Daniel Boone

"Daniel Boone" is a show that has flown out of almost every pigeonhole into which the TV critics have tried to stuff it.

It's not really a Western (most action takes place East of the Mississippi), but it has all the elements of a classic Western.

Action/Adventure? Sure, lots of it, but with plenty of food for thought provided by the family and social issues that are woven into most plots.

Drama? Yep, but with elements of humor that bring some episodes into the range of Comedy.

History? ahem Well, let's just say that this Dan'l must have lived in an alternate world (see, Science Fiction, too!) where time travel allows for episodes where President George Washington appears one week, while the next week the American War for Independence is still being fought.

Regardless of how one might label this series, "Daniel Boone" is a show that has something for everyone!

"Daniel Boone" was a show for everyone...First of all this was part Drama,and part Western(since most of the action takes place East of the Mississippi).......Second,where can you have the President of the United States,George Washington appear one week,then the next week Daniel is fighting against the British in the War for Independence as well as dealing with Pirates and hostile Indians from other tribes,and the following week goes swordsman(like Zorro)against ruthless Spanish tyrannts and generals(which in one episode was Ricardo Montalban and afterwards you'll have a galaxy of villains who was Spanish tyrants that were played by actors Jose Ferrer and of all people Cesar Romero,aka The Joker on Batman)while maintaining peace and restoration of his beloved Kentucky homestead from individuals who were by all means out to destroy his valley?

NOT ON HIS TURF! DANIEL BOONE WAS A MAN, A BIG MAN!!!(Fess Parker)

All aide by his Indian sidekick,Mingo played by Ed Ames and his wife Rebecca(Patricia Blair),and son Isreal(played by Darby Hinton)and teenaged daughter Jemina(was played by Veronica Cartwright from Seasons 1 thru 3),and Dan's sidekick Yadkin(Albert Salmi in Season 1)Daniel Boone maintained the frontier with a mighty hand!

This was part history lesson as well but this show had plenty of non-stop action and adventure each week since it was a eyepopping show with lots of breathtaking scenery of the Mississippi valley where the show was shot but the rest of it was filmed on the backlot at the studios of 20th Century Fox,where the show was produced under Fess Parker's production company,Fespar Enterprises and under Hollywood producer Aaron Rosenberg(of "Winchester 73" fame). The series originally ran on NBC-TV from September 24,1964 until May 7,1970. Out of the 165 episodes that were produced,33 episodes from Season 1 of the series were in black and white from September 24,1964 until April 29,1965. Seasons 2 thru 6 produced 133 episodes in color that aired from September 16,1965 until May 7,1970. After its cancellation in the spring of 1970,NBC repeated all episodes of season 6 from May 7,1970 until September 10,1970.

However,the episodes I saw which are on videocassette are from the pilot episode(which was filmed in black and white and its first season consisted of 33 black and white episodes where the show originally ran on NBC-TV but the show made the transition to color during its 1965-70 run consisting of 133 episodes in Seasons 2 thru 6)where we are introduced to Daniel Boone,the pioneer frontiersman and his adventures along the Kentucky wilderness where each day was a fight for survival. One Great Show!!! Catch It!!!

This is a generally well acted version of the famous frontier explorer . Fess Parker (he starred another historical character in similar style as ¨Davy Crockett¨ ; in fact, he portrayed Boone wearing a Coon Skin Cap , a carryover from his portrayal as Crockett) is well cast in the title role , he's an idealized Daniel Boone who takes on outlaws , mean settlers and tangles skirmishes with Indians . As frontier hero Daniel Boone conducts surveys and expeditions around Boonesborough , running into both friendly and hostile Indians , just before and during the Revolutionary War . There appears Daniel Boone along with family , his wife (Patricia Blair) , children : Israel (Darby Hinton) and Yemima (Veronica Cartwright : future passenger in Alien) ; furthermore , his friends : the Indian Mingo (Ed Ames) , Yadkin (Albert Salmi) , among others .

