# "Have Gun Will Travel" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963 "2011-04-27T23:45:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/41 "2011-04-30T05:38:51Z")
Missed your post, **Scumpup** (#7). Isn’t that how the radio show was? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/42 "2011-04-30T12:02:24Z")
The episodes did typically have bracketing scenes set in San Francisco. Hey Boy was an employee of the hotel, not Paladin’s man servant. Their relationship was one of friendship and respect, rather than master/servant. I wouldn’t describe what Hey Boy did as pimping quite so much as secretarial, either. Basically, he sent telegrams for Paladin in response to inquiries about Paladin’s services. But yeah, the episodes did follow the San Fran/Adventure/San Fran structure. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/43 "2011-04-30T17:26:12Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > The episodes did typically have bracketing scenes set in San Francisco. Hey Boy was an employee of the hotel, not Paladin’s man servant. Their relationship was one of friendship and respect, rather than master/servant. I wouldn’t describe what Hey Boy did as pimping quite so much as secretarial, either. Basically, he sent telegrams for Paladin in response to inquiries about Paladin’s services. > But yeah, the episodes did follow the San Fran/Adventure/San Fran structure. What I mean is that whenever Paladin returned from a job, Hey Boy would update him about some woman that was waiting for him (never the same one). An unaccompanied young woman, hanging around a hotel in 1880s San Francisco? Come on, now. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/44 "2011-05-01T01:04:21Z")
Paladin did help out Hey Boy with a romantic situation in one episode where Hey Boy’s girlfriend (fiancee) was kidnapped or something and Paladin rescued her and brought her back to Hey Boy and the two ended up in each others arms. So Paladin sort of pimped for Hey Boy that time. As I remember there was a Hey Girl in the last season. The program aired Saturday evening after Gunsmoke by the way. I loved the show and the portrayal by Boone. I was discussing it on Facebook with a friend and he suggested it was time for a movie remake of the show. I don’t think there has ever been a TV show remake that was worth much, too much flash and not much substance (Wild, Wild West, Mission Impossible, Bewitched [OK, OK how much substance can you have with Bewitched], Maverick, etc.) That being said however, after watching Tombstone, I can see Val Kilmer playing the character. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/45 "2011-05-01T01:43:54Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > Paladin did help out Hey Boy with a romantic situation in one episode where Hey Boy’s girlfriend (fiancee) was kidnapped or something and Paladin rescued her and brought her back to Hey Boy and the two ended up in each others arms. So Paladin sort of pimped for Hey Boy that time. No, vice-versa, and **Scumpup** and I are talking about the radio show–not the TV show. I’m going to subscribe to it on iTunes and listen, since it’s been a while since I heard it. The distinct memory that I have from most episodes (of the RADIO SHOW) is that Paladin comes back from some adventure, and Hey Boy says, “Oh, Mr. Paladin, that beautiful lady Ms. So-and-so came by when you were gone–you want I should go tell her you’re back?” Wink-wink, nudge-nudge. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/46 "2011-05-01T02:20:44Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Did Paladin ever fall in love? I seem to remember one episode, but IIRC, the poor woman had to die. Kind of like a red-shirted crewman. Yes, and the person he fell in love was played by June Lockhart, of all people (mother in Lassie, mother in Lost in Space.) She was a doctor, and pretty tough. She has been in two episodes so far, and has shown no signs of dying. However, he was far from faithful, but was not in love with anyone else (so far, at least.) ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/47 "2011-05-01T03:15:32Z")
This is where I listen to the radio version [http://www.otrwesterns.com/](http://www.otrwesterns.com/). There are a few other gems to be had there too (tales of the texas rangers is one) ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/48 "2011-05-01T04:24:10Z")
