Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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162 of 165 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rawhide is one of the best Westerns , May 20, 2006
First telecasted on January 9, 1959 until its last telecast on January 4, 1966, for a total of 8 seasons and 217 episodes.
The Show was about a group of Cattleman from Texas traveling North and taking their 3000 head herd to market. The show tell the stories of people met along the way and those who joined the regulars in transit.
The cast for this show is as described below:
*Rowdy Yates .....Clint Eastwood (Gil Favor's right hand man and second in command)
*Gil Favor (1959-1965).....Eric Fleming (The trail boss, the supervisor of the entire cattle drive operation)
*Pete Nolan (1959-1963).....Sheb Wooley
*Wishbone.....Paul Brinegar
*Jim Quince.....Steve Raines
*Joe Scarlett (1959-1964).....Rocky Shahan
*Harkness "Mushy" Mushgrove (1959-1965).....James Murdock
*Hey Soos Patines (1961-1964).....Robert Cabal
*Clay Forrester (1962-1963).....Charles Gray
*Ian Cabot (1965-1966).....David Watson
*Jed Colby (1965-1966).....John Ireland
*Solomon King (1965-1966).....Raymond St. Jacques
The First season of Rawhide was rated 28 out of the best 30 TV shows according to the Nielsen Rating (The Nielsen Rating is the percent of all TV-equipped homes tuned to the program on an average night, as measured by Nielsen Media Research). The show continued to climb even higher and reached its peak on the 1960-1961 season ranking 6th among the best 30 TV shows getting 27.5% of viewers.
The First season consisted of 23 episodes and they are as follows:
01- Incident of the Tumbleweed Wagon - Aired 1/9/1959
02- Incident at Alabaster Plain - Aired 1/16/1959
03- Incident with an Excutioner - Aired 1/23/1959
04- Incident of the Widowed Dove - Aired 1/30/1959
05- Incident on the Edge of Madness - Aired 2/6/1959
06- Incident of the Power and the Plow - Aired 2/13/1959
07- Incident at Barker Springs - Aired 2/20/1959
08- Incident West of Lano - Aired 2/27/1959
09- Incident of the Town in Terror - Aired 3/4/1959
10- Incident of the Golden Calf - Aired 3/13/1959
11- Incident of the Coyote Weed - Aired 3/20/1959
12- Incident of the Cubasco - Aired 4/3/1959
13- Incident of the Curious Street - Aired 4/10/1959
14- Incident of the Dog Days - Aired 4/17/1959
15- Incident of the Calico Gun - Aired 4/24/1959
16- Incident of the Misplaced Indians - Aired 5/1/1959
17- Incident of Fear in the Streets - Aired 5/8/1959
18- Incident Below the Brazos - Aired 5/15/1959
19- Incident of the Dry Drive - Aired 5/22/1959
20- Incident of the Judas Trap - Aired 6/5/1959
21- Incident in No Man's Land - Aired 6/12/1959
22- Incident of a Burst of Evil - Aired 6/26/1959
23- Incident of the Roman Candles - Aired 7/10/1959
I hope all 8 seasons will be released shortly after this season.
Thank you for reading my review and have a nice day :)
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136 of 142 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the gold standard in western excellence, April 11, 2006
Thoughts from various sources
from the VHS sleeve from CBS 'The Pitchwagon'
-At a time when TV westerns were either adapted from radio programs or based upon completely ficticious characters, Rawhide was a rare exception. Week after week, for seven years, Rawhide invited us on a historically accurate 1860's cattle drive from San Antonio, Texas to Sedalia, Kansas. Absolutely everything about Rawhide was first class. The rich, sprawling, hour-long episodes allowed characters to develop and powerful stories to unfold. The music, which included a hit theme performed by Frankie Laine, was written by Hollywood legend Dimitri Tiomkin. And best of all, the brilliant ensemble cast introduced Clint Eastwood in the role that made him famous-the young ramrod, Rowdy Yates.
-Rawhide, considered to be the best written and best directed Western on television. For seven seasons, Fleming portrayed an honest, independent, strong, intelligent, and heroic cowboy in the tradition of the American West. He embodied the mythic hero whose sense of justice and morality overrode all other considerations. Fleming's presence as Favor was so dominant that it centered the entire show and provided the base around which all the other characters revolved. Additionally, the character was provided with a personal history that enhanced his leadership. In four episodes featuring Favor's interactions with children (Incident of the Fish Out of Water, The Boss's Daughters, Incident of the Hostages, and El Hombre Bravo), his warmth, sensitivity, and overt compassion are particularly evident, adding depth, realism, and a gentleness to the character. The series was mostly shot in Nogales, Arizona and the authenticity of the trail drive was staggering - enough to win The Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame four years in a row. The award named Rawhide the outstanding program of its genre for excellence in depicting the West.
