| Cowboy G-Men | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Western |
| Written by |
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| Directed by |
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| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 39 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Henry B. Donovan |
| Cinematography |
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| Editors |
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| Running time | 24–26 minutes |
| Production company | Telemount-Mutual Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | Syndication |
| Release | September 13, 1952 – June 13, 1953 |
Cowboy G-Men is an American Western television series that aired in syndication from September 1952 to June 1953, for a total of thirty-nine episodes.
Russell Hayden and Jackie Coogan star as Pat Gallagher and Stoney Crockett, a pair of government agents operating in the American West in the 1870s. Phil Arnold portrayed Zerbo, a sometimes associate of Gallagher and Crockett. Gallagher typically was undercover as a ranch hand, while Crockett took the role of a wrangler. Hand-picked agents Gallagher and Crockett dealt with "counterfeiters, smugglers and robbers and protecting property owners".
Other actors who appeared in Cowboy G-Men included Claudia Barrett: 19 and Virginia Herrick.
Cowboy G-Men was based on a story by Henry B. Donovan and featured the writing of such Western fiction authors as Todhunter Ballard and Louis L'Amour.
| No. | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Ozark Gold" | September 13, 1952 |
| 2 | "Chinaman's Chance" | September 20, 1952 |
| 3 | "The Golden Wolf" | September 27, 1952 |
| 4 | "The Secret Mission" | October 4, 1952 |
| 5 | "Chippewa Indians" | October 11, 1952 |
| 6 | "Center Fire" | October 18, 1952 |
| 7 | "Beware! No Trespassing" | November 1, 1952 |
| 8 | "Pixilated" | November 8, 1952 |
| 9 | "Running Iron" | November 15, 1952 |
| 10 | "Bounty Jumpers" | November 22, 1952 |
| 11 | "Gunslingers" | November 29, 1952 |
| 12 | "Koniackers (Counterfeiters)" | December 6, 1952 |
| 13 | "Ghost Bushwacker" | December 13, 1952 |
| 14 | "Salted Mines" | December 20, 1952 |
| 15 | "Frontier Smugglers" | December 27, 1952 |
| 16 | "Mysterious Decoy" | January 3, 1953 |
| 17 | "Ridge of Ghosts" | January 10, 1953 |
| 18 | "Hang the Jury" | January 17, 1953 |
| 19 | "Silver Shotgun" | January 24, 1953 |
| 20 | "Rawhide Gold" | January 31, 1953 |
| 21 | "The Run Down" | February 7, 1953 |
| 22 | "Rawhiders" | February 14, 1953 |
| 23 | "General Delivery" | February 21, 1953 |
| 24 | "Gypsy Traders" | February 28, 1953 |
| 25 | "Safe Crackers" | March 7, 1953 |
| 26 | "Silver Fraud" | March 14, 1953 |
| 27 | "Hangfire" | March 21, 1953 |
| 28 | "Hush Money" | March 28, 1953 |
| 29 | "Ghost Town Mystery" | April 4, 1953 |
| 30 | "Empty Mailbags" | April 11, 1953 |
| 31 | "Sawdust Swindle" | April 18, 1953 |
| 32 | "Spring the Trap" | April 25, 1953 |
| 33 | "Sidewinder" | May 2, 1953 |
| 34 | "Indian Trader" | May 9, 1953 |
| 35 | "Stolen Dynamite" | May 16, 1953 |
| 36 | "The Woman or" | May 23, 1953 |
| 37 | "Double Crossed" | May 30, 1953 |
| 38 | "High Heeled Boots" | June 6, 1953 |
| 39 | "The California Bullets" | June 13, 1953 |
Henry B. Donovan was the producer for Telemount-Mutual Productions, a TV production company he established in the late 1940s under the "Telemount Pictures" branding (it would eventually become "Mutual Television Productions" before finally taking on the Telemount-Mutual name), and the series was distributed by United Artists-TV Distribution. Directors included Lesley Selander. The series was filmed in color "with black and white dupes for present day TV release". The Jack Ingram Ranch was used for exterior shots, while interior scenes were filmed in California studios. Taystee Bread sponsored the series in 24 cities.
Hayden and Coogan did their own stunts on the show. Episodes were filmed in groups of 13, with three episodes typically completed within seven days—four days on location, two in a studio and "one day for the 'chases'". Location shots were filmed in the San Fernando Valley.
Timeless Media Group released a 10 episode best-of set on DVD in Region 1 on October 26, 2008.
Alpha Home Entertainment has released collections of Cowboy G-Men episodes on DVD. Each volume contains 4 episodes from the series. Six DVDs have been published from 2006 to 2011.
In Japan, Cowboy G-Men was the first show to be dubbed in Japanese in 1956.
[M]any of the early drama shows on Japanese television were bought cheaply from the U.S. The pioneers were Cowboy G-men on NTV in 1956 and The Lone Ranger on TBS in 1958.