Yes, that's it..... It was The Virginian. It's final season, the show title was changed to "The Men From Shiloh" for some reason. James Drury played the title role as the Virginian, but never was his character's first or last name ever mentioned by anyone! He was always referred to as The Virginian by every character in the show. When someone was looking for him, they didn't ask "where is Joe, Sam, Bill, Ralph, Byron, Jesse, Clay, Ernest or Clem"? It was always, "where's the Virginian"? Or "so, you're looking to work as a ranch hand huh? Well, you'll need to talk to the foreman over there, the Virginian"...
I just discovered the show for the first time about 5 years ago. I don't recall ever hearing of it prior to then. I remember Bonanza and Gunsmoke, but not The Virginian. I think it's a better show than those other westerns, because the plots were usually a bit more complex and unpredictable than the simple plots of Bonanza. It was filmed in color from the get-go, in an era where many shows were black & white. Theres an unusual phenomenon related to Virginian episodes. The original tapes are in very, VERY good condition, looking as if they are only a decade old, instead of 47-57 years old. Even the last episodes of shows like Gunsmoke, from 1973-74 are in terrible condition, and look very old and scratchy. But 1962-1971 Virginian episodes look crystal clear and unaffected by time!
What was odd, was that that all episodes are of a 1.5 hour run time, instead of 1/2 or 1 hour. It featured early appearances of actors who went on to become international stars, like many of the original Star Trek cast members, before Star Trek began. Some times they would coincidentally be in the same episodes!
