Rawhide
Incident of the Prodigal Son
TV Flash files “Incident of the Prodigal Son” as hour 119 of 218 in the TV Flash guide — Rawhide (1959–1965) on CBS, season 5, episode 4, aired 1962-10-19, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E04: listed hour 119 of 218 in the Rawhide guide, hour 4 of 29 in season 5. It aired 1962-10-19 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Incident at Cactus Wells” (S05E03). Next is “Incident of the Four Horsemen” (S05E05).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
An abrasive older drover, Sam Hargis, befriends a new drover who is equally abrasive, and Sam views the newbie as the son he lost in the Civil War.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Incident of the Prodigal Son sit in the Rawhide guide?
S05E04 is listed hour 119 of 218 — hour 4 of 29 in season 5, season 5 episode 4.
When did Rawhide S05E04 air?
Incident of the Prodigal Son aired 1962-10-19 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Fleming as Favor and Eastwood as Rowdy on the drive — the cattle-drive workplace is the premise from week one.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Rawhide is the cattle-drive procedural: Head 'em up, move 'em out, and Clint Eastwood learning the sneer that later conquered spaghetti westerns. Watch it now as the TV cowboy-to-global-star pipeline in weekly form — trail dust as workplace drama, years before Eastwood became a one-name industry.
The cattle are already moving when the cameras find them — January 9, 1959, CBS, trail boss Gil Favor and ramrod Rowdy Yates punching a weekly clock that looks like dust and sounds like a job. Rawhide is not a campfire postcard. It is a cattle-drive procedural: Head 'em up, move 'em out, and a young Clint Eastwood learning the sneer the later spaghetti years would sell as destiny. Eric Fleming holds the drive. Sheb Wooley and Paul Brinegar's Wishbone keep the workplace from becoming a statue. Charles Marquis…
Filed against
- Eric Fleming as Gil Favor
Eric Fleming drove the herd as Gil Favor on Rawhide — Head 'em up, move 'em out, cattle-drive procedural, and the TV cowboy pipeline that taught a young Clint Eastwood the sneer. Trail dust as workplace drama. TV Flash files him as 1950s…
- Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates
Clint Eastwood played Rowdy Yates on Rawhide — the cattle-drive procedural, head 'em up, move 'em out, a weekly trail that taught a sneer in public. TV cowboy as workplace drama: dust, a crew, years of driving beef as plot. TV Flash files…
- Sheb Wooley as Pete Nolan
Sheb Wooley's Pete Nolan scouted Rawhide as cattle-drive procedural weather — Head 'em up, move 'em out, Clint Eastwood learning the sneer that later conquered spaghetti westerns. Trail dust as workplace drama. TV Flash files him as 1950s…
- Paul Brinegar as Wishbone
Paul Brinegar played Wishbone on Rawhide, the 1950s cattle-drive procedural — head ’em up, move ’em out, trail dust as workplace drama. Clint Eastwood learning the sneer that later conquered other ranges. TV Flash files him as cook-wagon…