An old former Army scout and his grandson search the west for the man’s son, a gunfighter on the run.

The Guns of Will Sonnett

Season 1 Ep.05: Of Lasting Summers and Jim Sonnett

Hearing that Jim Sonnett is to be hanged, Will and Jeff hurry to a Western town. The killer of two maintains he’s their relative. Grandfather Will doesn’t buy his act, grandson Jeff wants to believe and does. The taciturn Sheriff doesn’t care who’s who, he’s wary that the Sonnetts will break his notorious prisoner out, so he limits the pair’s access to the jail. The carnival atmosphere surrounding the big execution unhinges the youngest Sonnett.

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While Jim Sonnett was a well known gunslinger, the elder Sonnett was no slouch. Will Sonnett had been a scout and rifleman in the Army and in the pilot episode explained to someone who was spoiling for a fight that he was an even faster draw than his famous son. That fact was proven several times during the series as Will pulled his grandson out of numerous scrapes, most of them started because of the family name.

After two months of watching Will & Jeff search for James, the viewers finally got to meet up with the gunslinger in episode 6, even though it would take Will & Jeff another year and a half to finally catch up to the prodigal Sonnett. Although Jason Evers is listed below as a series regular, he was never included in the opening titles but always got the primary Guest Star credit in each episode he appeared in.

The Guns of Will Sonnett was notable for being one of super producer Aaron Spelling’s first television series as an independent producer, and series star Walter Brennan’s last as lead. Best known for The Real McCoys, Brennan went on to play a regular supporting part in the second season of the John Forsythe sitcom, To Rome, with Love [1969-1971].

The series also stood out among the other westerns at the time because of the way Will Sonnett summed up each episode at the end of the tag. It was possibly the only action-adventure series to end each episode with a trail prayer. However, despite a lot of promotion by ABC, the series never really caught on with the viewers and only lasted two seasons.

Cast and Crew:
Creators: Aaron Spelling, Richard Carr
Stars:

Walter Brennan, Dack Rambo and Jason Evers

Production Company: Brenco Productions, Thomas/Spelling Productions
Audio/Visual: mono, in color
Date Release: 1967
Additional details in:

The Guns of Will Sonnett in IMDB | The Guns of Will Sonnett in TV.com

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