A collection of Twain short stories I’m now reading mentions appearances (as a character, obviously) on the TV Western program Bonanza - anyone remember them? From IMDb.com:
… aka Ponderosa (USA: rerun title)
… aka Ride the Wind (USA: recut version)
- The Twenty-Sixth Grave (1972) TV episode, played by Ken Howard
- The Emperor Norton (1966) TV episode, played by William Challee
- Enter Mark Twain (1959) TV episode, played by Howard Duff
I certainly do, although I couldn’t tell you which episode(s). Mark Twain started his journalism career in Virginia City, so it wasn’t that far-fetched. I also remember the episode with Jonathan Harris as Charles Dickens, which was perhaps a bit more far-fetched.
It is certainly not impossible (Twain was in Nevada).
But that episode with Jean Lafitte was a bit of a stretch-Lafitte would have been in his 90’s in the 1870’s.
Yup, I remember but they’re not among my favorite episodes.
The silliest one was when they had a lawyer from Illinois open up shop in Virginia City. He was a folksy type who wore a tall stovepipe hat. He defended Hoss against a murder rap.
No, it wasn’t Lincoln, but he knew old Abe really really well from back east!
It was obvious the writers wanted badly to do a Lincoln visits the Cartwrights story, but since Lincoln never went out west, it was beyond even their story stretching abilities.
I remember the Mark Twain Bonanza episode. Sam Clemons discovers his pen name by dreaming about being on a river boat.
This guy was also on an episode of Bonanza.
“Bonanza” more sense than Twain being on “Star Trek: TNG”.
Did Oscar Wilde ever pay a visit to the Ponderosa? Or Sir Richard Francis Burton?
Leprechauns yes, but no whores. :dubious:
Yeah, but the episode where the Harlem Globetrotters came through town was definitely over the top.
No, but Charles Dickens did. And he was played by Jonathan Harris! Oh, the pain! The pain!
I do remember that in the Emperor Norton episode Mark Twain appeared as a witness to defend the Emperor when he got into trouble with the law, They explained Mark Twain’s appearance was because Mr. Cartwright knew him already and invited him to help defend the Emperor.
Not so far fetched…They may have been on their way to perform at one of the casinos in South Tahoe.
Meadowlark Lemon had time travel skills. How else could he do what he did?
Actually, paradox-free time travel was (will be?) developed by Ethan “Bubblegum” Tate, the greatest scientific mind of the 31st Century. 
Mark Twain also appeared as a character in the famous lost “gangbang” episode of Gun Smoke.
well, I shouldn’t be surprised. He’s got the mustache for it…
What I can’t figure out is how Michael Landon could have spent the 1870s in both Nevada and Minnesota.
Walt Whitman turned up on Quinn, Medicine Woman once. Bit of reach, but there you go.
Wayne Knight was Seinfeld’s neighbor in NYC and Sally Solomon boyfriend in Ohio during the 1990s.