Pony Express (TV series)

Pony Express is an American Western television series about the adventures of an agent in the 1860s of the Central Overland Express Company, better known as the Pony Express. The half-hour program starring Grant Sullivan and Don Dorrell was created by California National Productions. Pony Express ran for thirty-five episodes in syndication from the fall of October 1959 until May 1960. In its final days, the series just managed to coincide with the centennial of the Pony Express (April 3, 1860).

Overview
The series featured two recurring roles: Grant Sullivan as Brett Clark, a roving investigator for the company, and Don Dorrell as Donovan, a young Pony Express rider. The majority of the weekly episodes involved Clark and Donovan solving various Pony Express mysteries.

Production
Pony Express was filmed at Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth in Los Angeles County, California. It was one of several western-themed television shows produced by CNP, such as Boots and Saddles (1957–1958). CNP created the series for the 100th anniversary of the actual Pony Express.

The Pony Express pilot, the first Western television pilot shot in color, was shot in February 1957 with James Best in the lead. This version did not sell (although Best was included in a TV Guide photo feature on upcoming TV westerns in June of that year) but was later aired, slightly re-edited, as an episode of the syndicated series.

Guest stars

 * Claude Akins
 * James Best
 * George Brenlin
 * Steve Brodie
 * Whitney Blake
 * Sebastian Cabot
 * Paul Carr
 * Walter Coy
 * Ross Elliott
 * William Fawcett
 * Joe Flynn
 * Douglas Fowley
 * Dabbs Greer
 * Rex Holman
 * Dale Ishimoto


 * I. Stanford Jolley
 * Dick Jones
 * Douglas Kennedy
 * Ethan Laidlaw
 * Norman Leavitt
 * Bethel Leslie
 * Nobu McCarthy
 * Howard McNear
 * Mort Mills
 * Donald Murphy
 * Gregg Palmer
 * James Parnell
 * Slim Pickens
 * Denver Pyle
 * Burt Reynolds
 * Madlyn Rhue