Bat Masterson is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 television series which showed a fictionalized account of the life of real-life marshal/gambler/dandy Bat Masterson

Bat Masterson

William Barclay "Bat" Masterson was a figure of the American Old West known as a buffalo hunter, U.S. Marshal and Army scout, avid fisherman, gambler, frontier lawman, and sports editor and columnist for the New York Morning Telegraph...

. The title character was played by Gene Barry

Gene Barry

Gene Barry was an American stage, screen, and television actor. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the films The Atomic City and The War of The Worlds and for his portrayal of the title character in the TV series Bat Masterson, among many roles.-Personal life:Barry was born...

 and the half-hour black and white shows ran on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 from 1958 to 1961. It was produced by Ziv Television Productions

Ziv Television Programs

Ziv Television Programs, Inc. was an American television syndication and production company, producer of popular syndicated TV programs in the 1950s.- History :...

, the company responsible for such hit series as Sea Hunt

Sea Hunt

Sea Hunt was an American adventure television series that was aired in syndication by Ziv Television Programs from 1958 to 1961 and was popular in syndication for decades afterwards. The series originally aired for four seasons, with 155 episodes produced...

and Highway Patrol

Highway Patrol (TV series)

Highway Patrol is a syndicated action crime drama series produced 1955-1959.-Overview:Highway Patrol stars Broderick Crawford as Dan Mathews, the gruff and dedicated head of a police force in an unidentified Western state...

.

Overview

The show took a tongue-in-cheek outlook, with Barry's Masterson often dressed in expensive Eastern clothing and preferring to use his cane rather than a gun to get himself out of trouble, hence the nickname "Bat". Masterson was also portrayed as a ladies' man who traveled the West looking for women and adventure.

The black derby, fancy vest, black jacket, and elegant cane were his trademarks. Miniaturized versions were marketed to children as tie-in

Tie-in

A tie-in is an authorized product based on a media property a company is releasing, such as a movie or video/DVD, computer game, video game, television program/television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property...

 products during the run of the show.

The theme song was sung by Mike Stewart, who had previously contributed to a children's album in 1956, Walt Kelly's Songs of the Pogo.

The series was loosely based on Richard O'Connor's 1957 biography of Masterson. This was highlighted by the book's front cover being shown at the end of the closing credits with an onscreen notation "based on".

Guest stars

Bat Masterson guest stars included the character actor

Character actor

A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...

 Robert F. Simon

Robert F. Simon

Robert F. Simon was an American character actor, often portraying military or authority figure roles. Though his face was recognized by audiences, he was mostly unknown by name...

, who appeared as Harrison Whitney in the episode "Death by Decree", and Richard Eastham

Richard Eastham

Richard Eastham, born as Dickinson Swift Eastham , was an American actor of stage, film, and television and a concert singer known for his deep baritone voice.-Tombstone Territory:...

, who appeared in the 1961 episode "A Lesson in Violence". George Macready

George Macready

George Peabody Macready, Jr. , was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains.-Background:...

 appeared as Clyde Richards in the 1961 episode "Tempest at Tioga Pass". Quintin Sondergaard

Quintin Sondergaard

Quentin Charles Sondergaard, known primarily as Quintin Sondergaard , was an American actor principally active on television westerns from 1957-1970...

 appeared in various roles on the series five times between 1958 and 1961. Ron Hayes

Ron Hayes

Ronald G. Hayes was an American television actor who, as an activist in the environmental movement, worked for the establishment of the first Earth Day, observed on April 22, 1970. He was a member of the Sierra Club and a founder of the ecological interest group Wilderness World...

 appeared four times on the series in the role of Wyatt Earp

Wyatt Earp

Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...

. Gary Vinson

Gary Vinson

Gary Vinson was an American actor who appeared in significant roles in three television series of the 1960s: The Roaring 20s, McHale's Navy, and Pistols 'n' Petticoats.-Early life and career:...

 appeared as Billy Thompson in the 1958 episode "A Noose Fits Anybody". Tyler McVey

Tyler McVey

Tyler McVey was an American character actor.-Early life and career:McVey was born in Bay City on Saginaw Bay in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. His first screen role, uncredited, came at the age of 39 in 1951, when he portrayed Brady in the The Day the Earth Stood Still...

 appeared from 1958 to 1961 in different roles in three episodes ("Dynamite Blows Two Ways", "Incident at Fort Bowie", and "Dead Man's Claim"). Ron Foster

Ron Foster (actor)

Ronald R. Foster, known as Ron Foster , is an American actor, whose longest-running role was as Dr. Charles Grant from 1991-1995 in the defunct CBS soap opera The Guiding Light....

