Alias Smith and Jones
American Western series
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alias Smith and Jones is an American Western television series that originally aired on ABC from January 1971 to January 1973.
| Alias Smith and Jones | |
|---|---|
![](#/media/File:"Alias_Smith_and_Jones"_Title_Card.jpg) Alias Smith and Jones title card | |
| Genre | Western |
| Created by | Glen A. Larson |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by |
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| Theme music composer | Billy Goldenberg |
| Composers |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 50 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Roy Huggins |
| Producers |
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| Cinematography |
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| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 45–48 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | January 5, 1971 – January 13, 1973 |
| Related | |
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Plot
Cast and characters
In the early morning hours of December 31, 1971, series star Pete Duel died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 31. He was reportedly suffering from depression and had been drinking heavily when he shot himself. Upon learning of Duel's death, executive producer Jo Swerling Jr. initially wanted to end the series, but ABC refused.[1]: 27–28 Swerling later stated:
ABC said, "No way!" They said, "You have a contract to deliver this show to us, and you will continue to deliver the show as best you can on schedule or we will sue you." Hearing those words, Universal didn't hesitate for a second to instruct us to stay in production. We were already a little bit behind the eight ball on airdates. So, we contacted everybody, including Ben (Murphy), and told them to come back in. The entire company was reassembled and back in production by one o'clock that day shooting scenes that did not involve Peter — only 12 hours after his death.[1]: 28
Series writer, director, and producer Roy Huggins contacted actor Roger Davis (who provided narration for the series, and who had also appeared in episode 19 "Smiler with a Gun") the day of Duel's death to fill the role of Hannibal Heyes, and actor/voice man Paul Frees came in to loop Duel's unfinished ADR on "The Men That Corrupted Hadleyburg".[2] Davis was fitted for costumes the following day, and began reshooting scenes Duel had previously completed for an unfinished episode the following Monday. According to Swerling, the decision to continue production so soon after Duel's death was heavily criticized in the press at the time.[1]: 29–30
Production
Joan Hackett played a character called Clementine Hale; a character with the same name appeared in two Alias Smith and Jones episodes, played by Sally Field.[3]
Universal contract player Ben Murphy was offered to the producers because he was considered a Paul Newman lookalike.[4]
Parts of the television series were filmed at Castle Valley and Professor Valley in Utah.[5]
Episodes
Home media
The entire series has been released on DVD.[6]
| DVD set | Episodes | Release date | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alias Smith and Jones: Season 1 | 15 | February 20, 2007[7] | Universal Home Video |
| Alias Smith and Jones: Seasons 2 & 3 | 35 | April 13, 2010[8] | Timeless Media Group |
| Alias Smith and Jones: The Complete Series | 50 | October 19, 2010[9] | Timeless Media Group |
Universal Studios Home Entertainment released the complete first season of Alias Smith and Jones in Region 2 on June 11, 2007.[10]
