The Barbara Stanwyck Show (1961)

As we documented in our post for the 1960 episodes, The Barbara Stanwyck Show originated when Stanwyck was no longer sought out for feature film work after turning 50. She had originally wanted to star in a western series but said her agents were against it because the western was in decline. In a January 21, 1961 cover story for TV Guide, Stanwyck offers an alternative explanation--that she wanted to play a really active woman in the old west but none of the networks would buy it and instead she was offered the drama anthology series that would win her an Emmy for Best Actress but be canceled after a single season. In the show's last episode, Stanwyck was able to take a potshot at the genre that rejected her in "A Man's Game" (July 3, 1961). Stanwyck provides satiric narration about the current fad in westerns--the lone gunslinger--and portrays independent businesswoman/saloon owner Chris Mathews (note the male-sounding character name) who refuses to give up her career to marry retired, incognito gunslinger Ben Stockton. When the town's sheriffs keep getting murdered and no man is willing to step up and take over the job, Chris decides to take it on herself, a move that the men of the town think is outrageous and which is played entirely for laughs. But Chris is able to handle the petty drunks and small-time nuisances until she runs up against a real gunslinger, Billy Deevers, and finds herself unable to shoot him when she has the chance. Instead she has to be rescued by her suitor Stockton and decides that she really isn't cut out to play "a man's game," though she does insist on keeping her saloon and cajoling Stockton into taking the sheriff's job. This is one of the more disappointing episodes in the series because Stanwyck has the chance to show a woman can do a man's job, as she does in most of the other episodes, but decides in the end to revert to stereotype.

Her other old west episodes are some of the weaker stories in the series. In "Along the Barbary Coast" (February 27, 1961) she plays another saloon owner, Trixie Callahan, this time in 1899 San Francisco, so there are no evil gunslingers here, but she still has to be rescued from an unscrupulous business partner, Sam Verner, by her suitor, police detective and returning war hero Pete Bishop. Trixie is duped into being Verner's partner due to debilitating circumstances--her old place of business burns down and Verner offers to help her finance a new saloon. Given this act of generosity, she is blinded to his illicit side business of trafficking stolen goods and even willing to believe that he is being framed after he kills Bishop's young police partner. After Bishop reveals Verner for what he is and takes a bullet in the process, Trixie comes off her high horse and we hear wedding bells by episode's end. 

The other old west episode is "Little Big Mouth" (May 8, 1961) in which Stanwyck plays trailblazing newspaper reporter Nellie Bly, a concession to NBC's original plan of having her portray "one of history's most noble women" each week, an idea the modest Stanwyck refused to go along with. But in this episode her Nellie Bly is more of a bystander than change-maker. She travels to the Arapaho-Kiowa Indian reservation in turn-of-the-century Oklahoma hoping to uncover a scandal regarding the way the Indians are being cheated by the white settlers (as the real Bly exposed awful conditions for New York mental patients in 1887, while Stanwyck herself was a champion for Indians' rights). But Nellie instead witnesses the way in which one white man, Dr. Mark Carroll, not only tries to stop goods dealers from swindling the Indians but also has to win their trust to allow him to practice medicine, all while raising a 9-year-old daughter. Even though her job is to report on conditions, not change them, Bly does little except interfere in the relationship between father and daughter, thinking that she knows better about how a young girl should be raised. Still, such a depiction is in perfect keeping with Stanwyck's belief in humility--even trailblazers sometimes get it wrong.

The more contemporary episodes have Stanwyck leading businesses and blazing trails. In "Shock" (March 6, 1961) she plays a nuclear physicist who discovers a formula to create an impenetrable field against nuclear power, while in "Size 10" (January 16, 1961) she's Maggie Wenley, a no-nonsense head of a fashion house with men working underneath her. This story scores one for a woman's career over marriage as Maggie discovers that her suitor has been stealing her designs and selling them to a competitor to force her out of business so that her only option left is to marry him. Instead, after uncovering his duplicity, she decides that her work colleagues are her family and vows to give each of them a bigger share of the business. It's a role Stanwyck could empathize with as her career and charitable causes made up her whole life after her divorce from second husband Robert Taylor for his affair with Lana Turner. As she revealed in her TV Guide interview, she needed to work because she had no hobbies and felt that traveling alone was a bore. In "Big Career" (February 13, 1961) Stanwyck plays department store vice president Harriet Melvane, who was worked her way up from a shop girl but is still carrying her alcoholic, resentful, and womanizing husband Roy, who feels emasculated by her success. When Roy is killed crossing the street to get gas for their empty car, she at first blames herself until Roy's mother has a heart-to-heart to let her know that even she, his mother, knew that Roy was pathetic. However, after Harriet decides to move to New York in search of a new career, the mother-in-law encourages her old boss, who always carried a torch for her, to go after her, because that's what women really want.

