Follow TV Tropes

Following

Cowboy Episode

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cowboy_episode.jpg
Allons-y, pard'ner.

An Out-of-Genre Experience when a series other than The Western picks up a six-shooter, dons a Stetson and rides off into the sunset. In other words, a non-Western temporarily becomes a Western (or at least a pastiche thereof).

This can be done through Time Travel, virtual reality, some form of historic re-enactment, a Dream Sequence or, for works set in the right period but wrong location, a trip out West. This can be motivated by, or turn into, a Quest to the West. The effect can also be achieved with a Fantasy Counterpart Culture.

Can count as a Costumer.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Animation 
  • Dziwne Przygody Koziolka Matolka: The episode "Czarny Bill" ("Black Bill") has the protagonist finding himself in a typical Wild West town menaced by a typical bandit. It's unusual, since the series is set in modern day, but then again Anachronism Stew is heavily present in the original books as well.
  • Happy Heroes: Season 9 episodes 32 and 33 involve Careless S. as a cowboy in the Wild West.

    Anime & Manga 
  • In episode 13 of The Brave Express Might Gaine, Might received a case to take out bad guys located within a western theme park in The United States, which he stayed a bit longer afterwards sporting a full Cowboy gear to enjoy the atmosphere
  • The title of Cowboy Bebop refers to how the protagonists are bounty hunters, which are often called "cowboys" in-series, but some episodes have a distinct Space Western theme:
  • The original Toei Getter Robo Anime had one in episode 21, featuring Texas Mack's debut (and, until later spinoffs, only) appearance. Texas Mack being a giant robot with Cowboy apparell, including gun, lasso and a cowboy hat (which is its own hoverjet piloted by the Texas Mack's pilot's sister).
  • One Piece:
    • Banaro Island has a cowboy theme, with Wild West architecture and period clothing. Appropriately enough, this was the site of the duel between Ace and Blackbeard.
    • The entire Skypeia saga could count as an extended Cowboy Episode too, as Shandians resemble Native Americans and part of the issues surrounding the region is their takeover and subjugation by the Caucasian-looking Skypeians and Bilkans.
  • Pokémon has one during the Orange Islands season. Ash, Misty, and Tracey meet a cowboy named Ethan who has a Jolteon he uses like a cattle dog to keep track of his 'herd' of Magnemites. Team Rocket tries to steal them of course, so they can harness their electricity and give it to the Boss.
  • Done in the Tenchi Muyo! TV series, Tenchi Universe. After Tenchi's been kidnapped by the bounty hunter bent on defeating Ryoko, the two agree to meet at a location suspiciously similar to a small western town, complete with tumbleweed, saloons, and an eerie sunset. Whether Tenchi's status as the male version of the Bound and Gagged Damsel in Distress is Played for Drama or Played for Laughs generally depends on the viewer's opinion.
    • Washu actually created the western town specifically for the duel to invoke the trope. She seemed pretty proud of it.
    • Speaking of Tenchi Muyo: Its spinoff Magical Project S has one episode featuring a Wild West theme park in competition with a ninja theme park. It ends with them joining forces to build a deliberately anachronistic cowboy ninja theme park. "The kids will love it!"
  • This trope frequently appears in the works of Leiji Matsumoto, with characters visiting a planet patterned after the old west (which may be named "Gun Frontier"). Appropriately enough, the series Gun Frontier was a Cowboy Spinoff genre shift for Captain Harlock, featuring the wacky Western misadventures of the space pirate's Identical Ancestor.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds had the Crashtown arc, where Yusei goes to Crashtown, where it resembles the old west and the duelists there tend to use cards that emulate the old west.

    Comic Books 

    Comic Strips 
  • Modesty Blaise: The "Butch Cassidy Rides Again!" arc. A staged western re-enactment almost proves fatal when one of the players is hit with live ammunition. Things take a stranger turn when Willie identifies the leading culprit as being the original Butch Cassidy’s double.

    Fan Works 

    Films — Animated 
  • An American Tail: Fievel Goes West: The first film was about a late 19th century family of Eastern European Jewish mice emigrating to New York City. In this one they move again, in the wild West.

