The Gene Autry Show

Gene Autry

Gene's Horse

Pat Buttram

Stagecoach Driver / ... (43 episodes, 1950-1955)

Two 1951 episodes were filmed in color to promote CBS' own color process, which wound up not being accepted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Pat Buttram's sidekick character had a different name in the initial episodes filmed in this series - as had been the practice in the Gene Autry B-westerns in which Buttram co-starred. Due to the TV series' rapid shooting schedule, Autry frequently forgot the name of the character Pat played from episode to episode, resulting in a number of botched takes. Autry finally ordered his writers to call Pat Buttram's sidekick character "Pat Buttram" in all future scripts to eliminate the problem.

Two-thirds of the way through the first season's production, Pat Buttram was severely injured in an explosion and was hospitalized for several months. In order to complete the production run, his sidekick role was filled in the remaining episodes by Chill Wills, Fuzzy Knight and Alan Hale Jr.. Wills and Knight wore the same costume as Buttram so that long shots of stock footage could be easily used, but there was no disguising Hale's bulk - he wore his own distinctive clothing.

Gene Autry: Always defend your name, son. Just like you defend your country when you need to.

Gene Autry: Even if the world were a chocolate cake, Mary, there'd still be a few crumbs around.