Texas, more than 260,000 square miles!
And fifty men who make up the oldest and most famous law enforcement body in North America!
With the success of Dragnet, it was no surprise that imitators cropped up. Of them, this show is probably the best remembered. Like Dragnet, it adapted actual case files for its scripts and had the same character head the investigations in the person of Ranger Jace Pearson each week. Unlike Joe Friday, Pearson didn’t have a regular partner, typically working with the local sheriff instead (who was usually portrayed by Parley Baer). Working environments would range from big cities to isolated wilderness areas that could only be reached on horseback. The show ran 1950-1952 and featured film star Joel McCrea in the role of Ranger Pearson. Though most logs list this show as having ninety-two surviving episodes, four of those are repeats, so only eighty-eight titles are listed.
All eighty-eight episodes are now summarized.
Address Unknown
A woman is found murdered without any identification, and the only clues Pearson has to who she is comes from the incomplete information from her four year old son.
Alibi
A storekeeper is found near death from a blow to the head and with his till empty. Problems arise when the primary suspect has a solid alibi and the victim's memory is messed up.
Apache Peak
A traveling salesman from New York gets robbed and killed by a hitchhiker he picked up late at night.
Bad Blood
An aircraft plant worker is killed and robbed by his worthless brother-in-law who is desperate for money after having blown his paycheck in a craps game.
Birds of a Feather
A gang of petty robbers decide to try their hand at a kidnapping scheme. One of the gang gets nervous over how much can go wrong, so he gets killed to prevent him from going to the police.
Blind Justice
A seeing-eye dog leads Pearson deep into the back country to his murdered master. When fingerprints of an unknown and a former convict are found on the victim's cane, it looks like a simple matter until it's found that the blind man was the ex-con.
Blood Harvest
Two farmers are heisting another farmer's alfalfa harvest when he catches them at it, so he ends up being stabbed with a pitchfork. Pearson notices that they've sold an unusually large amount of crop for their acreage.
Blood Relative
The nephew of a general store owner comes demanding his share of the store and is displeased when he's told that he has none. When the owner's found shot the next morning, the nephew's automatically suspected. But Pearson comes across all sorts of contradictory evidence.
Blood Trail
Pearson investigates the killing of a doctor by a blow to the head. The last person seen with the victim is tracked down only to be found shot.
The Blow Off
A gas station attendant is found murdered at his place of employment. It looks to be a scene with no hard evidence left behind until Pearson notices that the fingerprints of the person who called the law from the station were also found where they shouldn't be.
The Boomerang
Pearson investigates the disappearance of a milquetoast which initially seems to have been a suicide by drowning resulting from the treatment from his bitch-shrew daughter. But there are some indications that there could have been murder.
See also The Big Revolt (Dragnet).
Breakdown
A sadistic out-of-state gunman who takes particular pleasure in killing cops finds out how hazardous it is to indulge in that in Texas.
Bright Boy
The younger of two brothers who have been stealing cars has some bad luck on his first try when the car’s owner catches him at it, so he reacts by knifing the owner.
The Broken Spur
Pearson investigates an arson used to hide a murder where the only solid clue at the scene is a spur that apparently came off of the killer's boot.
The Cactus Pear
A ranch hand is found killed by a shotgun. Pearson must now get what little evidence he has to stick.
Candy Man
Pearson tracks down an escaped killer sentenced for the chair and a petty thief he bullied into helping him make the jailbreak.
Canned Death
The death of a family is initially determined to be an accident when the autopsy reveals that they died from eating some home-canned sausage that was improperly prepared. But Pearson has a hunch that someone deliberately gave them the poisonous pork since the home has no canning equipment.
Christmas Payoff
A doctor at his office on an emergency call is shot shortly before leaving. Pearson suspects a robber the doctor testified against is responsible, but that seems a bit problematic since he’s still serving a life sentence.
The Christmas Present
Children across Texas are disillusioned when Santa robs a bank. Of course, it wasn't really Santa, but it means it'll be tough to identify the robbers.
Clean Up
When the boss of a crime syndicate in an oil boomtown has one of the operators murdered for not paying protection, this cues Pearson to move in discretely and start cleaning out the place.
Clip Job
Pearson gets a fresh lead on a con man when he gets word on an elderly widow who was swindled out of her entire life savings.
Cold Blood
Pearson must find a black farmhand accused of murdering his boss’s wife before a lynch mob does.
Conspiracy
Pearson is sent to investigate some improprieties in the handling of a supposed self-defense killing where the victim was actually shot in the back.
Review: While this show maintains an overall high level of quality in its stories, this one in particular impresses. It’s made more interesting in that Pearson is on his own more so than he usually is.- Webmaster
Cover Up
A farmer arrives at a neighbor’s house and finds an unfamiliar Mexican attempting to clean up a bloodstain. The law manages to capture him quickly enough and he gives a pathetically lame story to explain what he was doing. But the lameness causes Pearson to wonder if the Mexican has been set up as a fall guy.
