The Gene Autry Show is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 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...

/cowboy

Cowboy

A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...

 television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 series which aired for 91 episodes 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...

 from July 23, 1950 until August 7, 1956, originally sponsored by Wrigley's Doublemint

Doublemint

Doublemint is a flavor of chewing gum made by the Wrigley Company. It was launched in the United States in 1914, and has had variable market share since that time....

 chewing gum.

Overview

Series star Gene Autry

Gene Autry

Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...

 had already established his singing cowboy character on radio and the movies. Now he and his horse Champion were featured in a weekly television series of western adventures. Gene's role changed almost weekly from rancher, to ranch hand, to sheriff, to border agent, etc. Gene's usual comic relief and sidekick, Pat, was played by Pat Buttram

Pat Buttram

Maxwell Emmett "Pat" Buttram was an American actor, known for playing the sidekick of Gene Autry and for playing the character of Mr. Haney in the TV series Green Acres. He had a distinctive voice which, in his own words, "... never quite made it through puberty"...

, better known to later television viewers as "Mr Haney" on "Green Acres

Green Acres

Green Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm...

". During the first season, Gene's sidekick was played by Chill Wills

Chill Wills

Chill Theodore Wills was an American film actor, and a singer in the Avalon Boys Quartet.-Biography:Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas in 1902. He was a performer from early childhood, forming and leading the Avalon Boys singing group in the 1930s...

 twice (as Chill) and by Fuzzy Knight

Fuzzy Knight

John Forrest "Fuzzy" Knight was an American film and television actor. He appeared in over 180 films between 1929 and 1967, usually as a cowboy hero's sidekick.-Biography:...

 four times (as Sagebrush). These two actors even wore Pat's costume. Alan Hale, Jr.

Alan Hale, Jr.

Alan Hale, Jr. was an American film and television actor, best known for his role as Skipper on the popular sitcom Gilligan's Island. Hale was the lookalike son of popular supporting film actor Alan Hale, Sr....

 (a.k.a. - "The Skipper" from "Gilligan's Island

Gilligan's Island

Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...

") played a bad guy in several episodes of Seasons 1 and 2, but he also played Gene's sidekick, Tiny, in two episodes of Season 1.

By this time, Autry had established his own production company, Flying 'A' Productions, and acted as executive director for the series.

The series lasted 5 seasons. The first 4 were in black and white, and the final season (13 episodes) was in color. Color was experimented with in two episodes of the first season. The theme song Back In the Saddle Again was written by Autry and Ray Whitley and sung by Gene Autry.

Spin-off

The Gene Autry Show had a 26 episode prime-time spin-off called The Adventures of Champion in 1955-56.

DVD Release

On June 7, 2011, Timeless Media Group released the complete first season on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. All 26 episodes of Season 1 have been fully restored and are presented in uncut form. Season 2 will be released on November 22, 2011.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date
The Complete First Season	26	June 7, 2011
The Complete Second Season	26	November 22, 2011