grizzledgeezer If there were ever a vote on "Worst TV Series", "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" would be an easy favorite. Its only distinction is that it was voted "Best TV Show of All Time" by the Flocking Institute of America.Other than the handsome color (which looks great on studio sets, but rather washed-out in outdoor scenes), everything about SPOTY (pronounced as if there were two Ts) can summed up in one word -- cheap.The indoor sets are crabbed, and unconvincingly dressed. Outdoors, the same generic cabin is used over and over and over and over. (It's not so much a cabin, as a longish wall with a door in it.)Outdoor scenes jump between location shots and studio sets. (This was normal, especially with Westerns, as outdoor shooting was not only more expensive, but there was no control over weather or the lighting.) Unfortunately, there's only one or two indoor "outdoor" sets, which hardly ever match up with the location shots.Not much can be said for Yukon King, the wonder dog who leads Sergeant Preston's team. He seems to have been cast for affability, rather than the edginess one would expect from a sled dog. He usually sits quietly, or sometimes wanders around the set, to no particular purpose, showing neither enthusiasm nor affection. (Another poster's suggestion, that YK is looking for Milk-Bone handout, seems reasonable.)But the worst thing about SPOTY, the thing that consigns it to the bottom of the barrel, is poor writing. It appears the radio programs were simply re-written for the series. Not only are they aimed at the intelligence of a four-year-old, but the dialog is mostly tedious and often clumsy exposition. And, of course, there's a narrator explaining things for the radio audience. (You could turn off the picture and not miss anything.)Given the low production values and poor scripts, it would be unkind to criticize the acting (though Richard Simmons, as the eponymous hero, brings to his role all the excitement of staring at wallpaper). At least everyone manages to hit their marks and speak clearly.Unlike "The Cisco Kid" or "Adventures of Superman" (two other early syndicated color series), SPOTY is devoid of character or style. There's nothing memorable about it, other than its cheesy lameness.For those not familiar with classical music, the theme is from the overture to Řezníček's "Diana Banana". As with "The Lone Ranger" and "The Green Hornet", George Trendle selected PD classical music so he wouldn't have to pay royalties.PS: I've often wondered why Union Carbide never did TV commercials with "Sergeant Prestone of the Yukon". It would have been a perfect match of product, character, and environment.

aimless-46 The 78 half-hour episodes of the "kiddie" television adventure series "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" were originally broadcast on CBS during the 1955 to 1958 broadcast seasons; and in syndication for many years after. This was one of many transplants to early television from network radio. It was created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker who also put together both the radio and television versions of "The Lone Ranger" and the radio version of "The Green Hornet". At a time of look-alike westerns filmed on the back-lots of Hollywood, "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" offered viewers the white landscape of Canada's Yukon Territory. It was actually filmed each winter in the mountains of Big Bear Lake, in southern California. Like "The Lone Ranger", each week the story's setting and characters were described by the narrator in the opening credits: "Sergeant Preston of the Northwest Mounted Police with Yukon King, swiftest and strongest lead dog breaking the trail in the relentless pursuit of lawbreakers, in the wild days of the Yukon. Back to the days of the Gold Rush, as Sergeant Preston, with his wonder dog, Yukon King, meets the challenge of the Yukon". The gold rush he is talking about occurred in the 1890's as Canada's desolate western frontier found itself suddenly occupied by a swarm of gold crazed miners, cutthroats, and tenderfeet. It was up to Sgt. Preston (his first name is never used) to track down thieves, murderers, and claim jumpers. The job left him no time for romance even though his Boston Blackie mustache, red uniform, puffed-out trousers, and DI hat must have driven the ladies crazy. No doubt the education of baby boomers on NWMP lore was responsible for the successful introduction of "Dudley Do-right" to "Rocky and and His Friends/The Bullwinkle Show" (1959-1964). Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

ccthemovieman-1 Here is another old television show that brings back fond memories. My dad used to get a special charge out of this show, yelling "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" after the introduction. All of kids would excited.What I remember most, to be honest, is Preston's dog, "King" and our hero, played by Dick Simmons, who looked like an honest-to-goodness Mountie, telling the dog at the end of many episodes, "Well, King, this case is closed."If I recall, there was nothing supernatural about this, no Superman or Batman stuff, just a straight action story that most times involved the great scenery of the North. That also made it different as most of the stuff we watched was the either the above or the many good westerns that were available in the '50s. This show offered a totally different atmosphere, although it was the same simple good guys-vs.-bad guys stuff, easy to follow and easy to like.

Bookwus With these words, Sergeant Preston and his loyal dog, Yukon king always got their man. Played by Richard Simmons, Sergeant Preston patrolled the western reaches of the Canadian frontier in the 1890s. Action and justice in such locales as Yellowknife, Dawson, and Whitehorse were seen each Saturday morning by the same kids who had just finished watching The Lone Ranger and Sky King. The series episodes featured stories set against the harsh extremes of the Yukon winter and summers in the Canadian Rockies. To match the climate, Preston would trade his dogsled for his horse, Rex. King was along wherever the good sergeant went.Simmons was the perfect embodiment of Sergeant Preston, the pride of the Northwest Mounted. To this day (despite Due South) when I picture a Mountie......it's always Sergeant Preston. And of those of who watched the show as kids, who can forget that stirring theme music and the words with which Sergeant Preston closed each episode, "Well King, this case is closed."