Richard Boone preferred his television series to have shorter seasons

Boone believed that the shorter the season, the better the quality of the series.

The assumption is typically that more is always better, but in many cases, people should be more focused on quality than quantity. 

Richard Boone had quite a lengthy portrayal of the character Paladin on Have Gun – Will Travel. The series had about six seasons, with each season carrying anywhere between thirty-two and thirty-nine episodes. Today, that feels like a lot, but it's also important to remember that each episode of the series was about twenty-five minutes. In a typical series on television today, a season will likely have fewer episodes than a show like Have Gun – Will Travel, but the episode runtime will typically be extended to allow more time for plot development and character growth. 

Nevertheless, there's good and bad to be said for a longer series versus a shorter one. Of course, someone like Richard Boone, a seasoned actor with an illustrious career, obviously had his own opinion on the matter. Luckily, he wasn't shy about sharing it.

Boone spoke in an interview with The Journal Herald, and it seemed that he preferred a shorter season in a series, at least from an actor's perspective. By contrast, Boone was later cast as Hec Ramsey in the 1972 series, Hec Ramsey. Boone also appeared as a gunslinger like his previous character Paladin, though Hec Ramsey had one distinct difference: A single season only had five episodes. 

Granted, the runtime of each Hec Ramsey episode was lengthier than an episode of Have Gun – Will Travel, with episodes ranging between an hour and a half and two hours. However, the difference between the two series was obvious. 

Boone stated, "In the days when we did 39, we'd do maybe 13 good ones, 13 that were fair, and 13 you wished to hell you'd never heard of. We spend more time now, cast it more carefully – and I think it shows."

But enough from Richard Boone, we want to hear what you think. Do you prefer a lengthier season, or would you rather a show be shorter and more intentional?


Watch Have Gun - Will Travel on MeTV!

Saturdays at 5 PM

*available in most MeTV markets
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
Close

7 Comments

Runeshaper 9 months ago
I like longer episodes per season, tbh. I liked Paladin too, of course 😊
Andybandit 9 months ago
I meant to say 6 seasons or more.
Andybandit 9 months ago
I too like shows that have longer seasons, so it takes awhile for the show to go back to the beginning like Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and shows that are 6 six seasons or more.
justjeff 9 months ago
I prefer the longer seasons, for it meant less rerun time... Today's shows run foir only 22 minutes to allow for more commercial time. Because of this, we lack the wonderful musical themes older shows had. Nowadays, you can't even read the credits. They either fly by in a blur or the network shrinks the image so they can force their own self-promotions upon us... PLUS... what about all of those danged overlays promoting other shows???
Sally 9 months ago
I definitely agree with Richard Boone. Too often shows would have weak story lines and it turned people off to the series. It pays to spend more time on writing better plots and allowing the actors to flesh out their characters.
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?