    Films — Live-Action 

    Literature 

    Live-Action TV 
  • An episode of The Adventures of Superman takes place at what is explicitly a recreation of an old west town, but Lois and Jimmy act as if they think the danger from the black-hatted baddie is real.
  • The Aquabats! Super Show! has "Cowboy Android!". After the Battle Tram runs out of gas in the middle of the desert, The Aquabats stumble across a peculiar Old West-styled town hidden in the hills. Soon discovering the town is actually a realistic theme park whose visitors have been held captive by a malfunctioning robot gunslinger (an homage to the 1973 movie Westworld), the band tries to devise a plan to save everyone from his clutches, enlisting the help of a flying naked mole-rat monster along the way.
  • Batman (1966): The two-part "Come Back, Shame"/"It's How You Play The Game" featuring Western-themed bad guy Shame.
  • The original Battlestar Galactica episode "The Lost Warrior" involved Apollo stumbling across a world with a small human colony that had a very Days of Future Past Western aesthetic to it.
  • The Castle episode "Once Upon a Time in the West" features the duo solving a poisoning at an Arizona dude ranch resort, while pretending to be honeymooners there. As expected, it features a wide array of western-themed tropes, including the reason for the murder.
  • Charmed episode "The Good, The Bad and The Cursed" sees Prue and Cole time traveling back to the Wild West in an attempt to break a time loop, whilst Piper and Leo investigate the same town in the present - where it has been abandoned due to all the residents being trapped in the loop.
  • Community:
  • CSI: In "The Good, the Bad and the Dominatrix", Lady Heather is dressed as a saloon girl when she is assaulted by a client dressed as a cowboy and left for dead on the grounds of a Wild West theme park.
  • The Dick Van Dyke Show: Rob gets knocked out for a dental procedure while worried about a sketch Alan Brady wants for the show. He dreams he's a wild west sheriff and Alan is "Big Bad Brady," a local outlaw who calls him out for a Showdown At High Noon. After he wakes up he realizes it's perfect for the sketch, and asks his dentist to put him out for just Five More Minutes so he can remember what he dreamt.
  • Doctor Who:
    • Done surprisingly rarely: just twice in fifty years. The First Doctor visited in 1966's "The Gunfighters", and the Eleventh in 2012's "A Town Called Mercy".
    • Played with in "The Impossible Astronaut"; the Doctor summons Rory, Amy and River to meet him in Utah. The Doctor show up wearing a Stetson hat, given to him in the previous episode. Just as he mentions to Rory and Amy, "I wear a Stetson now," River shoots the hat off his head, cowboy-style, with a six-shooter.
  • On Family Matters, Carl dreams he's a sheriff in the Old West who has killed the father of the town's most annoying gunslinger, "Two-Gun" Urkel.
  • Farscape has "Home On The Remains" (in which the crew find themselves on a mining colony with lots of Western stereotypes, including prospectors, an eye-shielded gambler, and a Small-Town Tyrant in charge), and "Different Destinations" (which is an SF version of Westerns with a small group of cavalry besieged by Indians in a fort, complete with a group of nuns to protect).
  • Friends: Played with in "The One With The Breast Milk" when Joey is working as a cologne spritzer and develops a rivalry with another spritzer. They're selling different versions of the same Western-themed fragrance and have to wear white (Joey) and black (the rival) cowboy outfits. The storyline ends with them having a Showdown at High Noon over who gets to spray cologne on the first customer of the day.
  • Gilligan's Island:
  • Girl Meets World had the 3 part "Girl Meets Texas" where the gang head back to Lucas' home town for him to compete in a bull riding competition. It was pretty much a dude ranch episode.
  • The Goodies: In "Bunfight at the O.K. Tearooms", The Goodies are broke, so they go out prospecting and find a cream mine. But Graeme gets greedy and wants all the cream to himself, leading to a tomato ketchup stained showdown between the three of them at the O.K. Tearooms.
  • I Dream of Jeannie: In "Fastest Gun in the East", Jeannie blinks Major Nelson back to the old west.
  • Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 had "The Magnificent Eight", and Season 2 had a Sequel Episode, "Outlaw Country". Both involve the Legends travelling to the Old West and teaming up with classic DC Western character Jonah Hex.
  • MacGyver has two Wild West dream episodes: "Serenity", where Mac falls asleep while watching a western and dreams that he is Determined Homesteader and Murdoc and Pete are trying to force him off his land, and "MacGyver's Women", when MacGyver dreams that he's back in the Wild West town of Serenity and has to defend three women from outlaws.