However, we get a cautionary tale about a woman pushing too hard for what she wants in "The Golden Acres" (March 13, 1961). Stanwyck plays social climber Avis Fleming, who grew up poor and insecure because she was from the other side of the tracks. The man she hoped to marry, Dexter Willis, dumped her and chose someone else, so that when she learns he is coming back to town now a widower, she devises a scheme to quintuple her family estate by buying a local farm and selling it to a rubber manufacturer that is looking to open a new plant there. To make that happen she has to blackmail Dexter's father into signing a forged will and trick her brothers into signing away their objections to using the family estate to buy the coveted farmland. When Dexter learns from his father what she has done, he tells her that her behavior is precisely why he dumped her years ago--because he was afraid of her ruthless drive to get what she wanted. Fortunately, Avis is a woman who can learn from her mistakes and she backs out of the deal, showing Dexter that she is worthy of his affection after all.

But perhaps the best portrayal of the career vs. marriage dilemma is in "The Hitch-Hiker" (May 29, 1961) in which Stanwyck plays successful lawyer Maggie McClay, whose husband Mac is a novelist. When Maggie decides to defend an immigrant mother from a custody battle with her wealthy mother-in-law, the most powerful woman in town. Mac pooh-poohs Maggie's idealistic view of the law as being equal for everyone regardless of class and believes that she is making a mistake that will ruin her own career and perhaps even that of her father, for whose firm Maggie works. But after a bitter argument that Maggie believes may have damaged their marriage, Mac recants his position, confessing that he has opposed her career because he wanted to feel that he was all she needed. He then helps dig up some dirt on the mother-in-law and cheers Maggie on to victory. Marriage only works when both partners are on the same side, cheering each other's successes and commiserating their failures, and women aren't one-dimensional creatures whose lives are defined by the man they marry.

Stanwyck relives some of her past successes, too, in some of the series' noirish episodes. In her opening introduction, she compares the episode "Confession" (February 20, 1961) to one of her biggest hits, Double Indemnity. And the plot does mimic the Billy Wilder film's backwards chronology with Stanwyck's Paula Manning dictating her confession about a plot to free herself from a domineering husband, only this time she recruits a shady lawyer, rather than insurance salesman, to help her frame her husband for her supposed murder rather than killing him. "The Choice" (April 17, 1961) plays like a Hitchcock thriller as nightclub owner Amanda Prescott hears a radio report about a violent escaped mental patient and then has to figure out which of two men in her bar matching the escapee's description is the psychopath. "The Frightened Doll" (April 24, 1961) has Stanwyck's barfly Hazel Wexley on the run after befriending a mob bagman with a heart condition, then taking his satchel with $100,000 after he collapses dead. And "Sign of the Zodiac" (April 3, 1961) weaves in the occult when Stanwyck's Madge Terry visits a dockside fortune teller with her sister-in-law, then finds her dead husband's watch transported from the fortune teller's shack to her bedroom overnight.

Though the series had a secondary purpose of trying out potential future series ideas, such as Stanwyck's recurring episodes as Hong Kong-based importer/exporter Josephine Little (in "Dragon by the Tail" [January 30, 1961] and "Adventure on Happiness Street" [March 20, 1961], as well as the 1960 episode "The Miraculous Journey of Tadpole Chan") and Andy Devine as a portly police detective in "Big Jake" (June 5, 1961), The Barbara Stanwyck Show produced no spin-offs. But it kept Stanwyck busy, garnered her an Emmy, and paved the way for future television success on The Big Valley and The Colbys. It may have even helped her get a couple of guest spots as a police lieutenant on Season 4 of The Untouchables. After all, she had already proven that she could play any role a man could.