This is an enjoyable series produced by 20th Century Fox and famed producer Aaron Rosemberg , including gorgeous outdoors and stunning musical score by Lionel Newman . Entertaining action adventure detailing chapters in the stirring life of legendary pioneer , notorious for his leading some settlers from North Carolina into Kentucky . Throughly agreeable and full of kind of boyhood images , this family series was finely performed by all involved . There is also a compilation of various episodes that appeared originally on TV and were released theatrically . Other cinematic renditions about this historical character Daniel Boone are the following ones : ¨Daniel Boone (1936)¨ with George O'Brien and ¨Trail Blazer¨ with Bruce Bennett .

The episodes are freely adapted on fictitious deeds , but some of them based on true events , these are the actual facts : Daniel Boone (1734-1820) , who wore a beaver hat with flat brim , was a long hunter , Indian fighter and trail-blazing pioneer . Daniel was born in Pennsylvania . Moving to North Carolina he settled in the Yadkin Valley , supporting his family by hunting , often making long trips for profitable animal skins. Boone was impressed by the Indians hunting grounds of Kentucky and determined to make his home in this unsettled, fertile land rich with game . In 1773 he left Yadkin with his own and several families and headed west. The journey was thwarted by hostile Indians who killed six of the party including Boone's elder son . Boone, however, vowed to complete the emigration and with a band of hardy woodsmen , he set forth and blazed a trail, through the Cumberland Gap of the Appalachian Mountains to the Kentucky River, where they built a fort named Boonesborough . The Wilderness Road became the main pioneer over which poured the first waves of migration to the West. In 1778 Boone was captured by Shawnee Indians but he escaped to warn Boonesborough of an impeding Shawnee attack . Later he moved on to Missouri, then part of the Spanish territory of Louisiana, but the purchase of 1803 by US deprived him of this land . He died aged eighty-six in his son's farmhouse in Missouri.

I loved this show as a kid and I remember it being on the air all of my childhood. It is full of historical inaccuracies but the fictional relationship between Daniel and Mingo, his half-English, half-Indian friend, makes up for it. Mingo was a unique character. I am watching the DVD's now of the first and second seasons and it's like going home again. The color episodes feature some really nice footage of authentic mountains and streams as you find them in Kentucky. This is a good series to share with young kids. They are not likely to see anything like it on TV again. I'm glad to see that many people agree and have managed to get Daniel Boone out on DVD. Let's hope the remaining seasons are to follow.

The 165 one-hour episodes (45 in B&W, 120 in color) of the frontier western "Daniel Boone" originally aired on NBC from 1964-1970. This was an extremely popular baby boomer show that may seem a little odd today due to an uncharacteristic emphasis on racial/ethnic diversity (insert Ed Ames as Mingo and NFL lineman Rosey Grier as Gabe Cooper). But the times were a-changing as the country tried to turn itself into LBJ's "Great Society" and network executives smelled an opportunity to cash in on the baby boomer's budding social awareness.

The series moved between a domestic focus on Boone's family (Patricia Blair as wife Rebecca, Veronica Cartwright as daughter Jemima, and Darby Hinton as his son Israel) to "one-with-the-wilderness"/"the British are evil" themes. The series focused on Boone after he had moved to Kentucky.

Daniel was played by Fess Parker who already had an established coonskin cap franchise from his mid-1950's Disney TV portrayal of Davy Crockett. Boone is played as an even tempered peaceful man who likes to chum around in the woods with Oxford educated Indians and runaway black slaves (see above), your basic 1770's flower child. Other than his confrontations with "the man" (represented by those nasty Redcoats) there is very little messy violence and lots of "Little House on the Prairie" moments.

Cartwright, the most talented of the ensemble, is frustratingly underutilized. Particularly given that the most celebrated event in the real Daniel Boone's life was the rescue of his daughter and her two friends from Indian kidnappers.

Cartwright bailed out after season two, Ames after season four, and Blair after season five. Budding sausage king Jimmy Dean was added as Josh Clements, a character in the tradition Chester and Festus from "Gunsmoke".

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.