Riders in the Sky (TV series)

Did You Know?

• The series has never been officially released on any home media, either physical or digital, due to rights issues.
• "Ranger Doug" Green stated that "far too many people have a little piece of that series to make a video viable".

Production

The series was originally pitched as a sitcom in which the Riders moved from a frontier town in the American west to Hollywood, California, with most of the humor coming from the trio being "fish out of water". Television executives found the premise too similar to that of The Beverly Hillbillies and passed on it. Producer Alan Sacks later developed the idea of a children's show starring the Riders and pitched it to CBS executives, who became immediately interested after seeing the Riders perform.

Puppets were provided by the Puppet Studio. Producers included Chris Plourde, George McGrath, and Alan Sacks. Costume designers were Jacqueline Saint Anne and Roberta Samet. Camera operator was Keeth Lawrence.

Animatronic puppeteer was Kirk Skodis. Sound mixer was Laura King. Sound effects editor was Chris Trent. Videotape was handled by Scott Tuchman.

A few weeks before the series premiered, Riders in the Sky released Harmony Ranch, their second children's album and first on Columbia Records, which features characters from the show on its cover and takes its name from the Riders' home in the series.