Pioneers of Television — S02E02 — Westerns

00:00:02 FROM THE MID-1940s THROUGH THE MID-'70s,

00:02:09 Narrator: THEY RE-CREATED A WORLD WE LONGED TO VISIT.

00:04:21 WESTERNS WERE GOING STRONG,

00:06:52 JAMES GARNER LANDED A SERIES OF SMALL ACTING ROLES.

00:09:16 I JUST WISH YOU COULD SEE THE GREED IN YOUR FACE.

00:11:41 AND, YOU KNOW, THE EXPLOSION

00:14:14 THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE FATHER AND SON

00:16:33 AND I THINK "BONANZA," A LOT OF ITS SUCCESS

00:18:28 TO CREATE HIS OWN SERIES...

00:20:47 BECAUSE THEY KNEW THEY'D GET KILLED OFF SOMEHOW.

00:22:55 YOU DON'T HAVE VERY MUCH FAITH IN YOUR DAUGHTER, DO YOU?

00:25:15 AUDRA WAS HER DAUGHTER.

00:27:41 HE DID.

00:30:09 WITH EXPERT STUNT PEOPLE.

00:32:19 AND HE TOLD ME THAT THE SHOW HAD BEEN CANCELLED,

00:34:19 BECAUSE THE ONLY EVIDENCE I'VE GOT

00:36:20 YOUR CHILDREN ARE CALLING YOU "MARSHAL."

00:38:25 WITHOUT BENDING YOUR KNEE?

00:40:49 IN A NUMBER OF TV MOVIES, WELL INTO THE 1990s...

00:43:27 WELL, FESS IS 6 FOOT 5.

00:45:36 AND I WAS PLAYING A VERY GOOD ROLE.

00:47:31 BUT VERY FEW TV WESTERNS HAD PEOPLE OF COLOR

00:49:42 IN THE AMERICAN STORY.

00:54:46 VISIT pbs.org.