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Old Time Radio Researchers GroupThe Six Shooter - Single Episodes

THE SIX SHOOTER

The Six Shooter brought James Stewart to the NBC microphone on September 20, 1953, in a fine series of folksy Western adventures.

Stewart was never better on the air than in this drama of Britt Ponset, frontier drifter created by Frank Burt. The epigraph set it up nicely: "The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged: his skin is sun dyed brown. The gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother-of-pearl. People call them both The Six Shooter." Ponset was a wanderer, an easy-going gentleman and -- when he had to be -- a gunfighter.

Stewart was right in character as the slow-talking maverick who usually blundered into other people's troubles and sometimes shot his way out. His experiences were broad, but The Six Shooter leaned more to comedy than other shows of its kind. Ponset took time out to play Hamlet with a crude road company. He ran for mayor and sheriff of the same town at the same time. He became involved in a delighful Western version of Cinderella, complete with grouchy stepmother, ugly sisters, and a shoe that didn't fit. And at Christmas he told a young runaway the story of A Christmas Carol, Substituting the original Dickens characters with Western heavies. Britt even had time to fall in love, but it was the age-old story of people from different worlds, and the romance was foredoomed despite their valiant efforts to save it.

So we got a cowboy-into-the-sunset ending for this series, truly one of the bright spots of radio. Unfortunately, it came too late, and lasted only one season.

It was a transcribed show, sustained by NBC and directed by Jack Johnstone. Basil Adlam provided the music and Frank Burt wrote the scripts. Hal Gibney announced.

Information from John Dunning’s "Tune In Yesterday The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio".

NOTE: Updated MP3s with Version 5 files (25-Feb-2011).

From the Old Time Radio Researcher's Group. See "Note" Section below for more information on the OTRR.

This audio is part of the collection: Old Time Radio
It also belongs to collection: Radio Programs

Artist/Composer: Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Keywords: OTRR; Old Time Radio Researchers Group; Old Time Radio; OTRR Single Episodes; Six Shooter; The Six Shooter; OTRR - 2011-02

Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs

Notes

OLD TIME RADIO RESEARCHER'S GROUP

This is a production of the Old Time Radio Researchers Group located at Old Time Radio Researchers Website and the Old Time Radio Researchers Group.

It contains the most complete and accurate version of this series in the best sound possible at the time of creation. An updated version will be issued if more episodes or better sounding ones become available.

If you are interested in preserving old time radio, you may wish to join the Old Time Radio Researchers Group at Yahoo.


This is the Single Episode Page. The Certified Set includes extras not found here. It is located at OTRR Certified Set. This page is provided in case you want to sample the shows.

Note that in many cases, file names have been modified from the original OTRR names to conform to archive.org naming requirements.


Relax, listen, and enjoy!

---

OTRR Definitions:

OTRR Certified Accurate -- A series that is Certified Accurate indicates that all the episodes are properly identified and labeled but that the series does not contain all known extant episodes.

OTRR Certified Complete -- A series that is Certified Complete is the highest level of certification available under the OTRR Certified Standards. This certification level implies that all the files in the series are Certified Accurate but also indicates that the series is as complete as possible – it includes all extant episodes.

Individual Files

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Reviewer: mctiggs - - February 8, 2012
Subject: An angular and long-legged review
This series is well written, and Jimmy Stewart proves his greatness as an actor on any medium. His delivery is comical, akward, and convincing. People who wish to listen to this as a Western Series will be disappointed. I think I recall one gunfight in the whole series. "Western" is used more as a backdrop for the stories than a genre.

Reviewer: MadMikeyD - - August 25, 2011
Subject: Great Show!
This is an excellent radio western and Jimmy Stewart is fantastic. This has quickly become one of my favorite radio shows, right behind "The Lone Ranger." The only complaint, as others have mentioned, is that it didn't last longer.

