Barkleys Best of The West

Recently, The Western Writers of America released their list of The Greatest TV Western Series of All Time, and CBS's long running series Gunsmoke topped the list.

The top five, as determined by the organization of some "600 writers founded in the 1950s to promote and honor the best literature about the American West" is as follows:

1. Gunsmoke (1955-75)
2. Maverick (1957-62)
3. Rawhide (1959-66)
4. Bonanza (1959-73)
5. Have Gun, Will Travel (1957-63)

Although only two of these ran current within my lifetime, I have watched episodes of four of the five and cannot quarrel with the findings of the group. Certainly, Gunsmoke and Bonanza have to rank high on any ones list.

I have a clear cut favorite and it came in ranked at 14, and that is The Big Valley. The Big Valley, which ran current from 1965-69 on ABC television, portrayed the Barkley clan of Stockton, CA. The cast consisted of Miss Barbara Stanwyck as Victoria Barkley, Linda Evans as Audra Barkley, Richard Long as Jarrod Barkley, Lee Majors as Heath Barkley and Peter Breck as Nick Barkley. Napoleon Whiting played the butler Silas.

Miss Barbara Stanwyck was quite an established actor prior to the series and added immediate credibility to the cast. Lee Majors went on to not only marry Farrah Fawcett, but star as The Six Million Dollar Man (watched every episode) and as The Fall Guy on ABC while Linda Evans is well known for her role of Krystle Carrington on ABC's Dynasty. The show had great story lines, and while Jarrod was often off handling legal responsibilities at his law office, Nick and Heath were kicking ass whenever necessary.

The Big Valley was a great show and, by far, my favorite western.

HT LMM