User Reviews

For the first episode of the series, Steve McQueen as Josh Randall a bounty hunter in the rural west gets his first round in an adventure that is full of excitement.

It all begins when Randall goes into a Marshal's office only to be right in the middle of a jail break. The Marshal is killed and Randall gets one shot in the back of one of the outlaws before passing out. The town, not knowing Randall, believes that Randall was one of the outlaws helping the prisoner, Andy Martin, to escape. Randall, with some muscle, gets out of town and before long is on the trail of Andy Martin and his brother, Carl. It will take him to a small farm house that is suppose to be owned by the Martin family. The same clan that Andy is a member.

A nice way to start off the series with a interesting tale with some nice actors. Michale Landon and Nick Adams do a fine job playing the criminals in this show with Steve McQueen right on the heels. I guess the only real negative in the performance was that it seemed that the Adam;s brothers could have taken McQueen out at any time but left him live, unlike most of the others they meet. But overall, the story kept the interest to the very end. Good watch.

A great cast in this episode. Months later McQueen would throw the scripts out and do his own lines or just use that beautiful smile and blue eyes to convey emotions.

Though not the pilot episode which was on the other Four Star series TRACKDOWN with Robert Culp. this first episode was a good start to a great series. With young actors like Nick Adams, Mike Landon and old veterans like Dabs Greer the course and character of the show was quickly found. Adams is underrated. See his performance in NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS. As an actor. Landon was stuck in teenage delinquent roles. McQueen was asserting himself as the king of cool. For me the template was set. Josh Randell would have sparse lines and and a vulnerability that was different with other western heroes on television at the time. At the end of the show when he explains his aloofness the music cue complements the manner and tone perfectly.'

Wanted: Dead or Alive was a spin-off of Trackdown, from the Season 1, Episode 21 episode that aired March 7, 1958. In its first episode as its own series, it had Nick Adams (later of The Rebel) and Michael Landon (later of Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, and Highway to Heaven) as guest stars. The supporting cast featured Dabbs Greer and Vaughn Taylor.

What makes this episode stand out for me is that sweet Michael Landon plays a cold-hearted killer, and Nick Adams is equally ruthless as his brother. Adams and Landon play villains very well, which was a change of pace for both of them. Steve McQueen as Johh Randall gets the short end of a couple of showdowns with the boys, and it starts to look bad for him.

Vaughn Taylor, who often played a snobby doctor, banker, mayor, or some kind of opinionated townsperson was the sharp-tongued abrasive doctor in this episode, and his fate was another highlight of the episode.

It's a slam-bang opening for the 1958 series. Mc Queen (Josh) shows his athletic skills and hard-eyed glare, though he does get knocked around too. So can he bring back the two robbers to the Las Tunas sheriff and prove his innocence in helping them escape jail. He better, otherwise future cowboy icons Michael Landon (Carl) and Nick Adams (Andy) will miss out on big careers in Bonanza and The Rebel, respectively. Wow, what an up-and-coming cast. And catch Josh's short-barreled rifle, a common type gimmick used to separate cowboy heroes from their many competitors of the time. Note too, how the baddie brothers are humanized in brotherly fashion, a good unexpected feaure. Anyway, Steve shows he's an ace with more than just fast cars and fast women. So do tune in to this hard charger now streaming on both two legs and four.

This cliché-ridden story -- written by the series' producer, and the first broadcast episode -- makes one wonder how "WDA" ever got on the air. It's strictly action, with none of the storytelling variety and dramatic interest that made it a standout Western. Perhaps the strangest omission is that McQueen's adorable drawl is nowhere to be heard.

In fairness, it shows how even experienced producers sometimes have to experiment to find the right elements for a successful show.