Sierra (TV series)

Infobox Television
show_name = Sierra


caption = Title card for "Sierra"
show_name_2 =
genre = police drama
creator = Jack Webb
director =
developer =
presenter =
starring = James G. Richardson
Ernest Thompson
Susan Foster
Jack Hogan
Michael Warren
voices =
narrated =
theme_music_composer = Lee Holdridge and
John Denver [http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/sierra.html "Sierra at classicthemes.com] ]
"performed by"
Denny Brooks [ [http://www.tv-nostalgie.de/sierra.htm "Sierra" at tv-nostalgie.de] ]
opentheme =
endtheme =
composer = "additional music by"
John Denver
country =
language = English
num_seasons = 1
num_episodes = 14 (13 + 1 movie)
list_episodes =
executive_producer = Jack Webb
Robert A. Cinader
producer =
supervising_producer =
asst_producer =
co-producer =
editor =
story_editor =
location = flagicon|California California and
flagicon|Wyoming Wyoming (Yosemite Nat. Park)
camera = multi-camera
runtime = 60 mins.
network = NBC
picture_format = 1.33 : 1 color
audio_format = monoaural
first_run =
first_aired = 12 September 1974
last_aired =
24 December 1974 (full-length movie; series actually cancelled on 12 December 1974)
preceded_by =
followed_by =
related = "Emergency!"
website =
imdb_id = 0071053
tv_com_id = 12265

"Sierra" was a short-lived 1974 television crime drama series focusing on the efforts of National Park Service rangers to enforce federal law and to effect wilderness rescues. The program aired on NBC and was packaged by Jack Webb's Mark VII Limited for Universal Television. John Denver wrote the show's theme song.

etting

The show derived its name from its setting, the fictional Sierra National Park, a part of the U.S. National Park Service. In reality, exteriors were filmed at Yosemite National Park. [http://imdb.com/title/tt0071053/locations "Sierra" (1974) at imdb.com] ] The tenth episode, "The Urban Ranger," established that the park also existed within the same fictional world populated by the characters of "Emergency!," its sister Mark VII show. The series was spun off as a backdoor pilot episode of "Emergency!". [ [http://www.poobala.com/emergencyandsierra.html "Sierra" at Tom Holbrook's Crossovers and Spin Offs Pages.] ] [imdb title|0700330|"The Urban Ranger"]

Cast

Like many Mark VII Limited television dramas, the show centered on a pair of leads in a public service job, backed up by a supporting cast of characters from within the same organization. In this case, the leads were James G. Richardson as Ranger Tim Cassidy and Ernest Thompson as Ranger Matt Harper. The cast was rounded out by their boss, Chief Ranger Jack Moore (Jack Hogan), and fellow rangers Julie Beck (Susan Foster) and P. J. Lewis (Michael Warren).

Cancellation

The show was cancelled after only three months, one of the first casualties of the 1974-75 television season. It has been claimed this was because its "mountain theme" was too similar to that of "The Waltons," which was its direct competition on CBS. Unusually, the show's final outing was in fact a modified version of its previously-unaired pilot, "The Rangers". [ [http://www.tv.com/sierra/the-rangers/episode/321091/summary.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=episodessh&tag=episodes;title;0 "The Rangers" at tv.com.] ]

External links

References