Descriptive Summary
Trackdown Television
Series
Trackdown
Television Series Archives
1957-1959
Materials are written in English.
82-116
8 in.
Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The
University of Texas at Austin
Trackdown, a television series created by Jack Robinson, aired from 1957
to 1959. Set in the Southwest during the 1870s, Trackdown detailed the adventures of
a fictional Texas Ranger, Hoby Gilman. The archives contain twenty-one scripts in
carbon and mimeographed copy formats, reflecting the episodes of the show during
those two years.
Historical Sketch
Trackdown, a television series created by Jack Robinson,
aired from 1957 to 1959. Set in the Southwest during the 1870s, Trackdown detailed
the adventures of a fictional Texas Ranger, Hoby Gilman. Many of the stories told in
the series were adapted from actual Texas Ranger cases. For that reason, the show
received the official approval of the state of Texas and the Texas Rangers, a
distinction held by no other Western television program.
Scope and Contents
The Trackdown Television Series Archives, 1957-1959, contain twenty-one scripts in
carbon and mimeographed copy formats, reflecting the episodes of the show during
those two years. The collection includes the first and second drafts of the script
of the pilot, Badge of Honor, along with annotations; a letter to Dick Powell at
Twentieth-Century Fox Studios regarding the series, 1957; and a six-page story
outline, 1957. Additionally, the archives contain the final mimeographed scripts for
the other twenty episodes of the show as well as Jack Robinson’s typed, annotated
files on eighteen of the episodes. Furthermore, the collection includes a ten-page
studio script, An Authentic Series about a Great Police Force of the World: The
Texas Rangers, which gives background information about the series and gives its
endorsement by head of the Rangers Homer Garrison as well as a seven-page Zane Grey
Theater script entitled Story Lines Used or Scheduled for Use, 1957.
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Index Terms
Subjects (Persons)
Robinson, Jack
Powell, Dick
Garrison, Homer
Subjects (Organizations)
Trackdown (Television program)--Archives.
Texas Rangers
Twentieth Century-Fox Television, Inc.
Subjects
Television acting--United States
Television scripts
Television--Production and direction--United States
Western television programs--United States
Zane Grey western classics
Places
Culver City (Calif.)
Preferred Citation
Trackdown Television Series Archives, 1957-1959, Dolph
Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Lynn Bell, April 1983.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project, 2009-2011.
Detailed Description of the Papers
Inventory
3P54
Television scripts,
1957-1959
3P55
Television scripts,
1957-1959