-Television and the home entertainment revolution of the 80's and 90's have made permanently accessible to us small-screen recreations of America's frontier history - the Wild West. Viewers over a certain age have not forgotten and could never abandon the feelings stirred by Rawhide.
-This was not only one of the finest of the TV Westerns, it was perhaps the grittiest.
-I dearly love Eric Fleming and I never hear Clint Eastwood talk about Eric Fleming or say anything nice about him-Eric had a sad childhood and he was a sculptor and a painter. Even though Eric Fleming is dead I wish in some way they could create a tribute to him. He was a very gifted actor.
-[The series was very popular in Europe and reached nearly fanatical levels in Japan]
--The series is in black and white so the cover artwork should not be in colo, but it's great they have started with this season 1 set. Season 2-8 Please! Fans of Rawhide have had to wait 47 years-almost half a century for this series measured from the start date of 1959(as of 2006), they have waited so long to start making the series available that much of the original fan base will never see these remastered episodes. There have also been several attempts to bring the series out so hopefully they'll release all 8 seasons. This is a gritty series so don't get the wrong idea from the artwork which makes it almost look like they're getting ready for a picnic. The details in this series are incredible and Gil is absolutely amazing. It is something special to hear the way Gil talks and to hear his voice. Eric was the reason for Rawhide's success and we will never forget him. Eric Fleming was a remarkable man. There will never be another man like Eric Fleming.
Many thanks for bringing out this first Season. Seasons 2-8 on DVD Please!
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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Ultimate Outdoor Action Western: Great Cast , September 4, 2006
As the producer says about the only just "in town' episode, he got a lot of angry mail afterwards because people loved the great outdoor action of the drovers and their cattle as they constantly moved into the unknown territory of the Sedalia Trail. This great long running western adventurer had one of the best ensemble casts of all the westerns. Clint Eastwood, who became the popular star, played youthful beefcake, brave and quick tempered ramrod, balanced by Eric Fleming's hard nosed, mature and responsible trail boss. In addition, Paul Brineger plays the classic tough, short tempered and frequently criticized chuck wagon cook who runs the camp when the cattle stop moving and he is one of the many actors who add so much to this western. The supporting casts features two men that look and act like real drovers and not Hollywood cowboys, Steve Raines as Jim Quince and Rocky Shahan as Joe Scarelet. Rounding out the cast is the man in the middle, Sheb Wooley (High Noon) who plays Pete Nolan the experienced scout and expert on Indians. And there is even a touch of comedy relief played by James Murdock as Mushy, the cook's louse. Robert Cabal as Hey Soos, the Ramuda wrangler, has a limited spot the first year. What was unique about Rawhide is that it had a real grimy touch of realism with a real cow herd, a predominately outdoor set that looks like north Texas and it features great acting and dialogue such as "You knew we were drovers by our look or are smell?" This first year has a touch of naivety in some of the episodes but Eric Fleming's booming voice and his character always add the touch of reality. His motto is business first and avoid unnecessary entanglements but when they intersect trouble they tend to get involved. This first year has a great collection of guest stars that include Lon Chaney, Jr., Martin Milner (Route 66), Brian Keith (Mountain Men), Beverly Garland (My Three Sons), James Drury (The Virginian), Rick Jason (Combat), Leslie Nielson (Airplane), Martin Landau (Mission Impossible), Linda Cristal (High Chaparral) and on. The stories seem to get better and better as the series developed particularly the battle over water in the "Dry Drive" and there is even a psychological drama of a shadowy hired killer stalking the men in the herd called "Executioner". Excellent first year, the cast stayed through the run until Sheb Wooley (also a singer who sang the great 50s hit "Purple People Eater') left for two years and Fleming skipped the last season and ironically drowned in his last film. The only blemish besides the "in town" episode was an excellent episode about wolves stalking the herd with a killer in their midst. Due to the lack of trained wolves, it clearly appears that they had to use several German shepherds running in the dark. But overlook that and you have one of the more fascinating episodes. The quality of the DVD film is excellent although in some episodes the dark scenes are not very discernible. Each episode includes an episode guide that often highlights the guest stars and there is a write up on Clint. Excellent 7 disc set with all 22 hour long episodes (without commercials of course). Hurrah, hurrah for DVD.
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