When you think of the best Lee Majors roles, you think of Colonel Steve Austin in “The Six Million Dollar Man” and Colt Seavers in “The Fall Guy.” But the man was a prolific actor whose filmography includes guest spots on some of the best TV shows of the 1960s and ’70s. At one point, Majors appeared on ABC’s Western series “Alias Smith and Jones,” which was notable in its time for its mix of comedic and serious tones. Today, however, it’s been mostly forgotten.
“Alias Smith and Jones” started life as a 1970 TV movie entitled “The Young Country.” Roy Huggins, who’d previously created such classic Western TV series as “Maverick” and the detective drama series “The Rockford Files,” produced, wrote, and directed “The Young Country” as a backdoor pilot for the show that would eventually become “Alias Smith and Jones.” Whereas the film starred Walter Brennan and Joan Hackett, with Roger Davis and Pete Duel in supporting roles, the TV show put Duel in a starring role as Hannibal Heyes/Joshua Smith opposite Ben Murphy as Kid Curry/Thaddeus Jones. Davis, meanwhile, provided narration for the series, but would later be brought in to replace Duel under tragic circumstances.
The show itself was significantly different to the film. Huggins took on an executive producer role, with producer Glen A. Larson stepping in to rework the basic concept into a series more agreeable to the ABC suits. “Alias Smith and Jones” was a result. The show debuted in January 1971 and ran for three seasons until January 1973, during which time it welcomed a pre-“Six Million Dollar Man” Majors.
Lee Majors was no stranger to Westerns when he stopped by Alias Smith and Jones
Lee Majors made his TV debut in genre-defining Western series “Gunsmoke” before starring as Heath Barkley on “The Big Valley” between 1965 and 1969. After “The Big Valley” came to an end Majors joined another iconic Western series, pairing with James Drury for the final season of “The Virginian.” The show was renamed to “The Men from Shiloh” but the name change and Majors’ presence did little to help its fortunes and it was canceled in 1971. But it didn’t take long for Majors to venture back to the Old West. The following year he landed a guest spot on “Alias Smith and Jones,” appearing in Season 2, Episode 16, “The McCreedy Bust: Going, Going, Gone!”
By this point, the show had been running for a year, and had found a groove by combining comedy and drama in a way few Western series ever had. With its titular pairing, the series also evoked the feel of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” the legendary Paul Newman and Robert Redford Western which premiered two years prior to “Alias Jones and Smith.”
The show followed Pete Duel’s Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy’s Kid Curry, two cousins who after spending years as outlaws agree to clean up their act in order to gain amnesty and wipe their record clean. Heyes takes on the alias Joshua Smith while Curry becomes Thaddeus Jones and the pair attempt to live on the straight and narrow, despite the fact they’re still wanted men until their amnesty agreement kicks in. When Lee Majors showed up, he didn’t make it easy for the former outlaws.
Lee Majors played a bully in Alias Smith and Jones
“The McCreedy Bust: Going, Going, Gone!” sees Burl Ives’ rancher Big Mac McCreedy attempt to recruit Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones to steal a bust from Cesar Romero’s Armendariz. Having already tried to do the same in a prior episode, the boys refuse. But they offer to help McCreedy’s men prepare.
Meanwhile, Smith and Jones run afoul of a local bully, Joe Briggs (Lee Majors), who doesn’t take too kindly to their presence. At one point, he even confronts them in a saloon and forces Jones to “do a little jig” in order to be able to keep his gun on his hip. With Jones and his compatriot still unable to get into any trouble without scuppering their amnesty agreement, he obliges, in a scene that sums up the way in which “Alias Smith and Jones” combined comedy and drama to unique effect. Majors is a real piece of work in this episode, and it was no doubt surprising for fans of his work on “The Big Valley.”
The episode aired January 15, 1972, by which time Majors had already landed another lead role on legal drama “Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law.” That series would last until 1974, but by then Majors was playing Steve Austin on “The Six Million Dollar Man.”
Sadly, when Majors’ episode of “Alias Smith and Jones” aired, Pete Duel — on whom Leonardo DiCaprio’s “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” character was based — had already died by suicide on New Years Eve 1971. Rather than canceling the show, however, ABC pushed ahead. Duel was replaced by Roger Davis for the remainder of Season 2 and Season 3.