The Actors

For the biography for Barbara Stanwyck, see the 1960 post for The Barbara Stanwyck Show.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 1, Episode 14, "Night Visitor": Stanwyck plays wealthy doctor's wife Marian Andrews. Michael Ansara (shown on the near left, appeared in Julius Caesar, The Robe, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Harum Scarum, played Cochise on Broken Arrow and Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart on The Rifleman and the Law of the Plainsman, and voiced General Warhawk on Rambo) plays her servant Carl. Julie London (shown on the far left, popular singer, starred in Nabonga, The Fat Man, and The George Raft Story and played nurse Dixie McCall on Emergency!) plays Carol's wife Julie. 

Season 1, Episode 15, "Size 10": Stanwyck plays fashion designer Maggie Wenley. Robert Strauss (shown on the right, appeared in Stalag 17, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, The Seven Year Itch, The Man With the Golden Arm, and Girls! Girls! Girls! and played Sgt. Stan Gruzewsky on Mona McCluskey) plays her sales manager Herbie Harner. Naomi Stevens (Juanita on The Doris Day Show, Mama Rossini on My Three Sons, Rose Montefusco on The Montefuscos, and Sgt. Bella Archer on Vega$) plays her secretary Miss Pearl. Robert Paige (starred in The Main Event, Highway Patrol, Dancing on a Dime, Son of Dracula, and Bye Bye Birdie) plays Maggie's boyfriend Roger.

Season 1, Episode 16, "Dear Charlie": Milton Berle (shown on the left, legendary comedian, starred in Sun Valley Serenade, Always Leave Them Laughing, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, and The Loved One, hosted Texas Star Theatre, The Milton Berle Show, and Phillies Jackpot Bowling, and played Louie the Lilac on Batman) plays grifter Charlie Zane. Katherine Squire (Emma Simpson on The Doctors) plays spinster Elvie. Lurene Tuttle (appeared in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, Ma Barker's Killer Brood, Psycho, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and The Fortune Cookie and played Doris Dunston on Father of the Bride and Hannah Yarby on Julia) plays her sister Tessie. Virginia Vincent (Betty on The Joey Bishop Show, Dottie Clark on The Super, and Daisy Maxwell on Eight Is Enough) plays their maid Dulcy. 

Season 1, Episode 17, "Dragon by the Tail": Stanwyck returns as Hong Kong-based importer/exporter Josephine Little. James Hong (shown on the right, played Barry Chan on The New Adventures of Charlie Chan, Frank Chen on Jigsaw John, and Doctor Chen Ling on Dynasty) returns as her assistant Sam Wong. Anna May Wong (the first Chinese-American movie star, starred in The Thief of Baghdad, Peter Pan, Shanghai Express, and Island of Lost Men) plays her personal assistant A-Hsing. Weaver Levy (Oliver Kee on Adventures in Paradise) plays bartender Charley. J. Pat O'Malley (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Frontier Circus) plays sea captain Steve Connors. Victor Sen Yung (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Bonanza) plays nuclear scientist Dr. Wing Chin-Ni. Arthur Gould-Porter (Ravenswood on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays British war hero Sir Cedric Carstairs. Philip Ahn (Master Kan on Kung Fu) plays fixer Lee Chin.

Season 1, Episode 18, "Sisters": Stanwyck plays widow Janet Jones. Ellen Drew (starred in Sing, You Sinners, If I Were King, Women Without Names, and Christmas in July) plays her sister Kate. Michael Rennie (shown on the left, starred in The Day the Earth Stood Still, Les Miserables (1952), The Robe, Omar Khayyam, and The Lost World and played Harry Lime on The Third Man) plays Kate's estranged husband Julius Ulrich. 

