Sergeant Preston of the Yukon (TV series)

This article is about the television series. For the radio program, see Challenge of the Yukon.

Sergeant Preston of the Yukon is a half-hour long American action adventure northwestern television series, broadcast in color on CBS Thursday evenings at 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. from September 29, 1955, to September 25, 1958. It was based on the radio drama Challenge of the Yukon.^[1]

Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
Richard Simmons as Sergeant Preston with Yukon King, 1955
Genre	Action Adventure Northwestern
Created by	George W. Trendle Fran Striker
Starring	Richard Simmons
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	78
Production
Executive producer	Charles E. Skinner
Running time	22–24 minute
Production company	Charles E. Skinner Productions
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 29, 1955 (1955-09-29) – September 25, 1958 (1958-09-25)

Synopsis

Richard Simmons starred as Sergeant Preston, who patrolled the Yukon Territory in search of renegades and outlaws, during the time of the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s.^[2] In every episode, Preston was assisted by his Alaskan Malamute Yukon King, who had been raised by a female wolf. In episodes taking place during the summer he rode his horse Rex.^[3]

The show's theme music was the overture to Emil von Reznicek's opera Donna Diana. As the theme played the announcer stated: "Sergeant Preston of the North-West Mounted Police, with Yukon King, swiftest and strongest lead dog, breaking the trail in the relentless pursuit of lawbreakers in the wild days of the Yukon."^[3]

At the end of each episode, Preston would turn to his dog and say "Well, King, this case is closed."^[4]

Production

The series was filmed in mountainous sections of California and Colorado.^[2] Trendle-Campbell-Meurer produced the first two seasons, and in its last season the Jack Wrather Corporation purchased the rights and produced Sergeant Preston of the Yukon.

Cast

Main

• Richard Simmons as Sergeant William Preston
• Yukon King (dog)
• Rex (horse)

Guest stars

The guest stars on Sergeant Preston included:^{[citation needed]}

• Francis De Sales appeared in five episodes, concluding as Cy Bartok in "The Diamond Collar".
• Kelo Henderson, played Pete Hollis in the 1958 episode "Escape to the North".
• Ed Hinton appeared twice in 1956 as Barry Jeffers in "Remember the Maine" and as Lefty "Red" Burke in "The Rookie".
• I. Stanford Jolley was Sam Haley in "The Fancy Dan" (1956) and Frisco in "Gold Rush Patrol" (1958).
• Tyler MacDuff played Bill Corey in "Lost River Roundup" in 1957.
• John M. Pickard appeared four times in 1956–1957 in different roles, including the role of Red Brody in "Old Ben's Gold".
• Robert Shayne, was in the 1957 episode, "The Mark of Crime."
• William Boyett appeared as Constable Malloy in "Gold Fever" from 1956, and appeared as Cary Braddock in "Ten Little Indians" from 1957.
• Dan Blocker played 'Mule' Conklin in "Underground Ambush" from 1957.

