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Wanted Dead or Alive

Saturdays at 5:30 PM

eastern (on most MeTV stations)
Steve McQueen stars as bounty hunter with a heart Josh Randall. A Confederate veteran of the Civil War, Randall carries a shortened Winchester Model 1892 carbine, the "Mare's Leg," a gun which he has the ability to draw and fire with lightening speed. Not the typical bounty hunter, Randall often donates his earnings to the needy, and helps his prisoners when he feels they have been wrongly accused.

Next Airings

  • 12/21 5:30PMThe Favor
    "Owing a favor to a sheriff, Josh agrees against better judgment to go to the lawless town of Bent Horn to bring back a man wanted for bank robbery and murder."
  • 12/28 5:30PMRicochet
    "Josh sets out to help a heartbroken wife locate her missing husband, but his mission of mercy meets with a resistant and tight-lipped townspeople. The mission becomes desperate when Josh discovers another man is also seeking the missing husband, but with murder in mind."
  • 1/4 5:30PMSheriff of Red Rock
    "Josh is bushwhacked by bounty hunters in cahoots with the local sheriff, who now must keep Josh from blowing the whistle on their illegal but lucrative "bounty game.""
*available in most MeTV markets

Stories

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Episode Guide

Episode Guide

Season 1
  • Season 1
  • Season 2
  • Season 3

Ep 1: The Martin Poster

While pursuing Carl Martin, Josh is falsely accused of aiding in a jailbreak and the marshal's murder.

Ep 2: Fatal Memory

When phony wanted posters put a price on the head of a retired Confederate officer, Colonel Sykes summons Josh Randall to help keep the bounty hunters at bay while also uncovering the person behind the bogus posters.

Ep 3: The Bounty

A reclusive old man with an Apache bodyguard is wanted for a crime committed long ago. Randall tags along with an overeager bounty hunter to ensure the man is brought back alive.

Ep 4: Dead End

A rancher hires Randall to bring back a line rider charged with grand theft. The accused man's father accompanies Randall on the trek to the remote shack where the thief is thought to be hiding.

Ep 5: Passing of Shawnee Bill

Randall is rooked into advancing half the bounty to a man who promises to lead him to the wanted criminal Shawnee Bill, but Bill is closer than Randall thinks and he's not even the only bounty hunter on his trail.

Ep 6: The Giveaway Gun

A banker with a consuming thirst for vengeance hires Randall to track down the man he believes responsible for his son's death. The man Randall seeks can be identified by his distinctive gun draw.

Ep 7: Ransom for a Nun

Randall is deputized to transport a ruthless killer to Tucson, but exchanges him for the nun kidnapped by the killer's gang. The nettlesome nun then becomes a thorn in his side as he sets out to recapture his prisoner.

Ep 8: Miracle at Pot Hole

Randall brings a suspected murderer to Pot Hole, but fears the man won't receive a fair trial when he finds the townspeople in the grip of a power-mad bully who serves as the hanging judge over a kangaroo court.

Ep 9: The Fourth Headstone

When Josh escorts a beautiful woman to a trial that could see her hang for killing her husband, her lover and a foreman, she uses all her seductive charm on him.

Ep 10: Til Death Do Us Part

A woman on the lam for murdering her abusive husband seeks the help of Randall, who is willing to investigate her belief that her husband is still alive and responsible for the wanted posters that have made her a lucrative target for bounty hunters.

Ep 11: The Favor

Owing a favor to a sheriff, Josh agrees against better judgment to go to the lawless town of Bent Horn to bring back a man wanted for bank robbery and murder.

Ep 12: Ricochet

Josh sets out to help a heartbroken wife locate her missing husband, but his mission of mercy meets with a resistant and tight-lipped townspeople. The mission becomes desperate when Josh discovers another man is also seeking the missing husband, but with murder in mind.

Ep 13: Sheriff of Red Rock

Josh is bushwhacked by bounty hunters in cahoots with the local sheriff, who now must keep Josh from blowing the whistle on their illegal but lucrative "bounty game."

Ep 14: Die by the Gun

A sadistic pair of killers hijack the stagecoach Josh is riding with a young prisoner.

Ep 15: Rawhide Breed

Following an indian attack on their stagecoach, Randall and an eastern gentleman unaccustomed to the ways of the West must trek to safety across many long, hot miles of hostile Apache land.

Ep 16: Eight Cent Reward

On Christmas Eve Randall receives his most daunting assignment yet: bring in Santa Claus.

Ep 17: Drop to Drink

Thieves are lying in wait to ambush mail carriers, and Josh is hired to help ensure that the mail will get through. The thieves have news about a $20,000 diamond ring that is in transit. The trail is through desert country with no water for miles.

