Sorry, my bad…I get those two mixed-up all the time.

Actually, truth be known, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry likened his own science fiction saga to NBC’s long-running western hit (Wagon Train premiered on the station of the peacock in 1957 and ran until 1965, by which time it had moved over to ABC) when he originally pitched the show to studio execs (which was pretty much what sold them, as they had no idea what sci/fi even was at that point).

But enough of my disposable history lesson…let’s focus on the history of the cast instead, shall we? That way, you’ll know who’s who. Season One of Wagon Train began with Ward Bond and Robert Horton as wagon master Major Seth Adams and scout Flint McCullough (respectively), who guided the way for an entire band of families, loners, and future outlaws due West so that they could all discover a fresh start. No strangers to the Western genre, Bond and Horton (who later co-starred in The Green Slime!) were accompanied by fellow cowboy movie regulars Frank McGrath (as Charlie Wooster, the cook) and Terry Wilson (as assistant wagon master Bill Hawks). By the time the Seventh Season had rolled around however, a change or two (or three) had taken place in the casting department: Horton had (pardon the pun) moved onto Green-er pastures (the actor had already reached the pinnacle of his career, though, and didn’t do a whole lot afterwards), and Bond sadly had passed away during the Fourth Season.

Without any explanation whatsoever, the late Ward Bond was replaced by John McIntire (also no stranger to wearing chaps and a firearm) as new wagon master Christopher Hale, and Robert Fuller took over for the other Robert (Horton) as Cooper Smith, the new scout character (Fuller had previously played a similar role on another western TV show, “Laramie”). Additional cast changes included the arrival of Denny Miller as Duke Shannon, an assistant scout, and, teen actor Michael Burns as Barnaby West (not to be confused with Barnaby Jones), a young lad determined to find his father (whose character was introduced in the Season Six finale).

Did you get all that? You may have to re-read it.

Timeless Media Group’s release of Wagon Train - The Complete Color Season presents the entire Seventh Season of the television classic, as well as including 16 never-before-released Bonus Episodes from the show’s other seasons (but we’ll get to those little gems later). Not only was the Seventh Season the first (and only) time audiences were at long last able to see Wagon Train in color, but it also changed the one-hour format of the show to a longer ninety-minute one, enabling the writers to give a little more depth to their stories.

For authenticity’s sake, the Episodes in the Season/Set are…

Disc One: “The Molly Kincaid Story”, “The Fort Pierce Story”, “The Gus Morgan Story”

Disc Two: “The Widow O‘Rourke Story”, “The Robert Harrison Clarke Story”, “The Myra Marshall Story”

Disc Three: “The Sam Spicer Story”, “The Sam Pulaski Story”, “The Eli Bancroft Story”

Disc Four: “The Kitty Pryor Story”, “The Sandra Cummings Story”, “The Bleecker Story”

Disc Five: “The Story Of Cain”, “The Cassie Vance Story”, “The Fenton Canaby Story”

Disc Six: “The The Michael Malone Story”, “The Jed Whitmore Story”, “The Geneva Balfour Story”

Disc Seven: “The Kate Crawley Story”, “The Grover Allen Story”, “The Andrew Elliott Story”

Disc Eight: “The Melanie Craig Story”, “The Pearlie Garnet Story”, “The Trace McCloud Story”

Disc Nine: “The Duncan McIvor Story”, “The Ben Engel Story”, “The Whipping”

Disc Ten: “The Santiago Quesada Story”, “The Stark Bluff Story”, “The Link Cheney Story”

Disc Eleven: “The Zebedee Titus Story”, “The Last Circle-Up”

Guest stars in this season include such greats as Barbara Stanwyck, Carolyn Jones, Ronald Reagan, Peter Falk, Annette Funicello, Michael Rennie, Henry Silva, David Carradine, Bruce Dern, Clu Gulager, Martin Balsam, Neville Brand, Tom Skerritt, Ray Danton, Burgess Meredith, Dick York and Dick Sargent, Suzanne Pleshette, as well as a couple of not-so-greats such as Fabian (most of whom show up more than once, albeit in different roles).

Presentation
While many of episodes of Wagon Train have only been available via shoddy Public Domain transfers, Timeless Media Group is the only company that has actually gone to the trouble to licensing an entire full season for an official DVD release. That said, the presentations of these Full Frame 1.33:1 episodes vary in terms of quality as many of them appear to have been taken from either archival prints or video masters while each and every episode carries an English Mono Stereo soundtrack (a disclaimer at the beginning of each disc informs the viewers that Timeless Media has done their best to preserve the audio and video quality for this season). The variable A/V quality shouldn’t have any tremendous sort of impact on anybody that wants to relive this eternally enjoyable television series.

The 16-Disc set is housed in a fold-out style case (much like Timeless Media Group’s release of M Squad).

Extras
Even if you haven’t had the privilege of seeing any of the older episodes of Wagon Train, Timeless Media has wisely given us four discs (Twelve through Fifteen) full of 16 random Bonus Episodes from the show’s black-and-white seasons (1-6, 8) that have never been released on DVD before, thus enabling you to catch a glimpse of Ward Bond and Robert Hutton in action.

In addition to the Bonus Episodes, Disc Sixteen sports two newly-recorded Interviews with two of the series’ surviving cast members: both Denny Miller and Robert Fuller share their fond memories and anecdotes of their careers and work on Wagon Train (each Interview runs just a few seconds shy of 29 minutes).

The Bottom Line
Wagon Train is something of a sacred relic for the countless number of children and adults alike who grew up watching it on television. Here’s the perfect opportunity to relive those days as well introduce your own children to a truly memorable series.