Recent article on Cheyenne

From the Montgomery County (TX) Courier newspaper


‘Cheyenne’ episode will get your mind off it all

By Mark HayterContributing columnist
Updated: 04.27.09
My best time of day is when Kay and I sit down for supper in the living room and watch “Cheyenne.” If you can’t lose a few worries while watching a good ol’ black and white Western … well, you’re way too focused.

After we’ve seen all of the “Cheyenne” reruns, suppertime is really going to take a dive. I hate losing a good routine.

I quit taping “Cheyenne” after I noticed our DVR had collected 33 of episodes. The series aired from ’55 to ’63, so I figure there are a bunch more coming.

By the way, if DVR is not the greatest non-lifesaving invention in the world, it’s one of the top three. For readers not aware of this television wonder, let me say that DVR is a rather cheap feature of cable and satellite TV that allows you to tape programs without the tapes. Hey, I had trouble believing it, too.

With DVR, you can pull up a TV guide looking schedule on the screen, highlight a program with your remote and easily program your TV to tape all episodes, only new episodes or only the one episode. Probably have another choice in there somewhere, but I can’t remember. If you hit “all episodes” it doesn’t matter how many times or at what times that program airs on that particular channel, it’s gonna be recorded for you.

That way you can watch what your recordings anytime you want. You can even start watching a feature that’s not through taping. Is this a good life or what!

With DVR you’ll never have to watch another commercial. The gross commercial with the gobs mucus talking? Zap! I refuse to listen to snot. And, get this, if someone calls while I’m watching a football game, I just freeze the picture, and start it up again after I’ve told Dennis that it was a 1965 Pontiac Tempest that we used to have. I don’t know why he comes up with these weird questions.

But, back to “Cheyenne.” What I like to do is to slow them down some of the scenes to pick up on some of the production problems. There have been several shootouts where Cheyenne draws his gun and fires right into the ground. The bad guy he’s facing will grab his chest and fall. That kind of stuff was seldom apparent on our old Philco.

You’ll see a posse charging down a road. They’ll pass a tree leaning to the right. After traveling 20 miles, you’ll see the same posse riding down the same road, but the tree is on the other side. The guys just stopped, turned around and rode back. So much easier than moving your camera crew all across the country. Just travel over the same ground several times.

In yesterday’s episode, Cheyenne approached a fort. At the entrance there were two chains hanging above the gate. They were used to support the sign that held the name of the fort, only there was no sign. What they did was take the sign down so the scene could be used in multiple episodes. It could be Fort Smith one week, Fort Griffith the next, and Fort Laramie after that. They didn’t have to keep coming back and pay extras to look like they’re manning the walls. Just use the same footage for all fort episodes.

Cheyenne might ride into a town called Zachary Hills. Later in the episode he comes into Laredo. It’s the same town.

You’ll see a building at the end of the street that will have a fake tree in front. When they change the town name, they’ll remove the tree and put a horse trough. No way were they going to construct a new town for every episode. Today, they use computers to change the appearance. Back then they used fake trees, barber poles, hotel signs, horse railings, people wearing sombreros … gave the town a completely different look.

Regardless of the production quality, Kay and I are really enjoying “Cheyenne.” I’m pretty sure Kay likes it ‘cause Clint Walker is probably the greatest looking cowboy ever rode the West. Walker is 6’ 5” to 6’ 7” depending on your source. Built like an Austin water tower. Has a tenor voice that practically sings the lines. And, get this; he’s got good hair. A lot of hair. That means so much… to some. Take my word.

It was really a hoot the few times Jill watched Cheyenne with us. Each time a female interest came on the scene, Jill would make a comment representing what the woman was thinking. A sweet little town girl would walk past Cheyenne and Jill would have the girl thinking, “Hoochie mama, I’d like to lasso that and drag it home.” Jill can be so crude.

Of course, Cheyenne is more than good-looking. The man is a good guy. He seldom drinks, doesn’t gamble, and usually takes the first punch. He’ll just stand there while some thug telegraphs one of those roundhouse punches. After the first hit, Cheyenne comes alive. All of the people he fights are smaller than he is, so he has to act like he’s getting beat up for a second or two, just to make it interesting.

The fight scenes are almost laughable. When I slow the scene down, you can see that they’re missing each other by a mile. And, it’s always easy to spot Clint Walker’s double. I believe it’s the same guy who was Rockford’s stuntman.

Regardless of it all, each episode ends well. The good guy wins; the bad guys are either in jail or taking the proverbial dirt nap. When it’s over you just sense that all is right with the world. If only for a minute or two.

Then Kay and I put away the dishes, clean up the kitchen and come back to watch the news that had been taping during “Cheyenne.” We’ll zip right through the commercials.

Yes, DVR has really revolutionized TV viewing. It saves so much time. Last December I watched two football games in one hour. Lost a lot of commentary, but I think I’m better for it.

And, yes, a lot of TV is bad. That’s why I watch only the good stuff. I’ve had a lot of people tell me that they quit watching the news, because it’s always bad. You’ve gotta follow the news just to stay informed. But, you also need a good black and white Western every now and again just to get your mind off the news.

I recommend Cheyenne. Don’t know if you picked up on that. I’ve got 30 more episodes before I have to tape again. Life is good.

You can contact Clint Walker by visiting his webpage at www.clintwalker.com.

Oh, and Mark Hayter can be contacted at [email protected]. He’s much shorter … and has less hair.