Sergeant Preston of the Yukon (TV series)
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon is a half-hour long American action adventure northwestern television series, broadcast in color on CBS Thursday evenings at 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. from September 29, 1955, to September 25, 1958. It was based on the radio drama Challenge of the Yukon.[1]
| Sergeant Preston of the Yukon | |
|---|---|
 Richard Simmons as Sergeant Preston with Yukon King, 1955 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | |
| Starring | Richard Simmons |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 78 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Charles E. Skinner |
| Running time | 22–24 minute |
| Production company | Charles E. Skinner Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | September 29, 1955 – September 25, 1958 |
Synopsis edit
Richard Simmons starred as Sergeant Preston, who patrolled the Yukon Territory in search of renegades and outlaws, during the time of the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s.[2] In every episode, Preston was assisted by his Alaskan Malamute Yukon King, who had been raised by a female wolf. In episodes taking place during the summer he rode his horse Rex.[3]
The show's theme music was the overture to Emil von Reznicek's opera Donna Diana. As the theme played the announcer stated: "Sergeant Preston of the North-West Mounted Police, with Yukon King, swiftest and strongest lead dog, breaking the trail in the relentless pursuit of lawbreakers in the wild days of the Yukon."[3]
At the end of each episode, Preston would turn to his dog and say "Well, King, this case is closed."[4]
Production edit
The series was filmed in mountainous sections of California and Colorado.[2] Trendle-Campbell-Meurer produced the first two seasons, and in its last season the Jack Wrather Corporation purchased the rights and produced Sergeant Preston of the Yukon.
Cast edit
Main edit
- Richard Simmons as Sergeant William Preston
- Yukon King (dog)
- Rex (horse)
Guest stars edit
The guest stars on Sergeant Preston included: [citation needed]
- Francis De Sales appeared in five episodes, concluding as Cy Bartok in "The Diamond Collar".
- Kelo Henderson, played Pete Hollis in the 1958 episode "Escape to the North".
- Ed Hinton appeared twice in 1956 as Barry Jeffers in "Remember the Maine" and as Lefty "Red" Burke in "The Rookie".
- I. Stanford Jolley was Sam Haley in "The Fancy Dan" (1956) and Frisco in "Gold Rush Patrol" (1958).
- Tyler MacDuff played Bill Corey in "Lost River Roundup" in 1957.
- John M. Pickard appeared four times in 1956–1957 in different roles, including the role of Red Brody in "Old Ben's Gold".
- Robert Shayne, was in the 1957 episode, "The Mark of Crime."
- William Boyett appeared as Constable Malloy in "Gold Fever" from 1956, and appeared as Cary Braddock in "Ten Little Indians" from 1957.
- Dan Blocker played 'Mule' Conklin in "Underground Ambush" from 1957.
Episodes edit
Season 1 (1955–56) edit
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Vindication of Yukon King" | Charles E. Skinner | Dwight Babcock | September 29, 1955 |
| 2 | 2 | "Rebellion in the North" | Unknown | Unknown | October 6, 1955 |
| 3 | 3 | "Trouble at Hogsback" | Unknown | Unknown | October 13, 1955 |
| 4 | 4 | "Incident at Gordon Landing" | Unknown | Unknown | October 20, 1955 |
| 5 | 5 | "Bad Medicine" | Unknown | Unknown | October 27, 1955 |
| 6 | 6 | "Hidden Gold" | Unknown | Unknown | November 3, 1955 |
| 7 | 7 | "Last Mail from Last Chance" | Unknown | Unknown | November 10, 1955 |
| 8 | 8 | "The Assassins" | Unknown | Unknown | November 17, 1955 |
| 9 | 9 | "Golden Gift" | Unknown | Unknown | November 24, 1955 |
| 10 | 10 | "Cry Wolf" | Unknown | Unknown | December 1, 1955 |