 (1960) appeared twice as Toby Dawson in "Six Feet of Gold" and as Sheriff Buck Simpson in "Jeopardy at Jackson Hole" (1961). Tom Greenway

Tom Greenway

Tom Greenway was an American character actor of film and television, whose career, primarily in television westerns, extended from 1949 to 1965.-Early life:...

 guest starred twice, as Charlie in "Buffalo Kill" (1959) and as Ben Pick in "Dagger Dance" (1961). Diane Brewster

Diane Brewster

Diane Brewster was an American television actress most noted for playing three distinctively different roles in US TV series of the 1950s and 60s: confidence trickster Samantha Crawford in Maverick; pretty young second-grade teacher Miss Canfield in Leave It to Beaver; and doomed wife Helen...

, also known as second-grade teacher "Miss Canfield" in Leave It to Beaver

Leave It to Beaver

Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood...

, played the role of Miss Lynn Harrison in the 2-part episode "The Conspiracy" (1959).

Comic strip and comic book

Dell Comics

Dell

Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest...

 issued nine issues of a quarterly Bat Masterson comic book between Aug./Oct. 1959 and Nov. 1961/Jan. 1962 with the initial issue a Four Color

Four Color

Four Color, also known as Four Color Comics and One Shots, was a long-running American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962...

 tryout (#1013). Columbia Features syndicated a comic strip from September 7, 1959 to April 1960 written by Ed Herron and drawn by Howard Nostrand

Howard Nostrand

Howard Nostrand was an American cartoonist and illustrator best known for his 1950s comic book stories and his 1959-60 syndicated comic strip Bat Masterson, based on the television series.-Early life:...

 (Sept. 1959-Dec. 1959) and Bob Powell

Bob Powell

Bob Powell né Stanislav Robert Pawlowski was an American comic book artist known for his work during the 1930-40s Golden Age of comic books, including on the features "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle" and "Mr. Mystic". He received a belated credit in 1999 for co-writing the debut of the popular...

 (Dec. 1959-April 1960). Notably Nostrand was assisted (on backgrounds) by Neal Adams

Neal Adams

Neal Adams is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who...

 who had just graduated from the School of Industrial Arts

High School of Art and Design

The High School of Art and Design is a Career and Technical Education high school located at 1075 Second Avenue, between 56th and 57th Streets in Manhattan, New York City, New York.It is operated by the New York City Department of Education...

; it was among his first professional art jobs.

Historical errors

One notable error occurs in episode 2:12, The Inner Circle. Bat campaigns for woman's suffrage in Wyoming territory in 1869 -- at the age of 16.

Other Barry roles

Barry went on to star in Burke's Law

Burke's Law

Burke's Law is a detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud...

, a detective

Detective

A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...

 series set in modern-day Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, as well as The Name of the Game

The Name of the Game (TV series)

The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack that ran from 1968 to 1971 on NBC, totaling 76 episodes of 90 minutes. It was a pioneering wheel series, setting the stage for the likes of The Bold Ones and the NBC Mystery Movie in the 1970s...

, a series in which he alternated the lead with Tony Franciosa and Robert Stack

Robert Stack

Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...

, appearing in most of his episodes with newcomer Susan Saint James

Susan Saint James

Susan Saint James is an American actress and activist, most widely known for her work in television during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.-Early life:...

.

Barry recreated the role of Bat Masterson in an episode of the television series Guns of Paradise

Paradise (TV series)

Paradise is an American Western family television series, broadcast by CBS from 1988 to 1991. Created by David Jacobs and Robert Porter, the series presents the adventures of fictitious gunfighter Ethan Allen Cord, whose sister left her four children in his custody when she died.-Synopsis:Paradise...

(1990), alongside Hugh O'Brian

Hugh O'Brian

Hugh O'Brian is an American actor, known for his starring role in the ABC television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp .-Early years and career:...

 as Wyatt Earp

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a Western television series loosely based on the adventures of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour black and white series ran on ABC-TV from 1955 to 1961 and featured Hugh O'Brian as Earp. An off-camera barbershop quartet sang the theme song and hummed...

, and again in 1991 in The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, also with O'Brian as Earp

Wyatt Earp

Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...

