EMPIRE (1962-1963) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

EMPIRE (1962-1963) – Ryan O’Neal, Charles Bronson, Richard Egan and Terry Moore starred in this modern-day (1960s) drama about a family ranch in New Mexico.

Kathleen Hite created the hour-long series which was not a soap opera but was instead a straightforward tale about the travails of ranching deep into the 20th Century.

RICHARD EGAN starred as Jim Redigo, the brawny ranch manager with an MBA. That was an intriguing idea, and this character helped capture the new complexities of operating a ranch in the modern era while retaining the raw machismo that 1960s viewers would have expected from a ranch manager. 

ANNE SEYMOUR portrayed Lucia Garret, the widowed owner of the Garret Ranch. The ranch had been built up over the years by Lucia, her late husband and Jim Redigo. She and Redigo sometimes clashed over what was best and most profitable for the Garret Ranch while weathering the challenges they faced.

RYAN O’NEAL played Tal Garret, Lucia’s son who was being groomed to take over the family ranch one day. His relationship with Redigo went from being like an uncle and nephew to more like a father and son but Tal struggled for the respect that he felt the older man was not giving him. Neither as a young man nor a rancher.

TERRY MOORE portrayed Constance Garret, Lucia’s daughter. Constance was very close to a soap opera character as she charmed all the men who crossed her path but never managed to win the heart of the one she really wanted – the older Jim Redigo. 

CHARLES BRONSON played Paul Moreno, an enigmatic man with a past who was once cleared of a murder charge. The law may have spared him, but his volatility and unpredictability meant that he was regarded warily by his new employers and colleagues at the Garret Ranch. 

THE EPISODES:

PILOT: THIS RUGGED LAND – This 74-minute telefilm never aired but promotional materials indicate that the entire main cast was retained when the pilot was picked up as a series. Denver Pyle also starred as Tom Rawling. The plot supposedly dealt with Jim Redigo harboring suspicions that Paul Moreno had killed his daughter despite being cleared by the authorities.   

EPISODE 1: THE DAY THE EMPIRE STOOD STILL – The storyline of the pilot movie was retained but was adjusted so that Paul Moreno was suspected of having killed the daughter of another ranch employee. Another change was that Redigo now believed in Paul’s innocence and defended him.

EPISODE 2: BALLARD NUMBER ONE – A man named Dan Ballard (Ed Begley, Sr.) returns to the area, causing consternation among the citizens of Mesa and the folks at the Garret Ranch. The reason? His crooked business practices long ago endangered the financial viability of the entire town and sent him to prison. Ballard, a former business partner of Jim Redigo’s father, tries to hire away one of Redigo’s best ranch hands.

EPISODE 3: A PLACE TO PUT A LIFE – Redigo contemplates quitting the Garret Ranch and returning to a much smaller piece of land that he still owns and rents out to another family, the Koenigs. The similarities of the Koenigs to the Garrets put his feelings into perspective and he decides to stay on as Lucia’s ranch manager. I found the similarities comical, but they’re not played for laughs. There’s a widowed matriarch, a young man hoping to own the spread one day and a daughter looking for love.  

EPISODE 4: RIDE TO A FALL – Victor Jory stars as Milo Dahlbeck, a meat packing magnate and old friend of Lucia Garret and her late husband. Milo and his brash colleague Joe Horvath (Claude Akins) clash over ways of running the business when Milo’s outmoded ways threaten their continued success. 

EPISODE 5: LONG PAST, LONG REMEMBERED – J.B. Fowler (Richard Jordan), a ruthless rival rancher, tries to take over and annex the Garret Ranch during a lengthy drought.

EPISODE 6: WALK LIKE A KING – A former ranch hand of the Garret’s – Barney Swanton (Ralph Meeker) – returns to the area after having acquired immense wealth. After a whirlwind romance he marries his old flame Leona Spence (Joanna Linville) but his resentment of his former rival Redigo endangers his marriage.

EPISODE 7: THE FIRE DANCER – When a fire at a nearby oil field threatens the Garret Ranch, a traveling, Red Adair-style firefighter (Frank Gorshin) arrives to deal with the situation. Gorshin plays a man with an ego that borders on delusions of grandeur, but the Garrets and the oil field owners must tolerate this overbearing man they need.

