- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: University of Texas Press (9 Dec 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0292718497
- ISBN-13: 978-0292718494
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 16.5 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
727,340 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #80 in Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Television > Encyclopaedias
- See Complete Table of Contents
Shooting Stars of the Small Screen
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Product Description
Product Description
'This volume enshrines and preserves the essence of what the TV Western has always been all about' - Fess Parker, star of the "Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone" TV series, from the foreword. Since the beginning of television, Westerns have been playing on the small screen. From the mid-1950s until the early 1960s, they were one of TV's most popular genres, with millions of viewers tuning in to such popular shows as "Rawhide", "Gunsmoke", and Disney's "Davy Crockett". Though the cultural revolution of the later 1960s contributed to the demise of traditional Western programs, the Western never actually disappeared from TV. Instead, it took on new forms, such as the highly popular Lonesome Dove and Deadwood, while exploring the lives of characters who never before had a starring role, including anti-heroes, mountain men, farmers, Native and African Americans, Latinos, and women. "Shooting Stars of the Small Screen" is a comprehensive encyclopedia of more than 450 actors who received star billing or played a recurring character role in a TV Western series or a made-for-TV Western movie or miniseries from the late 1940s up-to 2008. Douglas Brode covers the highlights of each actor's career, including Western movie work, if significant, to give a full sense of the actor's screen persona(s). Within the entries are discussions of scores of popular Western TV shows that explore how these programs both reflected and impacted the social world in which they aired. Brode opens the encyclopedia with a fascinating history of the TV Western that traces its roots in B Western movies, while also showing how TV Westerns developed their own unique storytelling conventions.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you are a western fan like me, don't waste your money. The only good bit about this book is the cover. The content is cheap looking and poor. Hardly any photo's of the characters whose faces we know but whose names escape us. So you read about an actor whose face you cannot place. Some of the selections are way off the mark. Since when was John Mills a cowboy or come to that Jill Ireland a cowgirl. There are quite a few books out there far superior to this one and with a twenty quid price tag this is an expensive piece of tosh. Also no dust jacket, pity that, because thats what it will be gathering on my shelf.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Nostalgic Guide to Boob Tube Cowboys!
13 Feb 2010
Format:Paperback
Prolific author Douglas Brode takes Baby Boomers down memory lane with this guide to 450+ actors/actresses who starred in TV westerns from 1946 to 2008. Especially during the 1950s, the small screen was inundated with westerns galore, some classics, others run-of-the-mill. Whether you were a fan of DAVY CROCKETT, WAGON TRAIN, PALADIN, RAWHIDE, MAVERICK, THE RIFLEMAN, F TROOP or later entries like LONESOME DOVE, coach potatoes will find something of interest in Brode's book.
After an interesting essay on cowboys on the small screen, Brode details the actors and actresses who rode the ranges on the small screen. SHOOTING STARS OF THE SMALL SCREEN is alphabetically arranged; the first entry being Lee Aaker, the last, Anthony Zerbe. In between you'll find so many wonderful actors/actresses - Gene Autry, Ward Bond, Richard Boone, Fess Parker, Sam Elliott, Gene Evans, Jeanette Nolan, R. G. Armstrong, Charles Bronson, James Garner, Robert Duvall, Amanda Blake, Gabby Hayes, Bill Boyd, Steve McQueen, Nick Adams, Dan Duryea, Jane Seymour, David Carradine, John Russell, James Coburn, Darren McGavin, Lee Marvin, Walter Brennan, Ross Martin, Lorne Greene, L. Q. Jones, Jack Palance, etc. - who starred in western series or essayed memorable guest appearances. Some entries may surprise you - Jerry Reed, Suzanne Somers, etc. - but, according to Brode, they rate inclusion.
Brode provides basic biographical info on each, details their work in westerns and subsequent career. Entries can range from a few short paragraphs to several pages. James Arness, for example, rates four pages; Fess Parker and Hugh O'Brian, five. Some entries - about 75 - include a photograph of the actor/actress or series cast.
SHOOTING STARS OF THE SMALL SCREEN is the kind of book you can devour cover to cover or just open to a page, read and enjoy. TV buffs will enjoy revisiting their favorite cowpokes, cowgirls and shows. It's a hoot. Recommended.
After an interesting essay on cowboys on the small screen, Brode details the actors and actresses who rode the ranges on the small screen. SHOOTING STARS OF THE SMALL SCREEN is alphabetically arranged; the first entry being Lee Aaker, the last, Anthony Zerbe. In between you'll find so many wonderful actors/actresses - Gene Autry, Ward Bond, Richard Boone, Fess Parker, Sam Elliott, Gene Evans, Jeanette Nolan, R. G. Armstrong, Charles Bronson, James Garner, Robert Duvall, Amanda Blake, Gabby Hayes, Bill Boyd, Steve McQueen, Nick Adams, Dan Duryea, Jane Seymour, David Carradine, John Russell, James Coburn, Darren McGavin, Lee Marvin, Walter Brennan, Ross Martin, Lorne Greene, L. Q. Jones, Jack Palance, etc. - who starred in western series or essayed memorable guest appearances. Some entries may surprise you - Jerry Reed, Suzanne Somers, etc. - but, according to Brode, they rate inclusion.
Brode provides basic biographical info on each, details their work in westerns and subsequent career. Entries can range from a few short paragraphs to several pages. James Arness, for example, rates four pages; Fess Parker and Hugh O'Brian, five. Some entries - about 75 - include a photograph of the actor/actress or series cast.
SHOOTING STARS OF THE SMALL SCREEN is the kind of book you can devour cover to cover or just open to a page, read and enjoy. TV buffs will enjoy revisiting their favorite cowpokes, cowgirls and shows. It's a hoot. Recommended.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Shooting Stars is a Star
20 Oct 2009
Format:Paperback
I love TV westerns and western actors. Shooting Stars is the most informative encyclopedia of TV westerns that I've ever seen. With this book as a guide, I would love to watch some of the episodes that I have not seen in a long time.
Very interesting and great fun. If you like westerns get this book!!!
Very interesting and great fun. If you like westerns get this book!!!
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Fun bit of nostalgia !!
12 Jan 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is not about the movies or television shows of the western era. It is an encyclopedia of the actors that brought the genre to life on the celluloid screen. Western actors, big and small, top bill and sidekick are listed, each with a small biography. The author talks about how the actor found themselves in Hollywood and landed the show or movie that made them a shooting star. I was finally able to put names to the many faces that I have watched on screen for some time. It's basic reading, but very enjoyable. Long Live Cowboys!!
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