Episodes

Season 1 (1955–56)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"Vindication of Yukon King"	Charles E. Skinner	Dwight Babcock	September 29, 1955 (1955-09-29)
2	2	"Rebellion in the North"	Unknown	Unknown	October 6, 1955 (1955-10-06)
3	3	"Trouble at Hogsback"	Unknown	Unknown	October 13, 1955 (1955-10-13)
4	4	"Incident at Gordon Landing"	Unknown	Unknown	October 20, 1955 (1955-10-20)
5	5	"Bad Medicine"	Unknown	Unknown	October 27, 1955 (1955-10-27)
6	6	"Hidden Gold"	Unknown	Unknown	November 3, 1955 (1955-11-03)
7	7	"Last Mail from Last Chance"	Unknown	Unknown	November 10, 1955 (1955-11-10)
8	8	"The Assassins"	Unknown	Unknown	November 17, 1955 (1955-11-17)
9	9	"Golden Gift"	Unknown	Unknown	November 24, 1955 (1955-11-24)
10	10	"Cry Wolf"	Unknown	Unknown	December 1, 1955 (1955-12-01)
11	11	"Girl from Vancouver"	Edward Dew	Sidney Slon	December 8, 1955 (1955-12-08)
12	12	"Treasure of Fifteen Mile Creek"	Unknown	Unknown	December 15, 1955 (1955-12-15)
13	13	"The Boy Nobody Wanted"	Unknown	Unknown	December 22, 1955 (1955-12-22)
14	14	"The Mad Wolf of Lost Canyon"	Edward Dew	Robert Bennett	December 29, 1955 (1955-12-29)
15	15	"One Bear Too Many"	Unknown	Unknown	January 5, 1956 (1956-01-05)
16	16	"Crime at Wounded Moose"	Edward Dew	Sidney Slon	January 12, 1956 (1956-01-12)
17	17	"Dog Race"	Edward Dew	Robert C. Bennett	January 19, 1956 (1956-01-19)
18	18	"Phantom of Phoenixville"	Alan Crosland, Jr.	Robert C. Bennett	January 26, 1956 (1956-01-26)
19	19	"Trapped"	Charles D. Livingstone	Robert C. Bennett	February 2, 1956 (1956-02-02)
20	20	"Justice at Goneaway Creek"	John Peyser	Maurice Tombragel	February 9, 1956 (1956-02-09)
21	21	"Skagway Secret"	Charles D. Livingstone	Robert C. Bennett	February 16, 1956 (1956-02-16)
22	22	"Relief Train"	Edward Dew	Robert C. Bennett	February 23, 1956 (1956-02-23)
23	23	"Totem Treasure"	Unknown	Unknown	March 1, 1956 (1956-03-01)
24	24	"One Good Turn"	Unknown	Unknown	March 8, 1956 (1956-03-08)
25	25	"The Cache"	Unknown	Unknown	March 15, 1956 (1956-03-15)
26	26	"Cinderella of the Yukon"	Unknown	Unknown	March 22, 1956 (1956-03-22)
27	27	"Gold Fever"	Unknown	Unknown	March 29, 1956 (1956-03-29)
28	28	"The Fancy Dan"	Unknown	Unknown	April 5, 1956 (1956-04-05)
29	29	"The Coward"	Unknown	Unknown	April 12, 1956 (1956-04-12)
30	30	"Father of the Crime"	Unknown	Unknown	April 19, 1956 (1956-04-19)
31	31	"Remember the Maine"	Unknown	Unknown	April 26, 1956 (1956-04-26)
32	32	"Love and Honor"	Unknown	Unknown	May 3, 1956 (1956-05-03)
33	33	"All is Not Gold"	Unknown	Unknown	May 10, 1956 (1956-05-10)

Season 2 (1956–57)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
34	1	"Limping King"	Unknown	Unknown	September 13, 1956 (1956-09-13)
35	2	"The Rookie"	Unknown	Unknown	September 20, 1956 (1956-09-20)
36	3	"Pack Ice Justice"	Unknown	Unknown	September 27, 1956 (1956-09-27)
37	4	"Revenge"	Unknown	Unknown	October 4, 1956 (1956-10-04)
38	5	"Littlest Rookie"	Unknown	Unknown	October 11, 1956 (1956-10-11)
39	6	"Lost Patrol"	Unknown	Unknown	October 18, 1956 (1956-10-18)
40	7	"King of Herschel Island"	Unknown	Unknown	October 25, 1956 (1956-10-25)
41	8	"Ghost of the Anvil"	Edward Dew	William Lively	November 1, 1956 (1956-11-01)
42	9	"Eye of Evil"	Unknown	Unknown	November 8, 1956 (1956-11-08)
43	10	"Luck of the Trail"	Unknown	Unknown	November 15, 1956 (1956-11-15)
44	11	"Return Visit"	Unknown	Unknown	November 22, 1956 (1956-11-22)
45	12	"The Tobacco Smugglers"	Unknown	Unknown	November 29, 1956 (1956-11-29)
46	13	"Turnabout"	Unknown	Unknown	December 6, 1956 (1956-12-06)
47	14	"Emergency on Scarface Flat"	Unknown	Unknown	December 13, 1956 (1956-12-13)
48	15	"The Williwaw"	Unknown	Unknown	December 20, 1956 (1956-12-20)
49	16	"Border Action"	Unknown	Unknown	December 27, 1956 (1956-12-27)
50	17	"The Black Ace"	W.B. Eason	Fran Striker	January 3, 1957 (1957-01-03)
51	18	"Scourge of the Wilderness"	Alan Crosland, Jr.	William Lively	January 10, 1957 (1957-01-10)
52	19	"Blind Justice"	Alan Crosland, Jr.	Robert C. Bennett	January 17, 1957 (1957-01-17)
53	20	"The Stolen Malamute"	Unknown	Unknown	April 4, 1957 (1957-04-04)
54	21	"The Devil's Roost"	Unknown	Unknown	April 11, 1957 (1957-04-11)
55	22	"Ten Little Indians"	Unknown	Unknown	April 18, 1957 (1957-04-18)
56	23	"Underground Ambush"	Unknown	Unknown	April 25, 1957 (1957-04-25)

