bkoganbing Somewhere in the offices of the 20 Mule Team Borax company sits some television gold. Death Valley Days, the longest running syndicated show on television contains some fine dramas, made better by the fact that these were true western stories, no frills added. Take a look at the directors and writers lists for the show. You'll find in the credits any number of B picture western directors who found work as the B western died out on the big screen, same with the writers.Not to mention the players and for a real western feel the show had as its first host character actor Stanley Andrews known as the Old Ranger. Andrews brought a real feel of the old west to his job as host. Even when some rather more well known Hollywood names like Ronald Reagan, Robert Taylor and Dale Robertson took over the hosting duties, you always knew you were watching three well known movie stars. With Andrews it was like sitting by the fireside listening to tales from the past from a beloved relative.Robertson was from Oklahoma and could never shake the western image no matter how hard he tried in his career and he eventually went with the flow. Taylor and Reagan were both leading men, Taylor of A films and Reagan of B films from their respective studios. But both had a real love of horses and the west and would just as soon have been cowboy heroes at their studios instead of the career paths that were chosen for them by Louis B. Mayer and Jack Warner respectively. All of them fit the role of host well because of their backgrounds.This is another show that TV Land channel ought to grab. Or at least the country music channel which has now taken to showing films occasionally. They can't do better than this.

wfinlayson-567-88446 In Western Canada,when I was about 7 or 8,we used to see it on Saturday or Sunday afternoon,when television was fairly new in the North and not everybody had one.But my dad had a good job with the Telephone Company,so we always seemed to have the latest electrical gadgets.Westerns,in 1958 were going strong but I especially remember and liked the haunting bugle call,the particular black and white reception,and our television itself,with the genuine Borax 20 Mule Team model carefully placed on top of it.I think the Stanley Andrews era was the best,because the actors were a product of post WW2,and the scenes were of a completely natural western landscape,especially the striking area itself,in which it was indeed filmed.I didn't see the later episodes because we moved but in the 60's the world did modernized pretty fast and the old western towns and people,and war heroes,were becoming only a memory. I hope they roll out the episodes soon so I can build my own 20 Mule Team and get back to some real western television.

ketchkev I wish they would show these again. With over 20 years of episodes, I can't see why they don't. I was a huge fan of this program, and looked forward to watching it every week. This show was very low budget, but they were the most enjoyable half-hour episodes ever!! Many of them were factual as well. Although some of the episodes are available on video (and very,very few may I mention) they still don't encompass the true meaning of the series. You would be able to watch week to week and see what it took to tame the great west. With stories of the gold rush, wild outlaws, early politicians, and the ushering in of statehood, Death valley days will always be a favorite. I will also never forget the TV theme. It will forever be in my memories.

mavery-2 This Series was quite popular for many years. They used a rather strange approach to production, taking a cast and crew to a location (ie: Flagstaff) and shooting 3 episodes to be split up during the season. It was the quintiessential American western of the time. Sometimes quite good, sometimes very very bad. Wish the episodes were still about somewhere.