"And of all the trains and banks they robbed, they never shot anyone..."
Alias Smith and Jones is a 1971-73 TV western starring Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Jedidiah "Kid" Curry, a pair of bank and train robbers who never hurt anyone during any of their robberies.
Eventually they tire of the outlaw life and petition for an amnesty. The governor agrees to clear the charges against them — after an unspecified period of time — as long as they can keep their noses clean. They change their names to Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones and begin Walking the Earth.
Naturally, Hilarity Ensues.
The series was clearly inspired by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, to put it politely; Butch and Sundance try at one point for the same sort of deal that Heyes and Curry provisionally get, but the movie’s authorities don’t bite, and the whole “two likable rogues always on the run” thing is a slightly Lighter and Softer version of the movie set-up. Not to be confused with Alas Smith and Jones, a British sketch show named in parody of it.
Tropes:
- Bounty Hunter: Curry and Heyes encountered them from time to time, such as in "The Bounty Hunter."
- Boxed Crook: Heyes and Curry's deal states that technically, they're still wanted until they prove to the governor that they've really reformed.
- Bullying a Dragon: The saloon toughs in the pilot. Free tip: calling out a legendarily fast draw just for the pleasure of starting a fight is hardly ever going to work out for you.
- *Click* Hello: Any time you're pointing a gun at Heyes and Curry isn't in your line of sight, you can expect to hear this behind you.
- The Con: Heyes and Soapy and pull a delayed wire con on a (not so innocent) widow, using a horse racing scam, in “The Great Shell Game”. Also known as "the big store" con.
- Fictional Counterpart: The Bannerman Detective Agency is this to the Pinkerton Detectives.
- The Gunslinger: Kid Curry is THE fast gun.
- Hard Head: "Exit From Wickenburg". Anyone who has been KO'd for long enough to be hauled twelve miles out of town in a wagon and left in a field isn't going to be anywhere near that functional the next day. There are a few other episodes where one or both of the boys are knocked out by the bad guy, and are, for all intents and purposes, reasonably okay in the next scene.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Both cousins and lifelong best friends, these fellows are a prime example.
- Historical Domain Characters: Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday in "Which Way to the OK Corral?"
- Jail Bake:
- In "The Men That Corrupted Hadleyburg", the family that turned Heyes and Curry in for the reward ended up helping to break our boys of the Hadleyburg jail with a gun baked into a pie. The two even joke about how hilarious it would be if they ended up finding a file in the pie.
- In another episode, a gang arranges a jailbreak by having a gun smuggled to them in a bowl of soup.
- Last-Name Basis: With the exception of one guest star, no one calls Heyes "Hannibal". Ever. Almost no one calls Curry by his first name either (he mentions his own name only twice (once as "Jed", once as "Jedidiah"), and Heyes calls him 'Jed' exactly once in 33 episodes).
- Legendary Impostor: In "The Day They Hanged Kid Curry", a man who fits the Kid's general description has been impersonating him to get respect. It backfires on our heroes when he's convicted of an unrelated murder and claims Heyes was involved.
- Lie Detector: Heyes comes up with a primitive version in "Night of the Red Dog": ask someone questions while listening to their heart with a stethoscope.
- Mugging the Monster: Any random fellow who challenges the amiable blue-eyed curly-haired guy to a gunfight, and then finds out that he's challenged Kid Curry.
- Only a Flesh Wound: Several episodes, including "The 5th Victim" and "Journey from San Juan," feature this trope.
- Perpetual Poverty: Obviously it's difficult for two wanted men on the run to find good-paying jobs, but some days you do wonder what they did with the money from all the trains and banks they robbed...
- Retired Outlaw: Heyes and Curry are trying very hard to be this; their sheriff friend Lom Trevors actually is.
- Self-Restraint: In "Jailbreak in Junction City", an imprisoned Heyes and Curry arrange a jailbreak for several other prisoners, but don't take advantage of it themselves. Heyes gambles that this—along with the larger scheme he has going that leads to the prisoners' recapture and the return of the money they stole—will sufficiently impress the local judge that he'll quietly let them go without endangering the amnesty. It works.
- Serial Killings, Specific Target: In "The 5th Victim", the killer tries to disguise the murder of his ex-lover's husband by killing men who were all in a particular poker game, after first faking evidence that someone in the game had been cheating. The issue gets confused when he does try to kill the husband; the man kills him instead but then keeps quiet, afraid he'll be accused of the other killings.
- Sesquipedalian Smith (along with Mr. Smith): The boys' aliases: Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones.
- Sick Episode: "The 5th Victim" has Heyes get shot in the head (see Only a Flesh Wound) and is hors de combat for the rest of the episode (this was actually so the co-stars could shoot separate episodes during the same week).
- Snowed-In: In "Night of the Red Dog," snow hits earlier than expected while Heyes and Curry are working on a prospector's site, and they and several other men are all stranded in his cabin for the winter.
- Stern Chase: The whole series is an example of this. They don't have to keep moving by the terms of the agreement, but staying too long in one place increases the odds of their being recognized and caught.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Georgette "George" Sinclair for Clementine "Clem" Hale.
- Tap on the Head: Several times in the series. If your evil plan actually involves having to subdue the above-mentioned legendary fast draw and his almost-as-good-with-a-gun partner, about the only way to do it is to cosh one or both of them from behind.
- Ungrateful Bastard: The unusually grim "The Bounty Hunter" has a surprisingly sympathetic example in the title character, a hardened former slave who continues his efforts to bring in Heyes and Curry even after they save him from a lynch mob.Joe Sims: I don't feel I owe [white folks] any harm. I don't feel I owe 'em anything else, either. I guess that's why I don't know nothin' about gratitude. It been taken outta me a long time ago.
- Talking Your Way Out: Heyes’ silver tongue can talk himself out of, and into, just about anything and everything.
- Walking the Earth: They tended to travel to avoid complications.
"I sure wish the Governor'd let a few more people in on our secret!"