, as well as Jack Kelly

Jack Kelly (actor)

Jack Kelly was an American film and television actor most noted for the role of "Bart Maverick" in the TV series Maverick, which ran on ABC from 1957 to 1962...

 as Bart Maverick

Maverick (TV series)

Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...

 and Clint Walker

Clint Walker

Norman Eugene Walker, known as Clint Walker , is an American actor best known for his cowboy role as "Cheyenne Bodie" in the TV Western series, Cheyenne.-Life and career:...

 as Cheyenne Bodie.

Syndication and DVD release

In 2007, the series was televised in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 on the Encore Westerns

Encore (Premium TV)

Encore is an American premium television channel featuring mainly older and recent blockbuster motion pictures. It is owned by Liberty Starz. The headquarters of Encore and its sister channels Starz and MoviePlex are located on the Meridian International Business Center complex in Meridian,...

 channel, with two episodes on weekdays, between 5-6 pm (Eastern Time). The series is currently seen on This TV

This TV

This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....

.

Season 1 (36 episodes)

Ep #	Title	Airdate
1	"Double Showdown"	October 8, 1958
2	"Two Graves for Swan Valley"	October 15, 1958
3	"Dynamite Blows Two Ways"	October 22, 1958
4	"Stampede at Tent City" (with James Best James Best James Best is an American actor best known for his role as bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the CBS television series The Dukes of Hazzard. He has also worked as an acting coach, artist, and musician.-Early years:...  and William Conrad William Conrad William Conrad was an American actor, producer and director whose career spanned five decades in radio, film and television.... )	October 29, 1958
5	"The Fighter" (with Marie Windsor Marie Windsor Marie Windsor . Born as Emily Marie Bertelson in Marysvale, Piute County, Utah, Windsor was an actress known as "The Queen of the Bs" because she appeared in so many film noirs and B-movies like Cat-Women of the Moon...  and Robert J. Wilke Robert J. Wilke Robert J. Wilke was a prolific American film actor noted primarily for his villainous roles, mainly in westerns.Wilke started as a stuntman in the 1930s and his first appearance on screen was in San Francisco... )	November 5, 1958
6	"Bear Bait"	November 12, 1958
7	"A Noose Fits Anybody"	November 19, 1958
8	"Dude's Folly"	November 26, 1958
9	"The Treasure of Worry Hill" (with Ross Martin Ross Martin Ross Martin was a Polish-born American Emmy-nominated actor known for playing Artemus Gordon in the western TV series The Wild Wild West, starring Robert Conrad, and Andamo on Mr... )	December 3, 1958
10	"Cheyenne Club"	December 17, 1958
11	"Trail Pirate"	December 31, 1958
12	"Double Trouble in Trinidad"	January 7, 1959
13	"Election Day"	January 14, 1959
14	"One Bullet from Broken Bow"	January 21, 1959
15	"A Personal Matter"	January 8, 1959
16	"License to Cheat"	February 4, 1959
17	"Sharpshooter"	February 11, 1959
18	"River Boat"	February 18, 1959
19	"Battle of the Pass"	February 25, 1959
20	"Marked Deck"	March 11, 1959
21	"Incident in Leadville"	March 18, 1959
22	"The Tumbleweed Wagon"	March 25, 1959
23	"Brunette Bombshell"	April 1, 1959
24	"Deadline"	April 8, 1959
25	"A Matter of Honor" with John Vivyan John Vivyan John Vivyan was an American actor active primarily between 1957 and 1970. He was known for his starring role as the honest debonair gambler in the CBS adventure series Mr. Lucky.-Early life and career:Born John C...	April 22, 1959
26	"Man of Action"	April 29, 1959
27	"Lottery of Death"	May 13, 1959
28	"The Death of Bat Masterson"	May 20, 1959
29	"The Secret is Death"	May 27, 1959
30	"Promised Land"	June 10, 1959
31	"The Conspiracy: Part 1"	June 17, 1959
32	"The Conspiracy: Part 2"	June 24, 1959
33	"The Black Pearls"	July 1, 1959
34	"The Desert Ship"	July 15, 1959
35	"The Romany Knives"	July 22, 1959
36	"Buffalo Kill"	July 29, 1959

Season 2 (37 episodes)

