 48 | 16 | "Guilt" | Donald McDougall | Christopher Knopf | December 19, 1958 (1958-12-19) |
| 49 | 17 | "Every Man a Witness" | Lawrence Dobkin | George F. Slavin | December 26, 1958 (1958-12-26) |
| 50 | 18 | "McCallin's Daughter" | Arthur D. Hilton | Sidney Marshall | January 2, 1959 (1959-01-02) |
| 51 | 19 | "Bad Judgment" | Donald McDougall | D. D. Beauchamp & Mary M. Beauchamp | January 28, 1959 (1959-01-28) |
| 52 | 20 | "Terror" | Donald McDougall | D. D. Beauchamp & Mary M. Beauchamp | February 4, 1959 (1959-02-04) |
| 53 | 21 | "The Feud" | R. G. Springsteen | John McGreevey | February 11, 1959 (1959-02-11) |
| 54 | 22 | "The Samaritan" | R.G. Springsteen | D.D. Beauchamp and Mary M. Beauchamp | February 18, 1959 (1959-02-18) |
| 55 | 23 | "The Gang" | Unknown | Unknown | February 25, 1959 (1959-02-25) |
| 56 | 24 | "The Threat" | Thomas Carr | John Robinson | March 4, 1959 (1959-03-04) |
| 57 | 25 | "Hard Lines" | Donald McDougall | Don Brinkley | March 11, 1959 (1959-03-11) |
| 58 | 26 | "Fear" | Thomas Carr | Christopher Knopf | March 18, 1959 (1959-03-18) |
| 59 | 27 | "Stranger in Town" | Donald McDougall | Dan Ullman | March 25, 1959 (1959-03-25) |
| 60 | 28 | "The Protector" | R. G. Springsteen | Fred Freiberger | April 1, 1959 (1959-04-01) |
| 61 | 29 | "False Witness" | Arthur D. Hilton | Don Brinkley | April 8, 1959 (1959-04-08) |
| 62 | 30 | "The Trick" | R. G. Springsteen | David Lang | April 15, 1959 (1959-04-15) |
| 63 | 31 | "The Eyes of Jerry Kelso" | R. G. Springsteen | John Robinson | April 22, 1959 (1959-04-22) |
| 64 | 32 | "Gift Horse" | Thomas Carr | Christopher Knopf | April 29, 1959 (1959-04-29) |
| 65 | 33 | "The Vote" | Donald McDougall | Fred Freiberger | May 6, 1959 (1959-05-06) |
| 66 | 34 | "The Unwanted" | Donald McDougall | Fred Freiberger | May 13, 1959 (1959-05-13) |
| 67 | 35 | "Toss Up" | Donald McDougall | Fred Freiberger | May 20, 1959 (1959-05-20) |
| 68 | 36 | "Inquest" | Unknown | Unknown | September 2, 1959 (1959-09-02) |
| 69 | 37 | "Back to Crawford" | R. G. Springsteen | Robert Culp | September 9, 1959 (1959-09-09) |
| 70 | 38 | "Blind Alley" | Donald McDougall | S. L. Maita | September 16, 1959 (1959-09-16) |
| 71 | 39 | "Quiet Night in Porter" | Donald McDougall | Donn Mullally | September 23, 1959 (1959-09-23) |

## Background and production
### Development

All Trackdown episodes were produced by Vincent Fennelly. John Robinson wrote 14 segments, including the pilot. Richard Donner was one of the directors. Sam Peckinpah wrote one episode, "The Town", about a cowardly community afraid to resist the clutches of an outlaw gang, but he did not direct any Trackdown episodes.
Robert Culp wrote one episode, titled "Back to Crawford", which features his then-wife, Nancy Asch-Culp. This episode was directly related to the first regular series episode, "The Marple Brothers", as Nancy portrayed a former childhood friend of Hoby's, Merrilee Quintana, with whom Hoby was once in love, who was out to kill his sister Norah as revenge for his killing her young husband in the line of duty, and who was one of the evil Marple Brothers he encountered in Episode 1. Gilman's sister was played by actress Peggy Webber, reprising her role from the series pilot.
In an interview, Robert Culp stated that Trackdown was conceived by its creators as "the Western Dragnet". The pilot of the series was written by John Robinson, who, according to Culp in that same interview, was partly responsible for the creation of Dragnet.
The series narrator was character actor Ed Prentiss.

### Guest stars

* Nick Adams
* Chris Alcaide
* Fred Aldrich
* John Anderson
* Robert Armstrong
* Phyllis Avery
* Trevor Bardette
* Claudia Barrett
* James Best
* Paul Birch
* Whit Bissell
* George Brenlin
* Paul Brinegar
* Walter Brooke
* Edgar Buchanan
* King Calder
* Ahna Capri
* Sidney Clute
* James Coburn
* Russ Conway
* Walter Coy
* Johnny Crawford
* Dennis Cross
* Richard Devon
* James Drury
* Don Durant
* Scott Forbes
* Robert Foulk
* Beverly Garland
* Dabbs Greer
* Richard Hale
* Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.
* Richard Jaeckel
* Vivi Janiss
* Robert Karnes
* DeForest Kelley
* Jess Kirkpatrick
* Michael Landon
* Nolan Leary
* Forrest Lewis
* Strother Martin
* Carole Mathews
* Ken Mayer
* Steve McQueen
* Joseph Mell
* Rita Moreno
* Neyle Morrow
* Vic Morrow
* James Murdock
* James Nolan
* Warren Oates
* Susan Oliver
* James Parnell
* Joseph V. Perry
* Richard Reeves
* Paul Richards
* Pernell Roberts
* Gloria Saunders
* Karen Sharpe
* Harold J. Stone
* Ray Teal
* William Talman
* Russell Thorson
* Lee Van Cleef
* Stuart Whitman
* Jean Willes
* Chill Wills

## Release
### Syndication

From 2016 to 2020, episodes of Trackdown aired Saturday mornings on MeTV.

## Cultural references

The episode "The End of the World" received considerable media attention after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States in 2016, nearly 60 years after the episode first aired. In the episode, a rabble-rousing doomsayer named Walter Trump (played by Lawrence Dobkin) comes to town. He scares the townsfolk with talk of an impending disaster and claims to be the only person who can save them – by building a wall. He also threatens to sue Hoby when accused of dishonesty. By the end of the episode, he is arrested as a conman and fraud. The coincidental similarity to Donald Trump's name and proposed border wall was noted.
A Vanity Fair author wrote, "Of all the books and movies that presaged the rise of our reality-TV President... none are so eerily on the nose as this once-obscure, 1958 episode of Trackdown in which a demagogue named Trump attempts to convince a town that only he can save its citizens... by building a wall." The Wrap asked, "Want to talk about a weird coincidence?.... Some may call this episode titled 'The End of the World' the ultimate illustration of life imitating art, considering the episode aired May 9, 1958... it is pretty amusing, especially when the TV character threatens, 'Be careful, son. I can sue you.'" The San Francisco Chronicle stated, "The character's speech is so similar to the President-elect's, it almost seems as if Donald Trump borrowed some catchphrases from Walter Trump."

## Critical response

A review in the trade publication Variety described Trackdown as "a moderately good western half-hour telefilm with a moderately good star performer". The review complimented characterizations but said the plot "was as loaded with holes as the villains were".