The Virginian

The Virginian was among several western themed television shows, the lead character played by actor James Drury. The Virginian was mainly based on the classic novel by Owen Wister, becoming one of the most popular western shows.

Produced by Universal Studios, The Virginian was shown on NBC from 1962 to 1971. Also starring on The Virginian were actors Lee J. Cobb and Doug McClure. Throughout the show the lead character was referred to as The Virginian, while his real name remained a mystery. The Virginian rode a horse named Joe D. and the character Trampas playedby Doug McClure rode a horse named Buck.

All the action took place at the fictitious Shiloh ranch in Wyoming, located near the real town of Medicine Bow as mentioned in the novel. The Shiloh ranch was named after the battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, which took place during the Civil War in 1862.

The owner of the Shiloh ranch was played by 3 different actors. On the last season The Virginian was revamped with a more spaghetti western look. Renamed The Men of Shiloh Ranch, actor Lee Majors, better known as The Six Million Dollar Man, was added to the cast in a futile attempt to boost ratings.

A 1965 episode called "We've Lost a Train" was the pilot episode of the spinoff TV series Laredo, featuring a trio of Texas Rangers which ran for two seasons.

Bronson Canyon, an area within Griffith Park in Los Angeles County, was one filming location. The western street scenes were done at the Universal City back lot, and other scenes were made at Studio City, the Iverson Movie Ranch, and Lone Pine, California.

The Virginian spanned 9 seasons and became the third most popular western after Gunsmoke and Bonanza. By 1975 all three had been canceled, marking the end of the TV western era which began in the 1950s.

In 2010 a DVD series containing all episodes of The Virginian began release with the first season, soon followed by the second. Euro Video began releasing a German DVD version of The Virginian with English subtitles in late 2010.