Review of Tightrope

Don't forget, TV was a new medium. They needed to muck about to see what worked.. and what did not. In Ringo, the hero used a gun that shot 6 normal cartridges ... and also a shotgun load. Most if not all of the episodes ended with the bad guys walking up to Ringo, all smiles because he was out of ammo ... ka-pow -- no more bad guy. (Based on a real gun, made in France, BTW). In Have Gun Will Travel the hero had a derringer hidden in his belt. Time and again poor Palladin would be captured and forced to turn over his gunbelt .. only to palm the derringer. In Wyatt Earp, Hugh O'brien had a custom gun with an extra long barrel, designed by Ned Buntline. Episode after episode, the baddies would challenge him to a gunfight and he would distance himself from them so that, ultimately, only his gun had the proper range. (Same gimmick used effectively in several Lee Van Cleef films later on). In WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE, McQueen could swivel aim and fire his weapon without the need to actually clear the holster, buying him precious seconds, and always winning the contest. And here in Tightrope, a series best remembered for launching Connors to Mannix fame, almost every single episode ended with the main character going for that pistol strapped to his back (a trick re-used decades later by no less than Bruce Willis in one of the Die-Hards). No disrespect to any of the earlier reviewers who loved the show -- IT WAS A FUN SHOW, and Mike was great -- but mainly it was about the gimmick.