Blast from the Past: Frontier Circus, Classic TV

Frontier Circus was a short-lived Western television series about a traveling circus roaming the American West in the 1880s. The show aired on the CBS television network from October 5, 1961, until September 6, 1962, and was filmed by Revue Productions.

The show featured veteran Western television and movie performers including: Chill Wills as “Colonel Kasey Thompson,” John Derek as “Ben Travis,” Richard Jaeckel as “Scout Tony Gentry,” and J. Pat O’Malley as “Duffy.” Thompson and Travis were the owners of the T & T Circus. The circus ran into lots of difficulties and troubled characters during its short run.

The difference between its plot and the plot of most standard Westerns may have led to its short run. Frontier Circus is a true rarity, as it has not been syndicated in the U.S. since its cancellation.

Frontier Circus ran opposite two very popular ABC sitcoms, “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” and “The Donna Reed Show,” and another western series, “The Outlaws” on NBC.

This is a very enjoyable show from those good ole days gone by. If you like "Rawhide," "Wagon Train," or "The Rifleman," then you are bound to like "Frontier Circus."

Buy Frontier Circus on Amazon.com

For more of the Wild West, visit Taos Unlimited’s Western Funhouse