Bearcats - The Complete Series 1971

1971 · action · adventure · western · Douglas Heyes

Bearcats! is an American Western television series broadcast on the CBS television network during the fall 1971 television season . It starred Rod Taylor and Dennis Cole as troubleshooters in the period before the American entry into World War I (1917). Bearcats! was produced by Filmways Inc. (which previously produced many series including The Addams Family , Mister Ed , The Beverly Hillbillies , Green Acres , and Petticoat Junction ). It was co-produced by Rodlor, Rod Taylor's production firm. Set in 1914, somewhat later historically than a traditional Western, the stories center on the heroes' use of a 1914 Stutz Bearcat automobile. Although automobiles were common in the United States in 1914, a $2,000 sports car would have been very rare in the more remote areas of the Western United States . How the heroes paid for this expensive ride was rather unusual, as well. They undertook work which could be considered " private security " for a prosperous clientele, and rather than charging a traditional fee, they extracted from the client a blank check, with the amount charged to be determined by just how difficult or dangerous the job proved to be once it was completed. "If you can put a price on it, you don't need them badly enough." Typical adventures included learning who was setting fire to oil wells , unraveling a plot where German Imperial Army soldiers dressed as American troops raided Mexican border towns hoping to force Mexico into a war with the United States , and stopping mercenaries from sabotaging medical supplies being sent overseas to the Allies of World War I . Its time period also allowed the use of props not usually seen in typical westerns, including airplanes, a World War I-era tank , machine guns, M1911 pistols , and a number of period automobiles.