Okay. Here’s an excerpt, to demonstrate my point, chosen at random, from an episode called “No Visitors,” (12/28/1958): (Paladin’s adventure has involved a woman who’s a doctor, and in the last scene, she has turned down his suggestion that she relocate to San Francisco. He’s back at the hotel in San Francisco.) HEYBOY: Ohhh, good afternoon Mr. Paladin. PALADIN: Good afternoon, Heyboy. HEYBOY: You get in late last night. Sleep all day, now up and feeling fine? PALADIN: I do indeed. HEYBOY: OHHHHHH. You have good time with Lady Cleo? PALADIN: Lady Cleo? HEYBOY: Lady who sell for you! You know! PALADIN: Oh. As a matter of fact, I’d forgotten about her. HEYBOY: Oh, sure. PALADIN: I met a lady who’s much more charming. A lady doctor. HEYBOY: Oh, sure. PALADIN: As a matter of fact, I’ve had a fine case of three-day measles. HEYBOY: Oh, yeehaw! The three-day measles! Oh, sure. PALADIN: But it’s true. HEYBOY: Oh, you got dirty laundry. You put out tonight. PALAIN: ….to coin a phrase, Heyboy. HEYBOY: Oh, sure. THE END The actor who plays Heyboy intones a lot of his commentary in a leering way when they discuss these women (such as Lady Cleo) that at the end of the episodes. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/49 "2011-05-01T05:48:36Z")
radio shows has to have time compressed. they also were more adult than the tv shows. i don’t have a detailed recall on the tv show. the radio show did come after the tv show (shows went the other way). Paladin would reluctantly but vigorously use violence. the radio shows were violent though i haven’t distinguished which were tv script adaptations or originals. Gunsmoke was a much more adult show on the radio and much more violent. Dillion was not a pleasant guy. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/50 "2011-05-01T12:31:42Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > Gunsmoke was a much more adult show on the radio and much more violent. Dillion was not a pleasant guy. Matt Dillon was voiced by William Conrad on the radio show. Not quite the same visual effect… [![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2rl9OV3Auts/TKCosre05BI/AAAAAAAAJhk/bZGhPs8Wk-w/s1600/conrad.jpg) ](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2rl9OV3Auts/TKCosre05BI/AAAAAAAAJhk/bZGhPs8Wk-w/s1600/conrad.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/51 "2011-05-01T20:37:21Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > That’s a trifle unfair, espesh when we’re discussing HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL. I watched the first few seasons a few years ago, and Paladin usually starts with peaceful solutions – reasoning and negotiation. They sometimes work, they sometimes don’t, but the show is probably the opposite of “guns solve everything.” I watched a LOT of episodes, and it was hardly 50-50. In most episodes where he didn’t actually shoot someone (which I would guess was well under a third of them), the very overt threat of violence still loomed large. Even his “uniform,” all black with fancy guns, showed a total stranger how dangerous he was. And Paladin was the exception, a cultured renaissance man. In most of the Westerns, the wise old pa taught his boys you don’t look for trouble, but you don’t back down from it, either, which usually meant that all a guy had to do to provoke a fight to the death was call a man a coward. If that didn’t work, insulting his mom or girlfriend did. On the rare occasions that a gunfight wasn’t the high point of the show, beating a man unconscious was. This is not a condemnation, by the way. I enjoyed those shows as a kid, and I enjoy them now. But I have often read posts from people who long for the good old days when there wasn’t so much violence on television, and somehow seem to only remember “Leave it To Beaver” on TV, and not “Gunsmoke.” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/52 "2011-05-02T00:21:09Z")
I think the theme song says it well: “His fast **gun for hire** …[snip]…a **soldier of fortune** is a man called Paladin.” His gun is for hire, but not necessarily to shoot someone. It is for hire for enforcement, as a persuader, to rescue someone, for protection, to escort someone… like any soldier of fortune. And IIRC he didn’t shoot people unless he thought they needed shooting. The job had to be congruent with his principles. He wasn’t a paid assassin. ETA: There was less graphic violence on TV back then. Doesn’t mean people didn’t get killed. I mean, people get killed in Shakespeare and in the Old Testament. But there were limits to what was shown and done in the TV shows of the 50’s and 60’s. Today there was a L&O:SVU marathon on TV. The graphic, cruel, over-the-top violence in that program is common on TV and in movies today. Back then, you MIGHT have seen some really gory violence, graphically shown in detail in horror movies, but not in your living room. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/53 "2011-05-02T00:48:34Z")
