Gene Autry Show: The Doodle Bug

The Gene Autry Show: The Doodle Bug

Originally Broadcast: Sunday, August 13, 1950 at 7 PM ET on CBS

Plot: Gene and Pat try to foil a stagecoach robbery while transporting a schoolteacher who missed the stagecoach.

Analysis: This is an interesting episode since, for a chance, we don’t see as much of Gene in this episode as we do of Pat Buttram, which you’d think would mean more laughs then action, but the balance is pretty fair. Alan Hale, Jr. is back, playing another bad guy as would seem to be his bread and butter at this time.

Bottom Line: This one’s OK, but just OK. Problem with this one is it seems unfocused: is the story the stagecoach holdups or the schoolteacher? The writers ended up going with the stagecoach, but they sure took the long way around that mountain to come to that decision. Hardly essential Autry viewing, but not too terrible.

The Last Word: Since this wraps up the original DVD with the four Autry episodes on it (Head for Texas, Gold Dust Charlie, The Silver Arrow and The Doodle Bug), thought I’d summarize. Overall, the shows look pretty good. Only wear on the prints I noticed was over some of the end credits, other than that, pretty clean. Also worth noting the original Wrigley’s Gum commercials are intact on these episodes, so you get both the classic episodes and commercials as close to how they aired in 1950 as you are likely to get.

Menu selection is good, allowing you to jump to any episode on the disc and various points in the episodes. Since very little plot takes place during Autry’s songs, you can skip them if you want. As bonus features, you have a jukebox of Autry’s songs, a listing of his Cowboy Code which links to scenes from Autry episodes and movies detailing his point. Also available is a still gallery, a promo for the Autry Museum of Western Heritage (now the Autry National Center of the American West) located in Los Angeles and promos for more Image DVDs.

The Doodle Bug is on Gene Autry Show – Gold Dust Charlie (http://www.amazon.com/Gene-Autry-Show-Gold-Charlie/dp/B00005B6KE/ref=sr_1_42?s=STORE&ie=UTF8&qid=1284501821&sr=1-42). Unfortunately, the DVD can only be bought secondhand now that Image has opted to discontinue it Best source I could find is the Amazon Sellers, but you may also want to check eBay for price comparison.

We still have one more DVD of Autry episodes to cover, so I’ll talk about the show’s impact, Autry’s later career and other details with the next DVD.