Wildside (American TV series)
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This article is about the 1985 Western series. For the children's nature series, see Wild Side Show.
Wildside is an American television series aired by ABC from March to April 1985. The series stars William Smith, J. Eddie Peck, Howard Rollins, Sandy McPeak, Terry Funk, John D'Aquino, and Meg Ryan.[1]
| Wildside | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Western |
| Created by | Tom Greene |
| Written by |
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| Directed by |
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| Starring | |
| Composer | Jack Elliott |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producer | William F. Phillips |
| Cinematography | Roland "Ozzie" Smith |
| Editors |
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| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 48 mins. |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | March 21 – April 25, 1985 |
The series aired for six episodes, from March 21 to April 25, 1985.[2]
Five outlaws once roamed the U.S. Western territories. The leader and organizer was J. Wendell Summerhayes, while the other members were Brodie Hollister, Varges de la Cosa, Bannister Sparks, and Prometheus Jones.[3] The five outlaws went straight and Summerhayes became the governor of California. The other four men became businessmen in the town of Wildside, CA, and form the "Chamber of Commerce." Brodie's son Sutton was raised in the East by Brodie's wife but traveled to Wildside to be with his father. Although Wildside is normally peaceful, trouble inevitably arises either when criminals come to town or when Summerhayes appeal to his former gang members for help. When their services are needed, the five men don their weapons and go on a "hunting party" to deal with the problem.
The series was produced by Touchstone Television, a then-new division of Walt Disney Productions. Although it featured several shootouts and fistfights per episode, there were very few on-screen deaths. Much of the violence was presented in a stylized and bloodless manner, similar to that of The A-Team.
| Character | Actor |
|---|---|
| Brodie Hollister, expert marksman. Works as a horse breeder and trainer | William Smith |
| Sutton Hollister, also an expert marksman and learned fencing at an Eastern college. Works with his father raising horses | J. Eddie Peck |
| Varges de la Cosa, expert with throwing weapons, favors bolos and knives. Works as a gun salesman, although he despises them personally | John D'Aquino |
| Bannister Sparks, demolitions expert. Runs a mercantile business | Howard Rollins |
| Prometheus Jones, extremely strong and expert with a lasso. Works as the town veterinarian | Terry Funk |
| Cally Oaks, editor of the Wildside newspaper, attracted to Sutton Hollister | Meg Ryan |
| Governor J.W. Summerhayes, governor of California | Sandy McPeak |
| Alice Freeze the young and attractive town mortician. Romantically interested in Varges, and intrigued by death. | Robin Hoff |
| Skillet, the long-suffering chef at the town's restaurant. | Timothy Scott |
| Elliot Throgmorton, Cally Oaks' assistant editor. | Kurt Fuller |
| Zeke, a local boy. | Jason Hervey |
Reception and cancellation
Wildside was aired as a mid-season replacement and put on Thursday nights against the popular The Cosby Show. Due to low ratings, the series was canceled after one month.
- ^ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 1120. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Cotter, Bill (1997). The Wonderful World of Disney Television. Hyperion Books. pp. 230–231. ISBN 0-7868-6359-5. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
- ^ Grenier, Richard (1985-03-21). "'Wildside,' a Western". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved 2021-06-06.