Tate

The only remarkable thing about this short lived series that I recall is that it was shot on tape, not film. I believe it was the ONLY Western series shot on tape - ever. It had that soap opera look and the sound effects (gunshots, horses, fist-fights, etc.) sounded unnatural (for a Western). This strange look and sound probably contributed to its quick demise. Shot-on-tape just doesn't work with Westerns.

The star was a Los Angeles real estate executive who always wanted to be an actor. The character he played, Tate, was a man whose left arm was paralyzed by a wound in the Civil War. He drifted, hungry and disabled, and practiced with his pistol until he became a one armed gun for hire. After it became known that Tate was as quick and deadly as the killers and bullies he was paid to deal with he was sought after by every crazy in the country. He faced them all. Tate became paranoid and overly defensive because he had only one arm. When people messed with Tate he shot old women, school teachers, stray dogs, preachers and innocent bystanders. He struck out out every threat, real or imagined. The first attempt at reality TV in the western genre. And it was great. Still is. I want it on DVD. Now.

Very intense and equally gritty - "Tate" was a vintage TV Western that (IMO) often seemed to have shades of "noir" running through its story-lines.

I quite liked actor, David McLean (1922-1995) as the rugged title character. I thought that McLean was very well suited for his role as the no-nonsense gunslinger who always played a fair game with those whom he dealt with.

So - If you are a fan of TV Westerns from yesteryear, then, I'm sure that "Tate" will also appeal to you, as well.

Here was another of those western series that NBC tried out for a summer run to see if it was worth bringing back as a replacement in January for one of their fall season shows that failed to catch on. But Tate never returned, and the thirteen episodes that were shot did not go into widespread syndication, so this rates as something of a one summer wonder. By the time Tate appeared, TV was glutted with guns for hire, Paladin the most popular of all over at CBS on Saturday night's Have Gun Will Travel series. He of course dressed all in black leather. On Tate, the anti-hero also had black leather, but merely as a heavy stump covering for the arm that he had lost during the War Between the States. Yep, a one-armed hero in a western, which must have broken considerable ground for hire-the-handicapped back then. Tate never had to wait long for a job, but like Paladin (this was, after all, TV) he never did anything cold-blooded, and was picky enough to only take money from people who deserved to win in the end. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the show was that the hero was played by The Marlboro Man, which is why - even though this was David MacLean's first official acting job - he looked awfully familiar to western fans. And smokers. And, yes, MacLean did die of lung cancer.

This DVD contains all 13 episodes (all in B&W) of the western series "Tate" which ran as a summer replacement show on NBC in 1960. There was no pilot episode. The episode titles and their original air-dates are listed below. The ratings were not good enough to justify producing more episodes and bringing the series back in January 1961.

A knock-off of the wire Paladin concept from "Have Gun Will Travel", the title character could be reached though a Kansas City post office box. Two rather weak gimmicks were used to distinguish it from other westerns; only the character's last name was used and he had only one useful arm. His other arm was badly injured in the Civil War and is shown sheathed in leather.

Tate was a gunfighter played by David McLean (who was seen in commercials as The Marlboro Man and became an anti-smoking advocate before dying of lung cancer). Robert Redford made guest appearances in the "Comanche Scouts" and "The Bounty Hunter episodes, playing different characters.

The Mary Hardin Story: 29 June 1960, Voices of the Town: 6 July 1960, A Lethal Pride: 20 July 1960, Tigrero: 3 August 1960, Comanche Scalps: 10 August 1960, Before Sunup: 17 August 1960,The Reckoning: 24 August 1960, The Gunfighters: 31 August 1960, Quiet After the Storm: 7 September 1960, The Return of Jessica Jackson: 14 September 1960.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.