Ep 18: Rope Law

Josh and Brace Logan are met on the range by a group of men who want Logan, Josh's prisoner. When the men take Logan by force, Josh goes to town to file a complaint. He's surprised to find the sheriff was the leader of the men. Josh is now determined to find the truth about the situation before Logan is lynched.

Ep 19: Six-Up to Bannach

Josh needs a ride to Brannach fast in order to stop an unjust hanging. The only mode of transportation available is a coach carrying a load of dynamite with a surly driver who doesn't take well to Josh. After the driver reluctantly agrees to allow Josh and his prisoner to travel with him, they encounter a number of obstacles along the way that slow them down.

Ep 20: The Spurs

A man and a woman shoot an already dead man in a back alley making it look as if she shot him in self defense. Josh Randall arrives in Lordsville looking for Vic Warsaw, a killer he has been trailing. The sheriff informs Randall that Warsaw was shot and killed and has just been buried. Josh discovers that the man was shot by Lucy Fremont, the town seamstress. After investigating Warsaw's personal effects Josh begins to suspect that Vic Warsaw may still be alive.

Ep 21: Reunion for a Revenge

Several men escape from Yuma Prison with a thirst for revenge against a man named Aben Starr. He works at the Saddle Creek Way Station and Randall shows up there expecting the men to arrive also. Soon two of the escapees do arrive and take Josh and Starr captive while waiting for their partners to show.

Ep 22: Competition

Josh is in town for a bit of vacation when two bounty hunters, Ralph Meadows and Al Jarrett, arrive with a dead man. Their unethical methods offend Josh and he wants nothing to do with them. Josh tries to mind his own business but they think he's waiting for a big score and want in on it. Their constant surveillance soon wears on Josh and he devises a scheme to pit the two against each other.

Ep 23: Call Your Shot

A grieving father hires Josh Randall to find his murdered son's body, but Josh's search for clues runs up against a cowardly conspiracy of silence.

Ep 24: Secret Ballot

Randall comes to assist a war buddy in his bid for the town's mayoralty, quickly running afoul of the established political machine and its corrupt mayor and sheriff.

Ep 25: The Corner

A bounty hunter is not a hero in his own hometown, as Josh learns when he honors a dying friend's request to return his body to Cameron and the townspeople rush to judgment, believing Josh killed him for the reward money.

Ep 26: Eager Man

Josh is approached by the wife of a wanted man eager to turn himself in peacefully, provided Josh split the bounty with his wife. To ensure the deal goes as planned, Josh enlists the aid of an old friend: Sheriff Pat Garrett.

Ep 27: The Legend

A man with unwavering faith in a legend about lost treasure hires Josh to lead his family on an expedition into the desert to locate the cache of Spanish gold.

Ep 28: Railroaded

When a young runaway is framed for killing a Pinkerton agent, Randall turns detective to uncover the real killer.

Ep 29: Double Free

Josh uncovers an unconventional kidnapping plot when he signs on to rescue the ransomed sister of a famous singer.

Ep 30: The Kovack Affair

Josh comes to the aid of his old friend, Jesse, who is being strong-armed into selling the Outrider Hotel by self-proclaimed mayor and town bully Peter Kovack.

Ep 31: Bounty for a Bride

A decidedly different and dangerous assignment awaits Josh when he agrees to go into the Apache camp. He is to compete in their contests in an attempt to win the hand of a white woman they kidnapped as a child and have raised as their own.

Ep 32: Crossroads

Pursuing killer Joe Collins into the Superstition Mountains, Josh is shadowed by a man who believes Collins could be his long-lost son.

Ep 33: Angels of Vengeance

A violent religious cult cast lots and it falls upon a young woman to act as its angel of vengeance. Her mission is to murder Josh Randall in retaliation for his killing their cult leader's son in a shootout.

Ep 34: Littlest Client

Josh is hired by a young orphan girl to find the parents she insists are still alive and with whom she yearns to be reunited.

Ep 35: The Conquerors

A concerned father hires Josh to retrieve his son, a passionate young ideologue whose gift for rousing rhetoric is being used by plunderers to recruit freedom fighters for a phony liberation of Baja California.

Ep 36: Amos Carter

Josh's big talk lands him in big trouble when his browbeating the locals about ending the decades-long Carter-Blake feud gets him drafted to go reconcile the hate-fueled hillbillies.

Ep 1: Montana Kid

To track down tinhorn gambler Johnny Deuce, Randall befriends the card shark's stepson and protégé.

Ep 2: The Healing Woman

Josh embarks on a mission of mercy when he pleads with the parents of a boy with appendicitis to let the doctor operate. The father, embittered against modern medicine, trusts only the local witch to cure his son's sickness.

Ep 3: The Matchmaker

Josh reluctantly accepts an offbeat assignment: finding a beautiful bride for his bashful buddy, Charlie, the homeliest man in the West.

