Texas John Slaughter (TV series)

Texas John Slaughter (formally titled: Tales of Texas John Slaughter) is a Western television series which aired seventeen episodes between October 31, 1958 and April 23, 1961, as part of The Wonderful World of Disney, starring Tom Tryon in the title role. The character was based upon an actual historical figure, Texas Ranger John Horton Slaughter. Tryon memorably wore an enormous white cowboy hat with the brim pinned up in the front as part of his wardrobe for the series. Narration is provided by Paul Frees.

Texas John Slaughter
Genre	Western
Written by	Frank D. Gilroy Burt Styler Albert E. Lewin
Directed by	Harry Keller James Neilson
Starring	Tom Tryon
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	17
Original release
Release	October 31, 1958 (1958-10-31) – April 23, 1961 (1961-04-23)

The beginning theme song for the series includes the line "Texas John Slaughter made 'em do what they oughter, and if they didn't, they died."

Episodes

Season 1: 1958–59

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"Texas John Slaughter"	Harry Keller	Albert E. Lewin & Burt Styler and Frank D. Gilroy	October 31, 1958 (1958-10-31)
This pilot episode was expanded into a 74 minute feature film, also named after the titular Texas Ranger. It was released theatrically overseas in 1958 in color, though the TV version on ABC was broadcast in black & white. It featured Robert Middleton, Norma Moore, Robert J. Wilke, Edward Platt and Harry Carey Jr.
2	2	"Ambush in Laredo"	Unknown	Unknown	November 14, 1958 (1958-11-14)
3	3	"Killers from Kansas"	Unknown	Unknown	January 9, 1959 (1959-01-09)
4	4	"Showdown at Sandoval"	Unknown	Unknown	January 23, 1959 (1959-01-23)
5	5	"The Man from Bitter Creek"	Unknown	Unknown	March 6, 1959 (1959-03-06)
6	6	"The Slaughter Trail"	Unknown	Unknown	March 20, 1959 (1959-03-20)

Season 2: 1959–60

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
7	1	"The Robber Stallion"	Unknown	Unknown	December 4, 1959 (1959-12-04)
8	2	"Wild Horse Revenge"	Unknown	Unknown	December 11, 1959 (1959-12-11)
9	3	"Range War Tombstone"	Unknown	Unknown	December 18, 1959 (1959-12-18)
10	4	"Desperado from Tombstone"	Unknown	Unknown	February 12, 1960 (1960-02-12)
11	5	"Apache Friendship"	Unknown	Unknown	February 19, 1960 (1960-02-19)
12	6	"Kentucky Gunslick"	Unknown	Unknown	February 26, 1960 (1960-02-26)
13	7	"Geronimo's Revenge"	Unknown	Unknown	March 4, 1960 (1960-03-04)

Season 3: 1961

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
14	1	"The End of the Trail"	Unknown	Unknown	January 29, 1961 (1961-01-29)
15	2	"A Holster Full of Law"	Unknown	Unknown	February 5, 1961 (1961-02-05)
16	3	"A Trip to Tucson"	Unknown	Unknown	April 16, 1961 (1961-04-16)
17	4	"Frank Clell's in Town"	Unknown	Unknown	April 23, 1961 (1961-04-23)

Release

The series was originally broadcast as segments of The Wonderful World of Disney.

The series appeared in re-runs on the Disney Channel's classic program block "Disney Drive-In" which was later known as "Vault Disney".

Merchandising

The TV show was also adapted into a comic book by Dan Spiegle, distributed by Dell Comics.

External links

• Texas John Slaughter at IMDb
• Texas John Slaughter at Inducks