The Virginian (later renamed The Men from Shiloh in its final year) is an American Western television series starring James Drury in the title role, along with Doug McClure, Lee J. Cobb, and others.

The series was loosely based on The Virginian: Horseman of the Plains, a 1902 Western novel by Owen Wister that Hollywood had previously adapted for movies.

[1] When Revue Productions' hour long series Wagon Train moved from the NBC network to ABC, The Virginian was proposed to replace it.

In the pilot, unlike in the later series, the Virginian had a noticeable Southern accent and wore a belt buckle marked "CSA", indicating service in the Confederate States Army.

[3] The portrayal of him as a young American Civil War veteran would indicate that the time period of the pilot was decades earlier than that of the series.

Other actors in the pilot, some of whom appeared in the series years later, included Andrew Duggan, Jeanette Nolan, and Dan Blocker (in a small, nonspeaking role).

Set in the late 19th century, and loosely based on The Virginian, A Horseman of the Plains, a 1902 novel by Owen Wister, the series revolved around the foreman of the Shiloh Ranch, played by Drury.

Various references in the first season indicate that setting is 1898: The series focused on the foreman's quest to maintain an orderly lifestyle at Shiloh Ranch.

The ranch was named after the two-day American Civil War Battle of Shiloh, at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee.

Randy Boone joined the show in the second season as a youthful ranch hand who played guitar and sang duets with Betsy.

[7] A new opening theme song was composed by Ennio Morricone, and the look of the show was changed reflecting a style similar to spaghetti Westerns, which were popular at the time.

The studio and network were set on ending the series, as evidenced by rivals CBS and ABC making demographic moves away from rural-oriented shows (see "rural purge").

Lee J. Cobb's Judge Garth was portrayed as a stern man with a soft side to his personality, acting as a father figure to the Virginian.

In the series, producers chose to make Trampas a fun-loving and rowdy character; McClure fit the part perfectly.

The on-screen chemistry that Gary Clarke and Doug McClure possessed reflected a good friendship off screen, and was loved by fans worldwide.

In a season-four episode, "The Awakening", she married a minister (Glenn Corbett), and moved to Pennsylvania, reflecting Shore's departure from the show.

A former lawman turned hired gun, because the pay was better, Ryker decided to settle in Medicine Bow before he took his new profession too far.

He was hired by Sheriff Abbott, with whom he had been acquainted, after solving the murder of a prominent rancher in the introductory episode "Ryker".

John Dehner played a tough and demanding man, who was hard to befriend, as the Virginian and Trampas soon found out.

In season 9, The Virginian was revamped, and McIntire, along with Nolan, Lane, David Hartman, and Tim Matheson, left the show.

He traveled across the United States, Ireland, and several other countries, appearing in Western-themed conventions, festivals, celebrations, news programs, and TV specials to promote The Virginian.

Drury also reunited with key cast members Randy Boone, Gary Clarke, and Roberta Shore at these events.

[citation needed] In 2012, Drury also reunited with L. Q. Jones, Clu Gulager, Diane Roter, Sara Lane, and Don Quine in addition to Boone, Clarke, and Shore.

Three events were held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Virginian, at the Memphis Film Festival on May 31, 2012, the Western Legends Roundup on August 16, 2012, and the Autry National Center and Museum on September 22, 2012.

[citation needed] In April 1965, an episode of The Virginian titled "We've Lost a Train" served as a backdoor pilot for the TV series Laredo.

The cable channels of Encore Westerns, MoviePlex, and RetroPlex began airing complete, uncut commercial free episodes of The Virginian starting with a premier marathon in January 2010 and ending in December 2011.

The Inspiration Network cable channel began a three-year agreement to run The Virginian starting with a marathon of episodes on September 22, 2012, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show.

Cozi TV, the NBCUniversal classic television digital specialty network, began airing episodes in 2013.

The show later returned to Encore Westerns and continues to air every weekday; a marathon of Drury-centric episodes was run shortly after his death in April 2020.

All episodes on all releases have been fully restored and digitally remastered in full color and are available in special collectors' edition tin cases.