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'''Alias Smith and Jones''' was a Western television series on ABC between 1971 to 1973, starring Pete Duel and Ben Murphy. As of 2006, ''Alias Smith and Jones'' was airing on Encore's Westerns channel.
When Duel died suddenly on December 31, 1971 (reportedly of a self-inflicted gunshot), an attempt was made to continue the series with another actor, Roger Davis, in the role of Heyes/Smith. The series continued for another seventeen episodes, but never regained its popularity after the loss of Duel.

Contents

Characters

Premise

Episode guide

Production notes

References in other works

DVD releases

Memorable quotes

Trivia

Further reading

External links

Characters

The two main characters in the series are Hannibal Heyes (originally Duel, later Davis) and Kid Curry (Murphy), two non-violent bank and train robbers who adopt the aliases of Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones after making the decision to leave their lives of crime behind. Heyes was deemed "cunning", and Curry was "gunning". Heyes/Smith was considered the brains of the duo, and a card shark. Curry/Jones was the master marksman, and the brawn. Usually, Heyes figured out ways to make money and save the twosome from precarious situations.
Recurring characters include Kyle Murtry (Dennis Fimple) and Wheat Carlson (Earl Holliman), members of the Devil's Hole Gang, formerly led by Heyes and Curry; Harry Briscoe (J.D. Cannon), a Bannerman detective who occasionally finds himself on the wrong side of the law; Patrick McCreedy (Burl Ives) and Señor Armendariz (Cesar Romero), two ranchers waging a feud with Heyes and Curry stuck in the middle; Clementine Hale (Sally Field), an old friend who has no problem with blackmailing the reformed outlaws when necessary; and Soapy Saunders (Sam Jaffe) and Silky O'Sullivan (Walter Brennan), both retired confidence men that the boys call on when in need of a large sum of cash and a good con to get them out of trouble.

Premise

Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry are the two most successful outlaws in the history of the west. However, when they decide to reform, the Governor agrees to grant them amnesty, but cannot do so openly without angering the public. He therefore makes a deal with them: if they can stay out of trouble for a year and not tell anyone about their arrangement, he will give them the amnesty they want.
However, the straight and narrow path is not easily traveled. Heyes and Curry (now calling themselves Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones) often find themselves tangling with lawmen, bounty hunters, and Bannerman detectives. To get out of these sticky situations, they must rely on Heyes' silver tongue, Curry's fast draw, and occasionally a little help from their friends still on the wrong side of the law.

Episode guide

★ Main articles: List of Alias Smith and Jones episodes

Production notes

★ Filming was not halted immediately following the news of Pete Duel's death. Instead, the crew was ordered to film around his role until a decision was made as to the future of the series.

References in other works

★ The title was parodied in the 1980s British comedy series ''Alas Smith and Jones''.

DVD releases

DVD Title	Cover Art	Region 1 Release Date
'The Complete First Season'		February 20, 2007

Memorable quotes

★ 'Narrator': " Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry: the two most successful outlaws in the history of the West. And in all the trains and banks they robbed they never shot anyone. This made our two-latter day Robin Hoods very popular with everyone but the railroads and the banks".

★ 'Narrator': "Into the west came many men. Some were good men and some were bad men. Some were good men that had some bad in them, and some were bad men that had some good in them. This is the story of two pretty good bad men."

★ 'Kid Curry': "There's one thing we got to get Heyes"; 'Heyes': "What's that ?"; 'Kid Curry': "Outta this business!"

★ 'Wheat Carlson': "If it don't involve dynamite, it ain't gonna work."

★ 'Hannibal Heyes': "You know ever since you became a dancer you've been some prima donna!"

★ 'Kyle Murtry': "That's the dirtiest trick I've ever heard of... but I like it."

★ 'Harry Briscoe': "Remember! A Bannerman man never forgets!"

★ 'Kid Curry': "I'd say 'tender' but then you'd feel called upon to say something clever and I'd have to kill ya."

★ 'Sister Julia': "By any chance are you two gentlemen Catholics?"
'Kid Curry': "No, uh, Kansans, ma'am."

★ 'Hannibal Heyes': "Alright? I'm better'n alright. I'm brilliant."

Trivia

★ Roger Davis was initially hired to do the voice-over theme intro, which explains the storyline. After Davis was hired to play Heyes/Smith, Ralph Story assumed the intro narration.

★ In the final season the intro referred to Heyes and Curry as "Kansas cousins". Two episodes that season also made reference to them as cousins.

★ Duel's sister Pamela appeared on a 1983 episode of ''The 700 Club'' discussing Duel's depression. The actor did mention suicide to her saying, "I've been watching you, your stability. I think you can endure it".

★ Today, Davis is a successful California real estate developer.

★ Murphy continues to act and is very popular in Great Britain, having made "meet and greet" appearances in England in summer of 2006.

Further reading

★ Sagala, Sandra K. & Bagwell, JoAnne M. (2005). ''Alias Smith & Jones - The Story of Two Pretty Bad Men''. Albany: BearManor Media ISBN 1-59393-031-3

External links

★ Alias Smith & Jones Collection

★ Alias Smith & Jones Image Library