Sugarfoot

Sugarfoot had no relation to the 1951 Randolph Scott Western film Sugarfoot aside from the studio owning the title (and the theme music), but its pilot episode was a remake of a 1954 Western film called The Boy from Oklahoma starring Will Rogers Jr. as Tom Brewster. The pilot episode, "Brannigan's Boots", not only recycled the plot from The Boy from Oklahoma but also featured Sheb Wooley and Slim Pickens reprising their roles from the film.

As played by Rogers in the film, Brewster carried no gun, disliked firearms in general, and vanquished villains with his roping skills (à la Will Rogers) if friendly persuasion failed. Perhaps for practical reasons, the pilot altered the character slightly and made Brewster more like the typical Western hero—reluctant to use guns (or any other kind of violence), but able and willing to do so if necessary. That remained his stance throughout the series, and the title song mentions that Sugarfoot carries a rifle and a law book.

Whenever he enters a saloon, Sugarfoot refuses liquor and orders sarsaparilla "with a dash of cherry". (Sarsaparilla is a drink similar to root beer, neither of which is alcoholic.)

Sugarfoot was one of the earliest products of the alliance between ABC and the fledgling Warner Bros. Television Department, chaired by William T. Orr. During the same period, other similar programs appeared, including Maverick, Cheyenne, Bronco, Lawman, and Colt.45. Hutchins appeared as Sugarfoot in crossover episodes of Cheyenne and Maverick, and in an installment of Bronco called "The Yankee Tornado" with Peter Breck as a young Theodore Roosevelt. Jack Kelly appeared as Bart Maverick in the Sugarfoot episode "A Price on His Head". James Garner made an appearance as Bret Maverick at the end of the episode "Misfire".

Cast of "Brannigan's Boots"

• Will Hutchins as Tom "Sugarfoot" Brewster
• Merry Anders as Katie Brannigan
• Louis Jean Heydt as Paul Evans
• Dennis Hopper as Billy the Kid
• Arthur Hunnicutt as Pop Purty
• Chubby Johnson as Postmaster Wally Higgins
• Slim Pickens as Shorty
• Ainslie Pryor as Mayor Barney Turlock
• Sheb Wooley as Pete

Cast of The Boy from Oklahoma film (1954)

• Will Rogers Jr. as Sheriff Tom Brewster
• Nancy Olson as Katie Brannigan
• Lon Chaney Jr. as Crazy Charlie
• Anthony Caruso as Mayor Barney Turlock
• Wallace Ford as Postmaster Wally Higgins
• Clem Bevans as Pop Pruty, Justice of the Peace
• Merv Griffin as Steve
• Louis Jean Heydt as Paul Evans
• Sheb Wooley as Pete Martin
• Slim Pickens as Shorty
• Tyler MacDuff as Billy the Kid
• James Griffith as Joe Downey

Guest stars

Season 1: 1957–1958

Season 2: 1958–1959

Season 3: 1959–1960

Season 4: 1960–1961

After several episodes aired in the second season, a disappointed Hutchins complained in a letter to executive director William T. Orr that the scripts were written so that the lead character Sugarfoot was not particularly needed in many of the episodes.

Wayde Preston, who played Christopher Colt on the ABC Western Colt.45, appeared four times in that same role on Sugarfoot in the episodes dealing with "The Canary Kid," a role also played by Will Hutchins.

Sugarfoot finished at #24 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1957–1958 season and #21 for 1958–1959.

Home media

Warner Bros. has released all four seasons on MOD (manufacture on demand) DVD-R's in Region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection.

• In an episode of Arrested Development titled "Spring Breakout", Sugarfoot is mentioned and the theme song is presented.
• The series debuted in 1958 in the United Kingdom but only in the Midlands area. In 1960, it was aired nationally in the UK by the BBC, at which point it was renamed Tenderfoot despite the fact that it kept the theme song which refers to the character as "Sugarfoot". After 1964, the series returned to ITV, this time not just restricted to the Midlands, where it was once again billed under its original name.