These articles from August and November 2012 in "The Hollywood Reporter" point out something that is a fact in television today: the Western is making a comeback. This trend combined with the viewers’ desire for more retro fare popularized by shows like AMC’s "Mad Men," and their love of "show within a show" style comedies like NBC’s "30 Rock," makes the new show we’re pitching here at Griffal Productions an idea who’s time has come.

Created by Al Quagliata and John Griffin, "Montrose Buchanan: United States Marshal" takes place in the fictitious Sleepy Holler Territory during the 1870’s where the Marshal fights to make the old west safe with the help of his faithful deputy, Tucker Hogue, and Buck Verplanck, owner of a local mail delivery service called "The Donkey Express." It’s actually a "show within a show"; the year is 1955 and the title character is a washed up actor from B-movie westerns named Jack Prager who’s agent gets him cast on the condition that he agree to accept the character of Buck being played by the show’s sponsor Bert Hoobler, president of The Allied Tobacco Company. Hoobler, a former vaudevillian turned businessman, wants to get "back in the showbiz" and decides the new medium of television is a great way to revive his performing career, advertise his company’s product and save an actor’s salary because he figures to make so much profit from increased sales that he can afford to play the role of Buck for free. He spends big money to have a program created and proceeds to make Prager’s life hell not only with his terrible, burlesque style acting but by being ridiculously demanding. A real tightwad, his main demand is that Prager play multiple characters to save him money. As a result Prager not only plays Montrose, but also the Marshal’s arch enemies, the villanous I.C. Sleet and his brother Haylen. Adding to their already contemptous relationship is the fact that both men are in love with Jennifer Caswick, the actress who plays saloon keeper Kit Ohnah and who also happens to be Prager’s ex–wife.

Two things dominated television in the 1950s when our "show within a show" takes place; westerns and the tobacco companies that sponsored them. Marshal Buchanan chases down law breakers and varmints as he extolls the pleasures of smoking "Old Saddle Cigarettes", the main brand made by the show’s sponsor. As Marshal Buchanan says: "Whenever I'm finished gunning down a vicious desperado on a crowded public street, there's nothing I like better than a good smoke." Cigarette ads from this period would talk about smoking as if it were the greatest thing and would even insinuate that there were health benefits to it. Our program lambastes this by showing the Marshal near death, not from shootouts but from smoking, as pitchman in the satrical commercials which will appear in the show.

"Old Saddle Cigarettes" commercials and scenes from the western are in black and white; scenes outside of the western are in color. The above clips are from a trailer made in 2006 and feature the song "Montrose Buchanan’s Theme," composed and performed by Al Quagliata, with Al and Robert J. Gill playing various characters from the show. An "old film" effect has been added to each clip to give the impression of a long lost kinescope or print found in a vault. We have a pitch and pilot script ready to go along with the story arc for the first season and some commercial parodies for "Old Saddle Cigarettes," to give you a general idea of the concept. If you're from a broadcast or cable network and have an interest please CONTACT US here at Griffal Productions.