Alias Smith and Jones

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Not to be confused with Alas Smith and Jones.

Alias Smith and Jones
Alias Smith and Jones title card
GenreWestern
Created byGlen A. Larson
Starring
Narrated by
Theme music composerBilly Goldenberg
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes50 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerRoy Huggins
Producers
Cinematography
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time45–48 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseJanuary 5, 1971 (1971-01-05) –
January 13, 1973 (1973-01-13)
Related
  • The Young Country
Left to right: Pete Duel, William Windom and Ben Murphy in Alias Smith and Jones (1971)

Alias Smith and Jones is an American Western television series that originally aired on ABC from January 1971 to January 1973.

Plot

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Cast and characters

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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

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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

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Main article: List of Alias Smith and Jones episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally released
First releasedLast released
115January 5, 1971 (1971-01-05)April 22, 1971 (1971-04-22)
223September 16, 1971 (1971-09-16)March 2, 1972 (1972-03-02)
312September 16, 1972 (1972-09-16)January 13, 1973 (1973-01-13)

Home media

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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 (2007-02-20)[7] Universal Home Video
Alias Smith and Jones: Seasons 2 & 3 35 April 13, 2010 (2010-04-13)[8] Timeless Media Group
Alias Smith and Jones: The Complete Series 50 October 19, 2010 (2010-10-19)[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]

Original tie-in novels

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References in other works

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Snauffer, Douglas; Thurm, Joel (2008). The Show Must Go on: How the Deaths of Lead Actors Have Affected Television Series. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3295-0.
  2. ^ episode 33, "The Men Who Corrupted Hadleyburg"
  3. ^ Yoggy, Gary A. (1995). Riding the Video Range: The Rise and Fall of the Western on Television. McFarland & Co. pp. 477–478.
  4. ^ Glen A. Larson, audio commentary on Alias Smith and Jones, Season One, Disc One, the pilot, Universal DVD, 2007.
  5. ^ D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423605874.
  6. ^ DVD release info Archived 2015-11-22 at the Wayback Machine at TVShowsOnDVD.com
  7. ^ Lacey, Gord (December 12, 2006). "Alias Smith and Jones - Heyes and Curry become Smith and Jones this Feb!". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2010. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
  8. ^ Lambert, David (March 11, 2010). "Alias Smith and Jones - TMG's Seasons 2 and 3 Release Gets Closer Date, Lower Price and Package Art". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2010. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  9. ^ Lambert, David (August 30, 2010). "Alias Smith and Jones - All 3 Seasons Come Together for The Complete Series 10-DVD Set". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2010. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
  10. ^ "Alias Smith And Jones - Series 1 - Complete [DVD] [1971]". amazon.co.uk. June 11, 2007. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
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