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The Alaskans

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For the 1924 lost film, see The Alaskan.
The Alaskans
Roger Moore on the set of The Alaskans, 1959
Genre
Directed by
Starring
Theme music composer"Gold Fever" by
Mack David and
Jerry Livingston[2]
ComposerMax Steiner
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes36
Production
Executive producerWilliam T. Orr
Producers
Production locationCalifornia
Editors
  • David Wages
  • Robert B. Warwick
Running time49-51 minutes
Production companyWarner Bros. Television
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseOctober 4, 1959 (1959-10-04) –
June 19, 1960 (1960-06-19)
Related

The Alaskans is a 1959–1960 ABC/Warner Bros. Western television series set during the late 1890s in the port of Skagway, Alaska. The show features Roger Moore as "Silky Harris" and Jeff York as "Reno McKee", a pair of adventurers intent on swindling travelers bound for the Yukon Territories during the height of the Klondike Gold Rush.[3] Their plans are inevitably complicated by the presence of singer "Rocky Shaw" (Dorothy Provine), "an entertainer with a taste for the finer things in life".[4]

The show was the first regular work on American television for the British actor Roger Moore.

Background and production

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The Alaskans is closely related to the ABC/WB series Maverick through broadcast and production. Maverick was the most prominent of ABC's Sunday night of Western dramas. For the 1959–60 season, Sundays began with Colt .45 and Maverick, then John Russell's Lawman and Nick Adams' The Rebel, and concluded with The Alaskans.[5]

For Roger Moore, the series was memorable for being his "most appalling television series ever". In particular, he found that attempting to recreate Alaskan exteriors on a studio backlot in California made for disagreeably hot work days.[6] The show also caused some marital strife for the actor when he had to admit to wife Dorothy Squires that he had fallen in love with co-star Dorothy Provine.[7]

Writing

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Because of the 1960 Writers Guild of America strike as well as an ongoing Warner Bros. policy to save money on writers, The Alaskans inherited a certain amount of scripted material from Maverick. Moore bristled at the lack of originality in scripts: "An old Bronco script would interchange with an Alaskans or Maverick. In some cases, even the dialogue stayed unchanged."[7] In 2007, Moore noted, "Quite often I realized that we were filming Maverick scripts, with the names changed."[8] This made it simple for Jack L. Warner to envision Moore as Maverick, since Moore had literally delivered Garner's dialogue while reshooting the same scripts with different names and locales.

Cancellation

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The same year that The Alaskans was canceled, James Garner left Maverick. Moore became, under protest,[7] Garner's replacement, playing Bret Maverick's cousin Beau Maverick in the fourth season of Maverick.

Cast

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Guest stars

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Episodes

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No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Gold Sled"Józef LejtesLowell Barrington & Harry Whittington (novelette)October 4, 1959 (1959-10-04)
2"Cheating Cheaters"George WaggnerJames O'HanlonOctober 11, 1959 (1959-10-11)
3"The Devil Made Five"Jacques TourneurBret Harte (story) & Harold MedfordOctober 18, 1959 (1959-10-18)
4"The Petticoat Crew"Robert GordonPat Fielder & Gibson FoxOctober 25, 1959 (1959-10-25)
5"Starvation Stampede"Robert GordonTalbot Jennings & Dick NelsonNovember 1, 1959 (1959-11-01)
6"Big Deal"Robert GordonC.L. MooreNovember 8, 1959 (1959-11-08)
7"Contest at Gold Bottom"William A. SeiterUnknownNovember 15, 1959 (1959-11-15)
8"Winter Song"UnknownUnknownNovember 22, 1959 (1959-11-22)
9"The Golden Fleece"UnknownTalbot JenningsNovember 29, 1959 (1959-11-29)
10"Doc Booker"UnknownUnknownDecember 6, 1959 (1959-12-06)
11"The Abominable Snowman"UnknownUnknownDecember 13, 1959 (1959-12-13)
12"Remember the Maine"UnknownUnknownDecember 20, 1959 (1959-12-20)
13"Million Dollar Kid"UnknownUnknownJanuary 3, 1960 (1960-01-03)
14"The Trial of Reno McKee"UnknownUnknownJanuary 10, 1960 (1960-01-10)
15"Gold Fever"UnknownUnknownJanuary 17, 1960 (1960-01-17)
16"The Challenge"UnknownUnknownJanuary 24, 1960 (1960-01-24)
17"The Long Pursuit"UnknownUnknownJanuary 31, 1960 (1960-01-31)
18"Spring Fever"UnknownUnknownFebruary 7, 1960 (1960-02-07)
19"Black Sand"UnknownUnknownFebruary 14, 1960 (1960-02-14)
20"The Seal Skin-Game"UnknownUnknownFebruary 21, 1960 (1960-02-21)
21"Peril at Caribou Crossing"UnknownUnknownFebruary 28, 1960 (1960-02-28)
22"Behind the Moon"UnknownUnknownMarch 6, 1960 (1960-03-06)
23"Partners"UnknownUnknownMarch 13, 1960 (1960-03-13)
24"Disaster at Gold Hill"UnknownUnknownMarch 20, 1960 (1960-03-20)
25"The Last Bullet"UnknownUnknownMarch 27, 1960 (1960-03-27)
26"A Barrel of Gold"UnknownUnknownApril 3, 1960 (1960-04-03)
27"The Bride Wore Black"UnknownUnknownApril 10, 1960 (1960-04-10)
28"Odd Man Hangs"UnknownUnknownApril 17, 1960 (1960-04-17)
29"Counterblow"UnknownUnknownApril 24, 1960 (1960-04-24)
30"Heart of Gold"UnknownUnknownMay 1, 1960 (1960-05-01)
31"Kangaroo Court"UnknownUnknownMay 8, 1960 (1960-05-08)
32"The Silent Land"UnknownUnknownMay 15, 1960 (1960-05-15)
33"Calico"UnknownUnknownMay 22, 1960 (1960-05-22)
34"Sign of the Kodiak"UnknownUnknownMay 29, 1960 (1960-05-29)
35"White Vengeance"UnknownUnknownJune 5, 1960 (1960-06-05)
36"The Ballad of Whitehorse"UnknownUnknownJune 12, 1960 (1960-06-12)

Home media

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The Alaskans is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection on August 27, 2024.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Roger Moore's official site Archived 2007-09-02 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Classic TV Themes entry for The Alaskans
  3. ^ Episode World's synopsis of The Alaskans
  4. ^ The Alaskans at TVDays.com Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ The Rebel at tvobscurities.com
  6. ^ "Roger Moore Official Site". Archived from the original on 2007-07-04. Retrieved 2007-08-10. Moore, Roger and Ken Roche. "The Roger Moore Story". TV Times Extra. Independent Publications, Ltd. 1972.
  7. ^ a b c "Roger Moore Official Site". Archived from the original on 2007-07-05. Retrieved 2007-08-10. Moore, Roger and Ken Roche. "The Roger Moore Story". TV Times Extra. Independent Publications, Ltd. 1972.
  8. ^ Moore answer to a June 2007 question on his official website Archived 2007-08-21 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Warner Archive Announces June Releases". Blu-ray.com. 24 April 2023.
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