The Virginian
The Executioners
TV Flash files “The Executioners” as a desk essential hour — The Virginian (1962–1971) on NBC, season 1, episode 1, aired 1962-09-19, 90 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E01: listed hour 1 of 249 in the The Virginian guide, first listed hour of season 1. It aired 1962-09-19 (90 min). No earlier hour is listed in this guide. Next is “Woman from White Wing” (S01E02).
Essential hour: “The Executioners”. The Executioners is the 90-minute contract: James Drury's nameless foreman, Shiloh Ranch with room to breathe when others stopped at sixty.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
A man is publicly hanged for murdering a woman because the local school teacher refuses to alibi him. A mysterious man comes to town, signs on to work as a Shiloh Ranch hand and begins romancing the teacher. However, his odd behavior begins to raise the suspicions of Judge Garth and the local Sheriff who wonder about the motives of the stranger.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Executioners sit in the The Virginian guide?
S01E01 is listed hour 1 of 249 — first listed hour of season 1, season 1 episode 1.
When did The Virginian S01E01 air?
The Executioners aired 1962-09-19 and is listed at 90 minutes.
Where should I start?
A 90-minute Shiloh Ranch hour with Drury and McClure plus a meaty guest plot shows why the length exists. This is not a half-hour oat-opera you graze in minutes.
In the series
Why this series still plays
The Virginian ran 90 minutes when most westerns stopped at an hour, and that extra room is the point. James Drury's nameless foreman and Doug McClure's Trampas hold Shiloh Ranch while guest stars cycle through adult plots. Come for early prestige-length drama in cowboy clothes — slower, sturdier, and more novelistic than the gunfight-of-the-week pack.
The extra half-hour is the argument. *The Virginian* ran 90 minutes when most westerns stopped at an hour, and that extra room is the point. James Drury's nameless foreman and Doug McClure's Trampas hold Shiloh Ranch on NBC (1962–1971) while guest stars cycle through adult plots. Lee J. Cobb's Judge Garth was among the rotating ranch-owner centers. A laconic loyalty-and-gun-smoke moral test, widescreen in spirit. Frank Price and Charles Marquis Warren were among the architects of one of the first successful…
Filed against
- James Drury as The Virginian
James Drury’s nameless foreman held Shiloh Ranch for ninety minutes when most westerns stopped at an hour — The Virginian as early prestige-length drama in cowboy clothes, Doug McClure’s Trampas beside him, guest stars cycling through…
- Doug McClure as Trampas
Doug McClure held Shiloh Ranch as Trampas on The Virginian — 90-minute western room, guest-star traffic, and cowboy clothes on adult plots most hour shows would not attempt. James Drury's nameless foreman had the myth; McClure had the…
- Lee J. Cobb as Judge Henry Garth
Lee J. Cobb's Judge Henry Garth gave The Virginian ranch-table steel — 90-minute western when most stopped at an hour, James Drury's nameless foreman, guest stars cycling through adult plots. Early prestige-length drama in cowboy clothes.…