'Trackdown' star Robert Culp gave his opinion on Westerns
Everyone had something to say about Westerns. The genre dominated Hollywood and television in the '50s and '60s. While some people never wanted its reign to end, others turned to sitcoms and variety shows for entertainment. Robert Culp, who starred as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman in Trackdown, set in the 1870s, shared his opinion on the genre and its content.
"The traditional Western format is a terrible thing. I hate it, but that doesn't mean you can't do some wonderful things within it," he told The Portland Press Herald in 1957. "There have been a few fine Western pictures – I can think of one or two – and there's Gunsmoke. I think it does consistently the best job of all the shows."
"The trouble with doing a Western is that the audience is automatically halfway ahead of you all the time. It knows just what you're going to do. I don't know why exactly, except that there are so many formula things in a Western," he added.
You might be thinking, "Well, isn't Trackdown a Western? Why did he star in it if he felt that way about the genre?" It is, and he had thoughts about his own show as well.
"It shouldn't be a Western. I mean, aside from the fact that it takes place in the West. Who cares? No, I'll take that back. A lot of little kids care, but that doesn't necessarily make for good work."