  • Man from Atlantis: In "Shoot-Out at Land's End", Mark is mysteriously drawn to a location and finds himself in the Old West.
  • Matlock had an episode called "The Nightmare", in which the show's title character gets knocked out and finds himself in a Wild West setting.
  • Message from Space: Galactic Wars has the episode "Rise! The Warrior of the Wasteland!", where the heroes go to the desert part of Planet Cita where an Old-West styled town is suffering under the Gavanas Empire's occupation, and are helped by a local drifter who guns down the mooks with a six-shooter instead of the usual laser guns or martial arts.
  • Midsomer Murders: "Blood on the Saddle" featured Wild West recreationists; at least one of whom took the hobby way too seriously.
  • Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers had the episode "Wild West Rangers" where Kimberly is sent back to 1880 during Angel Grove's Wild West era.
  • M.I. High: In "Dark Star", an old enemy of Frank breaks out of prison and comes gunning for him. Colt Winchester (really Colin from Winchester) and his men have adopted cowboy outfits and affectations and the whole thing plays out like High Noon.
  • Mission: Impossible: In "Gunslinger", the IMF go undercover in an old west tourist attraction run by a villain with a cowboy fixation. Includes a gunfight between Jim Phelps and both the Big Bad and The Dragon.
  • Modern Family's third season opener was a dude ranch episode.
  • The Muppet Show: In the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans episode, the entire show takes on a Wild West motif, including a huge herd of cows backstage.
  • Murdoch Mysteries has episode "Mild Mild West" in which Buffalo Bill Cody comes to Toronto with his road show. A stunt goes wrong, and it's concluded it was a murder.
  • My Favorite Martian used Time Travel in the two-part "Go West, Young Martian".
  • The Outer Limits (1995): "Heart's Desire" takes place in the Oregon Territory in 1872.
  • The Prisoner (1967): "Living in Harmony" takes place in an apparent Elseworld Wild West setting. Number Six is a sheriff who turns in his badge and gun and tries to leave town. It turns out to be a Virtual-Reality Interrogation created in-universe with a stage set and hallucinogenic drugs.
  • An episode of Psych had Shawn and Gus investigating a murder in an old-west theme park. They, of course, dress up in cowboy clothes and start playing Sheriff...the whole episode them because an exploration of various old-west tropes, even a By Wall That Is Holey example.
  • In Quantum Leap Sam leaps into a man just about to have a Showdown at High Noon - but it turns out it's just an old man in a Wild West recreation. But then his old partner shows up demanding a real showdown, claiming the man Sam leaped into has stolen his life story for the sake of a few dollars.
  • Red Dwarf: The episode "Gunmen of the Apocalypse" involves the characters entering a virtual Western town that serves as a metaphor for Kryten's struggles with computer virus. The episode even ends with Starbug flying off into the sunset.note 
  • Sabrina the Teenage Witch: In "The Wild Wild Witch," Sabrina is sent to a lawless town in the Old West because she's unhappy with all the rules she has to abide by.
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World: When Roxton happens upon a hangman's noose dangling from a lonely tree in the jungle in "Dead Man's Hill", he's suddenly transported back to the American West where he finds himself at the end of the rope.
  • Star Trek has several:
  • Supernatural:
    • "Frontierland". Sam and Dean go back in time to Old West Wyoming, get a magical gun from Samuel Colt, have a High Noon moment with a phoenix, and return to the present still dressed in cowboy paraphernalia (which Dean very likely kept, as he has "a fetish" for western wear).
    • "Tombstone": Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Jack work a case in Dodge City, which gives Dean ample opportunity to play cowboy, geek out over cowboy lore, and irritate Castiel.
  • The Twilight Zone (1985): In "Welcome to Winfield", two people fleeing an agent of Death end up in an old west town.
  • Unhappily Ever After did a Western episode that lampshaded the fact that this type of episode often takes place entirely in one saloon: "This was a one-set town."
  • The Vet Life: In "Turnin' Texan," the three veterinarians take a break from their practice to visit a ranch where they don cowboy hats, ride horses, herd cattle, and are served a camp-style meal.
  • Wayne and Shuster: "A Fistful of Fingers", which was a send-up of Spaghetti Westerns. They also did an episode long parody of the Kung Fu TV show.

