Review for Rawhide: Season 3 (8 Discs)

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin.

Aw come on. You can't start a review of 'Rawhide' without at least one rousing chorus of the theme song. So hot on the heels of a brilliant Season two comes the welcome release of Season three, where the core cast of characters really begin to settle down.


As addictive as a soap, this morally-minded melodrama really continues to deliver the goods. Oh sure, it has plenty of manly men fightin' and a shootin' but the plain darned truth is that most the stories un-fold like typical soaps, which may account for its universal popularity at the time - as well as its enduring popularity today. Unlike the US, where the Rawhide season sets are cruelly issued 4 discs at a time as part seasons, here you get all 30 stunning mini-movie episodes in one set across 8 discs. That's over twenty five hours of top-notch entertainment. Yeeeehaaah!!


For those unfamiliar with the series, it centers around a series of ranchers moving cattle from one place to another, and the adventures they face along the way as they pass through small homesteads, villages and towns along the way - or the trials and tribulations of ranch life in-between their travels.


Gil Favor (Eric Fleming) is the man in charge - though it is perhaps his side-kick Rowdy Yates (Clint Eastwood) who is best remembered in the series. After a modest role in the first season, his cool, understated delivery and rugged good looks meant he had an increasingly important role to play.

Each episode is set out (and entitled) as an 'incident' - and that about sums it up. You wouldn't believe how many 'incidents' befall this small group of cattle men!


There are so many great 'incidents' in this particular set that it's difficult to pick out the best. They're chock-o-block full of guest stars too.

Fans will love "Incident on the Road to Yesterday" principally because it features Frankie Laine (who sings the show's theme song) as an outlaw turned good who, when he turns himself in, discovers someone is trying to pin a murder he didn't commit on him. There just ain't no justice!


"Incident of the Slavemaster" is an absolute corker too with the inimitable Peter Lorre typecast as a nutty cotton farmer who doesn't realise that the Civil War has ended and is still keeping Union soldiers as prisoners.


Racism and inequality comes into the spot-light in 'Incident of the Buffalo Soldier' (maybe the inspiration for Marley's tune?) and 'Incident at the top of the world' is an excuse to explore the neglect of injured ex-soldiers.

Julie London, Dick York (Bewitched), Jack Lord and Leonard Nimoy are just a few of the guests who will thrill fans of retro TV.


As with previous seasons, the picture quality is outstanding. Despite the series running for eight seasons, and with more than 200 'hour long' episodes, it remained in black and white throughout - and CBS Paramount seem to be doing the decent thing with regard to re-mastering (which may account for the drip feeding of season sets). Audio is two channel mono.

Unlike previous seasons, there are no extras other than synopses.


There is no shame in starting your journey into Rawhide at season 3. It is a series in full flow, at a creative high with some great writers, directors and guest stars. Every episode is a self-contained 'movie' so you can dip in and out as you please. With eight discs and a running time of over 20 hours, there's plenty here to get stuck into.


Here's a (copied from Amazon - thanks OP!) list of episodes and original air dates for the series.

1. Season 3, Episode 1: Incident at Rojo Canyon (guest star Julie London)
Original Air Date--30 September 1960

2. Season 3, Episode 2: Incident of the Challenge
Original Air Date--14 October 1960

3. Season 3, Episode 3: Incident at Dragoon Crossing
Original Air Date--21 October 1960

4. Season 3, Episode 4: Incident of the Night Visitor (guest star Dane Clark)
Original Air Date--4 November 1960

5. Season 3, Episode 5: Incident of the Slavemaster (guest stars Peter Lorre & John Agar)
Original Air Date--11 November 1960

6. Season 3, Episode 6: Incident on the Road to Yesterday (guest stars Frankie Laine & Chester Morris)
Original Air Date--18 November 1960

7. Season 3, Episode 7: Incident at Superstition Prairie
Original Air Date--2 December 1960

8. Season 3, Episode 8: Incident at Poco Tiempo (guest star Agnes Moorehead)
Original Air Date--9 December 1960

9. Season 3, Episode 9: Incident of the Captive (guest star Mercedes McCambridge)
Original Air Date--16 December 1960

10.Season 3, Episode 10: Incident of the Buffalo Soldier (guest star Woody Strode)
Original Air Date--6 January 1961

11.Season 3, Episode 11: Incident of the Broken Word (guest stars E.G. Marshall & Dick York)
Original Air Date--20 January 1961

12.Season 3, Episode 12: Incident at the Top of the World (guest star Robert Culp)
Original Air Date--27 January 1961

13.Season 3, Episode 13: Incident Near the Promised Land (guest star Mary Astor)
Original Air Date--13 February 1961

14.Season 3, Episode 14: Incident of the Big Blowout
Original Air Date--10 February 1961

15.Season 3, Episode 15: Incident of the Fish Out of Water
Original Air Date--17 February 1961
16. Season 3, Episode 16: Incident on the Road Back (guest star Brian G. Hutton)
Original Air Date--24 February 1961

17. Season 3, Episode 17: Incident of the New Start (guest star John Dehner)
Original Air Date--3 March 1961

18. Season 3, Episode 18: Incident of the Running Iron (guest stars William Schallet & dwayne Hickman)
Original Air Date--10 March 1961

19 Season 3, Episode 19: Incident near Gloomy River (guest stars John Cassavetes, Leif Erickson & Rosemary De Camp)
Original Air Date--17 March 1961

20. Season 3, Episode 20: Incident of the Boomerang (guest stars Woody Strode & Patricia Medina)
Original Air Date--24 March 1961

21. Season 3, Episode 21: Incident of His Brother's Keeper (guest stars Jack Lord & Susan Oliver)
Original Air Date--31 March 1961

22. Season 3, Episode 22: Incident in the Middle of Nowhere (guest stars Cecil Kellaway & Elisha Cook Jr.)
Original Air Date--7 April 1961
-
23. Season 3, Episode 23: Incident of the Phantom Bugler (guest star Jock Mahoney)
Original Air Date--14 April 1961

24. Season 3, Episode 24: Incident of the Lost Idol (guest star Claude Akins)
Original Air Date--28 April 1961

25. Season 3, Episode 25: Incident of the Running Man
Original Air Date--5 May 1961

26. Season 3, Episode 26: Incident of the Painted Lady (guest star Marie Windsor)
Original Air Date--12 May 1961

27. Season 3, Episode 27: Incident before Black Pass (Leonard Nimoy, Zachary Scott & Robert Armstrong)
Original Air Date--19 May 1961

28. Season 3, Episode 28: Incident of the Blackstorms
Original Air Date--26 May 1961

29. Season 3, Episode 29: Incident of the Night on the Town (Dan Hagerty & Grady Sutton)
Original Air Date--2 June 1961

30. Season 3, Episode 30: Incident of the Wager on Payday
Original Air Date--16 June 1961