MovieChat Forums > The Virginian (1962) Discussion > Trampas

Trampas

posted 12 years ago by vinidici
7 replies | jump to latest

Doug McClure plays Trampas, buddy of The Virginian in this series. But in the book and in movies adapted from the novel, Trampas is anything BUT a friend. In fact, earlier versions of Trampas are all outright villains. So why is he a good guy in the TV series? What would have been wrong with casting McClure as someone other than the character who was, in previous portrayals, the Virginian's antagonist and foe?

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[–] rbecker28 12 years ago

What would have been wrong, I guess, is that if he were a villain they would have had to kill him off in the first episode. Then McClure would have been out of a steady role.

[–] vinidici 12 years ago

Well, what I'm basically asking is, why cast McClure as Trampas in the first place? He should have been the Virginian's sidekick with another name! Trampas could have been retained in the series as a recurring antagonist of "our hero."

It's comparable to making a Shane TV series in which Shane and Jack Wilson (the evil gunslinger, as played by Jack Palance in the original Shane movie) are buddies!

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[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] vinidici 12 years ago

The studio wanted to use the famous name of Trampas. However the character of Trampas, an outright villain, could not be used in a TV series.

That part, I don't get. Trampas could have been the show's recurring villain. Most TV programs have antagonists and foils as either recurring characters or as part of the regular cast. Why the prohibition against using Trampas as resident villain? The Fugitive had its "One Arm Man," after all. Strikes me that McClure should have been cast as Sonny and Trampas could have been used for rearing his ugly head several episodes per season until the final showdown episode between the Virginian and Trampas.

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[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] skiddoo 10 years ago

Maybe they felt that had been done to death and they had a different idea about the series.

[–] ridgerunner72160-609-362419 10 years ago

Actually in the episode where it's shown how Trampas ends up at Shiloh, he is a bad guy. He was plotting to kill the judge for a previous slight, but then the judge saves his life and he ends up working at Shiloh, but doesn't get along with the Virginian or any of the other workers. Of course by the end of the episode everything is righted and he and the Virginian become friends.