    Music 
  • "Paul Revere" from Beastie Boys' debut album Licensed to Ill, which provides the extremely 80s-Brooklynite Beasties with an inexplicably Wild West-themed Origin Story involving horses, shotguns and running from the sheriff. As a matter of interest, the Beasties would later record a full-length country album, Country Mike's Greatest Hits, as a Christmas present for friends and family.
  • Rubber Soul was The Beatles' first foray into Psychedelic Rock, but "What Goes On" is still unmistakably a Country song.
  • Civil War's song "Tombstone" tells the story of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral from Doc Holliday's perspective. Civil War usually sings about military history (they were formed by four former members of Sabaton).
  • In the Preschool Popstars song "Hair Cut Strut", it's in country style and the girls are wearing cowgirl hats.

    Podcasts 
  • Sequinox has the end episode 9 and beginning of episode 10, in which the girls get sent to a Wild West dimension by Gemini—the first in a series of dimensional hops.

    Radio 
  • The Men from the Ministry has the episode "Fastest Brolly in the West", which focuses on Lennox Brown's and Lamb's great-grandfathers, who are traveling across the West in 1870 and end up becoming sheriffs tasked to protect a small town after being Mistaken for Badass. In the end, they're driven away by the townsfolk who prefer the approaching criminals to their petty bureaucracy and regulations.
  • Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me:
    • During the 2008 election cycle, it had great fun with a panel segment entitled "Wait Wait on the Trail!", the standing intro for which involved normally strait-laced newscaster Carl Kasell performing a cowboy yell (to great hilarity) followed by a different Western song quote or cliche. (Hear one from Jan. 19, 2008 here.)
      Peter: And now it's time once again for the segment we call... "Wait Wait on the Trail!"
      Carl: [cowboy music plays] YEEEEEEEHAW!! Git along little dogies, git along.
    • When Korva Coleman stood in as guest announcer and scorekeeper, she got a turn too and approached it with great relish, also to the audience's delight.
      Korva: [cowboy music plays] YEEEEEEEHAW!! I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night!
      Peter: Bullseye, Annie!

    Roleplay 
  • Journey Through the Multiverse had Linkara's World as a Cowboy Episode. The setting even echoes that of a wild western setting, though without the Humongous Mecha that the villains for the episode were given. Not to mention that Linkara's hometown is based off another town from a Cowboy Episode mentioned here.

    Video Games 
  • While the Fallout series is normally based in a post-apocalyptic version of a 1950s Zeerust Retro Universe, Fallout: New Vegas combines that style with old Westerns. Six-shooters and lever-action repeating rifles are far more prolific than in other games, one will find Sunset Sarsaparilla soft drinks in addition to the ubiquitous Nuka-Cola, the various towns and characters in the Mojave Wasteland bear plenty of Western tropes, the "Honest Hearts" expansion is set in the popular Western shooting location of Zion National Park, the "Dead Money" expansion is inspired by the film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and the eastward expansion of the New California Republic is heavily inspired by America's own westward expansion.
  • Live A Live has a chapter called "The Wanderer" which is a classic Western story taking place in a dried up town under attack by a gang of outlaws, and the chapter's hero is an Expy With No Name.

    Web Videos 
  • The Great Nerf War: "Reanimation Starvation!" Is filmed in back and white and has a much more Wild West feel to it then the rest of the series.

