July 23
BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN DAY
To the strains of Back in the Saddle Again, by Ray Whitley and Gene Autry, TV viewers were treated to the first performance of The Gene Autry Show.
The singing cowboy made the move from Hollywood films to the tube on this night in 1950. Autry and his sidekick, Pat Buttram, maintained law and order in the U.S. Southwest for six years. And they did it in a most entertaining manner. Gene sang just like he did in the movies and his horse, Champion, would do some amazing horse tricks, and Pat Buttram would invariably get into silly situations.
The Gene Autry Show started out on CBS on Sunday nights from 7 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Three years later, the show was moved to Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. The half-hour horse opera remained in that time slot for one year when it moved once again to Saturday night in the 7 p.m. slot.
Gene Autry and friends hopped back in the saddle weekly until August of 1956.
Autry went on to become a Country Music Association Hall of Famer, own Golden West Broadcasting and the California Angels baseball team. And he is the only person to have five Hollywood Walk of Fame stars (film, radio, TV, stage, records). He died October 2, 1998.
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
No portion of these files may be reproduced without the express, written permission of 440 International Inc.
