Trackdown

This, along with Wanted Dead or Alive, was one of the better written and scripted of the routine weekly western TV dramas that glutted late 1950s TV.

Robert Culp was unique in his character of Hobie Gilman. Gilman looked for the moral justice behind each situation he found himself in. It was not just 30 minutes of chase 'em and shoot 'em.

Interestingly, Steve McQueen got his first shot at a TV series by playing Josh Randall on an episode of Track Down. His spin off series Wanted Dead or Alive was also a unique series, and launched another great actor's career.

By today's standards, yes, most of the 1950s westerns were formulaic. But if you have the time to catch a group of them for comparison, Track Down stands out. Culp is a great actor, as subsequently shown in every piece of work he did later on.

Hoby Gilman, the Texas Ranger played by Robert Culp, was dry and somewhat unfriendly, just like Robert Culp was in most of his roles. I always liked Robert Culp when I was a kid. Years later, as an adult, I found his characters in most roles were dry and a bit abrasive.

Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman usually expects the worst from people, and often he gets it. Sometimes people turn out to be good, which not only surprises Gilman, but sometimes they make him look like a jerk.

It is interesting that the writers would occasionally show up Gilman by making him look bad, but that was the Adult Western Genre that was popular in the 1950s. Have Gun Will Travel, and Gunsmoke also had the frequent Adult Western theme of realistic stories with unhappy endings.

The stories sometimes felt pretty long even though it was only a half-hour show. Because of Gilman's personality, it seemed like a lot of the stories were fated to live up to his expectations regarding the other characters. Gilman's attitude about people makes it harder to enjoy the stories now, when I watch them as an adult.

This show while not as well known as bonanza, gunsmoke, rawhide, or the rifleman may be the best of the classic TV westerns. In fact, as much as I like Richard Boone as a show I believe Trackdown is superior to have gun will travel. In thirty minutes you generally have a complex story, well acted, with some moral ambiguity to it. Of course Robert Culp makes the show work in a way few others could, but all in all one of the few fifties shows that still holds up sixty years later.

Robert Culp is the most unique actor I've ever seen. He's one of the most believable characters--no matter what he portrays, from Trackdown to I Spy... Rarely does one see an actor with such natural finesse and brillance.

Durring the years when so much of US programming was taken up by Western shows there were many good 'oaters' and this was one of my faves. I was thrilled, then when one year when it was running my Dad took me to the Texas State Prison Rodeo in Huntsville, Texas and the featured entertainment that weekend was Robert Culp appearing as his 'Trackdown' personna. There is not much available on DVD of this show all these years later but I did find one disc with 10 episodes. Video tranfer is so-so but not unwatchable, from ATI Inc Audio Tape Inc).