    Western Animation 
  • In the 3-2-1 Penguins! episode, "Git Along Little Doggies!", the Rockhopper crew visits Planet Roo-Tin Too-Tin to help get Wild Bill Quasar's cows back.
  • Aaahh!!! Real Monsters: In "A Fistful of Toenails", Ickis, Krumm and Oblina find a box full of discarded Western movies. When they watch the movies despite the Gromble's protests, they start acting like cowboys and a cowgirl. After Zimbo rats them out to the Gromble and gets them punished, the Monsters challenge Zimbo to a showdown at High Moon.
  • Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: In the episode, "The Magnificent Sonic", Sonic becomes the Sheriff of Tranquil Gulch after defeating Six-Gun Pete, one of Dr. Robotnik's robots.
  • Alfred J. Kwak: There's an episode that consists entirely of Alfred dreaming that he is a sheriff in the Wild West (and because this is a kid's show, the saloon only has Frothy Mugs of Water) and has to take down several dangerous gunmen including Krabnagel and Dolf.
  • American Dad!: "West to Mexico". Stan becomes a wanted man running from Roger the bounty hunter, and ends up in a town in need of a good guy to help Principal Lewis (who works as a barber/dentist/prostitute), Francine (who works as a saloon girl), Steve (who works as the saloon's piano player), and Hayley (who is the sole heiress to her family's water well).
  • The Angry Beavers: "The Legend of Kid Friendly". Norb drags Dag, who doesn't want to go, to a western theme park based around the legendary Kid Friendly, the grinning gunslinger who "kills ya with kindness" and folksy humor. When the Kid Friendly robot goes berserk, all that stands between Norb and a grinning demise is Dag's bad attitude.
  • Animaniacs: Chicken Boo gets one in "The Good, the Boo and the Ugly". In a parody of Spaghetti Westerns, Chicken Boo takes on the role of "the man with no personality." As usual, the Only Sane Man attempts to point out that The Drifter is actually a giant chicken.
  • Atomic Betty has the episode "Rodeo Robots". Dr. Cerebral has kidnapped Robo Betty and reprogramed her to attack the real Betty, who is at a rodeo with her family.
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender: "Zuko Alone" has a very western feel, with the classic plot of a mysterious stranger helping a town in need.
  • Avenger Penguins had two:
    • In "The Wild, Wild West Story", Professor Boring (a cheery fellow) and his wife Euphoria (a depressed woman) have their time machine's transanium crystal stolen enabling Doom to send Harry Slime back to the old west to stake claims on all the gold.
    • In "High Doom", the old Doc relates a tale from the Wild West, where Beauregarde Doom and his gang try and rob a bank and some penguin lawmen try to escape Humungously Big Mad Joe.
  • The Backyardigans had two cowboy episodes:
    • In "Riding the Range", Cowboy Tyrone is on his way to Texas for a hoedown. He has mistakenly taken Uniqua's jumprope. Thinking a bandit stole it, she, Tasha, and Pablo head west. In the end, the trio learn that the bandit was actually Tyrone.
    • In "Blazing Paddles", Uniqua is the sheriff of Ping Pong Mesa, a small western town. Tyrone is the town saloon barkeep, Tasha is the bar-room dancer, and Austin is the deputy. When the Ping Pong Bandit (Pablo) arrives and beats each resident in a game of ping pong, he steals their paddles. When the town residents get Uniqua, even she cannot beat him. Pablo steals her paddle, too, and he even names himself the new sheriff of the town. However, Uniqua decides to practice her ping pong skills in the desert and returns to the town in disguise as the Pink Fury to beat Pablo.
  • The Batman: The Animated Series episode "Showdown" is a Whole Episode Flashback showing Jonah Hex battling Ra's Al Ghul in the Old West.
  • Beetlejuice had "Pest Of The West," with Beetlejuice taking Lydia (who looked very cute in her goth western garb) to a Neitherworld Wild West town and dealing with outlaw Bully The Crud.
  • Bugs Bunny has quite a few, usually going up against Yosemite Sam.
  • The Brady Kids had two:
    • In "Long Gone Silver", The Lone Ranger fan Bobby orders a pin from his hero's fan club. Marlon attempts to turn the pin into real silver, but instead brings the Lone Ranger's horse to the Brady's tree house.
    • In "Give Me a Home Where the Panda Bears Roam and the Dog and the Mynah Bird Play", the kids go on a Cattle Drive. As usual, Marlon's magic makes a mess of things
  • Camp Lakebottom: In "High Plains Garbage Eater", it's Western Week at camp and the gang finds themselves in the middle of a good ol' fashioned showdown with mutant raccoons, over garbage!
  • Classic Disney Shorts: In "Two-Gun Goofy", Goofy is a bumbling cowboy who crosses paths with "Pistol Pete" and quite accidentally brings him to justice.
  • Codename: Kids Next Door:
    • "Operation: R.O.B.B.E.R.S." is set on a school bus as homework bandits invade and rob the kids on board at (pop)gunpoint. The main characters are on this bus and have to stop the bandits before the bus reaches the school.
    • "Operation: M.E.S.S.A.G.E." is packed full of Western tropes with Numbuh 2's attempt to deliver fourth grade president's message being played like a Pony Express Rider crossing hostile territory.
    • "Operation: N.U.G.G.E.T." involves Numbuh 4 finding a gold mine of chicken nuggets, and a western town is set up near it. The Delightful Children From Down the Lane claim it for themselves, leading Numbuh 4 to have a showdown with them.
