Line #17 Series/TheLoner


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/loner2.jpg]]
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3	->''"In the aftermath of the bloodletting called the Civil War, thousands of rootless, restless, searching men traveled west. Such a man was William Colton. Like the others, he carried a blanket roll, a proficient gun, and a dedication to a new chapter in American history...the opening of the West."''
4	-->--'''OpeningNarration'''
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6	''The Loner'' is a WesternSeries created by Creator/RodSerling and starring Creator/LloydBridges as William Colton. It aired for [[ShortRunners one season]] (1965–66) on Creator/{{CBS}}.
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8	Colton, a former Union Cavalry captain, spends the years following the [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Civil War]] wandering from town to town in the American West, meeting old friends and strangers alike and helping them to solve their problems while trying to find himself.
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10	The show followed the basic format of other Western shows such as ''Series/HaveGunWillTravel'' and ''Series/{{Maverick}}'', but added Serling's trademark philosophical qualities in an attempt to make a Western series for more mature viewers. CBS wasn't happy with the focus on ideas over action, however, and when ratings failed to meet expectations the show ended up being canceled at the end of its lone season.
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13	!!Tropes associated with this series include:
14	* BadassPreacher: Creator/JackLord plays one in "The Vespers".
15	* BerserkButton: Hurting or disrespecting the vulnerable (particularly women) is a big one for Colton.
16	* BewareTheNiceOnes / TranquilFury: Colton is rarely seen speaking above a normal pitch, but he ''does'' get mad, and lord help you if you find yourself on the receiving end of his anger.
17	* GrayAndGrayMorality: One of the things that distinguished ''The Loner'' from the rest of its genre. There were good guys and bad guys, but all characters were typically allowed to speak their mind and express their own motivation.
18	* HeroicBSOD: Colton suffers one after killing a teenage Confederate soldier is in his backstory. The colonel in "One of the Wounded" is nearly catatonic as a result of his own wartime trauma.
19	* InstrumentalThemeTune: Composed by Music/JerryGoldsmith, who also scored the episodes "[[{{Pilot}} An Echo of Bugles]]" and "One of the Wounded".
20	* JustAFleshWound: Colton tries to avoid killing people if he can help it, and is a good enough shot that he can incapacitate his adversaries with a nonlethal wound.
21	* MalignedMixedMarriage: "Widow on the Evening Stage" involves the family of a man recently killed by an Apache war party rejecting his newly-arrived wife and their son (whom they had never seen before) because she is Native.
22	* PowderKegCrowd: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in "Widow on the Evening Stage":
23	-->"If you stick good men into a mob... take away their names, faces, identities -- take away their responsibility, they are no longer good men!"
24	* ShellShockedVeteran: Colton
25	* WalkingTheEarth: Colton continually roams from one place to another.

Context Series / TheLoner