It's great to be able to add to the other comments which reflect the affection felt for this show. Obviously 'Casey Jones' meant a lot to boys growing up in the late 50's and early 60's, and it's something we've never outgrown. I saw the show in the UK. It was repeated a couple of times but, unlike 'Robinson Crusoe' or 'White Horses', seemed to disappear after about 1972. Maybe the BBC see lost the broadcast rights. At any rate, 36 years later I am the proud owner of all 32 episodes on 4 DVD's (admittedly they seem to be recorded from a cable channel or something). I never realised there were so many.
The verdict after such a lapse of time? Obviously the plots seem obvious and the characters are very basic, but this is a kids' show so there's no fault there. On the whole the show holds up well. The basic premise is very moral: doing the right thing is always the right thing to do; family life is central to everything; a real man is honest and lives up to his responsibilities. Alan Hale projects these virtues very well, without any hokeyness at all, he makes Casey a solidly dependable figure.
Other aspects are interesting from the point of view of the time they were made. In one episode Casey delivers supplies to an army fort where the commanding officer has just ordered two Native Americans (whom he calls "savages") to be shot without trial. My heart sank, but the plot turned - what did I just say about them being obvious? - on the fact that the officer was incompetent and unfit for command (a touch of the Captain Queegs) and a regime based on mutual respect is shown as the way forward. Another nice moral tied up in 25 minutes of TV.
The supporting cast give good value (look out for Lee Van Cleef in one episode), especially Dub Taylor - a lovely character actor. He often seems to be a prototype Engineer Scott from 'Star Trek'. When Casey asks for more steam he says the Cannonball is "ready to bust wide open" already - "She'll no' take much more, Captain!" Long may Casey continue "steamin' and a-rollin'"!
The verdict after such a lapse of time? Obviously the plots seem obvious and the characters are very basic, but this is a kids' show so there's no fault there. On the whole the show holds up well. The basic premise is very moral: doing the right thing is always the right thing to do; family life is central to everything; a real man is honest and lives up to his responsibilities. Alan Hale projects these virtues very well, without any hokeyness at all, he makes Casey a solidly dependable figure.
Other aspects are interesting from the point of view of the time they were made. In one episode Casey delivers supplies to an army fort where the commanding officer has just ordered two Native Americans (whom he calls "savages") to be shot without trial. My heart sank, but the plot turned - what did I just say about them being obvious? - on the fact that the officer was incompetent and unfit for command (a touch of the Captain Queegs) and a regime based on mutual respect is shown as the way forward. Another nice moral tied up in 25 minutes of TV.
The supporting cast give good value (look out for Lee Van Cleef in one episode), especially Dub Taylor - a lovely character actor. He often seems to be a prototype Engineer Scott from 'Star Trek'. When Casey asks for more steam he says the Cannonball is "ready to bust wide open" already - "She'll no' take much more, Captain!" Long may Casey continue "steamin' and a-rollin'"!