Tumbleweed Theater Online
Riders In The Sky host Tumbleweed Theater, a 90 minute weekly television show on TNN that aired classic western films (an action/adventure or a "singing cowboy" picture) with songs and sketches by The Riders playing between the films.
| Series cast summary: | |||
 | Riders in the Sky | - | Themselves / - 1 episode, 1983 |
Only three out of the five seasons had original skits and songs preformed by Riders In The Sky, the last two consisted of repackaged segments. This is because TNN had changed directors of programming from Elmer Alley to Paul Corbin, but Corbin didn't like The Riders new manager, David Skepner, and had The Riders dropped from TNN's roster.
Complete seasons of the show have never been released on home media, although the movies that aired were public domain and free to use. The only home media to be released was a 60 minute VHS tape(later DVD) called The Best Of Tumbleweed Theater, consisting of sketches and songs preformed by Riders In The Sky on the show.
Besides playing themselves, Riders In The Sky also played various other characters, such as: Sidemeat(Too Slim), Sergeant Dudley Do-Right(Ranger Doug), and Drywall Puddy/Paul(Woody Paul). Many of these characters would be carried over to albums by The Riders and their weekly radio show: Riders Radio Theater.
Woody Paul occasionally played Alfalfa, based on the Little Rascals/Our Gang character. It's possible that this is a parody of Eddie Murphy's Buckwheat character on Saturday Night Live, which at the time was used in frequent segments.
This show is often confused with Roy Rogers' Happy Trails Theater and Gene Autry's Melody Ranch television series. All three shows aired on TNN, aired black and white B-Western films, and had "host" segments in between the film where they would talk about the film.