Season 1, Episode 19, "Big Career": Stanwyck plays department store vice president Harriet Melvane. Frank Overton (starred in Desire Under the Elms, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Fail-Safe and played Major Harvey Stovall on 12 O'Clock High) plays her husband Roy. Gene Raymond (husband of Jeanette MacDonald, starred in Red Dust, Ex-Lady, Flying Down to Rio, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith) plays her boss Phil Bennington. Amanda Randolph (shown on the right, played Mama on The Amos 'n' Andy Show and Louise on Make Room for Daddy) plays her maid Cora. Elizabeth Patterson (appeared in The Boy Friend(1926), Daddy Long Legs (1931), Little Women, and Pal Joey and played Mrs. Trumbull on I Love Lucy) plays Roy's mother Millicent.

Season 1, Episode 20, "Confession": Stanwyck plays trapped wife Paula Manning. Kenneth MacKenna (starred in Man Trouble, Temple Tower, and Judgment at Nuremberg) plays her husband Morgan. Lee Marvin (shown on the left, starred in The Big Heat, Bad Day at Black Rock, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Cat Ballou, The Dirty Dozen, and Paint Your Wagon and played Det. Lt. Frank Ballinger on M Squad) plays ambulance-chasing lawyer Judson Hollister. Penny Santon (Madame Fatime in Don't Call Me Charlie, Madam Delacort on Roll Out, Mama Rosa Novelli on Matt Houston, Muriel Lacey on Cagney and Lacey, and Teresa Giordano on Life Goes On) plays Hollister client Mrs. Donati. Josephine Hutchinson (appeared in The Story of Louis Pasteur, Son of Frankenstein, Tom Brown's Schooldays, and North by Northwest) plays Paula's friend Betty Galloway.

Season 1, Episode 21, "Along the Barbary Coast": Stanwyck plays saloon owner Trixie Callahan. Jerome Thor (Robert Cannon on Foreign Intrigue) plays police detective Pete Bishop. Richard Eastham (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Tombstone Territory) plays Trixie's business partner Sam Verner. Robert Armstrong (starred in King Kong, The Son of Kong, Framed, Dive Bomber, Blood on the Sun, and Mighty Joe Young and played Sheriff Andy Anderson on State Trooper) plays Bishop's boss Inspector Gunnison. Morris Ankrum (starred in Rocketship X-M, Invaders From Mars, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, and The Giant Claw and played the judge 22 times on Perry Mason) plays stolen goods dealer Walter Harwood. Karl Held (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Perry Mason) plays Bishop's colleague Detective Jones.

Season 1, Episode 22, "Shock": Stanwyck plays atomic scientist Rachel Harrison. Carol Nicholson (Laurie Rose on Room for One More) plays her daughter Shirley. Eduard Franz (shown on the left, starred in The Thing From Another World, Lady Godiva of Coventry, The Jazz Singer (1952), Sins of Jezebel, and The Indian Fighter and played Gregorio Verdugo on Zorro and Dr. Edward Raymer on Breaking Point) plays famous psychiatrist Dr. Paul Aldrich. Ross Elliott (Freddie the director on The Jack Benny Program and Sheriff Abbott on The Virginian) plays impatient army Col. Hawthorne. 

Season 1, Episode 23, "The Golden Acres": Stanwyck plays social climber Avis Fleming. John McGiver (shown on the right, appeared in Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Manchurian Candidate, The Glass Bottom Boat, Midnight Cowboy, The Apple Dumpling Gang and played J.R. Castle on The Patty Duke Show, Walter Burnley on Many Happy Returns, Barton J. Reed on Mr. Terrific, and Dr. Luther Quince on The Jimmy Stewart Show) plays her brother Collins. Robert Emhardt (Sgt. Vinton on The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.) plays her brother Ben. Kent Smith (starred in Cat People, This Land Is Mine, Hitler's Children, Curse of the Cat People, Nora Prentiss, The Spiral Staircase, and The Fountainhead and played Dr. Robert Morton on Peyton Place and Edgar Scoville on The Invaders) plays her former beau Dexter Willis. Jason Robards, Sr. (father of Jason Robards) plays Dexter's father Rupert.

