The Deputy (TV series)
The Deputy is an American Western television series starring Henry Fonda and Allen Case that aired on NBC from 1959 to 1961. Fonda portrayed Chief Marshal Simon Fry of the Arizona Territory and Case played Deputy Clay McCord, a storekeeper who tried to avoid using a gun.[1]
| The Deputy | |
|---|---|
 Allen Case as McCord on the set with guest star Vivian Vance, 1959 | |
| Genre | Western |
| Created by |
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| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Henry Fonda |
| Theme music composer | Jack Marshall |
| Composer | Jack Marshall |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 76 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 12, 1959 – July 1, 1961 |
Synopsis
Fonda narrated most episodes and appeared briefly at the beginning and ending of most segments. He played the lead in only six episodes in the first season and 13 in the second. Usually, he gave his deputy the assignment, and on rare occasions, thanked him at the conclusion of the episode. As Fred MacMurray did while shooting the sitcom series My Three Sons, Fonda performed all of his work on The Deputy in several lengthy sessions, so as to leave himself free for other projects. Although based in Silver City, the marshal's district also covered several nearby towns. Deputy McCord was a storekeeper who bore arms with great reluctance. Wallace Ford appeared as the elderly marshal, Herk Lamson, with Betty Lou Keim as McCord's sister, Fran, in the first season. Read Morgan joined the show in the second season as Sergeant Hapgood Tasker, known as "Sarge", a one-eyed United States Army cavalry enlisted man stationed in town. Gary Hunley played as Deputy Clay McCord's young brother Brandon McCord in an episode of the television series.[2]
Cast
- Henry Fonda as Chief Marshal Simon Fry
- Allen Case as Deputy Clay McCord
- Read Morgan as Sergeant Hapgood Tasker
- Wallace Ford as Marshal Herk Lamson
- Betty Lou Keim as Fran McCord
Recurring cast
- Vito Scotti as Jose
- Addison Richards as Doc Landy
Episodes
Season 1
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Badge For A Day (The Deputy)" | Don Medford | Roland Kibbee & Norman Lear | September 12, 1959 |
| 2 | 2 | "The Wild Wind" | David Butler | N.B. Stone Jr. | September 19, 1959 |
| 3 | 3 | "Back To Glory" | Felix E. Feist | Charles Smith | September 26, 1959 |
| 4 | 4 | "Shadow Of The Noose" | Robert B. Sinclair | Roland Kibbee & Norman Lear | October 3, 1959 |
| 5 | 5 | "Powder Keg" | David Butler | Wells Root & Ron Bishop | October 10, 1959 |
| 6 | 6 | "Like Father" | David Butler | Jerry Sackheim | October 17, 1959 |
| 7 | 7 | "Proof Of Guilt" | Arthur Lubin | Melvin Levy | October 24, 1959 |
| 8 | 8 | "The Johnny Shanks Story" | David Butler | N.B. Stone Jr. | October 31, 1959 |
| 9 | 9 | "Focus Of Doom" | Arthur Lubin | Sidney Michaels & Michael Kraike | November 7, 1959 |
| 10 | 10 | "The Big Four" | David Butler | Kay Lenard & Jess Carneol | November 14, 1959 |
| 11 | 11 | "The Next Bullet" | David Butler | Kay Lenard & Jess Carneol | November 28, 1959 |
| 12 | 12 | "The Deal" | Herschel Dougherty | Herbert Purdom & Michael Kraike | December 5, 1959 |
| 13 | 13 | "Land Greed" | Robert B. Sinclair | Dale Eunson & Katherine Albert | December 12, 1959 |
| 14 | 14 | "Man Of Peace" | Frank Arrigo | Herbert Purdom | December 19, 1959 |
| 15 | 15 | "The Orphans" | Frederick Stephani | Katherine Albert & Dale Eunson | December 26, 1959 |
