The Adventures of Champion
The exploits of Champion, a wild stallion who befriends twelve year-old Ricky North in the American Southwest in the 1880's. Although Ricky, who lived on his Uncle Sandy's ranch, had a magnetic attraction for trouble, he was always rescued by the Wonder Horse, aided by the boy's other bosom companion, German shepherd dog, Rebel.
- 1955-1956
- 1 season
- CBS
- Drama, Action & Adventure
The exploits of Champion, a wild stallion who befriends twelve year-old Ricky North in the American Southwest in the 1880's. Although Ricky, who lived on his Uncle Sandy's ranch, had a magnetic attraction for trouble, he was always rescued by the Wonder Horse, aided by the boy's other bosom companion, German shepherd dog, Rebel.
Season 1 Episode Guide
26 Episodes 1955 - 1956
Episode 1
The Saddle Tramp
Fri, Sep 23, 1955 26 mins
Ever wary of rustlers, Rebel, Champion and Ricky tree a saddle tramp (later to enthrall Ricky and amuse Sandy with tall tales). Nearby, Uncle Sandy and Sheriff Powers pursue four fleeing rustlers who nonetheless escape. Later at supper (and as Sandy feared), Will's tall tales of adventure inspire Ricky to track down the rustlers himself.
Episode 2
Crossroad Trail
Fri, Sep 30, 1955 26 mins
A pair of ne'er-do-well ranch hands exude a negative influence at Colonel Putnam's ranch, pressuring the colonel's orphaned grandson, Josh, to steal his grandfather's money and buy a San Francisco gambling house. Ricky, visiting with Uncle Sandy, Rebel and Champ, overhears their plot and, in trying to keep clear of them, falls, sustains an injury, and goes blind, putting Josh at a crossroads of a decision.
Episode 3
Salted Ground
Fri, Oct 7, 1955 26 mins
Ricky meets Sally Custer, a girl whose kindly father owns the new grocery but who also bears a staunch history of gullibility. Ricky also runs across hornswogglers whose strange activity of shooting the ground leads Uncle Sandy to conclude they're creating false positives for a gold claim scam with Sally's father as the targeted dupe.
Episode 4
The Medicine Man Mystery
Sat, Oct 15, 1955 26 mins
Sandy investigates Ricky's wild tale of seeing a medicine show operator stuff a small boy into a box. The Norths learn that Doc Terwilliger, the show's owner, is a ventriloquist who uses his dummy, Wilbur, to draw in crowds. A trio of jewel thieves find Wilbur fascinating as well, since their leader hid the gems from his latest heist in the dummy's stomach.
Episode 5
Lost River
Sat, Oct 22, 1955 27 mins
The worst drought in 20 years has struck the valley where the Norths have their ranch. While Champion searches for a waterhole for his herd of wild horses, an unscrupulous foreman tries to force an elderly woman to sell her ranch for a pittance.
Episode 6
Renegade Stallion
Sat, Oct 29, 1955 26 mins
An elderly prospector searching for gold finally strikes paydirt, but before he can file a claim, he is killed by a pair of drifters who stampede a wild horse herd over the man's body to hide evidence of their crime. The sheriff believes that Champion is a wild killer and tries to have him shot. Meanwhile Ricky and Sandy try to find the real killers.
Episode 7
Canyon of Wanted Men
Sat, Nov 5, 1955 26 mins
A crooked horse trader tries to get Sandy North and the other ranchers to sign a petition to allow him to round up all the wild horses in the valley. When the ranchers prove reluctant, the crooks break down the ranchers fences and accuse the herd of the destruction. While riding the range, Ricky and Lorna stumble onto the truth but are captured and held prisoner by the owlhoots.
Episode 8
Challenge of the West
Tue, Nov 8, 1955 27 mins
In the shrublands, Ricky meets a runaway named Les, the son of a convicted outlaw, whom everyone presumes to be a bad seed like his dad, Frank. Ricky defends the proud boy, bringing him to the North Ranch to work alongside him. Frank escapes prison with the help of a demanding and truly criminal ne'er-do-well, Duke. Together, they rob the ranch, only to be thwarted by Champion, Rebel, Ricky, Uncle Sandy, the sheriff's posse and Les himself.
Episode 9
The Outlaw's Secret
Tue, Nov 15, 1955 27 mins
Simultaneous to a new preacher entering the area, outlaws hold up the stagecoach. Impressed by Reverend Thomas, Gringo, the outlaw leader, confesses as he dies from a bullet wound, suggesting cowardly yet nefarious town banker Macmillan as his partner.
Episode 10
Hangman's Noose
Tue, Nov 22, 1955 26 mins
When a crooked ranch foreman discovers oil on a neighboring spread, he plots with a businessman to grab the property by killing one rancher and framing the other for the crime. When Ricky stumbles upon a pair of oil-soaked boots near the murder scene, he becomes their next target.
Episode 11
King of the Rodeo
Tue, Nov 29, 1955 27 mins
When the bucking bronco they've been using as a carnival attraction breaks down, Bates and Dickson search for another stallion to replace him. They manage to capture Champion and, billing him as "Dynamite the Killer Horse," charge ten dollars for a chance to keep him if a cowboy can stay on his back for ten seconds. Ricky tracks Champ to a rodeo and easily rides him, but the owners renege and try to escape to another town with Champ imprisoned in their horse wagon.
