The Virginian (1962-1963) [Season 1, Disc 2]

Creators: Charles Marquis Warren (developed for television by)
Stars: Doug McClure, James Drury, Lee J. Cobb

Distributor: Fernsehjuwelen

The Virginian which was renamed The Men from Shiloh in its final year on network TV is an American Western television series starring James Drury in the title role along with Doug McClure - Lee J Cobb and others. It originally aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971, for a total of 249 episodes. (Drury had played the same role in 1958, in an unsuccessful pilot that became an episode of the NBC summer series Decision.) Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute Western series (75 minutes excluding commercial breaks). Cobb left the series after the first four seasons, and was replaced over the years by mature character actors John Dehner, Charles Bickford, John McIntire, and Stewart Granger, portraying different characters. It was set before Wyoming became a state in 1890, as mentioned several times as Wyoming Territory, although other references set in later, around 1898. The series was loosely based on The Virginian: Horseman of the Plains, a 1902 Western novel by Owen Wister that Hollywood had previously adapted for movies. Percy Faith composed the show's original theme