Season 1, Episode 24, "Adventure on Happiness Street": Stanwyck returns as Hong Kong-based importer/exporter Josephine Little. Victor Sen Yung (see "Dragon by the Tail" above) plays sweatshop owner Mr. Chang. Lew Ayres (Dr. James Kildare in 9 Dr. Kildare features, starred in The Dark Mirror, Johnny Belinda, Donovan's Brain, Advise & Consent, and Battle for the Planet of the Apes and played Henry Wade Culver on Lime Street) plays American physician Dr. Paul Harris. Robert Culp (starred in Sunday in New York, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, and Breaking Point and played Hoby Gilman on Trackdown, Kelly Robinson on I Spy, Bill Maxwell on The Greatest American Hero, and Warren on Everybody Loves Raymond) plays Josephine's business colleague Archie Bishop.

Season 1, Episode 25, "High Tension": Stanwyck plays socialite Fran Elick. Nora Marlowe (shown on the left, played Martha Commager on Law of the Plainsman, Sara Andrews on The Governor and J.J., and Mrs. Flossie Brimmer on The Waltons) plays judgmental bus passenger Mill Seabright. Richard Hale (starred in Abilene Town, Kim, San Antone, Red Garters, and To Kill a Mockingbird) plays bus passenger Gibson Hunsucker. Nestor Paiva (Theo Gonzales on Zorro) plays bus station owner Joe.

Season 1, Episode 26, "Sign of the Zodiac": Stanwyck plays recently widowed Madge Terry. Joan Blondell (shown on the right, starred in The Public Enemy, Blonde Crazy, Topper Returns, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Desk Set, and The Cincinnati Kid and played Lottie Hatfield on Here Come the Brides and Peggy Revere on Banyon) plays her sister-in-law Helene Terry. Dan Duryea (starred in The Little Foxes, The Pride of the Yankees, Scarlet Street, and Winchester '73 and played China Smith in China Smith and The New Adventures of China Smith and Eddie Jacks on Peyton Place) plays fortune teller Pierre. James Chandler (Lt. Girard on Bourbon Street Beat) plays a police lieutenant.

Season 1, Episode 28, "The Choice": Stanwyck plays nightclub owner Amanda Prescott. Robert Horton (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Wagon Train) plays bar customer Horace. James Best (Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard) plays robber Joe. Jimmy Lydon (starred in Tom Brown's School Days, Little Men, Joan of Arc, and 9 Henry Aldrich features and played Biff Cardoza on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, Andy Boone on So This Is Hollywood, and Richard on Love That Jill) plays bartender Harry. George Wallace (starred in Radar Men From the Moon, Destry, and Forbidden Planet and played Judge Milton Cole on Hill Street Blues and Grandpa Hank Hammersmith on Sons and Daughters) plays police officer Tony Johnson.

Season 1, Episode 29, "The Frigthened Doll": Stanwyck plays regular barfly Hazel Wexley. Wallace Ford (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Deputy) plays bartender Harry. Harold J. Stone (shown on the right, played John Kennedy on The Grand Jury, Hamilton Greeley on My World and Welcome to It, and Sam Steinberg on Bridget Loves Bernie) plays mob bagman Jake Lytel. Jackie Searl (began as a child actor, appearing in Tom Sawyer (1930), Huckleberry Finn (1931), Alice in Wonderland (1933), Great Expectations(1934), and Little Lord Fauntleroy) plays hotel clerk Roscoe. Wallace Rooney (Andrew Winters on The Doctors) plays police Capt. Foyle. Eloise Hardt (Karen Hadley on The Dennis O'Keefe Show) plays bar patron Annie.

Season 1, Episode 30, "Yanqui Go Home": Stanwyck plays oil company manager's wife Fran Evans. Dana Andrews (shown on the left, starred in Tobacco Road, The Ox-Bow Incident, Laura, The Best Years of Our Lives, Elephant Walk, and Airport 1975) plays her husband Clint. Rodolfo Acosta (Vaquero on The High Chaparral) plays revolutionary Profirio. 

Season 1, Episode 31, "Little Big Mouth": Stanwyck plays newspaper reporter Nelly Bly. Buddy Ebsen (shown on the right, played Sgt. Hunk Marriner on Northwest Passage, Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies, Barnaby Jones on Barnaby Jones, and Roy Houston on Matt Houston) plays physician Dr. Mark Carroll. Judy Strangis (Helen Loomis on Room 222 and was the voice of Judy/Dyna Girl on Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Rota Ree on Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch, and Goldie Gold on Goldie Gold and Action Jack) plays his daughter Mildred. Abel Fernandez (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Untouchables) plays white-educated Tom Tall Bear. Roberto Contreras (Pedro on The High Chaparral) plays self-appointed lawman Joe Jack Rabbit. Anthony C. Montenaro (Tony on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and Rocky on Guestward Ho!) plays Indian boy Johnny Tail Feathers.