Episode 12
A Bugle for Ricky
Tue, Dec 6, 1955 26 mins
Outlaws conduct a daring daylight bank robbery under a local hero's homecoming. With Sheriff Thomas fatally wounded, he deputizes retired cavalry general Sarge Elwood, a disappointed father who just learned that his cavalry lieutenant son dropped his commission to be a veterinarian.
Episode 13
The Stone Heart
Tue, Dec 13, 1955 26 mins
His time in prison almost up, counterfeiter Paul Kenyon didn't ask to be bust out of jail, but his confederates think otherwise. Champ sees all and brings Ricky into finding Paul, shot and left for dead. He persuades Ricky to help him hide before his partners return and finish him off.
Episode 14
The Deer Hunters
Tue, Dec 20, 1955 26 mins
Ricky tries to rescue a fawn from a snare and incurs the trappers' wrath. The men are trying to provide cheaper-than-beef meat for a railroad construction crew but are wiping out the native game in the process. Ricky, Sandy and an Eastern conservationist try to convince the railroad construction boss to find a new source of meat for his men.
Episode 15
The Golden Hoax
Tue, Dec 27, 1955 30 mins
When Champion discovers that a gang of stagecoach robbers stash their loot in an abandoned mineshaft, Ricky and Sandy try to apprehend the gang.
Episode 16
Johnny Hands-Up
Tue, Jan 3, 1956 26 mins
First day on the job for new marshal Johnny Gray and the town brands him a coward (due to the marshal's guns loaded with bullets that won't fire). Unbeknownst to all: Johnny's also the son of an outlaw who used to ride with the Jay Bayless Gang. Initially impressed by Johnny, even Ricky finds his subsequent actions to be worth investigating.
Episode 17
Black Kachina
Tue, Jan 10, 1956 26 mins
Using a skull fossil, a malevolent medicine man means to rile his tribe to war against the white settlers. When Sandy telegraphs for cavalry intervention to thwart the impending uprising, the government instead sends a paleontologist to check out the medicine man's skull artifact.
Episode 18
Mystery Mountain
Tue, Jan 17, 1956 30 mins
When a naive Easterner is duped into performing gold assays for a swindler, Ricky and Sandy come to the rescue.
Episode 19
Rails West
Thu, Jan 26, 1956 26 mins
Ricky and Sandy hope to persuade the McNab Railroad Co. to bypass their planned line through Wild Horse Valley, where Champ and his herd live; but, cagey profiteers within the railroad ranks aim to claim the same valley after stumbling onto what they think is gold-bearing rock.
Episode 20
The Real Unfriendly Ghost
Tue, Jan 31, 1956 30 mins
Ricky and Sandy search for a missing politician in a ghost town and encounter one eccentric living resident and, apparently, a lively dead one, too.
Episode 21
Andrew and the Deadly Double
Mon, Feb 13, 1956 26 mins
Mary Jane, Ricky's young neighbor, is upset when she learns that Uncle Andrew, her newly appointed guardian, plans to sell the ranch she lives on and force her to move East with him. While Ricky and Sandy try to convince the Easterner of the virtues of ranch life, Mary Jane learns that the man is an impostor and is taken captive by a crooked land-grabbing lawyer.
Episode 22
Bad Men of the Valley
Tue, Feb 14, 1956 26 mins
An ex-convict trying to go straight and his pretty wife buy the ranch next to the North's. He has a chance meeting with his former gang members who threaten his wife if he doesn't cooperate with their bank robbing scheme. Ricky, Champ and Rebel help the young man bring his former confederates to justice.
Episode 23
The Return of Red Cloud
Fri, Feb 24, 1956 30 mins
Red Cloud, an educated Indian, returns from Washington just as his father, Chief Running Bear, gears for war against all white men. Red Cloud and Sandy also strive against Mark Dabney, the corrupt government agent of Indian affairs siding with felonious homesteader Buck Edwards, going so far as to betray one of his own man to pin a murder charge on Red Cloud.
Episode 24
Brand of the Lawless
Mon, Feb 27, 1956 26 mins
An outlaw who has escaped from custody joins his old gang and plans his next robbery - a rich bank that's not too far away. With a posse pursuing them, the gang leader decides to pick up a grubstake from his law-abiding sister by blackmailing her.
Episode 25
The Die-Hards
Sat, Mar 3, 1956 26 mins
Rebel is hurt by a porcupine and Ricky gets help for him from a new southern doctor who just arrived in town; however, persistent prejudices for Southerners that linger long after the civil war engender hatred and turmoil for the doctor and his wife to endure until the prejudiced perpetrator's gunshot wound is treated by the doctor.
Episode 26
Calhoun Rides Again
Sat, Mar 3, 1956 26 mins
Saddle tramp Will Calhoun returns to the North Ranch to ask a favor: let him pretend to be the ranch owner for his visiting niece Abigail. Sandy has a better idea: buy up the deserted Bowman Ranch and become a real ranch owner and good neighbor. Unfortunately, it's the deserted ranch where outlaw Brock Stevens just hid stolen back money. Confronted by these outlaws, Will puts his storytelling abilities to the test to save Ricky and Sandy's lives.
