Very well executed

just watch it!

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The TV series, "Cheyenne," was one of several Western themed weekly programs on television in 1950s America. Its success and that of so many others like it in that decade seemed almost assured. Many children of the 1940s grew up with Western matinée movies at local theaters. Those were the days before TV took off five years after the end of World War II. I recall vividly my frequent Saturday bicycle rides with my brother or neighborhood friends to the Swan Theater in Columbus, NE. Those kids' matinees cost just nine cents, and that left a penny out of our dime for a bag of popcorn. Most of the matinée movies we saw weren't new. They were films from the past decade or more that we probably hadn't seen. When a new Western movie came out we might get to see it at an evening showing at the bigger Columbus Theater. Of course, the price there was 20 cents and popcorn cost a nickel. But we kids were happy with the matinees following the adventures of Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, John Wayne, the Cisco Kid, Lash Larue and the Lone Ranger. With the rapid rise of TV at the start of the 1950s, the movie houses began to see a steady decline in audience numbers. And, those daytime Western entertainers of the past were getting into the new medium as well. The Gene Autry show aired from 1950 to 1955, and the Roy Rogers show ran from 1951 to 1957. Hopalong Cassidy had a TV series from 1952-54, and the Cisco Kid was a favorite TV series from 1950-56 starring Duncan Renaldo. The Lone Ranger, who was played by different actors in movies, as was The Cisco Kid, had a long-running TV series from 1949-57, with a 30-minute weekly show that starred Clayton Moore. It ran for 221 episodes. Moore also starred in the 1956 feature length film, "The Lone Ranger."With Westerns so firmly established among the viewing public, it's no wonder that new Western series would become very popular on TV. But, the new series and heroes took on a little more mature look. Now they appealed as much to adults as to kids. Indeed, many of the latter were now the adults themselves. "Cheyenne" was one of the favorites among the many long-running Western TV serials. It ran from 1955 to 1962 and starred Clint Walker. It was second in popularity only to "Gunsmoke," which became the longest running live action TV series in history, airing from 1955 to 1975. And, the enduring popularity of Westerns would continue in the movies and on TV through the 1970s. "Maverick" aired from 1957 to 1962, "Have Gun – Will Travel" ran from 1957 to 1963, and "Wagon Train" ran from 1957 to 1965. Even before these faded out, other series were born. "The Rifleman" aired from 1958 to 1963,"Rawhide" ran from 1959 to 1965 and "Bonanza" ran from 1959 to 1973. More Western series' were born as some of the earlier ones faded. "The Wild Wild West" and "The Big Valley" both ran from 1965-69, and "How the West Was Won," aired from 1976 to 1979.Those were times and a type of wholesome entertainment that the whole family could enjoy. Few of today's theater offerings or TV programs fit that category. And, today's $5 and $10 theater popcorn is a far cry from the five or 10 cents one paid in 1950 — even adjusted for inflation. Top movie stars in the 1940s might make $100,000 for a single movie. Today they get $5 to $10 million or more. Inflation in the movie industry appears to be about 500 to 1,000 percent greater than for the American economy overall. That may be one reason why so many more people stay home and watch TV instead of going to the movies.

I have had a "crush" on this man ever since I saw the first "Cheyenne" TV show - I am now 62 years old and I still remember the goose bumps I would get just looking at him. And that voice - when I grew older I would pretend that he would whisper "sweet nothings" in my ear. The only reason I watched the show was to look at him - I couldn't tell you what any of the shows were about - but I remember him. I guess you could say that he was my first love. And to think that he used to live not far from me!!! Who knew???? The only other TV star that ever made me feel that way was Gardner McKay of "Adventures in Paradise". Talk about two opposites!