Thread-appropriate video triva: [Paladin theme as sung by Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O’Connell](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y2LHlZRVrQ) ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/54 "2011-05-02T02:00:30Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Back then, you MIGHT have seen some really gory violence, graphically shown in detail in horror movies, but not in your living room. If true, is it really a good thing to make kids think that a point-blank shotgun blast results in tiny black marks on your shirt, or that any bullet that misses the heart or the head results in a wound that can pretty much be ignored after tying a handkerchief around it? Of course, the comic books I read were even worse. Every industrial chemical accident seemed to result not in horrendous suffering, but super-powers. Thank god there was no asbestos around when I was a kid, or I would have gladly inhaled it to make myself fireproof. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/55 "2011-05-02T03:00:32Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Small world. My evil sister lives in Wauwatosa now. Apparently the locals call it 'Tosa. Have you ever noticed that natives often do NOT use their town’s “official cutesy nickname”? NO ONE I know from Wauwatosa ever called it “_'Tosa_”, except outsiders trying to sound “in with the in crowd” (They do call the high schools Tosa East and West, but not the town). I’ve heard people call SF “Frisco”, but all the natives I know HATE the name. I doubt anyone says they live in LaLaLand. Don’t know about Philly or Chi-town… I just think it sounds like a salesman: [obviously not a native] “So, hey, BoyJimboJackieGleasonJimBoYoMama, how’re things in Mad Town? I hear the ol’ Mad City’s really hoppin’!” [/onan] Hmmm, maybe your evil sister says _'Tosa_… proving she has no soul. And, ps, NO ONE in Wauwatosa ever ended their conversations with “Regards”… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/56 "2011-05-02T03:22:38Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Have you ever noticed that natives often do NOT use their town’s “official cutesy nickname”? NO ONE I know from Wauwatosa ever called it “_'Tosa_”, except outsiders trying to sound “in with the in crowd” … Ah, that explains it, and that defines exactly what my sister is, and a bit about why I call her my evil sister. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/57 "2011-05-02T04:01:26Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Ah, that explains it, and that defines exactly what my sister is, and a bit about why I call her my evil sister. Maybe you should channel _ **Sampiro** _\* and start a Pit thread telling us all about her… \*And you’re one of the few here who could pull that off. Hey, it’d be cheap therapy. (ps, didja notice how I snuck your old name in there? Yeah, I been lurking since the nineties…) ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/58 "2011-05-02T05:16:46Z")
My lasting memory of the show was the calling card “Have Gun Will Travel”. I must admit that I had no idea what the next line meant: “Wire Paladin”. Paladin I knew, but why was his first name Wire??? I eventually figured it out. 😛 I particularly liked that Paladin was based in San Francisco which was the last thing on his card. Come to think of it, I had one of those cards once. Wonder where it’s at now? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/59 "2011-05-02T15:34:26Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > I must admit that I had no idea what the next line meant: “Wire Paladin”. Paladin I knew, but why was his first name Wire??? 😃 Ditto this, but it took me a looooong time to figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963/60 "2011-05-02T15:41:51Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > No, vice-versa, and **Scumpup** and I are talking about the radio show–not the TV show. I’m going to subscribe to it on iTunes and listen, since it’s been a while since I heard it. > > The distinct memory that I have from most episodes (of the RADIO SHOW) is that Paladin comes back from some adventure, and Hey Boy says, “Oh, Mr. Paladin, that beautiful lady Ms. So-and-so came by when you were gone–you want I should go tell her you’re back?” Wink-wink, nudge-nudge. Dehner Paladin is a much more overt womanizer than Boone Paladin. A majority of the San Francisco bracketing scenes do have something to do with him trying to hook up with an attractive lady. Sometimes Hey Boy helps by carrying written invitations to dinner/theater/opera from Paladin, but I still don’t know that I’d call it pimping. Hey Boy was voiced on radio by[Ben Wright](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wright_%28actor%29) who was working so hard on trying to sound Chinese that he wasn’t able, IMO, to put much of a salacious spin on his lines. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-gun-will-travel/579963.md?page=4)