About the series "Wagon Train" - Which did you like better?

[rezny717]

1-A)-The episodes with the late Ward Bond as Major Adams ?(1957-until his death in 1961)or B)The late John Mc Intyre as Christopher Hale (1961-1965-John Mc Intyre also was featured in a Ward Bond episode) 2-A-The sung theme or B)The beautiful instrumental theme,3)The NBC episodes(1957-1962),or B)The ABC episodes(1962-1965),4)The Black and white(1957-1962)or the color episodes(1962-1965),and 5)A)The 1957-1963 and 1964-1965 final season hourlong shows or B)The 1963-1964 season only ninety minute episodes? My favorites(and this is just my opinion)-B)The ones with the late Ward Bond were okay,but I liked the ones with the late John Mc Intyre better. 2)B) 3)Both the NBC and ABC episodes were good 4)Both Black and white and color ,although color was a bit more realistic.5)A)The hourlong format.The 90-minute format was too long.What are your choices?Feel free to post.

[tiredmike59]

I liked both, mainly for the big name guest stars.

[tv star collector]

Originally Posted by rezny717

1-A)-The episodes with the late Ward Bond as Major Adams ?(1957-until his death in 1961)or B)The late John Mc Intyre as Christopher Hale (1961-1965-John Mc Intyre also was featured in a Ward Bond episode) 2-A-The sung theme or B)The beautiful instrumental theme,3)The NBC episodes(1957-1962),or B)The ABC episodes(1962-1965),4)The Black and white(1957-1962)or the color episodes(1962-1965),and 5)A)The 1957-1963 and 1964-1965 final season hourlong shows or B)The 1963-1964 season only ninety minute episodes? My favorites(and this is just my opinion)-B)The ones with the late Ward Bond were okay,but I liked the ones with the late John Mc Intyre better. 2)B) 3)Both the NBC and ABC episodes were good 4)Both Black and white and color ,although color was a bit more realistic.5)A)The hourlong format.The 90-minute format was too long.What are your choices?Feel free to post.

1. (A) Ward Bond
2. (B) Instrumental
3. (A) NBC
4. (A) Black-&-White
5. (A) 60 min.

[BillMac]

Did you know there were three Wagon Train themes.

[TMC]

What happened to Wagon Train that made it lose so many viewers after being so popular for several seasons?

Wagon Train survived the sudden death of its lead star, only to be destroyed by the very things meant to improve it: a bigger budget, color film, and an extra thirty minutes of airtime.

During its first few seasons on NBC, the series was a television juggernaut. Anchored by Ward Bond as wagon master Major Seth Adams, it reliably drew massive audiences. When Bond died of a sudden heart attack in 1960, many expected the show to collapse. Instead, John McIntire stepped in as the new wagon master, Chris Hale, and the show actually peaked, hitting number one in the Nielsen ratings for the 1961–1962 season.

The decline began when the series moved from NBC to ABC in the fall of 1962. While the initial ratings on the new network held up, ABC made a drastic formatting choice for the seventh season in 1963. They expanded the show from 60 minutes to 90 minutes and began filming in color.

At the time, 90-minute Westerns were an experimental trend, championed by shows like The Virginian. However, Wagon Train was fundamentally built for a one-hour storytelling structure. Writers suddenly had to pad their scripts to fill the extra half hour. The tight, character-driven pacing that viewers loved became sluggish and drawn out. Episodes felt meandering, and the addition of expensive color film did little to distract the audience from the weakened, over-extended narratives.

Along with the pacing issues, the network repeatedly shifted the show's time slot, pitting it against heavy hitters on other networks. Frustrated by the bloated episodes and confusing schedules, viewers simply tuned out. ABC realized the mistake and reverted the show back to a 60-minute, black-and-white format for its eighth and final season in 1964. By then, the audience had already moved on to other programs, and the broader television landscape was shifting away from traditional Westerns in favor of spy thrillers and sitcoms.