Remember this? Sky King–the only TV Western hero who flew his own airplane, which he called, affectionately, Songbird.
Sky King started as a radio show in 1946 and ran on television from 1951 through 1962–quite long-lived for a TV series. It starred Kirby Grant as Sky King, who always caught the bad guys but never killed them, and Gloria Winters as his niece and co-pilot, Penny. I had kind of a crush on her when I was 11. I wonder if my other girlfriends at the time, Jean Simmons and Lee Remick, ever got jealous.
Anyway, this little clip ought to bring back pleasant memories. It was such a can’t-miss idea–a Western with an airplane–you wonder why it took so long to think of it.
From what I’ve heard, Lee Remick was heartbroken and never truly recovered. 🙂
It IS a great idea for a show. Back in those days of inexpensive fuel and general prosperity, airplanes were within reach for a lot more people. These days, Sky King would have had to be in the top .01%, income-wise, to afford to flit about in a gas guzzler like Songbird. But it sure would have been fun.
I had an uncle that was a pilot and loved flying with him. When I grew up, I became a pilot myself and worked in aviation for years. Ah, the good old days. These days, I make more in a day than I did in the average week back when I was flying and I could no more afford to rent a plane than I could afford to buy a new Mercedes.
We used to watch “Sky King” at our house growing up. I had no idea it was on TV for so long. How did they come up with enough plots to make it interesting? Maybe it was the neat scenery of the show that helped its long life.
What an interesting idea…Western in an airplane!