Ep 4: Breakout

Josh in a federal prison plotting the great escape? The government employs Randall to portray an escaped prisoner in order to trick his cellmate into leading authorities to the $50,000 he stole and stashed away in a secret location.

Ep 5: Estralita

After Randall rescues Jake Pringle from a lynch mob's rope, he learns he's not the only one with an interest in keeping the killer alive.

Ep 6: The Hostage

Who needs enemies with friends like the residents of Rogue City? The townsfolk celebrate Randall for bringing in notorious killer Jumbo Kane, but just as quickly turn on him when Kane breaks loose and demands a hostage to ensure his escape.

Ep 7: The Empty Call

Randall is rooked out of his bounty by crafty criminal Hunt Willis and his accomplice. Not one to accept defeat, Josh turns detective to rout the outlaws, his investigation dogged by the suspicious sheriff, a cousin to Willis.

Ep 8: Bad Gun

Against better judgment, Josh serves as guide for a dandified East Coast gun salesman who comes west to retrieve and replace a defective gun he sold to notorious outlaw Curly Bill Brocius.

Ep 9: The Tyrant

On the trail of a Cavalry deserter and the horses he stole, Josh rides into a town ruled as the private fiefdom of its autocratic, psychopathic marshal.

Ep 10: Reckless

Well-known businessman Tate Bradley hires Josh and other bounty hunters to find Tony Egan, who he says killed his son, although the death was ruled an accident. When Randall finds the supposed killer and returns him. Bradley refuses to pay the bounty because Egan is still alive.

Ep 11: Desert Seed

Josh manages to track down Juan Gomez in the desert near the Mexican border, where he's living now with his family. His nephew, Pachito, rides in to protect his uncle.

Ep 12: Twelve Hours to Crazy Horse

Josh delivers Dan Murdock, wanted for multiple murders in Mesa City. He learns that the local sheriff is the brother of Crazy Horse's deputy, one of the victims, and it's unlikely that Murdock will arrive safely. Josh goes along to make sure that he does.

Ep 13: No Trail Back

Joe Hooker, after raiding a bank on behalf of his brother, Ben, is bitten by a dog with rabies. Upon learning this, the sheriff ends his pursuit. Josh, however, decides to go after Hooker anyway.

Ep 14: Man on Horseback

Charley Red Cloud is blamed for the murder of Will Bascomb. Bascomb's brother, Merv, places a high bounty on Red Cloud.

Ep 15: Chain Gang

After being arrested for a minor offense, Josh is put on the chain gang and put to work on the local mine.

Ep 16: Vanishing Act

Randall tracks down a bank-robbing magician and his henchmen, but while in custody of the sheriff, the man and his gang escape. Shot while tracking them down for a second time, Randall must keep the magician and his men at bay to save his own skin.

Ep 17: Mental Lapse

Josh plays detective when he signs on to help an amnesiac discover his identity.

Ep 22: The Partners

Josh gets arrested for horse theft. He soon learns that Jason set him up so that he can go after Billy Joe Henry alone.

Ep 18: Angela

A grieving daughter impatient with the slow-moving wheels of justice vows to bring vengeance upon the man who murdered her father.

Ep 19: The Monster

Josh is determined to debunk the dire menace posed by a marauding monster that has smashed mining camps, decimated an indian village and has the residents of Nugget City hiding behind locked doors.

Ep 20: Most Beautiful Woman

John Garth comes to town looking for his darling, Lil, because he feels something terrible has happened. There was a fire in the saloon and he thinks she may have died.

Ep 21: Jason

Josh caught "Doc" Phillips, the partner of Clell Fennon. He now wants to use him as bait to get Fennon—worth $5,000.

Ep 23: Tolliver Bender

To net a $1,000 reward Josh saves Tolliver Bend from a hanging so he can testify in a nearby trial. Double-crosses are immediately hatched by those who want Bend dead and by those who want the money.

Ep 24: A House Divided

Josh is hired by an attractive woman to find and clear the name of her father wrongly accused of murder. The real killer hires Jason to find the same man, too.

Ep 25: Triple Vise

Josh and Jason go to Mexico searching for Al Hemp's brother, Billy. Al took the blame for Billy's crime and ends up waiting for his brother—a no show.

Ep 26: Black Belt

Josh and Jason are on the trail of a karate expert accused of killing his employer—and someone wants the man brought in dead.

Ep 27: The Pariah

Randall learns "hate comes high" in a town whose people have hired a trio of killers to murder their fellow resident Randy Holleran, a sniveling drunkard whom Josh has promised to protect.

Ep 28: Vendetta

Josh captures and returns a wanted recruit to an Army camp. The commanding officer re-instates the man and refuses to pay Randall his bounty money.

Ep 29: Death Divided by Three

Josh and Jason are on the trail of an outlaw wanted for murder in Arizona. The outlaw's wife is also seeking her husband.

