Have Gun – Will Travel
The Piano
TV Flash files “The Piano” as hour 164 of 225 in the TV Flash guide — Have Gun – Will Travel (1957–1963) on CBS, season 5, episode 9, aired 1961-11-11, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E09: listed hour 164 of 225 in the Have Gun – Will Travel guide, hour 9 of 38 in season 5. It aired 1961-11-11 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Hanging of Aaron Gibbs” (S05E08). Next is “Ben Jalisco” (S05E10).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Paladin is hired to recover a piano belonging to Franz Lister, which has been stolen by thieves. They want to ransom it back, but Franz refuses to pay for the piano that is his life and joy.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Piano sit in the Have Gun – Will Travel guide?
S05E09 is listed hour 164 of 225 — hour 9 of 38 in season 5, season 5 episode 9.
When did Have Gun – Will Travel S05E09 air?
The Piano aired 1961-11-11 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Boone's Paladin and the calling-card ritual. The knight-for-hire brief is clear in the weekly form; you do not need a origin-mythology marathon.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Have Gun – Will Travel is a chess-piece knight for hire: Paladin's calling card cooler than most heroes' faces, Richard Boone's Broadway grit in a gunbelt. Watch it now as adult-western antihero cool — sophistication as a gunslinger trait, and the Wire Paladin card as brand-before-branding.
The calling card is cooler than most heroes' faces. (I said spoiler-free. The card is the spoiler.) *Have Gun – Will Travel*, CBS 1957–1963, 225 episodes across six seasons, also a concurrent radio hit: Richard Boone's Paladin, a chess-piece knight for hire with San Francisco manners and a gunbelt. Kam Tong as Hey Boy for much of the run; Lisa Lu as Hey Girl. Adult-western antihero cool. The group chat would have made the chess knight a stan logo by lunch.
Filed against
- Richard Boone as Paladin
Richard Boone's Paladin sold Have Gun – Will Travel as a chess-piece knight for hire — calling card cooler than most heroes' faces, Broadway grit in a gunbelt. Adult-western antihero cool before the term got a think piece. TV Flash files…
- Kam Tong as Hey Boy
Kam Tong’s Hey Boy kept Have Gun – Will Travel’s hotel a chessboard — Paladin’s calling card cooler than most heroes’ faces, Richard Boone’s Broadway grit in a gunbelt, adult-western antihero cool. Sophistication as a gunslinger trait,…
- Lisa Lu as Hey Girl
Lisa Lu occupied Paladin’s household as Hey Girl on Have Gun – Will Travel — a chess-piece knight for hire, Richard Boone’s Broadway grit in a gunbelt, and a 1950s adult-western that sold sophistication as a calling card. Cooler than most…