Four Star for CBS

Original run October 2, 1959 – June 3, 1960
1959-60   38 episodes x 30 min B&W
produced by Aaron Spelling

Don Durant was the only prime-time TV cowboy to solely compose (lyrics and music) and sing the theme for his own show.

 
Johnny Ringo was based on the life of the notorious gunfighter Johnny Ringo, who tangled with Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and "Buckskin" Franklin Leslie.

This fictional account had Ringo putting aside his gun fighting ways to become the sheriff of a small town Arizona town in Velardi, that always needed his quick gun.

In the 1st episode "The Arrival" Casey had just finished this special gun, a seven shooter.  It took him 3 years, 4 months & 22 days.  He told Johnny that this extra shell would even the odds.

Casey got the idea from a French gunsmith called LaMatt.   A seven shooter!  One extra bullet that will make all the difference.  It looked like a regular six shooter but there was a separate barrel for an extra shell (a secret chamber).  Not just a forty-five shell, but a .410 shotgun shell.  Casey wanted Johnny to be the first to use it.  

"Johnny Ringo" was canceled after one season due to sponsorship problems. Along with other Four Star westerns, it has run more or less continuously in syndication since 1964. It was the only prime-time network western to feature a theme song (released by RCA) solely composed and performed by the star. More toys were licensed for this show than any other adult TV Western.

After the series was cancelled Dick Powell gave the famous weapon - the only one used in the series - to Don Durant.

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