grizzledgeezer If there were ever a vote on "Worst TV Series", "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" would be an easy favorite. Its only distinction is that it was voted "Best TV Show of All Time" by the Flocking Institute of America.Other than the handsome color (which looks great on studio sets, but rather washed-out in outdoor scenes), everything about SPOTY (pronounced as if there were two Ts) can summed up in one word -- cheap.The indoor sets are crabbed, and unconvincingly dressed. Outdoors, the same generic cabin is used over and over and over and over. (It's not so much a cabin, as a longish wall with a door in it.)Outdoor scenes jump between location shots and studio sets. (This was normal, especially with Westerns, as outdoor shooting was not only more expensive, but there was no control over weather or the lighting.) Unfortunately, there's only one or two indoor "outdoor" sets, which hardly ever match up with the location shots.Not much can be said for Yukon King, the wonder dog who leads Sergeant Preston's team. He seems to have been cast for affability, rather than the edginess one would expect from a sled dog. He usually sits quietly, or sometimes wanders around the set, to no particular purpose, showing neither enthusiasm nor affection. (Another poster's suggestion, that YK is looking for Milk-Bone handout, seems reasonable.)But the worst thing about SPOTY, the thing that consigns it to the bottom of the barrel, is poor writing. It appears the radio programs were simply re-written for the series. Not only are they aimed at the intelligence of a four-year-old, but the dialog is mostly tedious and often clumsy exposition. And, of course, there's a narrator explaining things for the radio audience. (You could turn off the picture and not miss anything.)Given the low production values and poor scripts, it would be unkind to criticize the acting (though Richard Simmons, as the eponymous hero, brings to his role all the excitement of staring at wallpaper). At least everyone manages to hit their marks and speak clearly.Unlike "The Cisco Kid" or "Adventures of Superman" (two other early syndicated color series), SPOTY is devoid of character or style. There's nothing memorable about it, other than its cheesy lameness.For those not familiar with classical music, the theme is from the overture to Řezníček's "Diana Banana". As with "The Lone Ranger" and "The Green Hornet", George Trendle selected PD classical music so he wouldn't have to pay royalties.PS: I've often wondered why Union Carbide never did TV commercials with "Sergeant Prestone of the Yukon". It would have been a perfect match of product, character, and environment.

Robert J. Maxwell In switching TV service providers there occurred a gap, during which my selection of channels seemed to be limited to about half a dozen -- the Prayer Channel, Home Shopping Network, The News in Urdu, that sort of thing.I happened across Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. It was at least WATCHABLE.True, the values were rudimentary -- good versus evil -- and as easy as it is to watch such a Manichaean story, that's not the way the universe is structured, is it. It doesn't get past Kohlberg's Level 2 stage of moral development, in which you either obey the rules or you don't.Still, it's reassuring to see the distinction played out in a fictional story. It's ritualized, a fixed point in a changing and disappointing world, like a religious service.I used to listen to the program on the radio -- I'm pretty old and we were pretty poor. (The house was always full of winter snow regardless of season and we had to pounce on mice for a meal.) The characters and the trajectory of the story were no longer familiar.What struck me was the sound, the voices, and the musical score. "On, King, ON, YOU HUSKIES!" And the theme music, which I haven't heard for more than half a century. I found myself able to hum along with the theme.The human mind is a very strange thing, even compared to the relationship between Sergeant Preston and his faithful dog King.

Shadow-6 "On King! On you huskies!" I loved this show! The redoubtable Sgt Preston always used to end the show by saying to his dog, "Well, King, this case is closed!" The show was created by George W. Trendle & Fran Stryker who also created The Lone Ranger & The Green Hornet!

Bookwus With these words, Sergeant Preston and his loyal dog, Yukon king always got their man. Played by Richard Simmons, Sergeant Preston patrolled the western reaches of the Canadian frontier in the 1890s. Action and justice in such locales as Yellowknife, Dawson, and Whitehorse were seen each Saturday morning by the same kids who had just finished watching The Lone Ranger and Sky King. The series episodes featured stories set against the harsh extremes of the Yukon winter and summers in the Canadian Rockies. To match the climate, Preston would trade his dogsled for his horse, Rex. King was along wherever the good sergeant went.Simmons was the perfect embodiment of Sergeant Preston, the pride of the Northwest Mounted. To this day (despite Due South) when I picture a Mountie......it's always Sergeant Preston. And of those of who watched the show as kids, who can forget that stirring theme music and the words with which Sergeant Preston closed each episode, "Well King, this case is closed."