
Watch Wagon Train
- TV-PG
- 1957
- 8 Seasons
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7.5 (3,346)
Wagon Train is a western television series that ran for eight seasons consisting of 284 episodes; the show was broadcast on NBC during its initial successful period and transferred to ABC when it became less successful. The show was born from the U.S. motion picture Wagon Master that was released in 1950; Wagon Train was first broadcast in 1957 and ended its eight season run in 1965. The lead character of wagon master Major Seth Adams was played into season four by Ward Bond who was replaced by John McIntire after his real life death; Bond had played a similar role in the 1950 Wagon Master movie directed by John Huston. The death of Bond and the departure of lead supporting actor Robert Horton from the role of Flint McCullough during season five marked the beginning of the decline of the show. The first season of Wagon Train tells the story of a group of American settlers travelling to California from Missouri in a convoy of wagons. Each episode in the first season shows a small portion of the journey, including flashbacks telling the backstories of many of the characters and explaining their motives for travelling to California. In almost every episode of Wagon Train the convoy is attacked by Native American's forcing the wagons of the train to form a circle for protection. To begin the second season a group of the main characters of the show are kidnapped and forced to become crew members on a ship travelling along the southern coast of the U.S.; after escaping the group make their way back to Missouri and set out on another wagon train journey across the country. Unlike the first season the remaining episodes neveer feature an end to the journey back to California with each episode focusing on a character travelling across America with the wagon train.