Hec Ramsey

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Hec Ramsey
Format	Western
Starring	Richard Boone
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	10
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jack Webb
Running time	90 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Original run	October 8th, 1972 – September 24, 1974

Hec Ramsey was a television Western, a production of Jack Webb's production company, Mark VII Limited, in association with Universal Studios, broadcast in the United States by NBC as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie wheel show during the 1972-73 and 1973-74 seasons.

This series was groundbreaking in that it was the first Western set in the days when the Old West was fading, the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 20th century. Critics dubbed the series Dragnet meets John Wayne, as the scripts balanced authentic investigative methods of 1900 with action and adventure.

Hec Ramsey starred veteran actor Richard Boone as Hector "Hec" Ramsey, who had been a gunfighter/lawman, but had developed a strong interest in the then-emerging field of forensics. He still carried a firearm, but had traded his low-slung "gunfighter" rig for a Single Action Army-type revolver with a short barrel, carried in a Cavalry draw holster. However, his most important "weapons" were now fingerprinting equipment, magnifying lenses, scales, and other equipment which allowed him to determine the real perpetrators of crimes with greater accuracy than had previously been possible.

Ramsey, having recently become expert with his new equipment, accepts the position of deputy police chief in the fictional town of New Prospect, Oklahoma. Arriving in town, he learns that the chief of police, Oliver B. Stamp (Rick Lenz), is a very young, very inexperienced lawman who needs lots of help -- fortunately, Stamp knows it, and after some initial friction, the two men develop a strong working relationship.

A colorful local doctor, Amos Coogan (Harry Morgan, who accompanied Webb during the 1967-1970 version of Dragnet), also frequently became involved. During one episode Hec Ramsey reveals he had worked under the name Paladin, a character played by Richard Boone in "Have Gun - Will Travel."

Hec Ramsey was one of the four original components of the NBC Mystery Movie (the others were McMillan and Wife, Columbo, and McCloud). It was canceled after two seasons following unresolvable disagreements between Boone and Universal Studios.