The Tall Man (1962)

It never cracked the top 30 in the ratings, and it aired in an era when TV westerns had just reached their peak and were starting to decline (all those not named Bonanza or Gunsmoke, that is). But according to factsverse.com, co-star Clu Gulager claimed that the real reason The Tall Man was canceled after just two seasons was because of political pressure from Congress. Gulager reportedly said that sometime during the series' 1960-62 run Congress debated on whether or not Billy the Kid was a cold-blooded killer. Since Gulager played a fictional Billy the Kid, who was portrayed as a wild but still good-hearted hero, Congress felt that this was not an appropriate role model for children to see on television, so pressure was applied to NBC to take the series off the air. No details are provided on when this happened and who the principal players were in Congress who helped drive this decision. Likewise, a scan of 1962 issues of TV Guide magazine provides no news item about any decision to cancel the series. In fact, the August 18 issue of the magazine, only a few weeks before the Fall 1962 season was about to begin, contains an article about young TV actors who have gotten poor reviews from critics, including Gulager, who is still described as being affiliated with The Tall Man (as Doug McClure is described as being on Checkmate, another series that was canceled before the Fall 1962 season). Other than missing a paycheck, however, Gulager seems to not have thought much of his own series, as he is quoted in the TV Guide article saying, "If I'd been a critic, I'd have drummed the show off the air as a prime example of what TV should not spend its money on." The factsverse.com piece on Gulager also mentions that he wasn't sold on the series when he was first offered the role, saying that he and his agent had a 3-hour discussion before deciding to accept the part rather than hold out for something better because Gulager at the time was married with a child to support and needed the money immediately.

Even if Congress had not taken action to get the show canceled, by 1962 it offered little to distinguish itself from the scores of other westerns on the air at that time. Whereas earlier episodes had winked at the real-life relationship of Pat Garrett and Billy Bonney, such as it may have been, foreshadowing that they might have to stand off against each other one day, the 1962 episodes dispense with such teases and focus solely on standard TV western stories that could be seen on any of a number of other programs. For example, "The Hunt" (January 27, 1962) centers on wealthy British shipping magnate Edward Van Doren with a passion for hunting, but with the twist that he considers the ultimate hunting challenge to be tracking and killing a human, in this case Billy. He rationalizes that he will be doing society a favor, given the number of men Billy has killed and the danger he poses. Meanwhile, the supposedly untamed Billy espouses the humane belief that it is not sporting to kill unarmed prey. The story and even the title of this episode exactly match one from Have Gun--Will Travel which aired only a week later on February 3, 1962, except that the hunter in this later episode is a Russian nobleman rather than a British mogul.

Then there is the popular quarantine story, titled appropriately enough "Quarantine" (March 17, 1962), in which Garrett has to incarcerate injured bank robber Bob Kelso at the local doctor's office after another patient shows up at the office with symptoms indicating possible bubonic plague. Perhaps this theme had become popular because of hit series like Dr. Kildare and Ben Casey, but in any case at least three other westerns aired quarantine stories in 1962: Lawman ("The Doctor," May 6, 1962), Frontier Circus ("Incident at Pawnee Gun," September 6, 1962), and The Rifleman ("Quiet Night, Deadly Night," October 22, 1962). This Tall Man episode is also notable in that it shows Garrett bending the law in a way he would have disapproved of in earlier episodes--during the three-day quarantine, Kelso works on the doctor's daughter and former girlfriend Amy Beckett to get her to fetch him a file so that he can saw off his handcuffs just as his two brothers show up to spring him from Garrett's custody. Though Garrett is able to outfox the Kelsos with the threat of plague infection, even though he knows the danger has passed, and is able to recapture them before they escape, Amy is still guilty of aiding in the attempted escape. But when she shows up at the jailhouse the next day to turn herself in, Garrett claims that Kelso never really escaped, since he never made it out of her father's office before being retaken, and says that she is only guilty of falling in love with the wrong person, which everyone has done at one time or another. This contrasts with the 1961 episode "A Tombstone for Billy" in which Billy steals a tombstone for a poor widower who feels his late wife has been forgotten by the town she served for so many years. Despite Billy's good-hearted intentions, Garrett forces him to serve a few days in jail to show that no one is above the law, except for lovestruck young women, apparently.

