Aside from maybe something like the original Walker, Texas Ranger (or perhaps even the more recent re-imagining, Walker), it's not often that the Western genre crosses over with traditional network procedurals. But back in the early 1970s, after the Big Three networks purged themselves of most horse opera content, one classic Western TV star tried his best to mix the traditional tales with a more modern flare. Richard Boone was the star, and Hec Ramsey was the program, which followed an old gunslinger as he sought to use more modern methods of criminal investigation to solve crimes on the open frontier. In a way, it was sort of like NCIS meets the Wild West.
'Hec Ramsey' Blended Westerns With Classic Network Procedurals
Image via NBC
In October 1972, Hec Ramsey premiered on NBC during the network's NBC Sunday Mystery Movie programming block. According to Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh in their book, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present, his rotating Sunday night entertainment slot featured Richard Boone's latest series as well as shows like Columbo, McCloud, and McMillan and Wife, each to varying degrees of success. But Hec Ramsey lasted only two seasons on the network, spawning a total of 10 episodes between 1972 and 1974. That might not seem like a lot, but considering that each episode lasted an hour and a half (hence NBC platforming it as a "mystery movie"), Hec Ramsey was a TV movie series with a real kick. It was a lot like Sherlock if the show had been made in the United States and was set in the Old West.
As for the content of the series, Boone's titular hero (whose nickname "Hec" is short for Hector) was an old gunfighter who got sick of pulling his weapon. In his old age, he has become more interested in the "newfangled" sciences of the late 19th century and has spent considerable time and resources learning all he could about criminology. Of course, he still carries a gun but prefers to use his own investigative equipment. Upon arriving in Oklahoma, Hec is roped into becoming the deputy to a younger (and far greener) lawman, Oliver B. Stamp (Richard Lenz), who isn't quite sure about Hec's methods at first. But over time, the pair begin to work together to solve new cases and crimes around New Prospect, with characters such as Doc Amos B. Coogan (Harry Morgan), Arne Tornquist (Dennis Rucker), and Sgt. Juan Mendoza (Perry Lopez) in tow.
Some notable guest stars included future Tombstone star Kurt Russell, who appeared as the hot-headed Matthias Kane in the episode "Scar Tissue." Interestingly, this would have been only a few years before Russell nabbed the leading role in his own short-lived TV Western program, The Quest, but that's another story. Other guest stars included The Quick and the Dead's Pat Hinkle, Bruce Davidson of X-Men fame (and now 1923), Rio Bravo's Claude Akins, and even Jackie Cooper, who played Daily Planet editor-in-chief Perry White in the original Christopher ReeveSuperman pictures. No doubt, Richard Boone pulled in quite an array of talent.
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Richard Boone Compared Hec Ramsey To His Most Famous Western Hero
While producer Jack Webbonce called the series "Dragnet meets John Wayne," Hec Ramsey wasn't nearly as violent as some of the other Westerns of its day. But the leading star, Richard Boone, had his own thoughts on the type of character Hec Ramsey was. "Still, old Hec may be different in some ways, but he comes out of the same set of guts as Paladin," he told The New York Times in 1972. Paladin, of course, was the actor's most notable role, a gun-for-hire who was the lead of the six-season television Western, Have Gun — Will Travel. While not Boone's only notable Western role (he also found himself starring opposite John Wayne in The Alamo and The Shootist), the Paladin character is easily the best that the classic TV Westerns of the '50s and '60s had to offer. To that effect, Boone saw some of his old friend in the Hec Ramsey character, and tried to play him as such.
Of course, Have Gun — Will Travel is easily one of the best TV Westerns ever made, and it's a shame that the program was canceled far before its time (though, it did manage to produce 225 episodes beforehand). But with Hec Ramsey, Boone had the possibility to revisit the Paladin character, or, more accurately, this character type. In fact, both Paladin and Hec relied more on their brains than their brawn, and if there was a way to sort out trouble without violence, they always took it. This is where the NCIS of it comes into play. Hec's reliance on his newfound techniques, leaving the gunslinging of the Old West in the past, was a bold venture into the future. With this brand-new format — with longer installments and a more focused, mystery-infused narrative — allowed Richard Boone to revisit the Western with a modern sense of style, and that's why it worked so profoundly well. Hec Ramsey has been off the air for quite some time, but it has never been completely forgotten.
Unfortunately, Hec Ramsey is not available on streaming, and episodes can only be found in parts on YouTube.
Release Date
September 13, 1972
Cast
Abner Biberman
, Harry Morgan
, Jackie Cooper
, Richard Boone
, Rick Lenz
, Kurt Russell
, Stella Stevens
, Perry Lopez
, Sharon Acker
, Angie Dickinson
, Luther Adler
Producers
Jack Webb
Writers
Harold Jack Bloom
Network
NBC
Directors
Harry Morgan
, Alex March
, Andrew V. McLaglen
, Daniel Petrie
, Douglas Benton
, George Marshall
, Nicholas Colasanto
Custom Image by Zanda Rice
Image via NBC
English (US) ·