P_Cornelius I'll always wonder: had he lived, could Pete Duel have rescued the TV Western from oblivion? Gunsmoke and Bonanza, the hoary old legends of the genre, already were teetering on their ancient last legs, with but a few more seasons to be squeezed out of them, when, out of the blue, as I remember it, came Alias Smith and Jones, whose fresh and jokey episodes became pretty wildly popular, especially with young people (that would be the likes of *me*, as I was 16 at the time). Alas, as others have already noted, Pete Duel committed suicide just as the series was hitting its stride. (The story of Duel's death made headlines across the country in a way contemporary viewers of TV dramas cannot imagine.) Roger Davis came in as a replacement and the series slid right downhill immediately thereafter--although I did like the episodes with Michele Lee. At any rate, about the only TV Western afterward to generate anything similar to Alias Smith and Jones' excitement was Kung Fu. Sidenote: James Garner's marvelous, and utterly forgotten series, Nichols, should have been the next great Western after Alias . . .What made Alias Smith and Jones tick? I always thought it was a sleek updating of what had already been a semi-comic TV Western success a few years earlier, Maverick. In fact, you can spot touches of the Bret Maverick characterization in both Heyes and Curry, along with some similar story lines and plot developments. Not to mention the lifting of the "five pat hands" trick, which Bret Maverick employed more than once. All of which should not be too much of a surprise, however, as Roy Huggins was instrumental to both series.Otherwise, watch out for the handful of episodes with Slim Pickens. "Exit from Wickenburg", the one where Slim works as the crooked bartender of a saloon/casino, is a masterpiece. It just wouldn't be a proper 1960s Western without Slim popping up every now and then.What a pity that Pete Duel succumbed to his demons. What a loss for network TV, the Western, and the many fans of Alias Smith and Jones. Who knows what could have been . . . .

jarvis-33 i'm sitting at home in London, 3.00 in the afternoon watching an old episode of the first Star Trek series when i should be working.the episode featured Sharon Acker as "Odona" and she was so striking i looked her up on IMDb and found that she was a regular in all those truly fantastic 60s and 70s shows - her career touched my formative years intimately: Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Wild Wild West, Love Boat, Streets of San Francisco, Cannon, Rockford Files and of course, Alias Smith and Jones.I hate to get sentimental, but suddenly the 60s and 70s seems like such a great time to have been growing up - particularly for me in San Francisco, just a little too young to be a hippy but old enough to find the whole thing hilarious.I would be glued to every episode of Smith and Jones - why was it so good? Pete Duel's laconic, knowing character, Ben Murphy's more macho delivery. what a great piece of casting - there seemed to be a genuine bond between them that created a "buddiness" rarely seen on the screen. And there was a sensitivity and vulnerability to Pete Duel that seems even clearer given his suicide. Too far to call him a poor man's Steve McQueen? No, he was a rich man's Peter Deuel.Then I see that Douglas Heyes, the writer, also wrote a load of episodes for Twilight Zone, Naked City and 77 Sunset Strip (now there was a series). There has to be a PhD thesis here - why were so many of the low-budget TV series of the 50s and 60s so cool, so well-written, so effective and compelling with no money, no special effects, no computer animation, no mega-stars. Oh, yeah, I see...Pete, Ben, Sharon, Douglas - thankyou so very much.

carflo I saw every episode of this show until the tragic suicide of Pete Duel. Pete Duel and Ben Murphy had the chemistry that makes a very good "buddy" show. They were Hannibal Heyes (Pete Duel) and Kid Curry (Ben Murphy), outlaws trying to go straight under the aliases Smith and Jones. Heyes had the brains and Curry had the fast draw, but they used brains more than guns. Many of the shows were elaborate scams the boys set up to get friends of theirs out of trouble - while trying to keep out of trouble themselves. It was funny and charming and it was one of the most enjoyable shows I ever saw on television. After the death of Pete Duel, they replaced him with Roger Davis playing Hannibal Heyes. I watched a few, but it was never the same.

Brian W. Fairbanks "Alias Smith and Jones" debuted on ABC in January 1971, little more than a year after the release of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," and that's hardly coincidental. The series was undoubtedly an attempt by Universal to cash-in on the success of the Paul Newman-Robert Redford megahit. The resemblance series co-star Ben Murphy had to the man with the blue eyes wasn't coincidental either. But "Alias Smith and Jones" was created by Roy Huggins, the man who gave us "Maverick," which one could say inspired "Butch..." so if anyone had the right to pattern a series on that movie, it was Huggins. Besides, this series achieved what the overrated "Butch" only aspired to. It had wit and style, was well-written, and had a first-rate cast. There was a solid chemisty between Pete Duel and Murphy, and the guest stars were also well chosen. I have fond memories of this show, although its quality deteriorated somewhat in February 1972 when Roger Davis took over for Duel (who died on New Year's Eve 1971 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound). It would be nice to see it released on video or at least added to the lineup on TV Land.