Empire (1962 TV series) explained

Runtime:	60 minutes
Country:	United States
Network:	NBC
Related:	Redigo
Num Seasons:	1
Num Episodes:	32

Empire is an hour-long Western television series set on a 1960s 500000acres ranch in New Mexico, starring Richard Egan, Terry Moore, Ryan O'Neal and Charles Bronson.^[1] It ran on NBC from September 25, 1962, to May 14, 1963.

After NBC cancelled the original series due to low ratings, a later version was made to rename it to Redigo (instead of having a 2nd season), truncated from one-hour episodes to half hour episodes, in black and white instead of color, and again starring Egan as Redigo. That version only ran for a partial season. However, even after NBC cancelled the original series in 1963 due to low ratings, ABC reran the show on Sundays, 7:30-8:30pm, on the partial part of the 1963-64 network television season, on Spring 1964.

In the UK the series was shown in the London ITV area (Associated-Rediffusion) under the title Big G, from Jun 12th 1963 to Jan 16th 1964.

In 1965 Columbia Pictures released the pilot episode as a film called This Rugged Land^[2] outside the US.

Cast

Main cast

• Richard Egan as Jim Redigo (both versions 1 and 2)
• Ryan O'Neal as Tal Gerret (both versions 1 and 2)
• Terry Moore as Connie Gerret (version 1)
• Anne Seymour as Lucia Gerret (version 1)
• Charles Bronson as Moreno (version 2)
• Warren Vanders as Chuck (version 2)

Guest stars

Guest stars who appeared on Empire included:

• Inger Stevens
• Philip Abbott
• Barry Atwater
• Barbara Bain
• Roy Barcroft
• Joanna Barnes
• Ed Begley
• Diane Brewster
• Joyce Bulifant
• Walter Burke
• James T. Callahan
• Lon Chaney Jr.
• Pat Conway
• Ray Danton
• John Dehner
• Lawrence Dobkin
• Keir Dullea
• Sharon Farrell
• Joan Freeman
• Leo Gordon

• Frank Gorshin
• Harold Gould
• Dabbs Greer
• Virginia Gregg
• James Gregory
• James Griffith
• Joan Hackett
• Don C. Harvey
• Anne Helm
• Clegg Hoyt
• Arch Johnson
• L. Q. Jones
• Richard Jordan
• Victor Jory
• Gail Kobe
• Harvey Korman
• Bethel Leslie
• Joanne Linville
• Ralph Meeker

• Roger Mobley
• Bill Mumy
• Dan O'Herlihy
• Dennis Patrick
• Ford Rainey
• Gilman Rankin
• Chris Robinson
• Telly Savalas
• Karen Steele
• Robert J. Stevenson
• Harold J. Stone
  • Frank Sutton Ray Teal
• Russell Thorson
• Tom Tully
• John Vivyan
• Eddy Waller
• William Windom

Film/TV production crew

• Executive producer:
  • William Sackheim (E14)
  • Hal Hudson (E18, E26)
• Producer:
  • Frank Pierson (E14)
  • Andy White (E18, E26)
• Assistant to the Producer:
  • Ernest Nims (E14)
  • David Bretherton (E18, E26)
• Story executive:
  • Anthony Wilson (E14)
  • Sidney Biddell (E18)
  • Tom Crow (E26)
• Theme music: Johnny Green
• Created by: Kathleen Hite
• Director of photography: Charles S. Welborn
• Art director: Robert Peterson
• Film editor:
  • Harry Gerstad (also a part of the A.C.E.) (E14, E26)
  • Joseph Silver (E18)
  • David Bretherton (E30)
• Set decorator:
  • Sidney Clifford (E18, E26)
  • Louis Diage (E30)
• Make-up supervisor: Ben Lane (also a part of the S.M.A.)
• Music supervisor: Irving Friedman
• Music editor: Igo Kantor
• Sound effects editor: Jack Kirschner
• Technical advisor: Noel Smith (E30)
• Production supervisor: Seymour Friedman
• Post-production supervisor: Lawrence Werner
• Assistant director: John Bloss

Notes and References

1. Book: Terrance, Vincent. Complete Encyclopedia of Television Programs (1947 - 1979). A. S. Barnes and Co.. Cranbury, New Jersey. 1979. 1. 138. 0-498-02488-1.
2. pp. 230-231 Pitts, Michael R. Charles Bronson: The 95 Films and the 156 Television Appearances McFarland 30 June 2003