Dead Giveaway
A woman calls the sheriff to report a prowler, but she and her four month old child are found shot when he arrives. Pearson's investigation turns up evidence that her husband (who claims to have been on a business trip) did it, but also finds some that directly contradicts this.
Dead Head Freight
A woman's body is found stuffed in a duffle bag and left in a freight car. The type of knot used to close it suggests a sailor and the earth stuck to the bag narrows down where it was put aboard.
Dead or Alive
A safecracker takes advantage of his brother-in-law's death in a refinery explosion to fake his death. But his M.O. when he gets back to work raises Pearson's suspicions
Death by Adoption
A used car salesman is being blackmailed by his adopted daughter's alleged biological father. When he stands up to it, he gets shot for his troubles. But some surveyor's chalk helps put Pearson on track.
Death in the Cards
A man reports that a professional gambler he's in debt to came to kill him but got his stepfather instead. Pearson then has trouble getting a decent description of the alleged murderer.
Death Plant
A farmer's wife is killed when a time bomb planted in his truck goes off. When a similar bomb is found under the home of the truck's previous owner, it looks like the first attempt was an error.
Death Shaft
The badly decayed body of a murdered man is found in an abandoned mine during an inspection and the prime suspect is a crazy old prospector who lives in the area.
The Devil's Share
A farmer gets killed by his ne’er-do-well brother who then proceeds to plant false evidence that it was done by a sharecropper.
Double Edge
While an elderly woman is on the phone with the bank, she overhears a robbery in progress.
Dream Farm
An ornery bastard waylays a family moving to their new home and shoots all of them when the father resists. While the parents die, the child manages to survive and he can hopefully give Pearson a decent description of their assailant.
Drive-In
An elderly couple get hijacked at a drive-in theater and were unable to get a good look at the perp. Pearson figures his best lead might come through a recently purchased pair of stockings that had been left in the car. Final episode.
Ex-Con
A man who served three years for manslaughter and hasn’t been able to hold down an honest job since is approached by a stranger who offers him a thousand dollars to kill an old woman in Odessa.
Review: This otherwise interesting story is hindered by occasional bursts of silly melodramatics.- Webmaster
Finger Man
Pearson is called in to help stop an attempted prison break at a county jail during which a deputy gets killed.
Fool's Gold
A botched bank robbery results in a teller being shot and two more dead when the getaway car crashes. Pearson must now find a man with gold teeth reported by witnesses and a gash on the head sustained in the wreck.
Fugitive's Trail
A couple arrives home to find the babysitter missing and her ex-boyfriend killed with a shotgun. When Pearson is assigned to the case, he winds up getting sent on a merry wild goose chase.
Hanging by a Thread
A rancher calls the sheriff to announce that he's going to kill himself. When he arrives, he finds the rancher having apparently hung himself in the barn, but there are signs that it was a faked suicide.
The Hatchet
A high school English teacher is found dead one morning from a hatchet wound and a student of his living next door has a rather unconvincing alibi.
Helping Hands
A stranded motorist objects to the amount charged by the mechanics who restart his car and gets robbed and his head smashed in for it.
Hitchhiker
A rancher has the misfortune to pick up a felon who has just escaped from prison mere hours ago.
The Ice Man
Pearson is on the trail of a burglar who has managed to evade capture for the past year in spite of his distinctive M.O.
Illegal Entry
After a botched mugging attempt, a Mexican wanted on both sides of the border makes his getaway on a freight train.
Illusion
A woman who may or may not have a few screws loose believes that someone is trying to kill her and make it look like an accident.
Jailbird
Pearson searches for a gunman who had recently managed to escape from Huntsville and had killed to do so.
Joy Ride
A liquor store is found robbed with its owner murdered. Pearson's best lead comes from an alcohol soaked stolen car found abandoned in the area.
Just a Number
A kid comes over to the ranch where a friend of his lives and finds the whole family killed by being beaten with a flat iron. Audition episode.
Note: The person portraying Pearson is clearly not McCrea. However, there were no credits at the end and I didn’t recognize the voice. Anyone who can enlighten me please do so.
Killer's Crop
A drug addict wishing to go straight gets shot by her supplier before she can get a chance to talk to the police.
Knockout
When the sheriff comes into a hotel room to check out a reported disturbance, he gets assaulted and finds the room’s occupant murdered.
Last Stop
While investigating a train wreck, Pearson discovers evidence that someone had deliberately sabotaged the tracks.
Living Death
The investigation of two murders where the only connection is that the victims were killed with the same gun leads Pearson to a narcotics smuggling ring.
Little Sister
A girl who ran away from her hick family three years ago returns to get her younger sister to assist her in robbing movie theaters.
Logger's Larceny
A logging foreman discovers the company paymaster's car overturned with the paymaster dead, so he takes most of the payroll being carried and sets the car aflame to cover his theft.
The Lucky Dollar
A storekeeper's wife is killed by a man who steals the contents of the till. Pearson finds him by tracing the spending path of the store's lucky dollar.
