The Alaskans

Yes, I liked it; yes, I too was very young. THE ALASKANS was yet another thing I was doing instead of homework.

It was probably the time and locale -- as opposed to just another western -- which captivated, but to be honest I cannot recall with any clarity more than a couple of episodes. A good one to my early adolescent mind was about the con man who made everyone believe Britain had entered the War with Spain. . . so he could rob a bank over in the Yukon.

The show started with period or period-looking stills, which then went into movement as if the story was coming right out of history. To this day I can still recall the theme music. Even though a commercial debacle, I consider THE ALASKANS one of the beginning of the real "golden age of television," the 1959-60 season.

Final question: Was James Coburn a regular, or am I confusing it with a contemporaneous programme?

"The Alaskans" was one of the Warner Bros. series that flooded TV in the late '50s, such as Maverick, Cheyenne, Bronco Lane, Sugarfoot, Lawman. Except for the earlier poster, I have never come across anyone who has seen this series. The chemistry amongst Dorothy Provine, Roger Moore and Jeff York was excellant. For unknown reasons, Jeff York (most famous as Mike Fink, king of the river, in Davy Crockett episodes) disappeared from the show about halfway through its first and only year. It was never as good thereafter. I saw it in New York at 10 pm on Sunday nights.

Perhaps now with the passing of Sir Roger Moore, Warner Brothers may consider at long last, releasing the 37 episodes of 'The Alaskans' onto DVD, as it has done with most of it's other 'westerns' of the era? I fondly remember this show from when I was young, and it was probably what made me a life long fan of Roger Moore, who I thought Warners was grooming as a likely successor to Errol Flynn in the handsome hero category! I remember the show for mainly it's humour and tongue in cheek adventure, thought Jeff York and Dorothy Provine were perfect foils for Roger Moore in a great little show that should have survived longer than it did, but it would be nice to be able to collect it to enjoy over again!

Today, when a friend told me he was going to visit Alaska this summer, the memory of viewing a promotional clip for a TV show, featuring a blonde female singer singing "It's a Hot Night in Alaska," came to me. I told him I thought the singer was Dorothy Provine, and guessed it came from her show The Roaring Twenties.

After reading her wikipedia biography, and seeing that she starred in this TV show as a singer, it makes more sense that what I saw was a promotional clip for this show. Can anyone tell me if I'm right?

"The Alaskans" was sort of a less successful companion piece to "Hawaii Five O," Alaska being admitted to the Union in 1959 and Hawaii in 1960. I wish "The Alaskans" had survived for years and years and not "Five O"! I loved the theme song (and can still sing it, only not in public). Dorothy Provine was just so... gorgeous and perky and HOT. (Every thing I wanted to be at age 11 and was NOT!) Roger Moore was even hotter. I learned many useful and interesting things from the show. Things like... dynamite can freeze if it gets cold enough, but alcohol will freeze first so you need to take a bottle of whiskey with you on your dog sled if you are hauling dynamite!