The Adventures of Jim Bowie

The Adventures of Jim Bowie
Genre
Starring Scott Forbes
Theme music composer Ken Darby
Opening theme "Jim Bowie" by The King's Men
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 76
Production
Executive producer Louis F. Edelman
Producers
Editor John Woodcock
Running time 25 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network ABC
Release September 7, 1956 –
August 29, 1958

The Adventures of Jim Bowie is an American Western television series that aired on ABC from 1956 to 1958. Its setting was the 1830s-era Louisiana Territory. The series was an adaptation of the book Tempered Blade, by Monte Barrett.

Synopsis

The series stars Scott Forbes as the real-life adventurer Jim Bowie. The series initially portrayed Jim Bowie as something of an outdoors-man, riding his horse through the wilderness near his home in Opelousas, where he would stumble across someone needing his assistance. He was aided by the Bowie Knife, his ever-present weapon. He designed it in the first episode, The Birth of the Blade. Although Bowie used the blade quite a bit in early episodes, its prominence was downplayed as the show went on.

Gradually the series shifted from the country to the city, having Bowie instead spend the majority of his time in New Orleans. He was frequently shown looking to invest his money in real estate, or coming to the aid of someone who had been swindled.

Storylines focused on the exploits of Bowie before he moved to Texas (then part of Mexico), and his death at the Alamo in 1836. During the series's two season run, Bowie encountered many historical figures of the era, such as President Andrew Jackson, Jefferson Davis, John James Audubon, Sam Houston, and Davy Crockett.

Production

Among the actors and actresses who guest-starred more than once on the series were William Schallert, Denver Pyle, Michael Landon, Chuck Connors, Walter Coy, June Carter Cash, and Lurene Tuttle. Jimmy Noel made walk-on appearances in six episodes. Those making single guest appearances included Yvonne Lime Fedderson, Douglas Kennedy, and Carole Mathews.

Jim Bowie did not appear in the last episode of the series. Instead, he was said to be away on an important assignment, and the attention was placed on criminal Jess Miller. Miller was given the task to retrieve a great sum of money, and the episode focused on whether Miller would complete his assignment or take the money for himself. At the end there is an indication that Miller would join up with Bowie on further adventures, but no further episodes were produced.

Douglas Brode wrote in his book, Shooting Stars of the Small Screen: Encyclopedia of TV Western Actors, 1946–Present, that Scott Forbes, who had the title role, "stormed off the set" when he learned that the series was being canceled after two seasons, when he had understood that it would run for five seasons. He added, "In desperation, the writers fashioned the final script" without the star.

The program was sponsored by Chesebrough-Ponds.

Reception

Use of the knife in the initial episode led a reviewer for The New York Times to write, "[I]t would seem like a wise idea for parents to keep young viewers away from the television set when the show is on." The show was one of the first TV programs criticized for on-screen violence.

Episodes

Season 1 (1956-57)

No.
overall		 No. in
season		 Title Directed by Written by Original air date
1 1  "The Birth of the Blade" Unknown Unknown September 7, 1956
2 2  "The Squatter" Unknown Unknown September 14, 1956
3 3  "An Adventure with Audubon" Unknown Unknown September 21, 1956
4 4  "Deputy Sheriff" Unknown Unknown September 28, 1956
5 5  "Trapline" Unknown Unknown October 5, 1956
6 6  "Broomstick Wedding" Unknown Unknown October 12, 1956
7 7  "Natchez Trace" Unknown Unknown October 19, 1956
8 8  "Jim Bowie Comes Home" Unknown Unknown October 26, 1956
9 9  "The Ghost of Jean Battoo" Unknown Unknown November 2, 1956
10 10 "The Secessionist" Unknown Unknown November 9, 1956
11 11 "Land Jumpers" Unknown Unknown November 16, 1956
12 12 "The Select Females" Unknown Unknown November 23, 1956
13 13 "Bowie and His Slave" Unknown Unknown November 30, 1956
14 14 "Outlaw Kingdom" Unknown Unknown December 7, 1956
15 15 "The Swordsman" Unknown Unknown December 14, 1956
16 16 "The Return of the Alcibiade" Unknown Unknown December 21, 1956
17 17 "Monsieur Francois" Unknown Unknown December 28, 1956
18 18 "A Horse for Old Hickory" Unknown Unknown January 4, 1957
19 19 "The Beggar of New Orleans" Unknown Unknown January 11, 1957
20 20 "Osceola" Unknown Unknown January 18, 1957
21 21 "Master of Arms" Unknown Unknown January 25, 1957
22 22 "Convoy Gold" Unknown Unknown February 1, 1957
23 23 "Spanish Intrigue" Unknown Unknown February 8, 1957
24 24 "Bayou Tontine" Unknown Unknown February 15, 1957
25 25 "German George" Unknown Unknown February 22, 1957
26 26 "An Eye for an Eye" Unknown Unknown March 1, 1957
27 27 "The Captain's Chimp" Unknown Unknown March 8, 1957
28 28 "Jackson Assassination" Unknown Unknown March 15, 1957
29 29 "Rezin Bowie, Gambler" Unknown Unknown March 22, 1957
30 30 "Thieves' Market" Unknown Unknown March 29, 1957
31 31 "The Pearl and the Crown" Unknown Unknown April 5, 1957
32 32 "The General's Disgrace" Unknown Unknown April 12, 1957
33 33 "The Lottery" Unknown Unknown April 19, 1957
34 34 "The Intruder" Unknown Unknown April 26, 1957
35 35 "Country Cousin" Unknown Unknown May 3, 1957
36 36 "The Bound Girl" Unknown Unknown May 10, 1957
37 37 "Bounty Hunter" Unknown Unknown May 17, 1957
38 38 "Gone to Texas" Unknown Unknown May 24, 1957

