The 'Annie Oakley' TV show aired from January 1954 through February 1957 with a total of eighty one episodes. I recently viewed about a dozen of the programs, and as a product of early television, the stories aren't very memorable and continuity errors were frequent. Like the show's contemporary, 'The Lone Ranger', it's comical watching today as Annie, portrayed by Gail Davis, miraculously shoots the gun out of an outlaw's hand while chasing at full gallop, or when the members of a dozen man posse pursue the bad guys and the riders three or four deep shoot straight ahead without regard for the men directly in front of them. Sometimes I just shake my head.
But if you're a fan of old time TV Westerns, the show did offer it's standard formula of right winning out over wrong, as the pretty Gail Davis was assisted by kid brother Tagg (Jimmy Hawkins), and nominal love interest, deputy Lofty Craig (Brad Johnson). The romance angle didn't seem to be played up much in the programs I've seen; the only time Annie and Lofty embraced with a kiss was in the second episode titled 'Annie Trusts a Convict', and then they were interrupted by outlaws barging into the sheriff's office. Like Roy Rogers, Annie rode a golden palomino, not quite as large and handsome as Trigger, but still a fine looking animal. Tagg usually rode a Pinto pony, and with the show spanning three seasons, it's kind of remarkable to see how much actor Hawkins grew over the course of the series.
'Discovered' by veteran cowboy actor and singer Gene Autry, Davis appeared in a number of Autry's 'B' Western stories as different characters, and made her way into this series produced by Autry as a 'Flying A' production. During these early series, it wasn't unusual to see the same character actors show up multiple times. Even watching a limited number of shows, I caught repeat appearances by Harry Lauter, Tom London, Myron Healey, Stanley Andrews and Don C. Harvey. It wasn't unusual either for example, for someone like Lauter to be a bad guy in one show, and a sheriff in another. Viewers back in the day might have been confused by this, but it was pretty much par for the course.
The opening of the show was classic, and also prone to a continuity problem of sorts. As the narrator extols Annie's exploits for hard ridin', straight shootin', and suspense, we see Annie standing atop the saddle of her galloping horse while shooting at a target consisting of a playing card, the nine of spades. She scores her customary bull's eye, however it doesn't appear that the holder of the card held it in his outstretched hand, but directly in front of him from where he shows the card to the audience. I always get a kick out of that wondering just how good a shot Annie Oakley really was!
Still, you have to credit the show's developers for creating the only female Western hero to star in her own show. One could counter with Dale Evans, but she was a companion and sidekick to husband Roy Rogers. Annie combined beauty with athletic skill and sharp shooting, and was an instant hit when the show aired in the mid-Fifties. She found herself in all kinds of situations, and wasn't fazed by wearing her holster and guns over a party dress! You can catch that scenario in episode #1.13, 'Hardrock Trail'.
But if you're a fan of old time TV Westerns, the show did offer it's standard formula of right winning out over wrong, as the pretty Gail Davis was assisted by kid brother Tagg (Jimmy Hawkins), and nominal love interest, deputy Lofty Craig (Brad Johnson). The romance angle didn't seem to be played up much in the programs I've seen; the only time Annie and Lofty embraced with a kiss was in the second episode titled 'Annie Trusts a Convict', and then they were interrupted by outlaws barging into the sheriff's office. Like Roy Rogers, Annie rode a golden palomino, not quite as large and handsome as Trigger, but still a fine looking animal. Tagg usually rode a Pinto pony, and with the show spanning three seasons, it's kind of remarkable to see how much actor Hawkins grew over the course of the series.
'Discovered' by veteran cowboy actor and singer Gene Autry, Davis appeared in a number of Autry's 'B' Western stories as different characters, and made her way into this series produced by Autry as a 'Flying A' production. During these early series, it wasn't unusual to see the same character actors show up multiple times. Even watching a limited number of shows, I caught repeat appearances by Harry Lauter, Tom London, Myron Healey, Stanley Andrews and Don C. Harvey. It wasn't unusual either for example, for someone like Lauter to be a bad guy in one show, and a sheriff in another. Viewers back in the day might have been confused by this, but it was pretty much par for the course.
The opening of the show was classic, and also prone to a continuity problem of sorts. As the narrator extols Annie's exploits for hard ridin', straight shootin', and suspense, we see Annie standing atop the saddle of her galloping horse while shooting at a target consisting of a playing card, the nine of spades. She scores her customary bull's eye, however it doesn't appear that the holder of the card held it in his outstretched hand, but directly in front of him from where he shows the card to the audience. I always get a kick out of that wondering just how good a shot Annie Oakley really was!
Still, you have to credit the show's developers for creating the only female Western hero to star in her own show. One could counter with Dale Evans, but she was a companion and sidekick to husband Roy Rogers. Annie combined beauty with athletic skill and sharp shooting, and was an instant hit when the show aired in the mid-Fifties. She found herself in all kinds of situations, and wasn't fazed by wearing her holster and guns over a party dress! You can catch that scenario in episode #1.13, 'Hardrock Trail'.