Reviewer: yubawatza - - July 16, 2011
Subject: Milktoast
Yes the recordings are great .But the plots and acting are BLAND . This wasn't canceled because of TV It was bad writing . Jimmies stammering does not make great radio

Reviewer: Poe1809 - - January 10, 2011
Subject: ...
I'm not a big fan of radio westerns reasons that I can't quite explain, but this show has found a permanent home on my MP3 player. This is just a quality series with good sound and a fine collection of characters and stories that are often well outside the cliches.

Reviewer: Back To The 80s - - January 9, 2011
Subject: Show ended
This show lasted one year because the producers of the program wanted to bring on a cigarette sponsor for season two. James Stewart refused to allow this because of the faithful younger audience he had and said he would not star in the show if it was promoting tobacco products. Knowing they couldn't find anyone to replace Stewart's roll in the Six Shooter, they canceled the show. One of the best series PERIOD!

Reviewer: d-boy - - August 27, 2010
Subject: Well that's a relief!
i'm almost out of Gunsmokes, and i've tried show after show, (and i've been through Johnny Dollar and Nightbeat).....and it turns out Gunsmoke is a hard act fo follow. But Six Shooter is pretty good; though the sound effects are not as incredible as on Gunsmoke, the first Six Shooter did something i'm not sure ANY Gunsmoke ever did: the ending actually suprised me!

Reviewer: Anatoon - - May 6, 2010
Subject: Quite Possibly The Best Radio Show Ever
I've been listening to old time radio since I first discovered it on the KNX Drama Hour when I was a child. Of all the different shows they aired I always looked forward to the Six Shooter more than the rest. Even today I enjoy is as much as when I was a youngster. The stories are excellent, the acting superb. I agree the show seems to be written for James Stewart, the role and the actor fit like a glove. I'm only giving it five stars because I can't give it more!

Reviewer: releppes - - May 5, 2010
Subject: quality show and recordings but so so acting
If you like James Stewart, then you'll like this show. It's has quality effects and the preservation of the recordings are outstanding. The acting isn't very good though. Especially with a big name actor like James Stewart. Actors would constantly stumble over their lines, or talk over each other. James Stewart being the worst of them all. You'd think the star would hold the show together, but not in this case. The support actors are more authentic with better lead ins. Overall, it's a good show. But it's an example of how a big name actor can bring down a show.

Reviewer: griff Abbott - - October 20, 2009
Subject: Wish there were more.
It's a true pity that TV and the times doomed this series to just one season. Listening to the episodes makes one wish they'd started years earlier so we'd have more of them to enjoy today.

Reviewer: Dementia43 - - September 8, 2009
Subject: Top Tier of Western Entertainment
Great show!! Ranks up there with the great mature westerns such as Gunsmoke, Fort Laramie, HGWT, and Frontier Gentleman.

Reviewer: hobotim - - May 7, 2009
Subject: James Stewart - A Golden Legend
True Entertainment!

Reviewer: mixiearmadillo - - September 27, 2008
Subject: Deeply enjoyable
Wish there were more!

Reviewer: Dennis Day - - August 19, 2008
Subject: Perfect Series!
I love the writing, acting, and producing of this series! It is my all time favorite OTR Western series. Jimmy Stewart gives an impressive acting tour-de-force throughout. I just wish there were more episodes, but I'm happy with what we have. A must for western and Stewart fans.

Reviewer: idreamedmusic - - July 21, 2008
Subject: "Now see here..."
What a rare gem
Stewart is perfect as Ponset, the almost reluctant hero, and the stories range from more typical Western fare (outlaws, crooked sheriffs) to more unusual morality plays.
Wonderful for a lazy afternoon.

Reviewer: jackrabbit1205 - - December 18, 2007
Subject: the six shooter the as good as radio shows get
Jimmy Stewart has got to be one of the all time best actors of his time. This program seems to be writen with his talents in mind. The scripts fit his style of acting and speech as a hand made pair of boots would fit a person. I have lost counts of the times I have listened to this series and I still return when I want a quiet mood show to listen to. The world lost a great way of experincing a show when radio stoped this type of broadcast. Since finding these programs my TV has gotten a lot of rest. if you want to be enterained in a special way this is one of the shows to listen to.
Jack Fleming