Shark Bytes

I don't believe this show ever jumped. Encore just aired The Battleground episode. This was the 1st time I had ever seen this epi. I thought it was the pilot while I was watching because it introduced all the characters and how they came to be in Cimarron. Magnificent episode. Stuart Whitman is simply the best. Great supporting cast too. Too bad this series didn't come in a few years earlier. But great tv is great tv no matter WHEN it comes in. I believe if I had been old enough to really watch tv that it would have been a favorite along with Alias Smith and Jones and Big Valley. Great show!

Never jumped.
Simply THE best of the westerns. And Harlan Ellison even wrote an episode! If you can mix a great western with an egotistical (but nevertheless a gifted) sci-fi writer, you have a winner,

Cimarron Strip NEVER jumped the shark and it would have only gotten better if the powers that be at CBS would have given it another season. The stories were excellent, the characters great and the history bits that were thrown in were good. I loved it while Bonanza, Gunsmoke, etc were ok CS had them all beat. And most guest stars were excellent. Stuart Whitman's costumes did become different but hey he was in the west...not a fashion show. I loved it all...long live CS and Stuart Whitman

This show actually jumped the shark after the pilot episode "Battleground", which was actually run third in the series. If you notice, Marshall Crown was dressed either in western hat with coat and tie or with white shirt and buttoned black vest with Marshall's badge very visible. On every other show of the series, he had a more careless- perhaps sloppy look- vest unbuttoned or whatever. The outfit went along with the man who had more charisma than any other star of Westerns and I have seen all of the 50's and 60's ones. Costumes are important to the look and feel of the show. Clayton Moore said that it is seldom that a costume that looks good is comfortable to wear, and I know it is hot on location, but Crown looked like a star in that pilot!

Probably my favorite of the Westerns while it lasted (which was only one season); I don't think it every jumped the shark. One of the very few shows that ran an hour and a half (the only other show I remember in that format was "The Virginian"). The extra running time allowed more plot and character development, and Stuart Whitman was good in the lead. Also had one of the finest themes in TV history. I think what killed off this show was twofold: First, it came at the tail end of the Western genre, and second, the strange 1 1/2 hour format was hard for the network to deal with in terms of scheduling, and doubtless they'd of rather used that extra 1/2 hour for another show.

A good show that should have been great. Stuart Whitman could have been one of the legendary series leads with his forceful, virile presence and superb acting talent. The show had stirring theme music and top of the line guest stars. And the writing was ok although not great (even though they stole producer Philip Leacock from the mighty "Gunsmoke"). What Whitman needed was stronger co-stars to react off of (like Matt Dillon had). He should have had a couple of deputies-one old, one young-that he could have shared the heroics and philosophizing with. And I would have hired a more mature sex pot to run the hotel (someone like Angie Dickinson, Sheree North, or Lola Albright). Also a slightly lighter tone (like the movie "Rio Bravo") might have helped. The great "Gunsmoke" writer Kathleen Hite could have added some needed subtle characterizations to the mix of regulars and guest stars. Still, "Cimarron Strip" was a worthy effort that the critics were unfairly rough with. I wish Stuart Whitman had bounced back with a new series when this one was canceled. He might have made a good McGarrett, McCloud, or J.R.

A great Western show. Unusual that a Hollywood star would do perhaps his best work in a TV series near the end of his star status. But Stuart Whitman was never better than here. It emerged right when the genre was sliding toward Boot Hill. All of the characters--even the self-nominated Shark Kastner--acted these morality plays to the hilt. And Whitman's frequent, hoarse utterances of "Dulcie" expressed the combination of protectiveness and lust all male viewers must have harbored for Jill Townsend, quintessential tom boy blossoming into perty gal. The sidekicks were well chosen, scenery spectacular, great action with actors who rode well and threw punches the way punches ought to be thrown. And when it came to getting rid of bad guys, the show did not cater to the squeamish. Villains got their just deserts with no compunction or hesitation! I think a network has rerun some of them. A ***** cassette or DVD collection would be great to have. As I noted elsewhere in "Jump", this series debuted with "Coronet Blue," another short-lived series far superior to many that were junk year in and year out.

Never did. I really liked Stuart Whitman as sheriff. It's too bad this one didn't last longer. Whitman, to me, seemed a little more passionate about doing what was right and having integrity than many "cowpokes" did and he gave the show a believable core. I thought he was one of the most believable western sheriffs I could think of, a guy who just wanted to keep the peace and really didn't want to whip out the Peacemaker and blast the baddies. The show came out in a few years after the big Western blast of the late 50s and you can see a little more imagination in it as a result...less like the cookie-cutter stuff that Revue Studios, Four Star Productions and others cranked out in the late 50s to satisfy public demand for oaters. Plus, cool theme music and imagery, too. I haven't seen this one in years but would love to again. Good supporting cast, too.

I remember Jill Townsend quite well. I was 15 years old when this show was on the air and had the biggest crush I ever had on a movie star. It's all a rose-colored glasses thing for me, but no show with Jill Townsend in it could ever jump the shark.

Never! Doesn't anyone remember the goddess Jill Townsend?