  • Count Duckula had "Deadeye Duck". It's a cold and draft day at Castle Duckula, and the Count desires for a place that is warm and in the sun. He and his man-servants are now located in the state of Colorado where they meet sheriff Quiet Earp.
  • Courage the Cowardly Dog has "Cowboy Courage", in which Courage and Muriel fantasize about being in the Old West. Courage portrays the sheriff, who defends the town from an undead outlaw know as "The Whip" (portrayed by Eustace).
  • Curious George: in the episode "Go West, Young Monkey", Hundley falls asleep and dreams that he was a sheriff in an Old West town.
  • Danger Mouse: In "A Fistful of Penfolds", in Penfold City, Professor Squawkencluck's secret testing ground is a western town filled with Penbots, new 'Tenfolds' are being developed to become better sidekicks than the original Penfold.
  • Dan Vs. Wild West Town: It's high noon for Dan when a chintzy dude ranch refuses his request for a refund and he sets out on a treasure hunt in the desert, pursued by nefarious gunslingers.
  • The Duck Dodgers episode "Wrath of Canasta" is set in a Wild West theme park called Vacationworld, and is basically an excuse to reuse the costumes and concepts from the Looney Tunes shorts Dripalong Daffy and My Little Duckaroo.
  • The DuckTales (1987) episode Ducks of the West. Scrooge's oil wells go dry, and he heads out to Texas with Huey, Dewey and Louie in tow.
  • Timmy Turner in The Fairly OddParents! tries to save a Western ghost town from destruction by going back in time to its hey-day in search of its deed. Along the way, he encounters his friends' Western ancestors, assumes the role of a Lone Ranger Expy and battles a gunslinger ancestor of Vicky...in an intense match of Rock–Paper–Scissors!
  • Futurama:
  • At least seven episodes of Garfield and Friends had Jon and his pets visit a dude ranch called "Polecat Flats" ("polecat" basically meaning "skunk"), which happens to be run a by cowboy-friend of theirs who goes by "Cactus Jake," and who's revealed to have three sons named Cactus Joe, Jimmy and Josh and a daughter named Cactus Jackie.
  • Get Blake!: In "Get West!", Blake and Mitch go to spend the weekend in the frontier town of Authenticville, only to be pursured by the Squalliens in the form of a black clad robotic gunslinger.
  • The Hailey's On It! episode "The Wild, Wild, Mess" is about Hailey becoming "sheriff for a day" at Cowpoke Corral and having to save the town when a biker gang shows up (thanks to Scott breaking the ranch's no-phone rule and posting videos of his bike stunts)
  • Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi episode "Showdown". While driving out West, the Puffy bus gets caught in a dust storm and smashes into a building – where three cowboys crawl from the rubble. It isn’t until later that the girls realize that the cowboys are the infamous Burlap Boys.
  • The High Fructose Adventure of Annoying Orange: "Spaghetti West" has the fruits travelling to a Western town where Orange becomes sheriff and takes on an Outlaw ball of spaghetti.
  • Jackie Chan Adventures has an episode about identical relatives of the main cast living in the Old West.
  • The original series of The Jetsons (from 1962) had an episode titled "Dude Planet" where Jane needs a break from all the button-pushing house chores, so she takes a vacation on Beta Three Dude Planet.
  • Johnny Test episode "Johnny the Kid". Johnny and his family go on vacation to a dude ranch on Susan and Mary's choice (since Gil was vacationing there as well), but it is invaded by a motorcycle gang shortly after they arrive.
  • Justice League Unlimited has "The Once and Future Thing: Weird Western Tales", in which Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern pursue time-traveling villain Chronos to the old West, where they encounter as many characters from classic DC Old West comics as they can cram into a half-hour episode, as well as a retooled version of Superman villain Terra-Man. Includes a specific Shout-Out to the comics when Jonah Hex recognizes the heroes as being from another time, referencing the character's brief stint as a time-displaced Mad Max Expy in the 1980s.
  • Kaeloo:
    • In "Let's Play Cowboys and Indians", the buddies are playing a game of Cowboys and Indians. Kaeloo and Quack-Quack are on their way to a conference, but Mr. Cat kidnaps them.
    • In Episode 88 ("Si on jouait aux desperados"), three desperados, Pecos Marmaduke (Stumpy), Quicksilver (Quack Quack) and Cat Robertson (Mr. Cat), try to find the Golden Sheep, but they have to deal with Kaeloo, a creepy undertaker.
  • Legion of Super Heroes (2006): In the episode "Unnatural Alliances", when Terra-Man, a villain from the future, arrives in the 31st century to hunt down a child, the Legion quickly acts to save the boy and keep him clear of Imperiex's obvious plot. However, after Imperiex proves to be the boy's protector, the Legion must uncover why.
  • Let's Go Luna!:
    • "Not Home on the Range" serves as an Australian take on the trope, taking place on an Australian dude ranch and teaching about jackaroos.
    • "Way of the Gaucho" focuses on Argentinian cowboys, aka gauchos.
  • The Little Rascals episode "Showdown at the Rascal Corral" wasn't set in the Old West as such, but Alfalfa did play cowboy.
  • Mega Man (Ruby-Spears) had "Showdown at Red Gulch," when Dr. Wily discovers a meteor near a Western town with crystals that can supercharge his robots.
  • Milo Murphy's Law had "Wilder West," where the cast went to a dude ranch. The plot focuses on Zack getting a Girl of the Week who's a descendant of Calamity Jane, and acting unusually reckless to impress her. Also In-Universe, as Sara spends the episode obsessing over the fact that said ranch was apparently the set of a Cowboy Episode of Doctor Zone.