Season 1, Episode 32, "The Assassin": Stanwyck plays investment firm secretary Louise Forest. Leon Ames (starred in East Side Kids, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and Son of Flubber and played Clarence Day, Sr. on Life With Father, Stanley Banks on Father of the Bride, and Gordon Kirkwood on Mister Ed) plays her boss Damon Carlisle. Peter Falk (shown on the left, starred in Robin and the 7 Hoods, Murder by Death, and The Cheap Detective and played Daniel O'Brien on The Trials of O'Brien and Columbo on Columbo) plays hired assassin Joe. Dub Taylor (starred in You Can't Take It With You, Bonnie & Clyde, and The Wild Bunch, played Cannonball in 53 western films, and played Wallie Simms on Casey Jones, Mitch Brady on Hazel, and Ed Hewley on Please Don't Eat the Daisies) plays real estate agent George B. Glimes. Lawrence Tierney (starred in Dillinger, Kill or Be Killed, Born to Kill, Back to Bataan, and Reservoir Dogs and played Sergeant Jenkins on Hill Street Blues) plays an unnamed police detective.

Season 1, Episode 34, "The Hitch-Hiker": Stanwyck plays lawyer Maggie McClay. Joseph Cotten (shown on the right, starred in Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, The Third Man, Niagara, and From the Earth to the Moon and hosted The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial) plays her husband Mac. Addison Richards (starred in Boys Town, They Made Her a Spy, Flying Tigers, and The Deerslayer and played Doc Calhoun on Trackdown and Doc Landy on The Deputy) plays opposing lawyer James Fitzgibbon. John Gallaudet (Chamberlain on Mayor of the Town, Judge Penner on Perry Mason, and Bob Anderson on My Three Sons) plays Judge Simon. 

Season 1, Episode 35, "Big Jake": Andy Devine (shown on the left, starred in A Star Is Born(1937), Stagecoach, Pete Kelly's Blues, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and How the West Was Won and played Deputy Marshal Jingles P. Jones on Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock and Hap Gorman on Flipper) plays police detective Jake Sloan. Paul Bryar (Sheriff Harve Anders on The Long, Hot Summer) plays his colleague Leo Goodnight. Byron Morrow (Capt. Keith Gregory on The New Breed and Pearce Newberry on Executive Suite) plays their supervising lieutenant. John Harmon (Eddie Halstead on The Rifleman) plays safecracker Willie Teeter. Lawrence Tierney (see "The Assassin" above) plays known criminal Larry Duncan. John Qualen (appeared in The Three Musketeers(1935), His Girl Friday, The Grapes of Wrath, Angels Over Broadway, Casablanca, Anatomy of a Murder, and A Patch of Blue) plays ex-con Sam Lundborg. Patricia Huston (Addy Olson on Days of Our Lives and Hilda Brunschwager on L.A. Law) plays his daughter. Carol Anne Seflinger (Susan Talbot on Wonderbug) plays his grand-daughter.

Season 1, Episode 36, "A Man's Game": Stanwyck plays old west saloon owner Chris Mathews. Charles Drake (starred in Winchester '73, Harvey, It Came From Outer Space, Bonzo Goes to College, and I Was a Shoplifter and played John Burden on Rendezvous) plays retired gunslinger Ben Stockton. Edgar Buchanan (shown on the right, played Uncle Joe Carson on The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction, Red Connors on Hopalong Cassidy, Judge Roy Bean on Judge Roy Bean, Bob/Doc Dawson on Tales of Wells Fargo, Doc Burrage on The Rifleman, and J.J. Jackson on Cade's County) plays cat fancier Judge Franklin. Andy Albin (Andy Gosden on Julia) plays troublemaker Red Quincy. Sam Buffington (John Richards on Whispering Smith) plays bar patron Vic Trenton. Carl Crow (Teddy Nelson on National Velvet) plays a cowhand.