Still cleaning up the West

Lest it be thought that all Commercial Television imports are for adult audiences, mention must be made of one of the youngsters’ great favourites: Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys. With his horse Trigger and Bullet the dog, Roy needs little introduction. In fact, his faithful animal friends are now accepted by many people as naturally as their two-legged companion. When Trigger last visited England he stepped from his plane, bowed to a host of friends waiting to greet him, and proceeded to hold a press conference inside one of Britain’s largest hotels!

The famous Palomino stallion often works with Bullet, Roy’s German shepherd dog, in bringing to justice the criminals Roy and his wife Dale pursue in the territory around Paradise Valley. As special trappings for the famous horse Roy has a hand-tooled set of saddle, martingale and bridle (plus chaps and spurs for himself) which are valued at 50,000 dollars.

But Roy is only one of the filmed attractions for younger viewers. Other favourites include Lassie, the dog with near-human attributes, and Superman, the man whose superhuman capabilities enable him to perform feats which we ordinary humans only achieve in our sleep.

Yes, there’s certainly something for everyone in the American programmes ATV is bringing to our British screens.