The Dakotas (TV series)

{{Infobox television

| image = Diane Brewster The Dakotas 1963.JPG

| caption = Diane Brewster as the wife, Jody Fargo, of a double-dealing lawman played by David Brian in the episode "Fargo" (1963)

| genre = Western

| director = Allan A. Buckhantz
Stuart Heisler
Paul Landres
Charles R. Rondeau
Robert Totten

Gordon Bau (make-up)

| starring = Larry Ward
Jack Elam
Chad Everett
Mike Greene

| theme_music_composer = Harold Levey
Kenneth S. Webb{{cite web|url=http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/dakotasThe.html|title=The Dakotas|website=www.classicthemes.com}}

| country = United States

| language = English

| num_seasons = 1

| num_episodes = 20 (1 unaired: Black Gold)

| list_episodes =

| executive_producer = William T. Orr

| producer = Anthony Spinner

| location = California

| runtime = 50 minutes

| company = Warner Bros. Television

| network = ABC

| first_aired = {{Start date|1963|01|07}}

| last_aired = {{End date|1963|05|13}}

| related = Cheyenne

}}

The Dakotas is an ABC/Warner Bros. Western television series starring Larry Ward and featuring Jack Elam, Chad Everett, and Michael Greene, broadcast during 1963. The short-lived program is considered a spin-off of Clint Walker's Cheyenne.

The Dakotas was cancelled one week after heavy viewer protest over an objectionable scene.{{Cite book |last=Aaker |first=Everett |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ltUkDwAAQBAJ |title=Television Western Players, 1960-1975: A Biographical Dictionary |date=2017-06-08 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-6250-3 |pages=430 |language=en}}

Synopsis

The series follows the efforts of U.S. Marshal Frank Ragan (Larry Ward) and his three deputies, J. D. Smith (Jack Elam), Vance Porter (Mike Greene), and Del Stark (Chad Everett) as they try to keep order in the Dakota Territory during the Gilded Age prior to statehood in 1889.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056747/reviews|title=The Dakotas (TV Series 1962– )|via=www.imdb.com}}

Series history

All four characters initially appeared in an April 23, 1962, episode of Cheyenne entitled "A Man Called Ragan", directors Richard C. Sarafian and Robert Sparr (uncredited), and writers Anthony Spinner (teleplay) and Harry Whittington (story).

However, the degree to which this episode makes The Dakotas a spin-off of Cheyenne is debatable. In the pilot on Cheyenne, the titular character of Cheyenne Bodie never appears. Also, the episode had followed five consecutive weeks of Bronco episodes, broadcast as a part of the wheel series that Cheyenne had effectively become. Moreover, the length of time between pilot and series—almost eight months—further weakened the link between Cheyenne and The Dakotas.[http://aa.1asphost.com/CTVA/US/Western/Cheyenne.htm Cheyenne at Classic TV Archives] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929173813/http://aa.1asphost.com/CTVA/US/Western/Cheyenne.htm |date=2007-09-29 }} The biggest tip-off to viewers as to the parentage of the series was that it had assumed the Monday 7:30 p.m. ET time slot previously occupied since 1959 by Cheyenne.

Guest stars

Among the many guest stars, George Macready appeared as Captain Ridgeway, with Jeanne Cooper as Rebecca Ridgeway, in the third episode, "Mutiny at Fort Mercy". Chris Robinson was cast as Chino in "Red Sky over Bismarck", with Andrew Duggan as Colonel Winters and Kevin Hagen as a preacher. Warren Stevens and Karen Sharpe played Cain and Angela Manning in the episode, "Crisis at High Banjo"; Robert J. Wilke was cast in the same episode as Judge Markham.

Other guest stars included:

Cancellation

When viewers saw the program's eighteenth episode, "Sanctuary at Crystal Springs", they were shocked by a scene that depicted the lawmen killing two outlaws in a church, one of whom had caused injury to a pastor, played by Charles Irving, before dying. Calls for The Dakotas to end its run were answered virtually overnight. After just one more episode, the show was pulled. A twentieth episode, entitled "Black Gold", was completed, but was never shown.{{cite web|url=http://aa.1asphost.com/CTVA/US/Western/Dakotas.htm|title=The Dakotas (WB)(1963) Larry Ward, Jack Elam, Chad Everett, Mike Greene|date=4 September 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040904020959/http://aa.1asphost.com/CTVA/US/Western/Dakotas.htm|archive-date=2004-09-04}}

Episodes

Several episode titles refer to geographic place names in the Dakotas.