  • Mr. Benn: In "Cowboy", the Indians have always beaten the cowboys in a weekly game of hide-and-seek. When Mr Benn joins in as the cowboy to hide, he helps the cowboys to win for the first time by exposing the very clever hiding place of the hidden Indian.
  • Muppet Babies (1984):
    • In "The Great Cookie Robbery", Nanny tasks Gonzo with giving each of his friends one cookie from a box of cookies she gives him while she prepares lunch. Gonzo, however, keeps all the cookies for himself and eats every last one of them. To help his friends get their minds off their upset stomachs, Kermit takes them for a ride on his toy train. An Imagine Spot takes place where the train is apprehended by One-Eyed Jake, a robber who is after the babies' cookies. To make up to his friends for keeping the cookies for himself and eating them all, Gonzo takes on the identity of The Lone Weirdo and defeats Jake.
    • "The Green Ranger" involves Kermit imagining himself as a western hero after his favorite cowboy show, The Range Rider gets cancelled.
  • Muppet Babies (2018):
    • In "The Good, The Bad, and the Froggy", after Kermit hurts his knee in a tricycle race and no longer wants to ride a tricycle, the babies go on a Wild West adventure where Galloping Gulch has its juice boxes stolen by Gonzo the Kid and Sundance the Potato. Sheriff Kermit must ride his tricycle again so he can defeat Gonzo the Kid and save his friends.
    • In "Chicken Round-up", Animal forgets to put Camilla, Priscilla, and Beep back in their coop, and the chickens run away. The babies go on a Wild West adventure to round them up again, and Animal also needs to learn the importance of keeping his promises, as he breaks them every time he gets distracted.
    • The first Imagine Spot in "Library Leapfrog" depicts Piggy and Summer as the Ponytail Bandits, who rob the train the boys are riding by stealing the boys' animal crackers. When Robin accidentally gives the girls his video game instead of his animal crackers, the boys have an adventure to get it and their animal crackers back, starting with chasing the girls into Dead End Canyon.
    • In "Rootin' Tootin' Sheriff Showdown", Kermit and Fozzie open their own milk and cookies saloon, and need a sheriff to keep their milk and cookies safe from the Bad Eggs. Gonzo and Piggy get into a showdown with each other to see who can be the better sheriff, with each of their events ending in a tie. During the competition, the Bad Eggs steal the milk and cookies while the rest of the babies aren't looking, but Animal has witnessed their heist, and when he tells the rest of the babies, Gonzo and Piggy realize that they need to work together to get the milk and cookies back.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
    • The episode "Over a Barrel", in which the cast come to Appleloosa to deliver a tree, and end up resolving a conflict between the resident ponies and the buffalo tribe.
    • "The Last Roundup" from Season 2 also features a decidedly Old West setting.
  • The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh:
    • In "Paw and Order," the cast puts on a play about "The Legend of Sheriff Piglet," where he must save the town of Rickety Gulch from Nasty Jack and his group of horse thieves (that is, horses who steal things). "Comprendo?"
    • In "The Good, the Bad, and the Tigger", Tigger loses control of Christopher Robin's toy train, and he and Pooh are put on trial as train robbers.
  • The PAW Patrol episode "Pups Save Dude Ranch Danny", where the Patrol and a few friends go to a ranch and ride some horses. The robot horse Danny attempts to ride goes haywire and splits, leaving the Patrol to go catch them.
  • Phineas and Ferb don't go to the Old West, but they go cowboy in at least two episodes:
    • "The Magnificent Few" had them driving cattle through Danville, including along the highway and through the mall.
    • "Robot Rodeo" had them running a rodeo with robotic cattle in the backyard.
  • The Powerpuff Girls (1998) has an episode that is basically a normal episode of the show, but in the Old West. The girls become the Steamypuff Girls.
  • The Ready Jet Go! episode "Lone Star", where Sydney tells the others about the legend of a pioneer named Lone Star that built the town's first observatory. It has also has Western-flavored songs and doubles as a Musical Episode.
  • The Ren & Stimpy Show: "Out West". Ren and Stimpy find themselves amid the Wild West, where they run up against a Sheriff and Deputy who's favourite past-time is hanging people.
  • Rocko's Modern Life:
    • In "The Good, The Bad, and the Wallaby", Rocko visits his Uncle Gib's cattle ranch. Heffer tags along, and gets sold to market with the rest of the herd, leaving Rocko and his childhood horse, Jezebel (who's been dead for six years) to save him.
    • "The Fatlands" focuses on Bloaty and Squirmy, a pair of parasites living on Spunky travelling to newly discovered lands due to Spunky's weight gain with a western theme.
  • Rugrats:
    • In the original 1991 series, it happens at least three times. Tommy and Angelica go to the "Graham Canyon" with their parents in the eponymous episode, Tommy, Chuckie, and Susie imagine themselves as cowboys and a cowgirl on a very hot day in "The Wild Wild West", and Tommy and Chuckie have a run-in with the "Junk Food Kid", who's a worse playground bully than Angelica in "Showdown at Teeter Totter Gulch".
