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Annie Oakley
Genre	Western
Starring	Gail Davis Brad Johnson Jimmy Hawkins Bob Woodward
Composer(s)	Erma E. Levin
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	81
Production
Executive producer(s)	Gene Autry Louis Gray Armand Schaefer
Producer(s)	Colbert Clark Louis Gray
Cinematography	William Bradford Joe Novak
Running time	25 mins.
Broadcast
Original channel	Syndication
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original run	January 1, 1954 – February 1, 1957

Annie Oakley is an American Western television series which fictionalized the life of famous sharpshooter Annie Oakley. It ran from January 1954 to February 1957 in syndication. ABC showed reruns on Saturday and Sunday daytime from 1959-1960 and from 1964-1965. It ran for three seasons, for a total of 81 black and white episodes, each 25 minutes long.

Synopsis

The show starred Gail Davis in the title role, and co-starred Brad Johnson as Deputy Sheriff Lofty Craig and Jimmy Hawkins, as Annie's brother, Tagg. Annie rode a horse named Target, and Tagg's horse was Pixie ^[1] Annie and Tagg lived in the town of Diablo, Arizona, with their uncle, Sheriff Luke MacTavish, who was usually away whenever trouble started. It would then be up to straight-shooting Annie and her "silent suitor" Lofty Craig to rescue law-abiding neighbors and arrest outlaws. ^[2] Often Tagg would be told to stay in town and out of the way, but through disobedience, the need to relay important new information, or being captured by outlaws, he would end up in the middle of the adventure.

Annie always wore the same fringed cowgirl outfit, of which 15 or more copies were made throughout the show's production. ^[3] Her hairstyle was braided pigtails.

Additional episodes were being considered, but Jimmy Hawkins had a growth spurt and outgrew the part of Annie's little brother. ^[4]

Viewers also became acquainted with three horses used in the series, Annie's Target, Tagg's Pixie, and Lofty's Forest.^[5]

Guest stars included:

• Chris Alcaide appeared in three 1954 episodes as Paul Dodson in "Annie and the Brass Collar" and "The Cinder Trail" and then as Gil Warren in "Outlaw Mesa".
• Roscoe Ates, twice in 1956 and 1957
• Ron Hagerthy, twice in 1956, as Chuck Hutchins in the title role "The Waco Kid" and as Billy Stryker in "Annie Rings the Bell"
• Harry Lauter, a character actor, appeared in twelve episodes of Annie Oakley.
• Tyler MacDuff appeared in four episodes in 1956, including the title guest-starring role in "The Saga of Clement O'Toole" and as Don "Doc" Briggs in "Dilemma at Diablo".
• Tyler McVey appeared in the 1956 episode "Showdown at Diablo" in the role of Senator Ridgeway.

Gail Davis had been discovered by Gene Autry, who cast her in several of his films and then his own series, The Gene Autry Show, in which she played a variety of characters. He then spun her off into her own show.

DVD release

Approximately two dozen episodes are currently available on DVD in North America (including several releases issued through Davis' estate) and elsewhere, although a formal full-series release has yet to happen. Some episodes of the series have lapsed into the public domain in the US and as such are available in several different releases.[1][2]

Comics

A number of American comics were based on the TV series:

• Annie Oakley 1-11 (1948-1956) by Atlas (Marvel) Comics
• Annie Oakley and Tagg 4-18 (1953-1959) by Dell Comics
• Annie Oakley and Tagg 1 (1965) by Gold Key Comics

Many of these issues were later reprinted in black and white by L. Miller and World Distributors Ltd.

Books

At least three "Authorized TV Adventures" were published by Whitman Publishing Company.

• Annie Oakley in Danger at Diablo, by Doris Schroeder, 1955
• Annie Oakley in Double Trouble, by Doris Schroeder, 1958
• Annie Oakley in Ghost Town Secret, author and date uncertain

Episodes

• Annie Oakley at the Internet Movie Database
• Annie Oakley at TV.com
• Annie Oakley at epguides.com

References