The Cowboys

This short lived Western TV series was spun off from the 1972 Mark Rydell film of the same name which starred John Wayne. Moses Gunn replaced Roscoe Lee Browne as Jedediah Nightlinger the Chuck Wagon driver from the film and Diana Douglas was cast as the widow of the John Wayne character. A few of the `Cowboys' from the original movie renewed their characters but none of the episodes were anywhere near to what the film had been.

I saw the movie first, of course, and was excited when it was reincarnated as a TV series. It wasn't the greatest, that's true, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. All those cute guys, just around my age....

I loved the show so much I began writing my own episodes, joining the cast as Annie's orphaned niece, I think. I had a huge crush on Sean Kelly at the time, so most of my episodes centered around his character and were written as innocent teen vignettes: holding hands, riding into the sunset together, the first kiss.....

I was really angry when the series was canceled, but not surprised. In my heart of hearts I knew the series wasn't 'good TV,' but it still held a special place in my heart.