RIVERBOAT (1959-1961) – We are less than a week away from Frontierado 2023, observed on Friday August 4th this year. For a combination Frontierado and Forgotten Television post Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at some of the best episodes of the old western series Riverboat.
This series starred Darren McGavin himself as high-stakes gambler Grey Holden, who won the riverboat Enterprise (yes, really) in a poker game. Holden settled down and tried to make a living with the vessel, taking it from New Orleans all up and down the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
Grey Holden captained the Enterprise, but the more experienced Chief Pilot was Ben Frazer, played by the one and only Burt Reynolds. Riverboat was, for a television western, atypically set during the 1830s and 1840s. Some of my favorite episodes are historical fiction, featuring our heroes aiding Texas rebels during the Texas Revolution, clashing with river pirates, or encountering young Abraham Lincoln and a few other historical figures here and there. Continue reading
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