Speaking of misplaced affections, "The Runaway Groom" (April 28, 1962) uses the old fake wedding gag for laughs and suspense when a family of mountain folk come to town claiming that Billy married and fathered a child with their sister Sally a little over a year ago before cowardly disappearing. Billy, naturally, claims to have never even met Sally, much less married her, but her brothers figure he is only trying to escape his familial duty, so they threaten to kill him if he doesn't come back with them and settle down as a proper husband to her. As should be obvious, this is a case of mistaken identity, though it's quite a stretch to believe that Sally would mistake Billy for his colleague Charlie Fox (the two do not even remotely resemble each other), even if it has been over a year since she last saw him. The episode hammers home the TV western trope that marriage is just about the worst thing that could happen to a free spirit like Billy. We see the same theme, with a few different details, presented on Rawhide about 6 months later in the episode "Incident of the Reluctant Bridegroom" in which Rowdy Yates thinks that he has been married during a drunken stupor to the girlfriend of a vindictive saloon owner, only to later learn that the wedding officiant was a wanted outlaw disguised as a minister.

And yet the wild, untamable Billy is willing to consider marriage at least twice during 1962 in "The Girl From Paradise" (January 13, 1962) and the series-ending "Phoebe" (May 26, 1962). But wouldn't you know that both times the girl he professes his undying love for winds up dying. This, too, is an overused plot for just about every TV western that features single male heroes. Case in point: the January 28, 1962 episode of Bonanza titled "The Storm" has Little Joe falling in love with and deciding to marry childhood playmate Laura White. She does not wind up sacrificing herself to save his life, as do Billy's girlfriends in the aforementioned episodes, but instead suffers from a terminal illness that kills her before Little Joe can marry her. Of course, the entire Bonanza family structure is built on Ben Cartwright's three tragically dead wives, each of whom bore him one of his three sons. Though in this case Ben did actually get to wed his three loves and consummate each of these marriages, the wives have conveniently died off before the series begins, though we are treated to a reminder of their tragic ends in flashbacks such as the 1962 episode "Inger, My Love."

Being the more mature of The Tall Man's dynamic duo, Pat Garrett doesn't get quite as close to the altar as Billy does, but he does at least give it some consideration in "St. Louis Woman" (January 20, 1962). When Garrett's friend Tom Davis has to leave town on a cattle deal just before his correspondence fiance Janet Harper is due to arrive in town with her son, Davis asks Garrett to look after her until he can return. But not long after meeting, both Garrett and Janet find that they are attracted to each other, so much so that Janet suggests they run away together to avoid having to hurt Davis. Garrett says that he could never do that to a friend and that he has found his calling as a lawman in Lincoln County. Despite warnings from Billy that he is wading into dangerous waters, Garrett neither plunges headlong into the affair nor nips it in the bud, letting things progress far enough to share a kiss with Janet while they are looking over Davis' ranch. However, Garrett avoids having to make a decision by letting things play out enough such that Janet makes the decision for him. When she witnesses Garrett having to face off against an ornery and armed drunk, she calls the whole thing off, even though Garrett has come around to her suggestion of taking up another line of work in another town. The thought of having another husband die on her is too much for her to stomach, so she says that cattle rancher Davis will make a fine partner for her after all. Garrett also has an opportunity to tie the knot in "The Impatient Brides" (February 3, 1962) when four mail-order brides bound for the next town of Springdale are forced to wait awhile in Lincoln County while the government puts down an Indian rebellion that has the road shut down. Since there is no room in the local hotel, the four young women have to spend the delay in Garrett's jailhouse, and in close proximity to the dashing Garrett, each of them thinks he would make a better catch than what awaits them in Springdale. So during one sleepless night, each woman sneaks downstairs to propose to Garrett, and he tells each one of them "no," never even really considering what they have to offer. Marrying off Garrett or Billy would have been a suitable way to end the series, given that its whole premise was the special relationship they had with each other, which would have been radically altered had one or both of them settled down. In 1962 the fact that the series ended without any sort of resolution was typical, but one can't help wondering if Clu Gulager's claim of Congressional pressure was applied somewhere between the end of production on Season 2 and the beginning of the Fall 1962 season. In any case, the loss was not a great one for the American TV landscape, as The Tall Man had descended into a derivative formula western, stripped of its original character that made it at least mildly interesting.

The Actors

For the biographies for Barry Sullivan and Clu Gulager, see the 1960 post for The Tall Man. For the biography for Mark Tapscott, see the 1961 post for The Tall Man.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 2, Episode 18, "Substitute Sheriff": Andy Clyde (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Real McCoys) plays property owner Pa McBean. Cynthia Chenault (appeared in I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Dino, and This Earth Is Mine and played Carol Potter on The Tom Ewell Show) plays his daughter May. Judy Nugent (Jet Maypen on Walt Disney Presents: Annette) plays his daughter June. Bob Hastings (shown on the left, played Lt. Elroy Carpenter on McHale's Navy, Tommy Kelsey on All in the Family, and Capt. Burt Ramsey on General Hospital) plays railroad company agent J. Simpson Chase.

