Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?

The first part of a series investigating cult television looks at Westerns from the days of Action in the Afternoon; a 1953 classic where the action was shot live and horses wandered in and out of the scenes at will, through to the Lone Ranger, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, Larami, The High Chaparral, The Virginian, Bonanza, Johnny Ringo and ending up at Zorro and Son. No stone is left unturned and 199 shows from a golden yesteryear are dusted down. Exciting and rarely seen stills carry the reader back to a time when life was simple and every wrong was set right, often in just half an hour. Morality was not complex and we were all secure in the knowledge that evil could never triumph. Well researched and beautifully put together to appeal to all lovers and students of the "good old days" (they certainly don''t make ''em like this any more!). Checks out how and why the Western died on television, and also what happened to the stars after they hung up their gun belts. Probably the biggest and best television history to be seen this year.