MovieChat Forums > Cheyenne (1955) Discussion > Deja vu among Warner Brothers westerns

Deja vu among Warner Brothers westerns

posted 14 years ago by gladgal
9 replies | jump to latest

I recently watched a 2nd season episode of "Lawman" and kept feeling like I'd seen it before even though I know I hadn't. Then it finally hit me: it was the same storyline - and same character names - as a Cheyenne episode, specifically "The Angry Sky" (episode #20 of season 3). Sure enough, the same writer - Montgomery Pittman - was responsible for both episodes, and he also directed the Cheyenne version. Interestingly, the Cheyenne episode came first (June 1958), and the Lawman episode ("The Judge" from season 2, aired in May 1960) appeared later. Both were good episodes, but it was interesting to note how the storyline had been streamlined to fit into the half-hour format of Lawman versus the hour-long format of Cheyenne.

Has anyone noticed any other such similarities between any of the other TV Westerns? I assume that this was probably common amongst those series owned/produced by the same company - e.g., Warner Brothers, in this case. I've also noticed the same music recycled as well - another money/time-saver for the studios, I'm sure - but still rather disconcerting to hear snippets of what I associated as "Cheyenne music" being used during Lawman!

[–] MsLexy 14 years ago

Taking episode scripts from earlier WBs shows and using the same stories in the
later WBs show episodes was done because of a writers strike in 1960...and also for saving money.

To keep the shows going...Warner bros had to reuse many of their older scripts
from January to June 1960.

Here are more reused scripts from Cheyenne to other WBs shows.

CHEYENNE: Renegades. Feb 11 1958 - BRONCO: The Human Equation. Mar 22 1960

CHEYENNE: The Last Train West. May 29 1956 - BRONCO: Montana Passage. Apr 5 1960

CHEYENNE: The Storm Riders. Feb 7 1956 - BRONCO: Tangled Trail. May 3 1960

CHEYENNE: The Travelers. Jan 3 1956 - BRONCO: Winter Kill. May 31 1960

CHEYENNE: Big Ghost Basin. Mar 12 1957 - 77 SUNSET STRIP: Sierra. May 27 1960

CHEYENNE: The Bounty Killers. Oct 23 1956 - THE ALASKANS: The Long Pursuit. Jan 31 1960

CHEYENNE: Decision at Gunsight. Apr 23 1957 - THE ALASKANS: Counter Blow. Apr 24 1960

CHEYENNE: The Empty Gun. Feb 25 1958 - LAWMAN: The Payment. May 8 1960.

Many other earlier WB scripts were also taken from:
Maverick...Sugarfoot...Bronco.

For Jan-June 1960 episodes of:
The Alaskans...77 Sunset Strip....Bourbon Street Beat...Hawaiian Eye.

[–] actionsub 13 years ago

The cue to finding whether or not a script was recycled during that 1960 season is in the writer's credit. Recycled scripts are credited to "W. Hermanos". (Note: "hermanos" is Spanish for "brothers". I leave it to your imagination what the W. stands for.)

[–] MsLexy 13 years ago

Yes I've noticed W. Hermanos on the re-used scripts on the WBs show credits.

And it seems that some of the other TV studios have also re-used plots from "Cheyenne."

I just bought the complete first and second DVD set of "Laramie" and one of the Laramie
episodes, "The Star Trail" had the same story as "Star in the Dust"
from Cheyenne...but W. Hermanos wasn't credited.

[–] ZevII 14 years ago

In addition to the ones mentioned, Cheyenne had a 1956 episode called "Dark Rider" that was re-done for Maverick ("Yellow River"). Yellow River tried to add a plot twist, but it was so painfully obvious from the start that the episode is unwatchable for me.

And Cheyenne's "Hired Gun" became "Substitute Gun" on Maverick.

As the divine MsLexy mentioned, Cheyenne's "Empty Gun" became "The Payment" in Lawman. "The Empty Gun" is probably my favorite Cheyenne episode. It's interesting to me that John Russell played the tormented gunslinger in that show and then essentially played the Cheyenne character in the Lawman re-write.

Cheyenne also adapted a couple of movie scripts (like "Treasure of the Sierra Madre"), which was kind of strange.

You can also see similarities between Roy Huggins' shows for Maverick and The Rockford Files.

Maverick's "The Saga of Waco Williams" had Wayde Preston as the super-straight hero that was much like Tom Selleck's Lance White character years later in 'Rockford.'

And Maverick's "The Seventh Hand" had the same setup as the Rockford episode where Jim is accused of setting a robbery at a poker game.

[–] sistergrimm 14 years ago

Having watched Encore's classic TV westerns extensively for the past month or 2 I worried when I had a "deja vu" moment during Maverick's "Yellow River" until I remembered the same plot in Cheyenne's "Dark Rider." Howard Browne wrote both episodes: I think the first version -- "Dark Rider" -- worked best, since it didn't depend on a '50s version of a cross-dressing outlaw.

"I thought I told you to come alone."

[–] ZevII 14 years ago

Sister Grimm, when I first saw the villain in "Yellow River," I swear I heard Austin Powers' voice screaming "That's a man, man!"

The start of Yellow River, when the bank is robbed, even used the same footage that was at the start if "Dark Rider."

Another copied plot went from Maverick's "Comstock Conspiracy" to The Virginian. In Maverick, Bret shoots a business tycoon in self-defense, but when he comes back with the sheriff, there was apparently no crime and it looks like something Maverick imagined or made up.

The Virginian used the same concept, only with Judge Garth doing the killing in self-defense.

[–] drschnk 14 years ago

I can't remember the episode's name but it starred Eddie "Kookie" Byrnes. At the end, he's due to hang and Cheyenne asks him to go to the gallows yellow so his younger brother won't follow in his footsteps.

Yep, it's the ending of the James Cagney/ Humphrey Bogart/ Pat O'Brien classic ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES ("I want you to die/ go to the chair yellow").

[–] leroykevin 14 years ago

I can't remember the names of the two episodes, but the Cheyenne ep. introduces Samantha Crawford. In the Maverick remake, Bart is often comparing the girl who is filling in for Sam, to Sam

[–] ZevII 14 years ago

Those episodes were "Dark Rider" for Cheyenne and "Yellow River" for Maverick.