I used to watch westerns with my Dad as well. We used to curl up together on a Saturday afternoon in the den with a bowl of cheddar cheese popcorn. John Wayne was my absolute favorite!!
@libertybele When I came to have a thing for old-time radio twenty years ago or so, I started listening to some of the radio westerns.
I now believe the best of those westerns beats any television western ever. (Except, maybe,
The Virginian.) Including:
Gunsmoke (The radio original is
way better than the television version, which used a lot of the radio scripts, by the way, and it had a far different and more effective cast: William Conrad as Matt Dillon; Georgia Ellis as Kitty; Parley Baer as Chester; Howard McNear as Doc.)
The Six Shooter (Jimmy Stewart in the title role of a laconic traveler throughout the old west; the series' Christmas episode, "Britt Ponset's Christmas Carol," is a classic. And its choice of "The Highland Lament" for its theme music was the most inspired theme of any western, radio or television.)
Frontier Gentleman (John Dehner as a
London Times reporter traveling through the old west and packing a swift gun himself when need be.)
Fort Laramie (Not to be confused with NBC-TV's eventual hit Western
Laramie; it starred Raymond Burr as a Cavalry captain; if you listen closely enough, you could consider it his season-long audition for
Perry Mason, since his character Lee Quince had a lot of Mason's traits.)