Frontier Circus

*Frontier Circus*
Frontier Circus
	James Barton with Nan Peterson (left) and Jackie Russell in "The Clan MacDuff" episode, 1962
Genre	Western
Created by	Samuel A. Peeples
Written by	Samuel A. Peeples; Frank Price
Directed by	Tay Garnett; William Witney
Starring	J. Pat O'Malley; Chill Wills
Composer	David Buttolph
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26
Production
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Calliope Productions; Revue Studios
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network	CBS
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	October 5, 1961 –; September 6, 1962

Frontier Circus is an American Western television series about a traveling circus roaming the American West in the 1880s. Filmed by Revue Productions, the program originally aired on CBS from October 5, 1961 until September 6, 1962.

Overview[]

The show featured such veteran Western television and film performers as Chill Wills as "Colonel Kasey Thompson," John Derek as "Ben Travis," Richard Jaeckel as "Scout Tony Gentry," and J. Pat O'Malley as "Duffy". Characters Thompson and Travis were the owners of the Thompson/Travis traveling circus.

Cast[]

Chill Wills as Colonel Kasey Thompson
John Derek as Ben Travis
Richard Jaeckel as Scout Tony Gentry

Guest stars[]

Episodes[]

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"The Depths of Fear"	TBA	TBA	October 5, 1961 (1961-10-05)
2	"The Smallest Target"	TBA	TBA	October 12, 1961 (1961-10-12)
3	"Lippizan"	TBA	TBA	October 19, 1961 (1961-10-19)
4	"Dr. Sam"	TBA	TBA	October 26, 1961 (1961-10-26)
5	"The Hunter and the Hunted"	TBA	TBA	November 2, 1961 (1961-11-02)
6	"Karina"	TBA	TBA	November 9, 1961 (1961-11-09)
7	"Journey from Hannibal"	TBA	TBA	November 16, 1961 (1961-11-16)
8	"Winter Quarters"	TBA	TBA	November 23, 1961 (1961-11-23)
9	"The Patriarch of Purgatory"	TBA	TBA	November 30, 1961 (1961-11-30)
10	"The Shaggy Kings"	TBA	TBA	December 7, 1961 (1961-12-07)
11	"Coals of Fire"	TBA	TBA	January 4, 1962 (1962-01-04)
12	"The Balloon Girl"	TBA	TBA	January 11, 1962 (1962-01-11)
13	"Mr. Grady Regrets"	TBA	TBA	January 25, 1962 (1962-01-25)
14	"Quick Shuffle"	TBA	TBA	February 1, 1962 (1962-02-01)
15	"The Courtship"	TBA	TBA	February 15, 1962 (1962-02-15)
16	"Stopover in Paradise"	TBA	TBA	February 22, 1962 (1962-02-22)
17	"Calamity Circus"	TBA	TBA	March 8, 1962 (1962-03-08)
18	"The Inheritance"	TBA	TBA	March 15, 1962 (1962-03-15)
19	"Naomi Champagne"	TBA	TBA	March 29, 1962 (1962-03-29)
20	"Mighty Like Rouges"	TBA	TBA	April 5, 1962 (1962-04-05)
21	"Never Won Fair Lady"	TBA	TBA	April 12, 1962 (1962-04-12)
22	"The Good Fight"	TBA	TBA	April 19, 1962 (1962-04-19)
23	"The Clan MacDuff"	TBA	TBA	April 26, 1962 (1962-04-26)
24	"The Race"	TBA	TBA	May 3, 1962 (1962-05-03)
25	"The Daring Durandos"	TBA	TBA	May 17, 1962 (1962-05-17)
26	"Incident at Pawnee Gun"	TBA	TBA	September 6, 1962 (1962-09-06)

Reception[]

Frontier Circus ran opposite two ABC sitcoms, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and The Donna Reed Show and another western series, The Outlaws on NBC, starring Barton MacLane and Don Collier. The difference between its plot and the plot of most standard Westerns may have led to its short run.

Home media[]

Timeless Media Group released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 on April 20, 2010.^[1]

References[]

^ "Frontier Circus - The Complete Series". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2013.

McNeil, Alex. Total Television (1996). New York: Penguin Books ISBN 0-14-024916-8
Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows(1999). New York: Ballantine Books ISBN 0-345-42923-0

External links[]

Frontier Circus at IMDb

[1] "Frontier Circus - The Complete Series". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2013.

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