The Virginian

The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series . Immensely successful, it ran for nine seasons—television's third longest running western. It follows Bonanza at fourteen seasons and 430 episodes, and Gunsmoke at twenty seasons and 635 episodes. When Revue Productions' popular hour long series Wagon Train moved from the NBC network to the ABC the series was proposed to replace it. From the... beginning the series was filmed in colour on 35mm film. Set around the year 1886, and loosely based on the 1902 novel by Owen Wister, the series revolved around the tough foreman of the Shiloh Ranch, played by James Drury. He and his top hand Trampas, were the only characters to remain with the show for the entire run. As in the book, the foreman went only by the name The Virginian. The Virginian's real name was never revealed in the nine years the show was on the air.
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