Rawhide debuted in January 1959 on CBS in the 8pm time slot. In May 1959, it moved to the 7:30pm time slot and that's the time I remember watching the show.
The series Rawhide was about men herding cattle to market and the trials and tribulations that happened long the way.
Some of Rawhide's stories were based on actual events that happened. The episode this YouTube video came from does not, but instead, tries to show the human side of Gil Favor, played by Eric Fleming.
In the early days of television, western series such as The Lone Ranger and Hopalong Cassidy, were geared towards children. It was a very unusual day if either The Lone Ranger or Hoppy made a mistake. They were always right.
Once the adult westerns began appearing, well, hero's such as Matt Dillon or Gil Favor weren't always right. They were as fallible as you and I, and with this particular episode brings out those qualities in Gil.
Rawhide was a popular tv show. And while Eric Fleming got star billing, it was a "kid" named Rowdy Yates who was the star of the show. Rowdy was played by an extremely young Clint Eastwood. While Clint had made appearances on such shows as Highway Patrol, Death Valley Days, and Maverick (he even showed up in a couple of science fiction movies), this is the show that showed he had the makings of something much bigger.
Throughout the early 1960's, I watched Rawhide almost every Friday night. Friday night, in fact, was my favorite night of the week to watch the old black and white that sat in the corner of our living room. It was on a Friday night that I first discovered Selwin, Indianapolis' first Horror Host, and after that happened, as soon as Saturday arrived, I couldn't wait for it to be Friday all over again.
The Friday night line-up of programs I remember watching best consisted of Rawhide at 7:30, the Flintstones at 8:30, then it was either the last half hour of Route 66 or the first half hour of 77 Sunset Strip at 9. At 9:30, I watched a show called Father Of The Bride and at 10pm, the Twilight Zone. After the Twilight Zone, I had to wait either 45 or 50 minutes until Selwin (the 11 o' clock news only ran for 15 minutes in 1962).
I'll never forget those Friday nights of my youth, and watching Rawhide is part of those memories.
Rawhide played in that Friday night time slot until September 1963 when CBS moved it to Thursday night in the 8pm time slot. This move only lasted one season however, then it was back to Friday night for the 1964/1965 season. Beginning in September 1965, Rawhide came on Tuesday nights at 7:30. The last telecast was January 4, 1966.
The famous song that the Blues Brothers made popular was sung by Frankie Laine.
Eric Fleming left the show in its 6th season. Rowdy Yates took over as trail boss in September 1965. CBS cancelled the show in January 1966.
Seasons 1 and 2 of Rawhide are on dvd. I can't wait until they release seasons 3 and 4!