    • All Grown Up! has the entire group go to a Dude Ranch in "Dude, Where's My Ranch?".
    • Rugrats (2021) has the families go to the Tot Springs ranch to celebrate Charlotte's 40th birthday in "Tot Springs Showdown". There, Angelica meets her four-and-a-quarter-year-old cousin Simon, who's a worse bully than her, even to the point of attempting to sabotage Charlotte's cake, and Didi reveals to everyone that she's pregnant with her second child.
  • Episode XXIX of Samurai Jack is set on a train, where Jack is pursued by a (married) couple of bounty hunters.
  • Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated had "Dead Justice", where the ghost of Crystal Cove's first sheriff returns to town to oust Sheriff Stone from the job. It turns out to be one of Stone's deputies in a Dead Justice costume.
  • Sooty's Amazing Adventures had "Hopalong Sooty". Sweep wants to go back in time to the Wild West via the trapdoor, but once he and the rest of the gang get there, they encounter a criminal named "Filthy Ted" and Sooty tries to sort him out.
  • Space Goofs: "Showdown in Tiny Town", where Bud, unable to watch his favorite Westerns, lives out his own Wild West adventure by making himself the sheriff of a tiny town of insects.
  • The Simpsons:
    • "The Lastest Gun in the West" has Bart befriend a washed-up Western star, and includes Bart threatening his classmates into dressing like cowboys to help him revive his career.
    • "Dude, Where's My Ranch?" has the Simpsons vacation at a ranch, though it was as much about rural living as western-themed.
  • The SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Pest of the West". SpongeBob learns the story of his western ancestor, SpongeBuck, and how he saved Bikini Gulch from the evil hands of Dead Eye Plankton.
  • Squirrel Boy: In "Gumfight at the S'Okay Corral", Grandpa Squirrel tells Rodney a story about a mysterious gumfighter who saves a Wild West town from a no-good sheriff.
  • Steven Universe: In "The Question", Ruby decides she needs some time to herself after an argument with Sapphire. She's inspired by a wild-west comic Steven finds in Greg's comic collection to spend it dressing and acting like a cowboy.
  • Super Friends has an episode titled "Batman: Dead or Alive" where the heroes visit the cowboy-themed planet of Texacana, there it has 2 Showdowns, 1 featuring Wonder Woman and a Robot Cowboy and another one featuring Batman and The Capricorn Kid.
  • The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! had a few such episodes; 'Butch Mario and the Luigi Kid', 'the Great Gold Coin Rush', 'The Provalone Ranger' for example...
  • In the TaleSpin episode, "Citizen Khan", Baloo, Kit, and Wildcat wind up in the western town of Boomstone while attempting to deliver Carnuvian kumquats. Boomstone is owned by Shere Khan Industries and run by the corrupt Sheriff Gomer Cleghorn, who forces its townsfolk to mine for urgonium, a strange mineral with powerful explosive properties. When Wildcat accidentally causes an explosion with it, the black marks on his face and his dislodged cap cause him to be mistaken for Shere Khan himself by the miners. When the miners hold Wildcat for ransom, Cleventine Clever calls Shere Khan industries to report the kidnapping, unwittingly getting the real Shere Khan on the line, who soon puts an end to Gomer's corrupt ways.
  • Time Squad: The guys go on a mission to help out the notorious Billy the Kid, who is literally acting like a baby and needs to get straightened out and become a real outlaw. To do this, Tuddrussel makes Larry, Otto and Billy start their own gang and begin robbing trains and banks. This part is successful, as the sheriff, or The Man With No Name of A Fistful of Dollars fame, comes after them and this leads to a chase that runs all over the Western states.
  • Tiny Toon Adventures: The episode "High Toon" involves Buster, Babs, Plucky, and Hamton visiting Prairie Junction and defending it from a gang of coyote outlaws.
  • VeggieTales has a pair of examples:
    • The first, "The Ballad of Little Joe", gives this theme to the story of Joseph. The idea came from a disagreement between Bob and Larry on what the episode should be; the former wanted a Bible story while the latter wanted a Western. So they agreed to make the episode a Western Bible story.
    • The second, "Moe and the Big Exit", was a direct sequel to the above. Larry thought the Western Bible story idea worked out well, so he wanted to do it again with the story of Moses.
  • Victor & Hugo had "Cowboys and Indiscipline". After a failed hold-up at a drive-in movie theatre, the brothers hitch a train ride to Tombstone, Arizona (by driving on the railway tracks), where they drive local bandit Black Jake mad with animal impressions and make a new "friend" in the form of the town's Marshal, Wyatt Eartle.
  • We Bare Bears: "El Oso" takes place in turn-of-the-century Mexico, and features Charlie the Sasquatch getting involved with a group of bandits.
  • What's New, Scooby-Doo?: The episode "Go West, Young Scoob" had the gang visit an animatronic Wild West theme park called Cyber Gulch, and investigate why the robots have turned evil.

 
Feedback

Video Example(s):

Alternative Title(s): Wild West Episode

Top

The Second Paintball War

Annie's flashback shows how the school-set sitcom became a Western in only a few hours: A paintball war was announced during a Western-themed school event.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (9 votes)

Example of:

Main / CowboyEpisode

Media sources:

Report