Wanted: Dead or Alive is an American Western television series starring Steve McQueen as the bounty hunter Josh Randall. It aired on CBS for three seasons from 1958–61. The black-and-white program was a spin-off of a March 1958 episode of Trackdown, a 1957–59 western series starring Robert Culp. Both series were produced by Four Star Television in association with CBS Television. The series launched McQueen into becoming the first television star to cross over into comparable status on the big screen.
The peaks and the valleys. Find the essential episodes — and the ones to skip.
Josh reluctantly takes a job protecting a beautiful deaf, mute, teenage girl and keeping everyone off the father's place for a day or two. Although initially bored, Josh starts to develop a relationship with the friendly girl.
When, as a favor to a friend, Josh escorts a beautiful woman to a trial that could see her hang for killing her husband, her lover and a foreman, she uses all her seductive charm on him to convince him she is really innocent.
Randall is rooked out of his bounty by crafty criminal Hunt Willis and his accomplice. Not one to accept defeat, Josh turns detective to rout the outlaws, his investigation dogged by the suspicious sheriff, a cousin to Willis.
A decidedly different and dangerous assignment awaits Josh when he agrees to go into the Apache camp and compete in their contests to win the hand of a white woman the Indians kidnapped as a child and have raised as their own.
Each point is an episode, plotted in order. Colored bands mark season boundaries. Look for the rise, the plateau, or the decline.
High votes + high rating = beloved classic. High votes + low rating = notorious stinker. Low votes + high rating = hidden gem.
One point per season. Smooths out the episode-to-episode noise to reveal the bigger arc.
Did each season build or fizzle? Green means the finale outscored the premiere. Red means the opposite. Longer arrows, bigger swings.
How steady is each season? Tightly clustered dots mean reliable quality. Scattered dots mean a wild ride.
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