| 11 | 11 | "Girl from Vancouver" | Edward Dew | Sidney Slon | December 8, 1955 |
| 12 | 12 | "Treasure of Fifteen Mile Creek" | Unknown | Unknown | December 15, 1955 |
| 13 | 13 | "The Boy Nobody Wanted" | Unknown | Unknown | December 22, 1955 |
| 14 | 14 | "The Mad Wolf of Lost Canyon" | Edward Dew | Robert Bennett | December 29, 1955 |
| 15 | 15 | "One Bear Too Many" | Unknown | Unknown | January 5, 1956 |
| 16 | 16 | "Crime at Wounded Moose" | Edward Dew | Sidney Slon | January 12, 1956 |
| 17 | 17 | "Dog Race" | Edward Dew | Robert C. Bennett | January 19, 1956 |
| 18 | 18 | "Phantom of Phoenixville" | Alan Crosland, Jr. | Robert C. Bennett | January 26, 1956 |
| 19 | 19 | "Trapped" | Charles D. Livingstone | Robert C. Bennett | February 2, 1956 |
| 20 | 20 | "Justice at Goneaway Creek" | John Peyser | Maurice Tombragel | February 9, 1956 |
| 21 | 21 | "Skagway Secret" | Charles D. Livingstone | Robert C. Bennett | February 16, 1956 |
| 22 | 22 | "Relief Train" | Edward Dew | Robert C. Bennett | February 23, 1956 |
| 23 | 23 | "Totem Treasure" | Unknown | Unknown | March 1, 1956 |
| 24 | 24 | "One Good Turn" | Unknown | Unknown | March 8, 1956 |
| 25 | 25 | "The Cache" | Unknown | Unknown | March 15, 1956 |
| 26 | 26 | "Cinderella of the Yukon" | Unknown | Unknown | March 22, 1956 |
| 27 | 27 | "Gold Fever" | Unknown | Unknown | March 29, 1956 |
| 28 | 28 | "The Fancy Dan" | Unknown | Unknown | April 5, 1956 |
| 29 | 29 | "The Coward" | Unknown | Unknown | April 12, 1956 |
| 30 | 30 | "Father of the Crime" | Unknown | Unknown | April 19, 1956 |
| 31 | 31 | "Remember the Maine" | Unknown | Unknown | April 26, 1956 |
| 32 | 32 | "Love and Honor" | Unknown | Unknown | May 3, 1956 |
| 33 | 33 | "All is Not Gold" | Unknown | Unknown | May 10, 1956 |
Season 2 (1956–57) edit
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | 1 | "Limping King" | Unknown | Unknown | September 13, 1956 |
| 35 | 2 | "The Rookie" | Unknown | Unknown | September 20, 1956 |
| 36 | 3 | "Pack Ice Justice" | Unknown | Unknown | September 27, 1956 |
| 37 | 4 | "Revenge" | Unknown | Unknown | October 4, 1956 |
| 38 | 5 | "Littlest Rookie" | Unknown | Unknown | October 11, 1956 |
| 39 | 6 | "Lost Patrol" | Unknown | Unknown | October 18, 1956 |
| 40 | 7 | "King of Herschel Island" | Unknown | Unknown | October 25, 1956 |
| 41 | 8 | "Ghost of the Anvil" | Edward Dew | William Lively | November 1, 1956 |
| 42 | 9 | "Eye of Evil" | Unknown | Unknown | November 8, 1956 |
| 43 | 10 | "Luck of the Trail" | Unknown | Unknown | November 15, 1956 |
| 44 | 11 | "Return Visit" | Unknown | Unknown | November 22, 1956 |
| 45 | 12 | "The Tobacco Smugglers" | Unknown | Unknown | November 29, 1956 |
| 46 | 13 | "Turnabout" | Unknown | Unknown | December 6, 1956 |
| 47 | 14 | "Emergency on Scarface Flat" | Unknown | Unknown | December 13, 1956 |
| 48 | 15 | "The Williwaw" | Unknown | Unknown | December 20, 1956 |
| 49 | 16 | "Border Action" | Unknown | Unknown | December 27, 1956 |
| 50 | 17 | "The Black Ace" | W.B. Eason | Fran Striker | January 3, 1957 |
| 51 | 18 | "Scourge of the Wilderness" | Alan Crosland, Jr. | William Lively | January 10, 1957 |
| 52 | 19 | "Blind Justice" | Alan Crosland, Jr. | Robert C. Bennett | January 17, 1957 |
| 53 | 20 | "The Stolen Malamute" | Unknown | Unknown | April 4, 1957 |
| 54 | 21 | "The Devil's Roost" | Unknown | Unknown | April 11, 1957 |
| 55 | 22 | "Ten Little Indians" | Unknown | Unknown | April 18, 1957 |
| 56 | 23 | "Underground Ambush" | Unknown | Unknown | April 25, 1957 |
Season 3 (1957–58) edit
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | 1 | "Old Ben's Gold" | Unknown | Unknown | October 3, 1957 |
| 58 | 2 | "The Rebel Yell" | Unknown | Unknown | October 10, 1957 |
| 59 | 3 | "The Mark of Crime" | Unknown | Unknown | October 17, 1957 |
| 60 | 4 | "Storm the Pass" | Unknown | Unknown | October 24, 1957 |