| 16 | 16 | "Backfire" | Jim Hogan | Wilton Schiller | January 2, 1960 |
| 17 | 17 | "Hang The Law" | Robert B. Sinclair | Herbert Purdom | January 9, 1960 |
| 18 | 18 | "Silent Gun" | Sidney Lanfield | Hendrik Vollaerts | January 23, 1960 |
| 19 | 19 | "The Hidden Motive" | Sidney Lanfield & Robert B. Sinclair | Kay Lenard & Jess Carneol & Michael Kraike | January 30, 1960 |
| 20 | 20 | "Lawman's Blood" | John Brahm | Charles Smith | February 6, 1960 |
| 21 | 21 | "The Return Of Simon Fry" | Arthur Lubin | Terence Maples | February 13, 1960 |
| 22 | 22 | "Queen Bea" | Herschel Daugherty & Robert B. Sinclair | Herbert Purdom | February 20, 1960 |
| 23 | 23 | "The Two Faces Of Bob Claxton" | David Butler | Charles O'Neal | February 27, 1960 |
| 24 | 24 | "Lady With A Mission" | Sidney Lanfield | Charles Smith | March 5, 1960 |
| 25 | 25 | "The Border Between" | Frank Arrigo | Hal Biller & Austin Kalish | March 12, 1960 |
| 26 | 26 | "Final Payment" | Frank Arrigo | Charles R. Marion | March 19, 1960 |
| 27 | 27 | "Dark Reward" | Louis King & Robert B. Sinclair | Marianne Mosner | March 26, 1960 |
| 28 | 28 | "Marked For Bounty" | Sidney Lanfield | William Yagemann | April 2, 1960 |
| 29 | 29 | "The Truly Yours" | David Butler | Montgomery Pittman & Herbert Purdom | April 9, 1960 |
| 30 | 30 | "A Time To Sow" | Louis King | Kay Lenard & Jess Carneol | April 23, 1960 |
| 31 | 31 | "The Last Gunfight" | Sidney Lanfield | Charles Smith & Richard Carr | April 30, 1960 |
| 32 | 32 | "Chain Of Action" | Sidney Lanfield | Lester Fuller | May 7, 1960 |
| 33 | 33 | "The Lucifer Urge" | Sidney Lanfield | Ellis Kadison | May 14, 1960 |
| 34 | 34 | "Palace Of Chance" | Sidney Lanfield | Charles Smith & Frank Edmunds | May 21, 1960 |
| 35 | 35 | "The X Game" | David Butler | Herbert Purdom | May 28, 1960 |
| 36 | 36 | "The Stand-Off" | David Butler | Ellis Kadison & Louis Paul | June 11, 1960 |
| 37 | 37 | "Trail Of Darkness" | Sidney Lanfield | Hendrik Vollaerts | June 18, 1960 |
| 38 | 38 | "The Choice" | David Butler | Saul Schwartz & Lester Fuller | June 25, 1960 |
| 39 | 39 | "Ma Mack" | Robert B. Sinclair | Rod Peterson | July 9, 1960 |
Season 2 (1960–61)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 1 | "The Deadly Breed" | Virgil W. Vogel | Clarke Reynolds | September 24, 1960 |
| 41 | 2 | "Meet Sergeant Tasker" | Reginald Le Borg | Richard Morgan | October 1, 1960 |
| 42 | 3 | "The Jason Harris Story" | Tay Garnett | Charles Smith | October 8, 1960 |
| 43 | 4 | "The Fatal Urge" | Tay Garnett | Joseph Carter | October 15, 1960 |
| 44 | 5 | "Mother and Son" | Louis King | Charles R. Marion | October 29, 1960 |
| 45 | 6 | "Bitter Root" | Louis King | Kay Lenard & Jess Carneol | November 5, 1960 |
| 46 | 7 | "The Higher Law" | Tay Garnett | Charles Smith & William Nash | November 12, 1960 |
| 47 | 8 | "Passage to New Orleans" | Louis King | Hendrik Vollaerts | November 19, 1960 |
| 48 | 9 | "The World Against Me" | David Butler | Hal Biller & Austin Kalish | November 26, 1960 |
| 49 | 10 | "Sally Tornado (aka Lady For A Hanging)" | Louis King | Charles Smith | December 3, 1960 |
| 50 | 11 | "The Three Brothers" | Sidney Lanfield | Peggy O'Shea & Lou Shaw | December 10, 1960 |
| 51 | 12 | "Day of Fear" | Tay Garnett | Clarke Reynolds | December 17, 1960 |
| 52 | 13 | "Second Cousin to the Czar" | Louis King | Kay Lenard & Jess Carneol | December 24, 1960 |
