Cimarron City (TV series)

Cimarron City is an American one-hour Western television series, starring George Montgomery as Matt Rockford and John Smith as Lane Temple, airing on NBC from October 11, 1958, to September 26, 1959.[1] Cimarron City is a boomtown in Logan County, Oklahoma, north of Oklahoma City. Rich in oil and gold, Cimarron City aspires to become the capital of the future state of Oklahoma, to be created in 1907.

Cimarron City
George Montgomery as Matthew Rockford, with guest star Fred MacMurray, in
"I, the People" (1958)
GenreWestern
Written by
  • Norman Jolley
  • Richard Morgan
  • Tom Seller
Directed by
Starring
Theme music composer
ComposerPaul Dunlap
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes26
Production
Producers
  • Richard Bartlett
  • Norman Jolley
Cinematography
  • Jack MacKenzie
  • William A. Sickner
  • John F. Warren
EditorLee Huntington
Running time60 minutes
Production companies
Release
Original networkNBC
Picture formatBlack-and-white
Audio formatMonoaural
Original releaseSeptember 27, 1958 (1958-09-27) 
April 4, 1959 (1959-04-04)

Synopsis

Matthew Rockford is the son of an area cattle rancher, who is the founder and mayor of Cimarron City. Lane Temple, the blacksmith, serves also as the deputy sheriff. He maintains the law amid the crooked schemes concocted in Cimarron City.

Audrey Totter played Beth Purcell, the owner of the boarding house.[1] The episodes were supposed to rotate equally among Montgomery, Smith, and Totter. The writers, however, did not give Totter enough stories as promised, and she left the series.

Cimarron City also featured Dan Blocker (before Bonanza) in two roles. In the second episode, Blocker plays outlaw Carl Budinger, who is killed. In the fourth episode, he reappears as Carl's good-hearted brother, Tiny Budinger, who becomes one of Rockford's ranch hands.

Production notes

The producers were Richard Bartlett and Norman Jolley.[1] Stanley Wilson wrote the theme music.[2]

In its initial run, Cimarron City was placed opposite two half-hour Western programs on CBS, Have Gun, Will Travel and Gunsmoke,[1] from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturdays. From June 1960 to September 1960, reruns were shown on Fridays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, again on NBC.[3]

Newspaper columnist Erskine Johnson wrote that NBC created Cimarron City expressly "to shoot it out with CBS TV's two guns — the half-hour Have Gun and the top-rated Gunsmoke, in most sections of the country."[4] When the show's ratings failed to meet NBC executives' expectations, Smith's and Totter's roles grew in size and Montgomery "became a wanderer instead of a stay-at-home"; writers and directors were also changed.[4] NBC spent additional money to bring in guest stars while sponsors were leaving the show, with several episodes having no sponsor.Toward the end of the series' original run, NBC found four rotating sponsors, some of whom limited their involvement to purchasing spot announcements.[4]

Cast

Guest stars

Episode list

No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"I, the People"Jules BrickenStory by: Fenton Earnshaw
Teleplay by: Gene L. Coon
October 11, 1958 (1958-10-11)
2"Terror Town"Richard H. BartlettStory by: Trebor Lewis
Teleplay by: Norman Jolley
October 18, 1958 (1958-10-18)
3"To Become a Man"Richard H. BartlettNorman JolleyOctober 25, 1958 (1958-10-25)
4"Twelve Guns"Richard H. BartlettStory by: Lew Richards & Norman Jolley
Teleplay by: Norman Jolley
November 1, 1958 (1958-11-01)
5"The Medicine Man"UnknownUnknownNovember 8, 1958 (1958-11-08)
6"Hired Hand"John BrahmStory by: Lew Richards
Teleplay by: Winston Miller
November 15, 1958 (1958-11-15)
7"Kid on a Calico Horse"UnknownUnknownNovember 22, 1958 (1958-11-22)
8"The Beast of Cimarron"Abner BibermanNorman JolleyNovember 29, 1958 (1958-11-29)
9"A Respectable Girl"UnknownUnknownDecember 6, 1958 (1958-12-06)
10"The Bloodline"UnknownUnknownDecember 13, 1958 (1958-12-13)
11"Cimarron Holiday"UnknownUnknownDecember 20, 1958 (1958-12-20)[6]
12"McGowan's Debt"UnknownUnknownDecember 27, 1958 (1958-12-27)
13"The Bitter Lesson"John Meredyth LucasStory by: Ernest Haycox
Teleplay by: John Meredyth Lucas
January 3, 1959 (1959-01-03)
14"A Legacy of Ossie Harper"UnknownUnknownJanuary 10, 1959 (1959-01-10)
15"Child of Fear"UnknownUnknownJanuary 17, 1959 (1959-01-17)
16"Burn the Town Down"Richard H. BartlettRalph WintersJanuary 24, 1959 (1959-01-24)
17"Runaway Train"UnknownUnknownJanuary 31, 1959 (1959-01-31)
18"The Beauty and the Sorrow"UnknownUnknownFebruary 7, 1959 (1959-02-07)
19"Return of the Dead"UnknownUnknownFebruary 14, 1959 (1959-02-14)
20"Blind is the Killer"John Meredyth LucasStory by: David Lord
Teleplay by: Robert C. Dennis & David Lord
February 21, 1959 (1959-02-21)
21"The Unaccepted"Jerry HopperStory by: Cyril Hume
Teleplay by: William Raynor
February 28, 1959 (1959-02-28)
22"The Ratman"UnknownUnknownMarch 7, 1959 (1959-03-07)
23"Have Sword, Will Duel"UnknownUnknownMarch 14, 1959 (1959-03-14)
24"Chinese Invasion"UnknownUnknownMarch 21, 1959 (1959-03-21)
25"The Town is a Prisoner"UnknownUnknownMarch 28, 1959 (1959-03-28)
26"The Evil One"UnknownUnknownApril 4, 1959 (1959-04-04)

Home media

On March 6, 2012, Timeless Media Group released Cimarron City: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[7]

References

  1. McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 164. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
  2. Burlingame, Jon (March 28, 2023). Music for Prime Time: A History of American Television Themes and Scoring. Oxford University Press. pp. 91–92. ISBN 978-0-19-061830-8. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  3. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (June 24, 2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 254. ISBN 978-0-307-48320-1. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  4. Johnson, Erskine (March 21, 1959). "NBC 'Buck'-Shot Fails To Gun Down Two CBS Shows". The Times Herald. Michigan, Port Huron. NEA. p. 11. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  5. Terrace, Vincent (January 10, 2014). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed. McFarland. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-7864-8641-0. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  6. Terrace, Vincent (January 27, 2023). Holiday Specials on Television, 1939-2021. McFarland. p. 173. ISBN 978-1-4766-4813-2. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  7. "Cimarron City: The Complete Series". Amazon. September 2020.
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