| 61 | 5 | "Old Faithful" | Unknown | Unknown | October 31, 1957 |
| 62 | 6 | "The Skull in the Stone" | Unknown | Unknown | November 7, 1957 |
| 63 | 7 | "Ghost Mine" | Unknown | Unknown | November 14, 1957 |
| 64 | 8 | "The Jailbreaker" | Unknown | Unknown | November 21, 1957 |
| 65 | 9 | "Out of the Night" | Unknown | Unknown | November 28, 1957 |
| 66 | 10 | "Three Men in Black" | Unknown | Unknown | December 5, 1957 |
| 67 | 11 | "Lost River Roundup" | Unknown | Unknown | December 12, 1957 |
| 68 | 12 | "The Old Timer" | Unknown | Unknown | December 19, 1957 |
| 69 | 13 | "Battle at Bradley's" | Unknown | Unknown | December 26, 1957 |
| 70 | 14 | "The Generous Hobo" | Unknown | Unknown | January 2, 1958 |
| 71 | 15 | "Follow the Leader" | Unknown | Unknown | January 9, 1958 |
| 72 | 16 | "Gold Rush Patrol" | Unknown | Unknown | January 16, 1958 |
| 73 | 17 | "Grizzly" | Unknown | Unknown | January 23, 1958 |
| 74 | 18 | "The Diamond Collar" | Unknown | Unknown | January 30, 1958 |
| 75 | 19 | "Escape to the North" | Unknown | Unknown | February 6, 1958 |
| 76 | 20 | "Outlaw in Uniform" | Unknown | Unknown | February 13, 1958 |
| 77 | 21 | "Boy Alone" | Unknown | Unknown | February 20, 1958 |
| 78 | 22 | "The Criminal Collie" | Unknown | Unknown | February 27, 1958 |
Release edit
Syndication edit
Because the series was filmed in color it remained popular long after its original prime-time broadcast.[5] Starting in the early 1960s it was shown on Saturday mornings.[3] The popular show aired internationally for decades.[4]
During the 2010s, the series was shown on GRIT classic TV/movie network, and on FETV (Family Entertainment TV).
DVD edit
Timeless Media Group released a two-disc best-of set featuring ten episodes from the series in Region 1 on November 21, 2006.[6]
Infinity Entertainment has released all three seasons of the series on DVD in Region 1.[7][8]
Comic books edit
Dell Comics had produced Sergeant Preston comics based on the radio version, and then from 1956 to 1959 they brought out 29 issues based on the television series.[9]
In the 1980s, Don Sherwood adapted the series into comic books, with scripts by Stan Stunell.[10]
Sponsorship edit
In 1955, the Quaker Oats company gave away land in the Klondike as part of the Klondike Big Inch Land Promotion which was tied in with the television show. Genuine deeds each to one square inch of a lot in Yukon Territory, issued by Klondike Big Inch Land Co. Inc., were inserted into Quaker's Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice cereal boxes.[11]
References edit
- ^ Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 440–442. ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.
- ^ a b Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946 – Present, 1st Edition, pages 553 - 554, Ballantine Books, 1979
- ^ a b c Ken Beck & Jim Clark, The Encyclopedia of TV Pets (ebook), Thomas Nelson, 2002
- ^ a b Dennis McLellan, Richard Simmons Actor, Calgary Herald (Calgary, Alberta, Canada), January 18, 2003, page 138]
- ^ Western Clippings
- ^ "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon: Sergeant Preston, N/a: Movies & TV". Amazon. 20 November 2007. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
- ^ "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon: Complete Season 1 : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". Dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
- ^ "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon: Complete Season 2 : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". Dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
- ^ Western Clippings Comics
- ^ "Don Sherwood". lambiek.net.
- ^ Juliano, Frank (October 3, 2010). "Oatmeal lots gave officials indigestion". Connecticut Post. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
