September 18, 1965 (1965-09-18) – March 12, 1966 (1966-03-12)
The Loner is an American Western television series that played for one season on CBS from 1965 to 1966, with the alternate sponsorship of Philip Morris and Procter & Gamble. The series was created by Rod Serling a year after the cancellation of the series The Twilight Zone. It was one of the last TV series broadcast by CBS in black-and-white.
Synopsis
The series was set in the years immediately after the American Civil War. Lloyd Bridges played the title character, William Colton, a former Unioncavalry captain who went to the American west in search of a new life. Each episode dealt with Colton's encounters with various individuals on his trek west.
Rod Serling was the series' creator. Longtime TV Guide critic Cleveland Amory wrote that Serling "obviously intended The Loner to be a realistic, adult Western," but the show's ratings indicated it was "either too real for a public grown used to the unreal Western or too adult for juvenile Easterners". Serling had expressed dislike for some of the television Westerns of the time in an editorial that described the premise for "Showdown with Rance McGrew", an episode of The Twilight Zone in which a primadonna Western actor encounters the ghost of Jesse James; in that editorial, he is quoted as saying: "it seems a reasonable conjecture that if there are any television sets up in cowboy heaven and any of these rough-and-wooly nail-eaters could see with what careless abandon their names and exploits are being bandied about, they're very likely turning over in their graves - or worse, getting out of them."
The Loner was broadcast Saturday nights at 9:30 Eastern Time. It debuted on September 18, 1965; the final episode was broadcast March 12, 1966; selected repeats continued through April 30.
Colton defends a wounded Confederate veteran (Whit Bissell) being taunted by a young bully (Tony Bill), provoking the brash young man to challenge Colton to a duel. Colton reluctantly agrees to duel, but is saddened by the prospect of possibly killing the young man. Colton recalls in flashback his service in the Civil War, revealing insights into Colton's behavior and philosophy. John Hoyt, Lou Krugman and James Sikking also guest feature.
2
"The Vespers"
Leon Benson
Rod Serling
September 25, 1965 (1965-09-25)
Colton visits an old friend who saved his life during the Civil War. This friend is now Rev. Booker, a Christian minister who has renounced his gun and the use of violence. Colton intercedes when gunman Deneen comes to avenge an earlier killing by Booker. Guest featuring Jack Lord, Joan Freeman, Ron Soble, and Bill Quinn.
Colton finds a letter on a dead man, who is revealed to be a mail-order bridegroom for a dance hall girl named Angela Wheeler. Guest featuring Jeanne Cooper, Tina Hermensen, and Edward Faulkner.
4
"The Kingdom of McComb"
Leon Benson
Rod Serling
October 9, 1965 (1965-10-09)
Colton intercedes on behalf of a Mennonite sect of pacifists when they run afoul of McComb, the town's ruthless power broker. Guest featuring Leslie Nielsen, Tom Lowell, Ken Drake, and Ed Peck.
Colton is hired as a farmhand by a desperate wife whose husband is a catatonic Union army veteran, a man damaged emotionally by the horrors of the Civil War. Guests featuring Anne Baxter, Paul Richards, and Lane Bradford.
A romantic triangle ensues when Colton rescues a friend's beautiful fiancée from a runaway horse. Guest featuring Janine Gray, Tom Stern, and Larry Ward.
Colton helps to collect the dead after an Indian massacre of local citizens. Among the dead was a man he knew in the war, and Colton befriends the man's grieving father. Complications and conflicts ensue when the dead man's wife arrives in town and is revealed to be an Indian woman with an infant son. Guest featuring Katharine Ross, Lloyd Gough, Bill Zuckert, and Alan Baxter.
8
"The House Rules at Mrs. Wayne's"
Allen H. Miner
Rod Serling
November 6, 1965 (1965-11-06)
Abner Wayne, a friend of Colton's, was murdered trying to defend his wife's honor. Mrs. Wayne's reaction is to forbid guns and any talk of guns around her young son Jamie for fear he'll make the same violent mistakes. Colton must choose between keeping his promise or teaching Jamie what it means to be a man. Guest featuring Nancy Gates, Lee Phillips, Lindy Davis, Jonathan Kidd, and Dick Wilson.
9
"The Sheriff of Fetterman's Crossing"
Don Taylor
Rod Serling
November 13, 1965 (1965-11-13)
Colton has second thoughts after signing to serve as deputy to bungling Sheriff Walton Tetley. A humorous change-of-pace episode spoofing the famous Western movie High Noon. Guest featuring comedian Allan Sherman, Harold Peary, Dub Taylor, and Hank Patterson.
10
"The Homecoming of Lemuel Stove"
Joseph Pevney
Rod Serling
November 20, 1965 (1965-11-20)
Colton befriends black Union soldier Lemuel Stove (Brock Peters) who is returning home to see his father. Upon arriving, however, Stove learns his father was lynched the previous evening by the Avengers, a Klan-like hate group. Russ Conway and Don Keefer also appear in this episode scripted by Rod Serling.
11
"Westward, the Shoemaker"
Joseph Pevney
Rod Serling
November 27, 1965 (1965-11-27)
Colton befriends Hyman Rabinovitch (David Opatoshu), an immigrant shoemaker with his life savings and an indomitable desire to open a cobbler's shop. Warren Stevens and Al Checco also guest feature.
12
"The Oath"
Alex March
Rod Serling
December 4, 1965 (1965-12-04)
Erstwhile The Tall Man and future The Road West actor Barry Sullivan plays a surgeon who, having lost the use of his right hand, must guide Colton verbally through surgery to remove a gunfighter's ruptured appendix. Also guest featuring Joby Baker and Viviane Ventura.
Colton defends Major Dichter (Curt Conway), the commander of an ill-fated Civil War mission, against three maimed survivors of the mission who lure Dichter to the ghost town of Paradise to be tried in a kangaroo court. Guest featuring Robert Lansing, Edward Binns, Joe Mantell, and Deanna Lund.
As young gunman Johnny Sharp (Beau Bridges) lays dying in a cave, Bob Pierson (Pat Hingle) plots to steal his loot. James Whitmore also guest features in the series' only two-part episode. Beau Bridges is the son of series protagonist Lloyd Bridges.
Colton's horse is stolen during a stagecoach robbery, but he later finds a young girl riding it, prompting him to search for the robbers. Guest featuring Peter Mark Richman, Beverly Garland, and Cindy Bridges (daughter of series protagonist Lloyd Bridges).
In the final episode of the series, Colton joins a sheriff to track an outlaw gang that burned down a town. Guest featuring Howard Da Silva, Bruce Dern, Beverly Allyson, and Jim Drum.
Home media
In June 2016, Shout! Factory, in conjunction with Timeless Media Group, released The Loner as a Region 1 4-DVD set containing all 26 episodes of the series plus a featurette, The Wandering Man's Burden: Making "The Loner".[1] The DVD set was initially made available in North America as a Walmart exclusive (both in-store and online).
In 1998, Jerry Goldsmith's theme music and his two episode scores ("An Echo Of Bugles" and "One Of The Wounded") were released by Film Score Monthly on a limited edition soundtrack album alongside his score for Stagecoach.[2]