| 53 | 14 | "The Judas Town" | Frank Arrigo | Hal Biller & Austin Kalish | December 31, 1960 |
| 54 | 15 | "Duty Bound" | Herschel Daugherty | Rod Peterson | January 7, 1961 |
| 55 | 16 | "The Lesson" | Frank Arrigo | Kay Lenard & Jess Carneol | January 14, 1961 |
| 56 | 17 | "Past and Present" | Tay Garnett | Rudy Makoul | January 21, 1961 |
| 57 | 18 | "The Hard Decision" | David Butler | Peggy and Lou Shaw | January 28, 1961 |
| 58 | 19 | "The Dream" | Tay Garnett | Ellis Kadison | February 4, 1961 |
| 59 | 20 | "Shackled Town" | Tay Garnett | Clarke Reynolds | February 11, 1961 |
| 60 | 21 | "The Lonely Road" | Louis King | William F. Leicester | February 18, 1961 |
| 61 | 22 | "The Challenger" | Frank Arrigo | Richard Morgan | February 25, 1961 |
| 62 | 23 | "Edge of Doubt" | Frank Arrigo | Peggy O'Shea & Lou Shaw | March 4, 1961 |
| 63 | 24 | "Two-Way Deal" | Tay Garnett | William Yagemann | March 11, 1961 |
| 64 | 25 | "The Means and the End" | Tay Garnett | Finlay McDermid | March 18, 1961 |
| 65 | 26 | "The Example" | Otto Lang | Ralph Goodman | March 25, 1961 |
| 66 | 27 | "Cherchez La Femme" | David Butler | Stuart Jerome | April 1, 1961 |
| 67 | 28 | "Tension Point" | Tay Garnett | Clarke Reynolds | April 8, 1961 |
| 68 | 29 | "Brother in Arms" | David Butler | Edward J. Lakso | April 15, 1961 |
| 69 | 30 | "The Return of Widow Brown" | Otto Lang | Norman Jacob | April 22, 1961 |
| 70 | 31 | "Spoken In Silence" | Tay Garnett | Kay Lenard & Jess Carneol | April 29, 1961 |
| 71 | 32 | "An Enemy of the Town" | Frank Arrigo | Jerry Sackheim & Curtis Kenyon | May 6, 1961 |
| 72 | 33 | "The Legend of Dixie" | Frank Arrigo | Michael Kraike & Robert Sabaroff | May 20, 1961 |
| 73 | 34 | "The Deathly Quiet" | Otto Lang | Paul Franklin | May 27, 1961 |
| 74 | 35 | "Brand of Honesty" | Tay Garnett | Herbert Purdom | June 10, 1961 |
| 75 | 36 | "Lorinda Belle" | Sherry Shourds | Hendrik Vollaerts & Michael Kraike | June 24, 1961 |
| 76 | 37 | "Lawman's Conscience" | Fredrick Stephani | Michael Kraike & Saul Schwartz | July 1, 1961 |
Production notes
The series was created by Roland Kibbee and Norman Lear, produced by Revue Studios, and featured a jazz guitar score by Jack Marshall. It was the first television series that involved Lear as a creator or executive producer.
The Deputy aired at 9 pm Eastern on Saturdays.
Original tie-in novel
An original, licensed novel, based on the TV series concept and characters, was issued in paperback by Dell Publishing. The book was titled simply The Deputy, after the series; the author was veteran Western novelist Roe Richmond; the publication date was September, 1960; and the cover illustration, featuring Henry Fonda and Allan Case, was a painting by John Leone. The cover price was 35¢.
Bantam Books reissued the novel in 1986, as a non-tie-in, paperback edition, displaying no stated connection to the TV series whatsoever, under the title The Saga of Simon Fry. The cover price was $2.75. The circumstances behind the reprint are unknown.
Home media
On October 26, 2010, Timeless Media Group released the complete series on DVD in Region 1. The 12-disc set features all 76 episodes of the series.
References
- Alex McNeil, Total Television, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, pp. 212-213
- Aaker, Everett (May 16, 2017). Television Western Players, 1960-1975: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland. p. 87. ISBN 9781476628561 – via Google Books.
External links
- The Deputy at IMDb