Synopsis of Saturday Morning Show

"Anything you can do I can do better," sang Annie Oakley in the musical Annie Get Your Gun, and in 1952, the character set out to prove it.

The popular syndicated series Annie Oakley was based on the real-life story of the legendary sharp shooter. Born in 1860, Oakley developed her talent with a gun at an early age. Her father had died when she was young, and she was forced to hunt for her own food.

Annie grew up to beat countless men in a number of shooting contests, and she offered free shooting lessons for women so that they could do the same. Oakley later became a rodeo star in Wild Bill Hickock’s Wild, Wild West Show before her life became the subject of Annie Get Your Gun.

Her foray into the world of Western televisions shows, a genre entirely dominated by men, was backed by Gene Autry's Flying A Productions. Gail Davis portrayed Oakley, bringing her own horse Target to the job, and performing most of her own stunt work. Set in the town of Diablo, the show was geared towards children, who thrilled to the heroic Wild West exploits of Annie, her younger brother Tagg and Sheriff Lofty Craig.

The show ran for four years in original syndication, and though it never reached the cult status of many of its male counterparts, Annie Oakley proved that the American West wasn't just a gentlemen's club.

Release History

1952 - 1956

TV Sub Categories

live-action

TV Studio

Flying A Productions

Television Cast

Annie Oakley Gail Davis
Sheriff Lofty Craig Brad Johnson
Tagg Oakley Jimmy Hawkins
Curley Dawes Roscoe Ates
Mary Farnsworth Wendy Drew
Trudy Shelley Fabaraes
Gloria Marshall Sally Fraser
Miss Curtis Mary Ellen Kay
Marge Hardy (1954) Virginia Lee
Alias 'Annie Oakley' Nan Leslie
Penny Judy Nugent
Helen Lacey Jacqueline Park
Tom Conrad (1954) Fess Parker
Priscilla Bishop Gloria Talbott

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