EPISODE 8: THE TALL SHADOW – A soil engineer (Frank Overton) arrives to advise the Garrets on measures against flooding. The engineer has brought his fiancee (Bethel Leslie) and her son (Mickey Sholdar) along. The boy grows to idolize Redigo, angering the mother when the child wants to help Jim deal with a loose cougar.

EPISODE 9: THE EARTH MOVER – Dan O’Herlihy portrays Glenn Cassin, a schmoozing and persuasive businessman who plans to buy up most of Mesa in order to form a marching band, I mean build a monorail, I mean construct a model city. Everybody wants to sell except the savvy and suspicious Garrets. 

EPISODE 10: PRESSURE LOCK – The Garrets decide to expand into the oil business when oil is found on their land. Redigo has to go out of town, but he and Lucia bizarrely trust Tal to handle the negotiations with oil baroness Hettie Burton (Cathleen Nesbitt). Hettie outmaneuvers the inexperienced Tal and demands that he marry her daughter Charlotte (Caroline Kearney) if he wants out of her deal’s ugly terms. Alejandro Rey and Harvey Korman guest starred.  

EPISODE 11: ECHO OF A MAN – While Dan Tabor (John Dehner) dusts the crops for the Garrets, his young ward Ellen Connors (Claire Griswold) gets the hots for Jim Redigo. This complicates the long-standing friendship between the ranchers and Tabor.     

EPISODE 12: WHEN THE GODS LAUGH – Sharecropper Theron Haskell (James Gregory) pulls off a get-rich quick oil scheme, following which the Garrets say “Theron, move away from there” and the Haskells move to Beverly … Hills, that is. I’m kidding! The drama comes in as the Haskell family gets intoxicated by their newfound wealth, setting themselves up for a tragic fall.

EPISODE 13: GREEN, GREEN HILLS – Clayton Dodd (Arthur O’Connell) and his daughter Althea (Joanna Moore) plot an elaborate double-cross to steal the Garret Ranch out from under our regular cast. Joanna Moore and Ryan O’Neal met making this episode, married in real life and became the parents of Tatum O’Neal herself!   

EPISODE 14: STOPOVER ON THE WAY TO THE MOON – Skip Wade (Keir Dullea) plays a drifting ranch hand who causes property damage to the Garret Ranch. Redigo gives Skip the option to go to jail or work off the cost of the damages. Harold Gould guest starred as Judge Will. 

EPISODE 15: THE FOUR THUMBS STORY – A Native American named Four Thumbs (Ray Danton) has been in a mental institution since returning from the Korean War years earlier suffering from assorted issues. He escapes and slips home to the reservation near the Garret Ranch. He and our regulars reflect on the modern-day plight of his tribesmen.

EPISODE 16: END OF AN IMAGE – A small town near the Garret Ranch is rocked to its core by scandalous revelations about its founding father from long ago. Our regulars force the townspeople to let go of their lofty notions about their founder rather than railroad the person who revealed the scandal. Bill Mumy guest starred.

EPISODE 17: THE LONER – Mike Novak (Jeremy Slate), the title loner, drifts into town planning to one day start his own ranch. He finagles a job on the Garret Ranch and clashes with Tal over Tal’s favorite piece of livestock. I think we’ve all been there. Allan Melvin guest stars as a physician.

EPISODE 18: WHERE THE HAWK IS WHEELING – We viewers get treated to a flashback story about the turbulent period at the Garret Ranch shortly after Lucia’s husband passed away. Jared Mace (Robert Culp) is brought in to manage the ranch, but he clashes with Jim Redigo, whom he views as negligent.

EPISODE 19: NO SMALL WARS – Robert Vaughn portrays Captain Paul Terman, a wounded veteran who is now a paraplegic. His bitterness drives away everyone around him except Constance Garret, who works at restoring his will to live. Unfortunately, Paul misunderstands her intentions and falls for Constance like every other man who passes through the area.

