Walking Tall (TV series)
| Walking Tall | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Written by | Lee Sheldon |
| Directed by | Alf Kjellin |
| Starring |
|
| Composer(s) | Edd Kalehoff |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 7 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | David Gerber |
| Producer(s) | Mel Swope |
| Location(s) | Newhall, Santa Clarita, California |
| Cinematography | William Gereghty |
| Editor(s) |
|
| Running time | 60 min |
| Production company(s) | Columbia Pictures Television |
| Distributor | NBC |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | January 17 – June 6, 1981 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows |
|
Walking Tall is an American television drama series that ran on NBC in 1981 for one season of seven episodes. The first 5 episodes aired Saturday nights at 9:00 p.m. (opposite the ABC series The Love Boat). The last 2 episodes aired Tuesday nights at 10:00 p.m. (opposite ABC's Hart to Hart). NBC reran all 7 episodes from April–June 1981. This one-hour show was a continuation of the 1973 film Walking Tall, which was based on the life of McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser. In this series, Pusser is the sheriff of the fictionalized McNeal County, Tennessee, fighting criminals each week in 1969.
Bo Svenson played Pusser, whom he had played before in Walking Tall Part 2 (1975) and Walking Tall: Final Chapter (1977). (Brian Dennehy played Pusser in A Real American Hero in 1978 on CBS).
The rest of the cast included:
- Walter Barnes as Carl Pusser
- Harold Sylvester as Deputy Aaron Fairfax
- Courtney Pledger as Deputy Joan Litton
- Jeff Lester as Deputy Grady Spooner
- Heather McAdam as Dwanna Pusser
- Rad Daly as Michael Pusser
L.Q. Jones appeared in one segment as John Witter, Pusser's long-time nemesis.
Guest stars included Robert Englund, William Windom, Chuck Connors, Merlin Olsen, Ralph Bellamy, Gail Strickland, James MacArthur, and Art Hindle.
The theme song "Walking Tall" was sung by Brad Mercer. At the time, Svenson was the highest-paid actor in a television series.
Episodes
| Nº | Title | Directed by: | Written by: | Air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Killing of McNeal County's Children" | Alf Kjellin | Stephen Downing | 17 January 1981 |
| Sheriff Buford Pusser investigates when two teenagers are hospitalized after smoking potent PCP cigarettes. | ||||
| 2 | "The Protectors of the People" | Daniel Haller | Donald R. Boyle | 24 January 1981 |
| Racial tensions inflame in McNeal County when three Ku Klux Klan members impersonate black men and attack a white girl. | ||||
| 3 | "Kidnapped" | John Florea | Paul Savage | 31 January 1981 |
| Bank robbers take Sheriff Pusser's father hostage. | ||||
| 4 | "Hitman" | Alf Kjellin | Robert E. Swanson | 7 February 1981 |
| Sheriff Pusser goes against his childhood friend, now a paid assassin assigned to murder Buford. | ||||
| 5 | "Company Town" | Harvey S. Laidman | Lee Sheldon | 14 February 1981 |
| Sheriff Pusser investigates the disappearance of a miner who has inflamed his bosses with vocal complaints about low wages and unsafe working conditions. | ||||
| 6 | "Deadly Impact" | Alexander Singer | Gregory S. Dinallo | 24 March 1981 |
| After an old friend is murdered by chemical company workers dumping excess toxic waste, Sheriff Pusser teams up with a whistle-blowing company employee to solve the case. | ||||
| 7 | "The Fire Within" | Phil Bondelli | Lee Sheldon | 31 March 1981 |
| Sheriff Pusser butts heads with an idealistic priest who learns of a gunrunning ring during confession, but whose vows prevent him from sharing his knowledge with the law. | ||||
- These air dates are from the book "Television Drama Programming: A Comprehensive Chronicle, 1980-1982", by Larry James Gianakos (Scarecrow Press, 1983, hardcover).
- TV GUIDE, 1981 issues
DVD release
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 on March 7, 2006.[1]