Made McQueen a star; stylish antihero western in a crowded field.
Why it matters
From the desk
Why Wanted: Dead or Alive still plays
The gun is already the logo. Steve McQueen walks into CBS, 1958, as bounty hunter Josh Randall with a cut-down Winchester carbine — the Mare's Leg — and a volume knob turned so far down the rest of the western field sounds like shouting. Wanted: Dead or Alive is stylish antihero television in a crowded hat market, Four Star Television's three-season star factory, ninety-four half-hours of quiet intensity sold as a brand. The sawed-off is merch and myth in the same prop. Underplaying is the whole performance. Sources close to the set will tell you the carbine did the interviews; McQueen did the staring.
**This was not a supporting cowboy; this was a hard launch in denim.** McQueen's screen persona is minted here before the major film career the later posters would pretend arrived fully formed. Proto-cool that movies later sold as McQueen myth is, in the living room, a weekly bounty job with a code of his own. The museum guard energy in the next office wants the filmography as scripture and the series as a footnote. The footnote is the factory. Three CBS seasons were enough. The Mare's Leg did the logo work.
One almost-empathy beat for whoever had to keep that cut-down Winchester in continuity while a future box-office titan practiced not blinking. They do not get the retrospective. They got the prop truck. John Robinson and Four Star built a half-hour that treated intensity as plot: Randall tracks fugitives, the gun is branding, the silence is acting. Stylish antihero western — not a gimmick hat, a temperature.
Who was where on the bounty board: the opener, listed as a Martin poster, is McQueen walking in with the sawed-off already the weekly brand. An early titled hour simply called The Bounty is the job itself — intensity as acting, the Winchester already merch. Season two ignites on a place-name, Montana Kid, stylish antihero still the proto-cool movies later sold. The last year starts as a courtroom title, The Trial, bounty-hunter cool walking into civic language without dropping the gun. The 1961 closer, Barney's Bounty, is the last named payday, the Mare's Leg packed away after three seasons of quiet, crowded-field stardom.
Last flash: a carbine as a logo, a man who refused to raise his voice, a film career practicing in half-hours. The people who want just the text, not the text messages, will say it is only a western. The text is the seating chart of cool. The door closes on a 1961 payday. The stare kept working.
Episode guide
How this series is filed
TV Flash files Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958–1961) on CBS as the episode guide: 94 listed hours across 3 seasons, 1958-09-06–1961-03-29 from “The Martin Poster” (S01E01) to “Barney's Bounty” (S03E26).
Open the episode guide · S01E01 The Martin Poster · S03E26 Barney's Bounty
Essential episodes
McQueen, Mare's Leg, quiet bounty cool — cut-down Winchester as branding in a crowded western field. Filed by Vivian Cross (The Carpet Report).
- S01E01 The Martin Poster
The Martin Poster: McQueen walks in with a sawed-off Mare's Leg, quiet bounty-hunter cool as a star-making weekly brand.
- S01E03 The Bounty
The Bounty — titled as the job itself, intensity as acting, the cut-down Winchester already the merch and the myth.
- S02E01 Montana Kid
Montana Kid: season-two ignition on a place-name, stylish antihero western still the proto-cool movies later sold as McQueen.
- S03E01 The Trial
The Trial starts the last year as a courtroom title, bounty-hunter cool walking into civic language without dropping the gun.
- S03E26 Barney's Bounty
Barney's Bounty closes 1961: last named payday, the Mare's Leg packed away after three seasons of quiet, crowded-field stardom.
At a glance
Bounty hunter Josh Randall tracks fugitives with a distinctive cut-down Winchester carbine and a code of his own. Wanted: Dead or Alive (CBS, 1958–1961) made Steve McQueen a star with a sawed-off Mare's Leg and quiet intensity — Four Star Television's three-season star factory in a crowded western field. John Robinson's series treated underplaying as the whole performance; the cut-down gun was branding. Stylish antihero western that established McQueen's screen persona before the major film career. Proto-cool that movies later sold as McQueen myth: a carbine as a logo, intensity as the plot, a future box-office titan practicing in half-hours.
Network & studio
- CBS — broadcast network
Why watch now
Wanted: Dead or Alive made Steve McQueen a star with a sawed-off Mare's Leg and quiet bounty-hunter cool. Stylish antihero western in a crowded field. A 2026 viewer watches the proto-cool that movies later sold as McQueen myth — the cut-down Winchester as branding, intensity as the whole performance.
Cultural impact
Wanted: Dead or Alive made Steve McQueen a star and proved a half-hour western could mint a film persona. Four Star's three CBS seasons sold antihero cool in a crowded field: the Mare's Leg as logo, intensity as the plot. Later movie myth still exits from this bounty-hunter underplaying. Stylish western television as a star factory, not a postcard marshal.
Creators
John Robinson · Four Star Television
Key cast
- Steve McQueen as Josh Randall
Flash facts
- CBS western 1958–1961; starring Steve McQueen as Josh Randall.
- Produced by Four Star Television; known for McQueen's Mare's Leg firearm prop.
- Helped establish McQueen's screen persona before his major film career.
- John Robinson is among the credited principals.
- Distinctive cut-down Winchester carbine became the show's visual brand.
FAQ
Where should I start?
Start with McQueen and the Mare's Leg. The bounty-hunter brief and the underplaying are visible immediately.
What can I skip?
Skip needing every fugitive. Three seasons of cool-and-carbine variations are a sample. The film career is aftermath, not a required sequel inside the series.
Is it still worth it?
Yes. Proto-cool in a crowded western field — the cut-down Winchester as branding.
Hero lawman or bounty antihero?
Stylish antihero western — a bounty hunter with a code and a signature gun, not a town marshal.
Official & further reading
External sites for further reading — TV Flash is not affiliated with these networks or studios.
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