
This TV western ran six seasons from 1957 to 1963 and starred
Richard Boone as Paladin and
Kam Tong as Hey Boy. During its six year run, it was ranked 3 or 4 during its first four seasons. It was during the time that westerns were occupying more than half of the spots in the top ten and top twenty ratings.
But
Have Gun Will Travel was different from other westerns. Paladin was a hired gun with an education. He was a sophisticated man who knew his Shakespeare, loved poetry, opera, classical music, art, the theater, history, spoke several languages, seemed to know about all cultures, was well traveled, knew chemistry and physics indeed an Everyman or Renaissance Man.
Although he charged huge sums for his services, he occasionally charged little or even donated his services for a worthy cause. When not working he lived in a posh hotel in San Francisco where he dated beautiful women, drank the finest wines, liquors, and whiskeys and hence he need to charge large fees for his services.
When he was working, he dressed all in black. Although his gun was for hire, he refused jobs that required him to commit murder. He was an expert with his gun, with a rifle, knife or sword, and his fists as well.
He treated people of different cultures, races, or religions with respect and admiration. Although Hey Boy’s name is dismissive and his job as bellboy is humble, Paladin always treats him with the greatest of respect.

Many of the guest stars who appeared on the show went on to big screen careers:
Charles Bronson,
Warren Oates,
James Coburn, and
Lee Van Cleef to name a few. Other more established actors such as
Victor McLaglen,
Ben Johnson,
Jeanette Nolan,
Lon Chaney Jr.,
Vincent Price, and
John Carradine also appeared on the show. The show featured many actors who would have leading roles and/or major supporting roles in major television shows:
Denver Pyle,
Ken Curtis,
June Lockhart,
Harry Morgan,
Angie Dickinson, and
Jack Lord. Finally, the show featured dozens of character actors who had lengthy careers in film and television:
Robert Wilke,
Hank Patterson,
Strother Martin,
Leo Gordon,
Jack Elam,
Anthony Caruso,
Ralph Moody,
Royal Dano,
Dabbs Greer,
Joanne Linville,
Bob Steele,
Claude Akins,
John Dehner,
Elinor Donahue, and dozens of others.
The episodes are wonderfully written and are unique and yet some episodes are transposed from classic works of literature. Some of the episodes were written by Gene Roddenberry of Star Trek fame.
Even the closing theme the Ballad of Paladin is wonderful and was appropriately written by a man named Johnny Western.