Season 2, Episode 19, "The Girl From Paradise": Pippa Scott (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Mr. Lucky) plays convicted murderer Anne Drake. Kelly Thordsen (Colorado Charlie on Yancy Derringer) plays sadistic lawman Sheriff Rafe Tollinger. Andy Albin (Andy Godsen on Julia) plays a farmer.

Season 2, Episode 20, "St. Louis Woman": Russ Conway (Fenton Hardy on The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure, Gen. Devon on Men Into Space, and Lt. Pete Kile on Richard Diamond, Private Detective) plays cattle owner Tom Davis. Jan Clayton (shown on the left, starred in Sunset Trail, The Wolf Hunters, and This Man's Navy and played Ellen Miller on Lassie) plays his fiance Janet Harper. Roger Mobley (Homer "Packy" Lambert on Fury) plays her son David.

Season 2, Episode 21, "The Hunt": Richard Ney (shown on the right, appeared in Mrs. Miniver, Joan of Arc, Ivy, Midnight Lace, and The Premature Burial) plays British shipping magnate Edward Van Doren. Madge Kennedy (starred in Baby Mine, A Perfect Lady, Leave It to Susan, Bad Company (1925), and Houseboat and played Aunt Martha Branson on Leave It to Beaver) plays his mother Elizabeth. Hank Patterson (Pete Duggan on The New Adventures of Spin and Marty, Fred Ziffel on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction, and Hank Miller on Gunsmoke) plays stagecoach driver Amos.

Season 2, Episode 22, "The Impatient Brides": Joan O'Brien (shown on the left, starred in Operation Petticoat, The Alamo, It Happened at the World's Fair, and It'$ Only Money) plays mail-order bride Merilee. Beverly Wills (appeared in Some Like It Hot, The Ladies Man, and Son of Flubber and played Beverly Grossman on I Married Joan) plays mail-order bride Caroline. Jane Dulo (Liz Murray on Hey, Jeannie!, WAC Pvt. Mildred Lukens on The Phil Silvers Show, Molly Turner on McHale's Navy, Agent 99's mother on Get Smart, Nurse Murphy on Medical Center, and Grandma Mildred Kanisky on Gimme a Break!) plays mail-order bride Emma. Hollis Irving (Mrs. Woodley on Blondie and Aunt Phoebe on Margie) plays mail-order bride Jane. Tom Fadden (Duffield on Broken Arrow, Silas Perry on Cimarron City, and Ben Miller on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction) plays stagecoach driver Judd Bates.

Season 2, Episode 23, "Rio Doloroso": Dennis Patrick (shown on the right, played Paul Stoddard on Dark Shadows, Capt. Jack Breen on Bert D'Angelo/Superstar, Fred Foley on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Patrick Chapin on Rituals, and Vaughn Leland on Dallas) plays captured murderer Curtis. Alex Montoya (Miguel Morales on The High Chaparral) plays small village strongman Domingo. Linda Dangcil (Sister Ana on The Flying Nun and voiced Carmen Alonso and Raya on Jem) plays village resident Inez.

Season 2, Episode 24, "A Day to Kill": Pamela Duncan (appeared in Lawless Cowboys, Dragonfly Squadron, Attack of the Crab Monsters, and The Undead) plays cantina pianist Angela. Harry Antrim (shown on the left, appeared in Miracle on 34th Street, Words and Music, Ma and Pa Kettle, and Teacher's Pet and played Judge Hooker on The Great Gildersleeve) plays Lincoln County physician Dr. John Hogan. Edward Mallory (Bill Riley on Morning Star and Bill Horton on Days of Our Lives) plays cowboy Johnny Pride. Harry Swoger (Harry the bartender on The Big Valley) plays trigger-happy citizen Larker.

Season 2, Episode 25, "Property of the Crown": Miriam Colon (shown on the right, played Dr. Santos on The Edge of Night, Maria Delgado on One Life to Live, Lydia Flores on All My Children, and Cam's Grandma on How to Make It in America) plays property claimant Angelita Sanchez. Mark Miller (Bill Hooten on Guestward Ho!, Jim Nash on Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Howard Jones on Bright Promise, and Ross Craig on The Name of the Game) plays Lincoln County lawyer Sam Kirby. Katherine Warren (appeared in The Lady Pays Off, The Glenn Miller Story, and The Caine Mutiny) plays wealthy landowner Emma Wainwright.

