| Genre: | Sitcom |
| Creator: | Earl Pomerantz |
| Open Theme: | "Best of the West" (sung by Rex Allen) |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 22 |
| Executive Producer: | Earl Pomerantz |
| Producer: | David Lloyd |
| Runtime: | 30 minutes |
| Network: | ABC |
Best of the West is an American sitcom[1] that aired on ABC from September 1981 through August 1982.
The Old West spoof featured the misadventures of Sam Best (Joel Higgins), a Civil War veteran who becomes a marshal in Copper Creek after accidentally scaring off an incompetent gunfighter called the Calico Kid (Christopher Lloyd).
Sam's family was made up of his Southern-belle wife Elvira (Carlene Watkins) and his smart-mouthed son Daniel (Meeno Peluce). The cast also included Leonard Frey as villain Parker Tillman, Tom Ewell as drunken town doctor Jerome Kullens, and Tracey Walter as Tillman's clueless but kind-hearted henchman, Frog Rothchild, Jr.
The series got off to a rough start, due to the pilot episode's pre-emption on the West Coast due to a special Thursday airing of a Pittsburgh Steelers-Miami Dolphins game running long. In the Eastern United States, the pilot served as the lead-in to the aforementioned game and was not affected by the NFL, though in any event the game would have aired in its entirety in Pittsburgh (via WTAE-TV) and Miami (via WPLG) due to the NFL's broadcasting contracts as a result of the 1968 Heidi Game. While western markets would not be affected by the NFL broadcasting rules and could have cut early from the game (a 30-10 Dolphins victory that was decided early), most ABC affiliates opted to still air the game in its entirety and pre-empt the episode in favor of their local news starting early. This mishap caused for the pilot episode of the series to flop, and ratings never recovered.[2]
ABC delayed in renewing the series for a second season. Rather than wait for a renewal, Joel Higgins signed on to star in the new series Silver Spoons on NBC. At that point, ABC announced that it had decided to renew but was cancelling due to the star's departure.
In its short run, the show managed to feature an array of guest stars. The list of noted actors and actresses who appeared include:
On October 3, 2017, the Complete Series was released on manufactured-on-demand DVD by CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount).[3]