Sergeant Preston of the Yukon (TV series)

Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
Richard Simmons as Sergeant Preston with Yukon King, 1955
Created by	George W. Trendle Fran Striker
Starring	Richard Simmons
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	78
Production
Running time	22–24 minute
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	September 29, 1955 – September 25, 1958

Sergeant Preston of the Yukon was a television series which followed from the radio drama Challenge of the Yukon.

Richard Simmons starred as Sgt. Preston, and was supported by his dog Yukon King and horse Rex, now played by real animals. The dog cast as King was not a husky, however, but a large Alaskan Malamute. Charles Livingstone, who had worked on the radio version, directed several episodes. Though no plotlines seem to have been re-used from the radio show, they were generally built upon the same themes.

Mainly filmed at Ashcroft, Colorado, the series was telecast on CBS from September 29, 1955, to September 25, 1958. The first two seasons were produced by Trendle-Campbell-Meurer, and the show was broadcast in the same time slot as ABC's The Lone Ranger. In its last season, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon was purchased and produced by the Jack Wrather Corporation.

Sponsorship

In 1955, the Quaker Oats company gave away land in the Klondike as part of the Klondike Big Inch Land Promotion which was tied in with the television show. Genuine deeds each to one square inch of a lot in Yukon Territory, issued by Klondike Big Inch Land Co. Inc., were inserted into Quaker's Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice cereal boxes.^[1]

DVD/Syndication

Timeless Media Group released a 2-disc best-of set featuring 10 episodes from the series on DVD in Region 1 on November 21, 2006.^[2]

Infinity Entertainment has released all 3 seasons of the series on DVD in Region 1.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

In May 2016, the series resurfaced on U.S. TV, airing weekday mornings on the action/adventure/western oriented GRIT classic TV/movie network.

Cast

• Richard Simmons as Sergeant William Preston
• Yukon King (dog)
• Rex (horse)

Guest stars

The guest stars on Sergeant Preston included:

• Francis De Sales appeared in five episodes, concluding as Cy Bartok in "The Diamond Collar".
• Kelo Henderson, a future Golden Boot winner who appeared as Pete Hollis in the 1958 episode "Escape to the North".
• Ed Hinton appeared twice in 1956 as Barry Jeffers in "Remember the Maine" and as Lefty "Red" Burke in "The Rookie".
• I. Stanford Jolley guest starred as Sam Haley in "The Fancy Dan" (1956) and as Frisco in "Gold Rush Patrol" (1958)
• Tyler MacDuff appeared as Bill Corey in "Lost River Roundup" in 1957
• John M. Pickard appeared four times in 1956-1957 in different roles, including the role of Red Brody in "Old Ben's Gold".

References

1. Juliano, Frank, "Oatmeal lots gave officials indigestion", pp 1, A12, October 3, 2010, Connecticut Post
2. "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon: Sergeant Preston, N/a: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
3. "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon: The Complete 1st Season Import: Amazon.ca: Dick Simmons, Yukon King, Lyn Thomas, Richard Avonde, Chuck Webster, Lane Bradford, Mark Sheeler, Tom Keene, Jack Kenny, Vic Perrin, Bert Rumsey, Rex, Alan Crosland Jr., Charles D. Livingstone, Chuck Skinner, Eddie Dew, John Peyser, Andre Bohen, Dan Beattie, Don Leigh: DVD". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
4. "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon: Season 2 [Import]: Amazon.ca: Dick Simmons, Yukon King: DVD". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
5. "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon: Season 3 [Import]: Amazon.ca: DVD". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
6. "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon: Complete Season 1 : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". Dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
7. "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon: Complete Season 2 : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". Dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 2014-04-22.

External links

• Sergeant Preston of the Yukon at TV.com
• Sergeant Preston of the Yukon at the Internet Movie Database