Misplaced Person
The body of a woman who was beaten to death is found without any identification. All Pearson has to go on is the phone number of an Austrian psychiatrist found in her purse.
Night Chase
Pearson chases down a pair of rustlers whose truck has been stripped of all means of identification.
Night Hawk
A woman who witnessed her boyfriend getting killed by a mugger loses her nerve when asked to identify the suspect.
No Living Witnesses
A doctor is found murdered in his surgery. The disarray of his surgical equipment suggests that he was killed by a patient who didn't want his bullet wound reported.
Open and Shut
A man is reported murdered with his own gun on a cattle trail. The tracks of the presumed killer lead to the shack of a Mexican, but the whole business strikes Pearson as having been too easy.
A story that borders on plagiarism is used on Mr. District Attorney under the title The Case of the Lovers' Lane Killing.
Open Range
A rancher comes across some rustlers making off with his stock who respond by opening fire, killing the rancher and badly wounding his son.
Paid in Full
Pearson is assigned to investigate the death of a Mexican sharecropper who had been out to collect some money owed to him by the landowner.
Pick Up
Two hobos find that they're sharing a train car with a corpse, so they dump him off first chance they get.
Play for Keeps
Shortly after a sheriff discovers that the town constable has been tipping off a local gambler about planned raids on his establishment, he's shot by the twosome and looks to be filed as an "unsolved case". The citizens are dissatisfied with that and demand that the Texas Rangers intervene.
Prelude to Felony
Some calves that had been apparently stolen from a rancher are later found on the farm of a neighbor. The whole thing has the smell of a frame to Pearson.
Pressure
A popular rancher is shot and one of his hands confesses to doing it. Due to the possibility of an old-fashioned hemp necktie party, one Ranger Pearson comes to help deal with this potential one riot. But he finds that several points in the statement don't add up.
Quicksilver
Pearson investigates the murder of a family at a isolated ranch where the killer managed to avoid leaving behind any form of hard evidence.
Room 114
An unknown man is found dead in a hotel room registered under the name of a ranch owner. It looks like an open-and-shut case for Pearson until some ranch hands tell him the deceased is the ranch owner.
Round Trip
A man who delivers newspaper bundles from Houston to Waco who takes passengers on the side is found shot and robbed. The only solid lead for Pearson is a bus ticket found in the murdered man's car.
The Rub Out
A boxer dies during a fight from what is later determined to have been from poisoning by nitroglycerine.
Sellout
A retiring hardware store owner who was selling off the last of his stock is held up and then shot when he resists. Pearson’s investigation is made more difficult due to conflicting statements from the witnesses.
Smart Kill
After a grain silo fire finally dies down, the body of a man who was stabbed to death is found in the ruins.
Soft Touch
An elderly couple are found stuffed in their pantry beaten to death. A scrap of government stationary found in the dead man's hand gets Pearson on the trail.
Square Dance
A stranger harassing a woman at a square dance is repulsed by her husband and returns the favor later by knifing him in a dark parking lot. Some petty thefts he commits that night help put Pearson on his trail.
Stick Up
When investigating the robbery of a café where a bystander got killed, Pearson finds that the alibi given to him by the man who owned the truck reported as the escape vehicle of the robber crumbles to nothing after a bit of checking.
Sweet Revenge
A man who had returned home after splitting up with the woman he had eloped with is found shot the next morning. Both the man's half-brother and the woman's father are potential suspects, but Pearson finds problems with both cases.
Three Victims
It looks to be a straightforward case when a family of three is robbed and shot, with the son surviving. But the testimony Pearson is given doesn't quite match with the evidence found at the crime scene.
The Trap
Pearson is called in to investigate the high jacking of a truck hauling car radios and the brutal murder of the two truckers driving it.
Travesty
Pearson is sent to investigate the possibility of a corrupt sheriff’s deputy.
The Triggermen
A pair of robbers heading for the border mess with Texas on their way.
Troop Train
Two soldiers in a division heading out to fight in the Pacific decide to go AWOL. After a while, they have a disagreement on how to proceed and one of them is seemingly killed in the resulting fight.
Uncertain Death
Two men report a murder down by the lake at night. While Pearson finds evidence that someone had been killed there recently, he has a Dickens of a time locating the corpse.
Unleashed Fury
Pearson searches for an escaped homicidal mental patient who has a particular fixation with schools and schoolteachers.
Wheelchair Killing
Due to an anonymous phone call, the local law learns that an elderly recluse was beaten to death with a sock full of sand. The type of sand used leads Pearson to a nearby CCC camp.
The White Elephant
A travelling salesman is found outside his car murdered. Some credit card receipts for gasoline found in the car end up leading Pearson to an abandoned motel.
The White Suit
A gunman escapes from jail, killing a deputy and a janitor in the process. After his initial conspicuousness, he gets real tough for Pearson to track.
Wild Crop
A cowboy is found beaten to death along the path to his girlfriend's house. The odd account given by the girlfriend's brother makes Pearson suspect that he's holding something back.