Season 2 (1957-58)

No.
overall		 No. in
season		 Title Directed by Written by Original air date
39 1  "Epitaph for an Indian" Unknown Unknown September 6, 1957
40 2  "Flowers for McDonough" Unknown Unknown September 13, 1957
41 3  "The Irishman" Unknown Unknown September 20, 1957
42 4  "Counterfeit Dixie" Unknown Unknown September 27, 1957
43 5  "Bullet Metal" Unknown Unknown October 4, 1957
44 6  "Quarantine" Unknown Unknown October 11, 1957
45 7  "A Fortune for Madame" Unknown Unknown October 18, 1957
46 8  "House Divided" Unknown Unknown October 25, 1957
47 9  "The Whip" Unknown Unknown November 1, 1957
48 10 "Pearls of Talimeco" Unknown Unknown November 8, 1957
49 11 "Charivari" Unknown Unknown November 15, 1957
50 12 "Hare and Tortoise" Unknown Unknown November 22, 1957
51 13 "The Bridegroom" Unknown Unknown November 29, 1957
52 14 "The Alligator" Unknown Unknown December 6, 1957
53 15 "Country Girl" Unknown Unknown December 13, 1957
54 16 "Mexican Adventure" Unknown Unknown December 20, 1957
55 17 "Silk Purse" Unknown Unknown December 27, 1957
56 18 "Choctaw Honor" Unknown Unknown January 3, 1958
57 19 "Close Shave" Unknown Unknown January 10, 1958
58 20 "Pirate on Horseback" Unknown Unknown January 17, 1958
59 21 "Curfew Cannon" Unknown Unknown January 24, 1958
60 22 "Home Sweet Home" Unknown Unknown January 31, 1958
61 23 "Deaf Smith" Unknown Unknown February 7, 1958
62 24 "Ursula" Unknown Unknown February 14, 1958
63 25 "Apache Silver" Unknown Unknown February 21, 1958
64 26 "A Grave for Jim Bowie" Unknown Unknown February 28, 1958
65 27 "Up the Creek" Unknown Unknown March 7, 1958
66 28 "The Lion's Cub" Unknown Unknown March 14, 1958
67 29 "Horse Thief" Unknown Unknown March 21, 1958
68 30 "Jim Bowie, Apache" Unknown Unknown March 28, 1958
69 31 "The Brothers" Unknown Unknown April 4, 1958
70 32 "Patron of the Arts" Unknown Unknown April 11, 1958
71 33 "Bad Medicine" Unknown Unknown April 18, 1958
72 34 "A Night in Tennessee" Unknown Unknown April 25, 1958
73 35 "Bowie's Baby" Unknown Unknown May 2, 1958
74 36 "The Cave" Unknown Unknown May 9, 1958
75 37 "Man of the Streets" Unknown Unknown May 16, 1958
76 38 "The Puma" Unknown Unknown May 23, 1958

Theme Music

The theme song was "Adventurin' Man", performed by the Ken Darby Singers. The series' music was unusual in that it was primarily vocal, provided by Ken Darby and The King's Men (save for a few episodes in season two).

Recurring cast members

Home media

A two-DVD set containing 13 episodes of the program has been published.

Merchandising

The TV show was also adapted into a comic book by Dan Spiegle, distributed by Dell Comics.