Ep #	Title	Airdate
1	"To the Manner Born"	October 1, 1959
2	"Wanted -- Dead"	October 15, 1959
3	"No Funeral for Thorn"	October 22, 1959
4	"Shakedown at St. Joe"	October 29, 1959
5	"Lady Luck"	November 5, 1959
6	"Who'll Bury My Violence?"	November 12, 1959
7	"Dead Men Don't Pay Debts"	November 19, 1959
8	"Death and Taxes"	November 26, 1959
9	"Bat Plays a Dead Man's Hand"	December 3, 1959
10	"Garrison Finish"	December 10, 1959
11	"The Canvas and the Cane"	December 17, 1959
12	"The Inner Circle"	December 31, 1959
13	"The Pied Piper of Dodge City"	January 7, 1960
14	"A Picture of Death"	January 14, 1960
15	"Pigeon and Hawk"	January 21, 1960
16	"Flume to the Mother Lode"	January 28, 1960
17	"Death by the Half Dozen"	February 4, 1960
18	"Deadly Diamonds"	February 11, 1960
19	"Mr. Fourpaws"	February 18, 1960
20	"Six Feet of Gold"	February 25, 1960
21	"Cattle and Cane"	March 3, 1960
22	"The Disappearance of Bat Masterson"	March 10, 1960
23	"The Snare"	March 17, 1960
24	"Three Bullets for Bat"	March 24, 1960
25	"The Reluctant Witness"	March 31, 1960
26	"Come Out Fighting"	April 7, 1960
27	"Stage to Nowhere"	April 14, 1960
28	"Incident at Fort Bowie"	April 21, 1960
29	"Masterson's Arcadia Club"	April 28, 1960
30	"Welcome to Paradise"	May 5, 1960
31	"A Grave Situation"	May 12, 1960
32	"Gold Is Where You Steal It"	May 19, 1960
33	"Wanted -- Alive Please"	May 26, 1960
34	"The Elusive Baguette"	June 2, 1960
35	"The Big Gamble"	June 16, 1960
36	"Blood on the Money" with Walter Coy Walter Coy Walter Darwin Coy was an American stage, radio, film, and, principally, television actor, originally from Great Falls, Montana. He was best known for narrating the NBC western anthology series, Frontier, which aired early Sunday evenings in the 1955-1956 season.-Career:Coy performed on Broadway...	June 23, 1960
37	"Barbary Castle"	July 1, 1960

Season 3 (34 episodes)

Ep #	Title	Airdate
1	"Debt of Honor"	September 29, 1960
2	"Law of the Land"	October 6, 1960
3	"Bat Trap"	October 13, 1960
4	"The Rage of Princess Ann"	October 20, 1960
5	"The Hunter" with guest star John Vivyan John Vivyan John Vivyan was an American actor active primarily between 1957 and 1970. He was known for his starring role as the honest debonair gambler in the CBS adventure series Mr. Lucky.-Early life and career:Born John C...	October 27, 1960
6	"Murder Can Be Dangerous"	November 3, 1960
7	"High Card Loses"	November 10, 1960
8	"Dakota Showdown "	November 17, 1960
9	"The Last of the Night Raiders"	November 24, 1960
10	"Last Stop to Austin"	December 1, 1960
11	"A Time to Die"	December 15, 1960
12	"Death by Decree"	December 22, 1960
13	"The Lady Plays Her Hand"	December 29, 1960
14	"Tempest at Tioga Pass"	January 5, 1961
15	"The Court Martial of Major Mars"	January 19, 1961
16	"The Price of Paradise"	January 19, 1961
17	"End of the Line"	January 26, 1961
18	"The Prescott Campaign"	February 2, 1961
19	"Bullwhacker's Bounty"	February 16, 1961
20	"A Lesson in Violence"	February 23, 1961
21	"Run for Your Money"	March 2, 1961
22	"Terror on the Trinity"	March 9, 1961
23	"Episode in Eden"	March 16, 1961
24	"The Good and the Bad"	March 23, 1961
25	"No Amnesty for Death" (with DeForest Kelly)	March 30, 1961
26	"Ledger of Guilt"	April 6, 1961
27	"Meeting at Mimbers"	April 13, 1961
28	"Valley of Death"	April 20, 1961
29	"The Fourth Man"	April 27, 1961
30	"Dead Man's Claim"	May 4, 1961
31	"The Marble Slab"	May 11, 1961
32	"Farmer with a Badge"	May 18, 1961
33	"The Fatal Garment"	May 25, 1961
34	"Jeopardy at Jackson Hole"	June 1, 1961