Season 3 (1957–58)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
57	1	"Old Ben's Gold"	Unknown	Unknown	October 3, 1957 (1957-10-03)
58	2	"The Rebel Yell"	Unknown	Unknown	October 10, 1957 (1957-10-10)
59	3	"The Mark of Crime"	Unknown	Unknown	October 17, 1957 (1957-10-17)
60	4	"Storm the Pass"	Unknown	Unknown	October 24, 1957 (1957-10-24)
61	5	"Old Faithful"	Unknown	Unknown	October 31, 1957 (1957-10-31)
62	6	"The Skull in the Stone"	Unknown	Unknown	November 7, 1957 (1957-11-07)
63	7	"Ghost Mine"	Unknown	Unknown	November 14, 1957 (1957-11-14)
64	8	"The Jailbreaker"	Unknown	Unknown	November 21, 1957 (1957-11-21)
65	9	"Out of the Night"	Unknown	Unknown	November 28, 1957 (1957-11-28)
66	10	"Three Men in Black"	Unknown	Unknown	December 5, 1957 (1957-12-05)
67	11	"Lost River Roundup"	Unknown	Unknown	December 12, 1957 (1957-12-12)
68	12	"The Old Timer"	Unknown	Unknown	December 19, 1957 (1957-12-19)
69	13	"Battle at Bradley's"	Unknown	Unknown	December 26, 1957 (1957-12-26)
70	14	"The Generous Hobo"	Unknown	Unknown	January 2, 1958 (1958-01-02)
71	15	"Follow the Leader"	Unknown	Unknown	January 9, 1958 (1958-01-09)
72	16	"Gold Rush Patrol"	Unknown	Unknown	January 16, 1958 (1958-01-16)
73	17	"Grizzly"	Unknown	Unknown	January 23, 1958 (1958-01-23)
74	18	"The Diamond Collar"	Unknown	Unknown	January 30, 1958 (1958-01-30)
75	19	"Escape to the North"	Unknown	Unknown	February 6, 1958 (1958-02-06)
76	20	"Outlaw in Uniform"	Unknown	Unknown	February 13, 1958 (1958-02-13)
77	21	"Boy Alone"	Unknown	Unknown	February 20, 1958 (1958-02-20)
78	22	"The Criminal Collie"	Unknown	Unknown	February 27, 1958 (1958-02-27)

Release

Syndication

Because the series was filmed in color it remained popular long after its original prime-time broadcast.^[5] Starting in the early 1960s it was shown on Saturday mornings.^[3] The popular show aired internationally for decades.^[4]

During the 2010s, the series was shown on GRIT classic TV/movie network, and on FETV (Family Entertainment TV).

DVD

Timeless Media Group released a two-disc best-of set featuring ten episodes from the series in Region 1 on November 21, 2006.^[6]

Infinity Entertainment has released all three seasons of the series on DVD in Region 1.^[7][8]

Comic books

Dell Comics had produced Sergeant Preston comics based on the radio version, and then from 1956 to 1959 they brought out 29 issues based on the television series.^[9]

In the 1980s, Don Sherwood adapted the series into comic books, with scripts by Stan Stunell.^[10]

Sponsorship

In 1955, the Quaker Oats company gave away land in the Klondike as part of the Klondike Big Inch Land Promotion which was tied in with the television show. Genuine deeds each to one square inch of a lot in Yukon Territory, issued by Klondike Big Inch Land Co. Inc., were inserted into Quaker's Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice cereal boxes.^[11]

References

1. Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 440–442. ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.
2. Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946 – Present, 1st Edition, pages 553 - 554, Ballantine Books, 1979
3. Ken Beck & Jim Clark, The Encyclopedia of TV Pets (ebook), Thomas Nelson, 2002
4. Dennis McLellan, Richard Simmons Actor, Calgary Herald (Calgary, Alberta, Canada), January 18, 2003, page 138]
5. Western Clippings
6. "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon: Sergeant Preston, N/a: Movies & TV". Amazon. 20 November 2007. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
7. "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon: Complete Season 1 : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". Dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
8. "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon: Complete Season 2 : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". Dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
9. Western Clippings Comics
10. "Don Sherwood". lambiek.net.
11. Juliano, Frank (October 3, 2010). "Oatmeal lots gave officials indigestion". Connecticut Post. Retrieved March 28, 2018.

External links

• Sergeant Preston of the Yukon at IMDb