Walter Coy narrated the short-lived western television series, Frontier, 1955-1956.
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Frontier is an American western television anthology series that aired on NBC from September 1955 to September 1956.[1] The series de-emphasizes gunplay and focuses on the hazards of the settlement of the American West. It was the second anthology western series in television history.[2]
Frontier ran sporadically in its last five months. Walter Darwin Coy (1909-1974) narrated the series and starred in occasional episodes, which are dramatizations based on actual events. The program was produced by Worthington Miner (1900-1982).[2]
Walter Coy begins each Frontier episode with the line: "This is the way it happened ... movin' west," and he closed with the refrain: "It happened that way ... movin' west." Frontier is similar in scope to its predecessor and longer-lasting syndicated series Death Valley Days, which went through a series of hosts, including Stanley Andrews (1891-1969) (known on the program as The Old Ranger), Ronald W. Reagan, Robert Taylor (1911-1969), and Dale Robertson (1923-2013).[3]
Frontier ran only a single season but was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. Jack Kelly, who in 1957 launched the role of Bart Maverick in the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Maverick, appeared three times on Frontier in the episodes entitled "The Hunted", "The Return of Jubal Dolan" (with Robert Vaughn), and "The Hostage."
The series was produced by California National Productions, which also released three syndicated western series, Boots and Saddles, Union Pacific (1958–59) and Pony Express (1959–60).[4]
Frontier aired at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on Sundays following the sitcom It's a Great Life. Its principal competition was on CBS: the alternating comedy programs, The Jack Benny Show and Private Secretary with Ann Sothern. Frontier was replaced on NBC in the 1956–57 season by Circus Boy.[5]
Categories: [Television Shows] [1950s] [Westerns] [California]