Shotgun Slade
Shotgun Slade is an American western mystery television series starring Scott Brady that aired seventy-eight episodes in syndication from 1959 to 1961 Created by Frank Gruber, the stories were written by John Berardino, Charissa Hughes, and Martin Berkeley. The series was filmed in Hollywood by Revue Studios. The pilot for "Shotgun Slade" aired earlier in 1959 on CBS's "Schlitz Playhouse". Overview. After several years of total saturation on the networks, many western series began to lose popularity with viewing audiences, "Shotgun Slade" had three characteristics that made it unique. The first was Slade's profession. Instead  being a marshal, sheriff or wandering gunfighter, Slade was a private detective, hired by individuals to track down criminals, return stolen money, or perform other similar duties. This was obviously influenced by the growing popularity of television private eyes such as "Peter Gunn", "Richard Diamond, Private Detective", "77 Sunset Strip", and "Hawaiian Eye". Another quirk was Slade's weapon of choice. Instead of packing a six gun, Slade carried a combination shotgun that has an upper and lower barrel. The lower barrel fired a 12-gauge shotgun shell, while the top barrel fired a .32 caliber rifle bullet. The idea  was that this weapon gave Slade the ability to fire at close and distant targets with the same amount of accuracy. Several western television shows were known for featuring distinctive weapons, such as those on shows like "The Rifleman", "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp", "Bat Masterson", "", "Johnny Ringo", and "The Rebel", but Slade's shotgun stood out even among the weapons of those other shows. Despite the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the series, "Shotgun Slade" lasted for only two seasons. Music themes. The third novelty of the series is that it featured a modern jazz score instead of  the traditional Western-themed music that was the norm for western television shows and movies. Again, this seems an influence of the private eye genre's popularity because most private eye shows featured a jazz score.