When "Cheyenne" debuted on 9/20/1955, "The Lone Ranger" had already been running for six seasons and had two more to go. Warner Brothers, specifically Jack Warner, tapped Clint Walker to be it's first TV Western hero, and raised the bar a considerable notch over the series made famous by Clayton Moore (and John Hart for one season). Walker was a no nonsense but laid back hero, almost droll by comparison with 'B' movie Western stars that preceded him, and that almost certainly added to his fame and popularity as Cheyenne.The Season I DVD compilation includes all fifteen episodes of the series' first season 1955/56. Series guest star James Garner appeared in three of them, as many as L.Q. Jones, who portrayed Cheyenne's map making sidekick Smitty in three of the first four shows. Garner's character was different each time out. Other notable guests in the first season included Myron Healey, Dennis Hopper, Barton MacLane, and even a young Michael Landon in an uncredited appearance.One of the interesting things about that first season is that two of the episodes were direct lifts of movies starring Humphrey Bogart. 'The Argonauts' (#1.3) swipes scenes and dialog from "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" in a similar story of greedy gold prospectors, but at least credits B. Traven as the author of the novel on which both were based. However 'Fury at Rio Hondo' (#1.12) credits James Gunn with writing that story, but nowhere mentions Ernest Hemingway as the author of "To Have And Have Not". Once again, the story's plot and characters parallel the Bogart film; the Lauren Bacall role is handled by Peggie Castle, but she doesn't quite cut it as the sexy nineteen year old Bacall did in the original movie. For his part, Bodie was no Bogey.On that score, Clint Walker was competent as the laconic drifter Cheyenne Bodie, but like George Reeves in "The Adventures of Superman" TV series, he didn't have a lot to work with, and didn't rise much above the material, unless you consider his six and a half foot stature. Don't get me wrong, I like both Walker and "Cheyenne" and enjoy the shows, but if you consider the acting, the best you can say is that it was uneven. And the episodes, some were almost comical trying to be serious. Consider Episode #1.11, 'Quicksand', in which Cheyenne challenges a Comanche Chief in a battle to the death in a bed of muck. They start out standing upright, and slowly start to sink inch by inch until each proves the point that they would rather die than be proved a coward. Then, when the Comanche chief mounts his horse to ride away, he's no longer covered by mud!As big as Walker was, it's interesting to see him cast opposite actors who came close to him in size; Don Megowan comes to mind from Episode #1.13 - 'Star in the Dust', as a sheriff who hires Cheyenne on as a deputy. That's one example, but it happened with some regularity. Kind of makes you wonder where all those big bad guys came from in the Old West.The Season I DVD set contains a nice 'Legacy of Cheyenne' feature in which the seventy nine year old Walker talks about his early life and 'discovery' by Van Johnson, who put him in touch with an agent. That contact eventually led to a role as a Sardinian Captain of the Guard in "The Ten Commandments". Warner Brothers took an interest based on that role, and bought his contract from producer Hal Wallis with the Cheyenne role in mind. Originally, the show aired as part of an anthology series on the ABC network; other posters on this board have done a nice job of outlining that history.My favorite show of the series - Episode #7.1, debuting the 1962 season, titled "The Durango Brothers". Mama Hortense Durango (Ellen Corby) enlists her three renegade sons (Jack Elam, Charlie Briggs, and Mickey Simpson) to kidnap Cheyenne in order to marry him off to sister Lottie (Sally Kellerman!!!) - it's hilarious! Needless to say, Cheyenne finishes the show, the season and the series still single."Cheyenne" began a great Western tradition at ABC, to be followed not only by that network, but CBS and NBC as well. Not many though, could ride as tall in the saddle as the original, and Clint Walker can rest easy knowing that there aren't many TV heroes that are admired as much as Cheyenne Bodie.*Addendum - posted 12/13/09 - From Episode #64, Season 4 - "Gold, Glory and Custer, Requiem" - Cheyenne Bodie's Indian name from the Southern Cheyenne is revealed to be 'Touch the Sky'. Seems more than appropriate.

I haven't seen an episode of Cheyenne since I was nine years old, and I'm well over fifty now. Mostly what I remember about it was its horrendous violence: shootings, beatings, hangings, Indian tortures, and any amount of deliberate mayhem. This was very strong stuff, and every bit as violent as modern TV shows.What this show had going for it was Clint Walker, who may well have been the most astonishing looking human being ever to appear in front of a camera. I have seen very few professional athletes who were bigger and stronger, but none who were as handsome. Walker, whom I've seen in other movies, was also at least competent as an actor, even though he was hired on the basis of his striking good looks. He was at least as good as the young Clint Eastwood, and far superior to the truly appalling Arnold Schwarzenegger.An interesting fact about Walker is that he once fell on an upturned ski pole, whose point pierced his heart. He pulled the pole from his chest and walked down the ski hill. He survived and is still alive in 2006. You couldn't invent somebody like this in a movie and have people believe it.