Frontier Circus
Frontier Circus is an American Western television series about a traveling circus roaming the American West in the 1880s. Filmed by Revue Productions, the program originally aired on CBS from October 5, 1961 until September 6, 1962.
| Frontier Circus | |
|---|---|
 James Barton with Nan Peterson (left) and Jackie Russell in "The Clan MacDuff" episode, 1962 | |
| Genre | Western |
| Written by | Samuel A. Peeples Frank Price |
| Directed by | Tay Garnett William Witney |
| Starring | J. Pat O'Malley Chill Wills |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 60 mins. |
| Production company | Calliope Productions |
| Distributor | MCA TV |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | October 5, 1961 – September 6, 1962 |
Overview
The show featured such veteran Western television and film performers as Chill Wills as "Colonel Kasey Thompson," John Derek as "Ben Travis," Richard Jaeckel as "Scout Tony Gentry," and J. Pat O'Malley as "Duffy". Characters Thompson and Travis were the owners of the Thompson/Travis traveling circus.
Guest stars
- Claude Akins
- Chris Alcaide
- John Anderson
- Edward Andrews
- R. G. Armstrong
- Eddie Albert
- Parley Baer
- Roy Barcroft
- Don "Red" Barry
- Patricia Barry
- Lane Bradford
- Kathie Browne
- Red Buttons
- Harry Carey Jr.
- Paul Carr
- Iron Eyes Cody
- John Considine
- Richard Conte
- Ellen Corby
- Alex Cord
- Lloyd Corrigan
- Royal Dano
- Sammy Davis Jr.
- Frank DeKova
- Irene Dunne
- Dan Duryea
- Jena Engstrom
- Jason Evers
- Frank Ferguson
- William Fawcett
- Constance Ford
- James Gregory
- Don Haggerty
- Alan Hale Jr.
- Anne Helm
- Skip Homeier
- Clegg Hoyt
- Arte Johnson
- Carolyn Jones
- Henry Jones
- Brian Keith
- Adam Kennedy
- Otto Kruger
- Cloris Leachman
- Bethel Leslie
- George Macready
- Howard McNear
- Vera Miles
- Roger Mobley
- Elizabeth Montgomery
- Jeanette Nolan
- Nehemiah Persoff
- William Phipps
- John Pickard
- Mike Ragan
- Thelma Ritter
- Gilbert Roland
- Mickey Rooney
- Charles Ruggles
- Barbara Rush
- Walter Sande
- Vito Scotti
- Jay Silverheels
- Robert F. Simon
- Joan Staley
- Stella Stevens
- Barbara Stuart
- Gloria Talbott
- Kenneth Tobey
- Rip Torn
- Jo Van Fleet
- Robert J. Wilke
- H. M. Wynant
- Chief Yowlachie
- Dick York
Episode guide
| Ep # | Title | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Depths of Fear" | October 5, 1961 |
| 2 | "The Smallest Target" | October 12, 1961 |
| 3 | "Lippizan" | October 19, 1961 |
| 4 | "Dr. Sam" | October 26, 1961 |
| 5 | "The Hunter and the Hunted" | November 2, 1961 |
| 6 | "Karina" | November 9, 1961 |
| 7 | "Journey from Hannibal" | November 16, 1961 |
| 8 | "Winter Quarters" | November 23, 1961 |
| 9 | "The Patriarch of Purgatory" | November 30, 1961 |
| 10 | "The Shaggy Kings" | December 7, 1961 |
| 11 | "Coals of Fire" | January 4, 1962 |
| 12 | "The Balloon Girl" | January 11, 1962 |
| 13 | "Mr. Grady Regrets" | January 25, 1962 |
| 14 | "Quick Shuffle" | February 1, 1962 |
| 15 | "The Courtship" | February 19, 1962 |
| 16 | "Stopover in Paradise" | February 22, 1962 |
| 17 | "Calamity Circus" | March 8, 1962 |
| 18 | "The Inheritance" | March 15, 1962 |
| 19 | "Naomi Champagne" | March 29, 1962 |
| 20 | "Mighty Like Rogues" | April 5, 1962 |
| 21 | "Never Won Fair Lady" | April 12, 1962 |
| 22 | "The Good Fight" | April 19, 1962 |
| 23 | "The Clan MacDuff" | April 26, 1962 |
| 24 | "The Race" | May 3, 1962 |
| 25 | "The Daring Durandos" | May 17, 1962 |
| 26 | "Incident at Pawnee Gun" | September 6, 1962 |
Reception
Frontier Circus ran opposite two ABC sitcoms, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and The Donna Reed Show and another western series, The Outlaws on NBC, starring Barton MacLane and Don Collier. The difference between its plot and the plot of most standard Westerns may have led to its short run.
Home media
Timeless Media Group released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 on April 20, 2010.[1]
References
- "Frontier Circus - The Complete Series". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- McNeil, Alex. Total Television (1996). New York: Penguin Books ISBN 0-14-024916-8
- Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows(1999). New York: Ballantine Books ISBN 0-345-42923-0