Season 2, Episode 26, "The Night Hawk": John Anderson (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays U.S. Army Major Jud Randolph.

Season 2, Episode 27, "Three for All": Irene Tedrow (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Dennis the Menace) plays lawless matriarch Maw Kilgore. George Kennedy (shown on the right, starred in Charade, The Sons of Katie Elder, The Dirty Dozen, Cool Hand Luke, and The Naked Gun and played MP Sgt. Kennedy on The Phil Silvers Show, Father Samuel Cavanaugh on Sarge, Bumper Morgan on The Blue Knight, and Carter McKay on Dallas) plays her son Hyram.

Season 2, Episode 28, "Quarantine": Gary Clarke (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1962 post on The Virginian) plays bank robber Bob Kelso. Hal Baylor (Jenkins on Rawhide and Mercury on Batman) plays his brother Clint. Susan Silo (Rusty on Harry's Girls and a prolific voice actor on shows such as The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, James Bond, Jr., and Where's Waldo?) plays doctor's daughter Amy Beckett.

Season 2, Episode 29, "The Four Queens": Gaylord Cavallaro (Det. Sgt. Steve Wall on The Pursuers) plays French impresario Jacques Montreaux. Monica Lewis (shown on the right, popular singer who starred in Excuse My Dust, Affair With a Stranger, and The D.I.) plays showgirl Babette Antoine. Mary Moor (Betty Jean Lane/Battle on The Edge of Night) plays showgirl Denise Lawrence. Joyce Bulifant (Mary Gentry on Tom, Dick and Mary, Mrs. Marsha Patterson on The Bill Cosby Show, Peggy Wilson on Love Thy Neighbor, Marjorie Martin on Big John, Little John, Marie Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Miriam Willoughby on Flo, and Emily Wallace on Weird Science) plays showgirl Fifi Dubois.

Season 2, Episode 30, "The Long Way Home": Doris Dowling (shown on the left, starred in The Lost Weekend, The Blue Dahlia, Bitter Rice, and Othello and played Irene Adams on My Living Doll) plays saloon hostess Maisie Turner. Harp McGuire (appeared in Captain Thunderbolt, On the Beach, Inherit the Wind, and Cage of Evil) plays train conductor Joe Tuohy. Clancy Cooper (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Lawman) plays the Wells Junction sheriff.

Season 2, Episode 31, "A Time to Run": John Fiedler (shown on the right, appeared in 12 Angry Men, That Touch of Mink, The World of Henry Orient, Kiss Me, Stupid, Girl Happy, The Odd Couple, True Grit and played Emil Peterson on The Bob Newhart Show and Woody on Buffalo Bill) plays bookkeeper Abner Moody. Charles Watts (Judge Harvey Blandon on Bachelor Father) plays drummer Hiram Sunday. Sandra Knight (ex-wife of Jack Nicholson, appeared in Thunder Road, Frankenstein's Daughter, and Blood Bath) plays mail-order bride Lucy Potter. Thomas E. Jackson (starred in Broadway, Little Caesar, and The Woman in the Window) plays local physician Doc Hogan.

Season 2, Episode 32, "Trial by Fury": Robert Emhardt (Sgt. Vinton on The Kids From C.A.P.E.R. and Willard Masefield on The Edge of Night) plays rogue Judge Oliver Cromwell. Barbara Lawrence (shown on the left, appeared in Margie, The Street With No Name, A Letter to Three Wives, Here Come the Nelsons, and Oklahoma!) plays acquitted saloon girl Sadie Wren. James Griffith (Aaron Adams on Trackdown and Deputy Tom Ferguson on U.S. Marshal) plays ex-convict James Cutter. Fuzzy Knight (appeared in She Done Him Wrong, Moulin Rouge (1934), My Little Chickadee, and Deep in the Heart of Texas and played Sagebrush on The Gene Autry Show and Pvt. Fuzzy Knight on Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion) plays prospector Johnny Red.

