Best of the West

6.0
198130m

An unwitting city slicker is made the marshal of a lawless town in this absurdist Western that pokes gentle but clever fun at the genre's stock plots and characters. Best of the West is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 1981 through August 1982.

Seasons

22 Episodes • Premiered 1981

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 1: Pilot

1. Pilot

Sam arrives in town intending to run the general store, then runs into all kinds of trouble after turning down the protection racket.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 2: The Prisoner

2. The Prisoner

Sam must face a prisoner's outlaw brothers after the sheriff who was taking him in becomes ill on his way through town.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 3: The Calico Kid Returns

3. The Calico Kid Returns

The Square Deal Saloon's new cook is the Calico Kid; he has sworn to never again kill anything he can't eat.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 4: They're Hanging Parker Tillman (1)

4. They're Hanging Parker Tillman (1)

Sam goes out on a limb and manages to save Tillman from a lynch mob, but at the trial, his mixed-up testimony has him back at the end of a rope.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 5: They're Hanging Parker Tillman (2)

5. They're Hanging Parker Tillman (2)

Sam infiltrates an outlaw band to try to prove Tillman is innocent of cattle rustling.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 6: The New Marshal

6. The New Marshal

Sam loses his badge in a special election to Tillman's squeaky-clean candidate.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 7: Daniel's First Love

7. Daniel's First Love

Daniel is as surprised as anyone when a few innocent kisses lead to a shotgun wedding.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 8: Laney in Love

8. Laney in Love

Laney is smitten with a smoothie who bids high for her at a social—but he turns out to be a low-down heel.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 9: The Reunion

9. The Reunion

Elvira's die-hard Confederate father (Andy Griffith) stays at the Square Deal Saloon while he is in town. His wife is trying to patch things up with their daughter; she married a Yankee!

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 10: The Railroad

10. The Railroad

Sam and Tillman try hard to convince the railroad to come to Copper Creek.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 11: The New Jail

11. The New Jail

Sam's image as a lawman quickly loses its edge after he manages to shoot himself in the leg; the jail collapsing around him doesn't help.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 12: A Man, a Woman, and a Horse

12. A Man, a Woman, and a Horse

Sam doesn't pay attention to signs of discontent from Elvira until the day he comes home to finds her packed to leave.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 13: Frog's First Gunfight

13. Frog's First Gunfight

Frog meets a woman who was recently jilted by her beau, but neither realizes he wants her back.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 14: The Calico Kid Goes to School

14. The Calico Kid Goes to School

The reformed Calico Kid decides he wants to be a United States Marshal. But he lacks one qualification: a third-grade education.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 15: Tillman Held for Ransom

15. Tillman Held for Ransom

Tillman has been kidnapped and the kidnappers are demanding a ransom, but the Copper Creek citizens have no intention of paying up.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 16: Mail Order Bride

16. Mail Order Bride

Doc's mail-order bride has a vivid personality with a past to match it.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 17: The Cave-In

17. The Cave-In

Elvira and her stepson explore an abandoned outlaw cave, unaware that it is booby-trapped to collapse.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 18: Daniel Fights a Bully

18. Daniel Fights a Bully

Daniel's refusal to fight a relentless bully leads to Sam having to fight the bully's father.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 19: The Pretty Prisoner

19. The Pretty Prisoner

Sam is handcuffed to his prisoner—a flirtatious female outlaw—for an overnight journey.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 20: Elvira's Old Beau

20. Elvira's Old Beau

Elvira's former fiance' comes to town, intent on taking her away with him.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 21: Sam's Life Is Threatened

21. Sam's Life Is Threatened

Sam receives an anonymous threatening note.

Still image for Best of the West season 1 episode 22: The Funeral

22. The Funeral

Sam and Tillman try to foil a holdup by holding a funeral for Frog; the coffin contains the $20,000 the thieves are after.

Cast

Photo of Joel Higgins

Joel Higgins

Sam Best

Photo of Carlene Watkins

Carlene Watkins

Elvira Best

Photo of Meeno Peluce

Meeno Peluce

Daniel Best

Photo of Valri Bromfield

Valri Bromfield

Laney Gibbs

Photo of Tracey Walter

Tracey Walter

Frog Rothchild Jr.

Photo of Tom Ewell

Tom Ewell

Jerome Kullens

Photo of Leonard Frey

Leonard Frey

Parker Tillman

Photo of Christopher Lloyd

Christopher Lloyd

The Calico Kid

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