{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox television | image = wtown.jpg | caption = Original title card for the series | runtime = 30 minutes | starring = {{Plainlist| * Joel McCrea * Jody McCrea * Carlos Romero * George Neise * Robert Foulk }} | country = United States | network = NBC | first_aired = {{start date|1959|9|30}} | last_aired = {{end date|1960|4|6}} | num_seasons = 1 | num_episodes = 26 }} [[File:Joel McCrea Mike Dunbar Wichita Town 1959.JPG|thumb|upright|Joel McCrea as Mike Dunbar]] thumb|upright|Jody McCrea and Joel McCrea in ''Wichita Town'' (1959)
'''''Wichita Town''''' is a half-hour Western television series starring Joel McCrea, Jody McCrea, Carlos Romero, and George Neise that aired on NBC from September 30, 1959, until September 23, 1960.<ref name="McNeil">{{cite book|last=McNeil |first=Alex |title=Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-02-4916-8 |date=1996| page=913 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dctkAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref name="Brooks_and_Marsh">{{Cite book|last1=Brooks|first1=Tim|author-link=Tim Brooks (historian)|last2=Marsh|first2=Earle F.|title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present|publisher=Ballantine Books|year=2007|page=1518|isbn=978-0-345-49773-4|location=New York|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC}}</ref>
Joel McCrea played Marshal Mike Dunbar, in charge of keeping the peace in the booming cattle town of Wichita, Kansas. His deputies were Ben Matheson, played by McCrea's real life son, Jody, and Rico Rodriquez, portrayed by Carlos Romero. Making occasional appearances were the town doctor, Nat Wyndham (played by George Neise), the blacksmith, Aeneas MacLinahan (played by Robert Anderson), and the bartender in the local saloon, Joe Kingston, played in six episodes by Robert Foulk.
The model for shows such as these had already been laid out by other Westerns such as ''Gunsmoke'', ''Lawman'', and ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'', so ''Wichita Town'' may not have been unique in its plotting and structure.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024|reason=in general, this is self evident, but as worded it is clear OR}} The two most unusual features about the series were the presence of Joel McCrea, a favorite of Western film audiences for his performance in such films as ''Union Pacific'', ''Buffalo Bill'', and ''Ramrod'', and the fact that his real life son was in ''Wichita Town'', but did not play his son.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024|reason=partially synth from credits, but would need source to say these were notable as worded}} ''Wichita Town'' was produced by Mirisch Company and Joel McCrea's Production company for Four Star Television and aired for a single season.
==Guest stars== *Richard Coogan, formerly of NBC's ''The Californians'', was cast as the Reverend Nichols in "The Devil's Choice" (1959). *Ben Cooper, as Tom Warren in "Passage to the Enemy" *Dennis Cross, as Fred Keever in "Second Chance" (1960) *Gene Evans, earlier of ''My Friend Flicka'', as Otis Stockert in "The Frontiersman" (1960) *Yvonne Lime Fedderson, as Fran in "Biggest Man in Town" (1959) *Frank Ferguson, as Mayor Eric Holbein in "The Night the Cowboys Roared" (1959) and "The Frontiersman (1960) *Jock Gaynor's first acting appearance was as Joe Malone in ''Wichita Town''. Later that year he landed a supporting role on another NBC Western, ''Outlaws''. *Ron Hagerthy, formerly of ''Sky King'', as Tod in "Biggest Man in Town" (1959) *Ron Hayes, as Scotty in the episode "Sidekicks" *I. Stanford Jolley, as Smokey, and John McIntire, as Frank Matheson prior to his Chris Hale starring role in ''Wagon Train'', were cast together in the episode "Paid in Full". *Keith Larsen, star of NBC's ''Northwest Passage'', appeared on ''Wichita Town'' in the role of the Indian, Blue Raven, in "Seed of Hate" (1960). *Nan Leslie, formerly of NBC's ''The Californians'', cast on ''Wichita Town'' as Margaret Cook in "Day of Battle" (1959) *Suzanne Lloyd, as Laura in "Afternoon in Town" and "Sidekicks" (1960) *Mort Mills, as Pete Bennett in "Man on the Hill" (1959) *John M. Pickard, formerly of ''Boots and Saddles'', appeared twice in episodes "Wyndham's Way" and as a character named Bain in the episode "Second Chance". *Robert F. Simon, as Walt McCloud in "Second Chance"
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0052525|Wichita Town}}
Category:1959 American television series debuts Category:1960 American television series endings Category:Black-and-white American television shows Category:NBC Western dramas Category:Television series by Four Star Television Category:Television series by MGM Television Category:Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Category:Television shows set in Kansas Category:1950s Western (genre) television series Category:1960s Western (genre) television series