It's all
over for Alias Smith and Jones. This month the show will
air for the last time, because ABC has canceled it in mid-season
due to low ratings.
It's all
over for Alias Smith and Jones. This month the show will
air for the last time, because ABC has canceled it in mid-season
due to low ratings.
It's been a rough road all along for "Smith & Jones". The first season it starred Pete Duel and Ben Murphy, and both seemed on their way to stardom. But there always seemed to be problems--production was always behind schedule, people on the set didn't get along, and tension was everywhere.
Then came the tragic and unexpected death of Pete Duel, leaving everyone in shock. In the midst of their personal sorrow a replacement had to be found to keep the show going. He was found in the person of Roger Davis, who had been doing the voice-overs on the show and was familiar with the character of Joshua Heyes [sic].
As hard as Ben and Roger worked to make the show a success, the rating continued to fall, until the network took it off a weekly scheduled and aired it only three weeks out of every four.
And now it's been killed altogether. For Ben and Roger the cancellation wasn't unexpected, but it was still sad. They'd come to love and show and the people on it.
Ben has just finished an episode of Love, American Style and has been working out at a gym a lot, trying to get into peak physical shape. He has no definite plans for the future yet, but something's bound to come up for this talented actor.
Roger is still under contract to Universal Studios, so we'll probably be seeing him as guest star on several different shows. He's looking for a good movie but wouldn't mind getting another series. But right now the thing he's looking forward to most is a vacation!
With both Alias Smith and Jones
and Bonanza going off the air, the only weekly western
left on TV now is Gunsmoke.
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