Lancer (TV series) explained

Genre:Western
Creator:Samuel A. Peeples
Director:Various
Theme Music Composer:Jerome Moross
Country:United States
Language:English
Num Seasons:2
Num Episodes:51
Camera:Single-camera
Runtime:48 mins.
Company:20th Century-Fox Television
Channel:CBS

Lancer is an American Western television series that aired Tuesdays at 7:30 pm (Eastern Time) on CBS from September 24, 1968, to June 23, 1970. The series stars Andrew Duggan as a father with two half-brother sons, played by James Stacy and Wayne Maunder.

Synopsis

Duggan starred as Murdoch Lancer, the patriarch of the Lancer family. Maunder played Scott Lancer, the educated older son and a veteran of the Union Army. Stacy played gunslinger Johnny Madrid Lancer. Paul Brinegar appeared as Jelly Hoskins and Elizabeth Baur played Murdoch Lancer's ward Teresa O'Brien.

Lancer lasted for 51 hour-long episodes and was shot in color. It was rerun on CBS during the summer of 1971.

Cast

Guest stars included Joe Don Baker, Noah Beery, Jr., Scott Brady, Ellen Corby, Bruce Dern, Jack Elam, Sam Elliott, Beverly Garland, Kevin Hagen, Ron Howard, Wright King, Cloris Leachman, Barbara Luna, George Macready, Warren Oates, Stefanie Powers, Tom Selleck, and William Tannen.

Episodes

Season 2 (1969–70)

Production

The pilot episode, "The High Riders", was mostly filmed on location in and around the hacienda now located within the Santa Lucia Preserve. All interior shots of the hacienda in subsequent episodes were filmed on a sound stage in Hollywood, recreated from photographs of the original.

In popular culture

The 2019 movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood incorporates a fictionalized account of the filming of Lancer's pilot episode, depicting fictional actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) appearing as a villain in the episode. Director Sam Wanamaker and series stars James Stacy and Wayne Maunder are depicted. Additional scenes are featured in the novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, as well depicting other actors, including Andrew Duggan.