Ep 30: The Inheritance

A dying man offers Josh $2,000 to find his son, who ran away from home 15 years ago.

Ep 31: Prison Trail

Josh and Jason are escorting four prisoners to Levenworth prison when a stranger begins following along behind.

Ep 32: Pay-off at Pinto

Having been robbed, the Bank of Pinto hires Josh to go to Santa Fe to replenish the funds.

Ep 1: The Trial

Four ex-Army personnel stage an mock trial accusing their former lieutenant of dereliction of duty.

Ep 2: The Cure

Emily Kendrick hires Josh to keep her beloved, Harry, from drinking himself to death. Kendrick has matrimony on her mind and with the arrival of Harry's brother for the wedding, she wants to make sure all goes as planned.

Ep 7: Surprise Witness

Josh captures a notorious killer but no one wants to testify against him, until a surprise witness comes forward, his mother.

Ep 3: Journey for Josh

Josh and the beautiful female prisoner he is transporting to trial fall in love, but tragedy awaits when the woman's partner follows.

Ep 8: To the Victor

Josh is hired to convince the women of a town to come back to their men. The women left after making an ultimatum: give up your guns for good or we're gone.

Ep 4: The Looters

After a town is hit by a tornado that kills the sheriff, three dangerous prisoners escape from jail and appoint themselves the law.

Ep 5: The Twain Shall Meet

Josh allows a newspaper reporter from the east to follow him on a manhunt for a story.

Ep 6: The Showdown

Johnny Haywood, a childhood friend of Josh's, claims to be innocent of the crime of which he is accused. When he escapes, Josh is ordered to bring him back—dead or alive.

Ep 9: Criss Cross

A well-meaning doctor pays an innocent man to take the blame for his son's robbery. However, the son sets out to kill the man to make sure he never tells.

Ep 10: The Medicine Man

Josh and a phony medicine man help out a man who was framed and falsely accused of the theft of a huge sum of money.

Ep 11: One Mother Too Many

Josh is hired by widow Beth to find her runaway son, who is currently in the care of her vindictive mother-in-law.

Ep 12: The Choice

Jane Koster asks Josh's help with her husband, Frank, who is also a bounty hunter. He is out looking for Stacy Lenz with a score to settle and Jane fears for his life.

Ep 13: Three for One

Josh, with prisoner Tom Fellows in tow, stops in Center City for the night, unaware that one of Tom's cohorts is devising a plan to free him.

Ep 14: Witch Woman

In Mexico, Josh protects a sensible man and his pregnant wife. The villagers are angered because the man threw the town "witch" off his property.

Ep 18: Hero in the Dust

Josh is hired by Harry Weaver to find his twin brother, Pete. Pete is using his resemblance to his brother to get away with murder.

Ep 15: Baa-Baa

Josh is hired to find Baa-Baa, a beloved pet of Mrs. Goode's. Her husband is desperate to find Baa-Baa as he is in the dog house with her until Baa-Baa returns. Josh reluctantly goes to look for the lost sheep amid much ridicule from other ranchers and cowboys alike.

Ep 16: The Last Retreat

Sarah Lawton's identification led to killer Clem Robinson's conviction. Now Clem has escaped from prison, and Josh is hired for protection by Mrs. Lawton because her lawyer husband is a coward.

Ep 17: Bounty on Josh

Josh is asked to meet a client at a hotel, but upon his arrival the client is shot. Josh tries to figure out who is behind the shooting.

Ep 19: Epitaph

When a good sheriff is seduced into robbing a bank by his beautiful but deadly girlfriend, he convinces Josh to let him assist in her capture.

Ep 20: The Voice of Silence

Josh protects a beautiful deaf and mute teenage girl from men who want her father's stolen money, which he hid before going in prison.

Ep 21: El Gato

Josh escorts an East Coast photographer to take a picture his friend, El Gato, who is a famous, hilarious bandit living in the hills of Mexico with a small army.

Ep 22: Detour

Martin Fairweather has two lovely daughters, one of which is the object of a young man's affection. Papa doesn't want to lose his best cook and cleaner so he proceeds to chase any possible suitors away. Josh's job is to distract Papa long enough for the girl to elope.

Ep 23: Monday Morning

After being coerced into stealing a large amount of money from his workplace, Charlie Glover has a change of heart and hires Josh to help him return the money before his boss finds out.

Ep 24: The Long Search

Yoshika Nakamura comes west to find a man named Bill Timmons, who promised to marry her when he visited Japan. Yoshika hires Josh to help her locate Timmons, and during his venture learns about Japanese culture.

Ep 25: Dead Reckoning

A woman wants Josh to bring in her wanted husband alive, so he can prove self-defense, but the brothers of the man he killed are out to hang him.

Ep 26: Barney's Bounty

When Josh's two bounty prisoners escape and steal horses from his horse trader friend, he helps track them down.