The Virginian (TV series)

The Virginian
Also known as	The Men from Shiloh
Genre	Western
Based on	The Virginian by Owen Wister
Written by	Morton Fine David Friedkin Burt Kennedy Harold Swanton Winston Miller Richard Jessup True Boardman Frank Chase John Hawkins Ward Hawkins Don Ingalls Roy Huggins Leslie Stevens John Dunkel
Directed by	David Friedkin Burt Kennedy Ted Post Don McDougall Abner Biberman William Witney James Sheldon Earl Bellamy Michael Caffey Richard L. Bare Joseph Pevney Bernard McEveety Paul Stanley
Starring	James Drury Doug McClure Lee J. Cobb Charles Bickford John McIntire Clu Gulager Gary Clarke Randy Boone Roberta Shore Diane Roter Sara Lane Don Quine
Theme music composer	Percy Faith (seasons 1–8) Ennio Morricone (season 9)
Opening theme	"Lonesome Tree" conducted by Stanley Wilson
Ending theme	"Lonesome Tree" conducted by Stanley Wilson
Composers	Percy Faith Richard Shores Dave Grusin
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	9
No. of episodes	249 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Charles Marquis Warren Norman Macdonnell Frank Price Roy Huggins
Producers	Morton Fine David Friedkin Joel Rogosin Winston Miller Cy Chermak Frank Telford Arthur H. Nadel Don Ingalls Paul Freeman Warren B. Duff Jules Schermer
Production locations	United States Iverson Movie Ranch, Simi Hills, California Lone Pine, California Bronson Canyon, Los Angeles
Cinematography	Benjamin H. Kline Lionel Lindon Enzo Martinelli John Russell Walter Strenge
Running time	65–75 minutes
Production companies	Revue Studios (1962–1963) (season 1) Universal Television (1963–1971) (seasons 2–9)
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 19, 1962 (1962-09-19) – March 24, 1971 (1971-03-24)
Related
Laredo
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The Virginian (later renamed The Men from Shiloh in its final year) is an American Western television series starring James Drury in the title role, along with Doug McClure, Lee J. Cobb, and others. It originally aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971, for a total of 249 episodes. Drury had played the same role in 1958 in an unsuccessful pilot that became an episode of the NBC summer series Decision. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute Western series (75 minutes excluding commercial breaks). Cobb left the series after four seasons, and was replaced over the years by mature character actors John Dehner, Charles Bickford, John McIntire, and Stewart Granger, all portraying different characters. It was set before Wyoming became a state in 1890, as mentioned several times as Wyoming Territory, although other references set it later, around 1898.

The series was loosely based on The Virginian: Horseman of the Plains, a 1902 Western novel by Owen Wister that Hollywood had previously adapted for movies. Percy Faith composed the show's original theme.

The series ran for nine seasons, making it network television's third-longest running Western series,^[1] behind Bonanza at 14 seasons and 430 episodes, and Gunsmoke at 20 seasons and 635 episodes.^[1]