{{Episode table |background=CCCCCC |season= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |episodes=

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = {{refn|group=pilot|"A Man Called Ragan" was presented as an episode in season 6 of Cheyenne in 1962}}

| Title = A Man Called Ragan

| DirectedBy = Richard C. Sarafian, Robert Sparr (Uncredited)

| WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|s=Harry Whittington|t=Anthony Spinner}}

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1962|04|23}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 1

| Title = Return To Dryrock

| DirectedBy = Stuart Heisler

| WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|s=Robert E. Thompson|t=Cy Chermak }}

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|01|07}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 2

| Title = Red Sky Over Bismarck

| DirectedBy = Stuart Heisler

| WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|s=Harry Whittington|t=Anthony Spinner }}

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|01|14}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 3

| Title = Mutiny at Fort Mercy

| DirectedBy = Stuart Heisler

| WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|s=Leo Lieberman|t=Leo Lieberman and E.M. Parsons }}

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|01|21}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 4

| Title = Trouble at French Creek

| DirectedBy = Stuart Heisler

| WrittenBy = E.M. Parsons

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|01|28}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 5

| Title = Thunder In Pleasant Valley

| DirectedBy = Paul Landres

| WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|s=Joyce Fierro|t=S.S.Schweitzer }}

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|02|04}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 6

| Title = Crisis at High Banjo

| DirectedBy = Stuart Heisler

| WrittenBy = Cy Chermak

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|02|11}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 7

| Title = Requiem at Dancer's Hill

| DirectedBy = Paul Landres

| WrittenBy = Peter B. Germano

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|02|18}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 8

| Title = Fargo

| DirectedBy = Stuart Heisler

| WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|s=Mel Goldberg|t=E.M. Parsons}}

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|02|25}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 9

| Title = Incident at Rapid City

| DirectedBy = Allan A. Buckhantz

| WrittenBy = Nicholas E. Baehr

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|03|04}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 10

| Title = Justice at Eagle's Nest

| DirectedBy = Robert Totten

| WrittenBy = S.S.Schweitzer

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|03|11}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 11

| Title = Walk Through the Badlands

| DirectedBy = Richard L. Bare

| WrittenBy = William Mourne

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|03|18}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 12

| Title = Trial at Grand Forks

| DirectedBy = Stuart Heisler

| WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|s=Sy Salkowitz|t=Peter B. Germano }}

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|03|25}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 13

| Title = Reformation at Big Nose Butte

| DirectedBy = Robert Totten

| WrittenBy = Cy Chermak

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|04|01}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 14

| Title = One Day In Vermillion

| DirectedBy = Allan A. Buckhantz

| WrittenBy = Dean Riesner

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|04|08}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 15

| Title = Terror at Heart River

| DirectedBy = Stuart Heisler

| WrittenBy = William Mourne

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|04|15}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 16

| Title = The Chooser of the Slain

| DirectedBy = Richard C. Sarafian,
Charles R. Rondeau (Uncredited)

| WrittenBy = Dean Riesner

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|04|22}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 17

| Title = Feud at Snake River

| DirectedBy = Charles R. Rondeau

| WrittenBy = Richard H. Landau

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|04|29}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 18

| Title = Sanctuary at Crystal Springs

| DirectedBy = Richard C. Sarafian

| WrittenBy = Cy Chermak

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|05|06}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 19

| Title = A Nice Girl From Goliath

| DirectedBy = Charles R. Rondeau

| WrittenBy = E.M. Parsons

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|05|13}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 20

| Title = Black Gold

| DirectedBy =

| WrittenBy =

| OriginalAirDate = Unaired

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = CCCCCC

}}

Home media

On March 24, 2015, Warner Bros. released The Dakotas- The Complete Series on DVD via their Warner Archive Collection. This is a manufacture-on-demand (MOD) release, available through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.[http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Dakotas-The-Complete-Series/20856 DVDs for 'The Complete Series' of the Abruptly-Ended 1963 Western] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313062229/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Dakotas-The-Complete-Series/20856 |date=2015-03-13 }}

References

The Boys Western Television and Film Annual (Purnell & Sons Ltd 1963)

Footnotes

External links

{{IMDb title|id=0056747|title=The Dakotas}}
[http://www.womenwritersblock.com/ourfavwest16.htm Show information at Women Writers Block]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU2VrqFDQ9Y The Dakotas show intro: YouTube video]
[http://www.westernclippings.com/images/heavies/elam_dakotas.jpg Cast photo of The Dakotas series stars Michael Greene, Jack Elam, Larry Ward, and Chad Everett]

Category:1963 American television series debuts

Category:1963 American television series endings

Category:Black-and-white American television shows

Category:American English-language television shows

Category:Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios

Category:American television spinoffs

Category:1960s Western (genre) television series

Category:United States Marshals Service in fiction

Category:Dakota Territory