EPISODE 20: THE TIGER INSIDE – Monte Clifford (Richard Evans) accidentally injures his employer. Fearing things are worse than they seem, he hurriedly elopes with his girlfriend Betty Wormser (Joyce Bulifant) and the Garrets get involved to stop a posse led by her father (Harold J. Stone) from literally lynching Monte. Dennis Patrick guest starred.

EPISODE 21: SEASON OF GROWTH – Dan Bishop (Pat Conway), an old flame of Constance Garret, comes back to try resuming their love affair. Constance is torn when Dan clashes with Redigo over a prospective business deal and wonders if the men are secretly fighting over her.

EPISODE 22: SEVEN DAYS ON ROUGH STREET – Constance is said to have moved away since actress Terry Moore was fired. Tal and Paul Moreno (Bronson) brawl, and to convince Paul he’s not as pampered as Moreno thinks he is, bets him that he (Tal) can last 7 days with no money in the tough town of Delgado. Rue McClanahan and Victor French guest starred.

EPISODE 23: A HOUSE IN ORDER – Lucia learns from her doctor (James Doohan himself) that she will soon die of an incurable disease. She secretly uses the knowledge to get her affairs in order and test Tal’s ability to take over Garret Ranch when she passes away. On top of that, a vicious cold snap endangers the cattle. Anne Seymour left the series since Lucia died.   

EPISODE 24: DOWN THERE THE WORLD – Ruthless businesswoman Neva Bradford (Joanna Barnes) takes control of a processing plant that the Garrets need in their petroleum business. She tries to ruin them and acquire all their holdings.

EPISODE 25: BURNOUT – The series was still trying anything to forge a new path after the departure of Terry Moore and Anne Seymour. The U.S. Forest Service gets the Garret Ranch involved in a water pollution problem that gets complicated by a murder. Karen Steele, Byron Morrow and Bill Zuckert guest starred.

EPISODE 26: HIDDEN ASSET – A bank refuses to float a loan to the Garret Ranch unless they trim their payroll by laying off several employees. Redigo and Tal struggle with the decision of who must go. Barbara Bain, Lon Chaney, Jr. and William Windom guest starred.

EPISODE 27: ARROW IN THE SKY – No storyline was too crazy at this point. A former Hungarian freedom fighter (Telly Frickin’ Savalas) comes to Mesa in search of his long-lost son. Telly runs into trouble with fellow Hungarians in a barber shop. Why not throw in Martians at this point? Russell Johnson had a supporting role.

EPISODE 28: NOBODY DIES ON SATURDAY – A prison escapee (Don Gordon) comes to the Garret Ranch looking to kill Redigo for helping to put him behind bars several years earlier. Guest starred Harry Dean Stanton and William Schallert.

EPISODE 29: 65 MILES IS A LONG, LONG WAY – Joe Horvath (Claude Akins) is back in town, and he rooks the Garret Ranch into joining him in a publicity stunt – an old-fashioned cattle drive with no modern vehicles. Largely a comic relief episode. Hank Patterson and Jena Enstrom were along for the ride.

EPISODE 30: DUET FOR EIGHT WHEELS – Redigo is paralyzed from the waist down after getting trampled by a horse. Hey, why not? He falls in love with a female paraplegic (Inger Stevens) who is helping him through his situation. A risky operation restores his ability to walk.

EPISODE 31: BETWEEN FRIDAY AND MONDAY – Paul Moreno gets a love story in this episode. In town for a wild weekend, he winds up in an unlikely romance with a woman (Joan Hackett) on her way to join a convent. Naomi Stevens guest starred. 

EPISODE 32: THE CONVENTION – Another comic relief episode as Redigo, Tal and Paul attend a Stockman’s Convention and wind up romancing but striking out with three ladies. Anne Helm, Diane Brewster, and Jean Willes played the ladies. Alan Hale, Jr. and L.Q. Jones also guest starred.

*** NOTE: That was the last episode of Empire, but the following season NBC brought back Richard Egan as Jim Redigo, who had left the Garret Ranch, sold his other spread and bought a new patch of land to call his own. The spinoff series was titled Redigo, ran for only a half-hour and lasted just 15 episodes. Roger Davis and Elena Verdugo co-starred. 

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