Season 2, Episode 33, "The Frame": Harry Townes (starred in The Brothers Karamazov, Screaming Mimi, and Sanctuary) plays terminally ill patient Henry Stewart. Lori March (shown on the right, played Jennifer Alden on Three Steps to Heaven, Lenore Bradley on The Brighter Day, Amy Stanton on The Doctors, Valerie Ames on The Secret Storm, Lillian Hayes on Search for Tomorrow, Mrs. Henson on The Edge of Night, Mildred Canfield on Texas, and Barbara Gilbert on Another Life) plays his wife Isobel. Stewart Bradley (Lt. Danton on Days of Our Lies) plays a rabble-rousing wrangler.

Season 2, Episode 34, "The Runaway Groom": Roberta Shore (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays jilted wife and mother Sally Tugwell. Gary Vinson (Chris Higbee on The Roaring '20's, George Christopher on McHale's Navy, and Sheriff Harold Skiles on Pistols 'n' Petticoats) plays ranch-hand Charlie Fox. Bernard Fein (Pvt Gomez on The Phil Silvers Show) plays ranch cook Sam.

Season 2, Episode 35, "The Blackrobe": Martin Landau (shown on the right, starred in North by Northwest, Cleopatra, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Fall of the House of Usher, and Ed Wood and played Rollin Hand on Mission: Impossible!, Commander John Koenig on Space: 1999, Dr. Sol Gold on The Evidence, Bob Ryan on Entourage, and Frank Malone on Without a Trace) plays Jesuit priest Father Guesclin. Slim Pickens (starred in The Story of Will Rogers, Dr. Strangelove, Blazing Saddles, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, and The Howling and played Slim on Outlaws, Slim Walker on The Wide Country, California Joe Milner on Custer, and Sgt. Beauregard Wiley on B.J. & the Bear) plays language interpreter Starr. Russell Thorson (Lt. Otto Lindstrom on The Detectives and William Kennerly on Peyton Place) plays Garrett's former Army commander Major Graves.

Season 2, Episode 36, "The Woman in Black": Gregory Morton (Mr. Wainwright on Peyton Place and Walter Williams on Ben Casey) plays landowner Don Diego de Cardenas. Ricky Vera (Benny Romero on Our Miss Brooks) plays his son Juan. Adele Mara (shown on the left, wife of Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, The Fugitive, and The Rockford Files creator Roy Huggins who appeared in Wake of the Red Witch, Sands of Iwo Jima, and The Big Circus) plays Don Diego's intended bride Rosa Leodagarious.

Season 2, Episode 37, "Doctor on Horseback": Ed Nelson (Michael Rossi on Peyton Place, Ward Fuller on The Silent Force, and Sen. Mark Denning on Capitol) plays new Steadman physician Dr. Wade Parsons. Mabel Albertson (shown on the right, played Mrs. Whiting on Those Whiting Girls, Irene Brady on The Tom Ewell Show, Mrs. Sprague on The Andy Griffith Show, Mildred Hollinger on That Girl, and Phyllis Stephens on Bewitched) plays widow Kate Baines. June Kenney (starred in Teenage Doll, Attack of the Puppet People, and The Spider) plays abandoned pregnant wife Mary Curtis. Paul Hartman (Albie Morrison on The Pride of the Family, Charlie on Our Man Higgins, Emmett Clark on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D., and Bert Smedley on Petticoat Junction) plays her father Judd Marlowe. Richard Reeves (Mr. Murphy on Date With the Angels) plays busybody Santee. C. Lindsay Workman (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Donna Reed Show) plays the Steadman barber.

Season 2, Episode 38, "Phoebe": Floy Dean (shown on the left, played Liz Forsythe Stevens on The Young Marrieds and Laura Spencer on Days of Our Lives) plays runaway daughter Phoebe Canfield. George Macready (Martin Peyton on Peyton Place) plays her repressive father Cyrus Canfield. Rusty Lane (Harry Moseby on The Clear Horizon) plays livery owner Trager. Jon Lormer (Harry Tate on Lawman, Sam Watkins on The Real McCoys, the autopsy surgeon on Perry Mason, Simon Benjamin on The Young Marrieds, and Judge Irwin A. Chester on Peyton Place) plays irascible jurist Judge Medford. Eve McVeagh (starred in High Noon, The Glass Web, and Tight Spot and played Frances Moseby on The Clear Horizon and Miss Hammond on Petticoat Junction) plays crooked faro dealer Lily Varnell. Lorna Thayer (starred in The Beast With a Million Eyes and played the waitress in Five Easy Pieces) plays a saloon girl and former colleague of Lily's. Clegg Hoyt (Mac on Dr. Kildare) plays bartender Charlie. Cyril Delevanti (Lucious Coin on Jefferson Drum) plays general store owner J.T. Summers.