Cade's County
Encyclopedia
Cade's County is a modern-day Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

/crime drama
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...

 which aired on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 during the 1971–72 television season
1971-72 United States network television schedule
This was the television schedule on all three United States television networks for the fall season beginning in September 1971. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with a few exceptions, such as Monday Night Football. This season would be the first time the prime time schedule would be shortened to...

. There were 24 episodes.

Synopsis

Cade's County starred well-known Hollywood actor Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...

 as Sam Cade, the sheriff of the fictional Madrid County
Madrid County, California
Madrid County, California was the fictional setting of the 1971 CBS television drama Cade's County, starring Glenn Ford as Sheriff Sam Cade...

, a vast and sparsely populated desert area that was apparently located well inland in the American Southwest. The state in which it was located was never mentioned; it could have been California (where much of the location filming took place), Utah, Nevada, New Mexico or Arizona. Cade made occasional references to going to "Capital City" for hearings and meetings. There is a town named Madrid, New Mexico
Madrid, New Mexico
Madrid is a census-designated place in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 149 at the 2000 census. Today Madrid has become an artists community with galleries lining Route 14...

, however, it is pronounced "MAD-rid," and is not a county seat.

Cade's character was complex and interesting, though never fully developed. He came from a socially prominent and well-to-do family in the county, had served in the U.S. Navy as a fighter pilot — there was one reference to the Korean War — and had been an FBI agent, after which he returned to Madrid County to become sheriff. There were no references to a wife or close family in the series.

His chief deputy was J. J. Jackson, portrayed by the character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...

 Edgar Buchanan
Edgar Buchanan
Edgar Buchanan was an American actor with a long career in both film and television, most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the 1960s...

. While Cade had traveled the world, and had modern law enforcement training, Jackson had apparently spent most of his life and career in Madrid County. Writers avoided the stereotypical combination of "resistant-to-change veteran" and "newly hatched expert" – Jackson was a capable and competent right-hand man, Cade firmly in control but trusted by his people, who called him "Sam."

Together they fought to maintain law and order against violent miners, cattle thieves and other lawbreakers who, for the most part, would have seemed at home in Westerns set in any era. Cade usually drove a jeep, as many of the roads in his jurisdiction were apparently little more than tracks across the sand.

Several of the characters, including some of Cade's deputies, were native Americans. Another deputy was played by Ford's son, Pete (also the name of his character).

After summer hiatus, Cade's County was replaced in the 1972-1973 fall TV season by a new series entitled "M*A*S*H" [CBS 1972-1983]. A feature-length movie assembled from several episodes of Cade's County was released in 1991 in VHS format under the title Sam Cade — Marshal of Madrid. A two-part episode, Slay Ride, was released as a television feature film, occasionally broadcast by independent television stations.

The musical theme for the show was composed by Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...

. The title music appeared in an expanded version in the album Big Screen, Little Screen.
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