Annie Oakley – Amateur Outlaw

Annie Oakley is an American Western television series that fictionalizes the life of the famous Annie Oakley. (Except for depicting the protagonist as a phenomenal sharpshooter of the period, the program entirely ignores the facts of the historical Oakley's life.)^{[original research?]} Featuring actress Gail Davis in the title role, the weekly program ran from January 1954 to February 1957 in syndication. A total of 81 black-and-white episodes were produced, with each installment running 25 minutes in length. ABC aired daytime reruns of the series on Saturdays and Sundays from 1959 to 1960 and then again from 1964 to 1965.

The series starred Gail Davis as Annie Oakley, with Brad Johnson as Deputy Sheriff Lofty Craig and Jimmy Hawkins as Annie's little brother, Tagg Oakley; Hawkins appeared in 80 of the series' 81 episodes. In the pilot episode, "Bull's Eye", Tagg is played by Billy Gray (better known for his role as James "Bud" Anderson, Jr. on the TV version of Father Knows Best).^[1] After playing Tagg in the Annie Oakley pilot, Gray joined the cast of Father Knows Best (which premiered in October 1954, nine months after the initial broadcast of Annie Oakley).

In the series, Annie Oakley rides a horse named Target: Tagg's horse is Pixie, and Lofty's mount is Forest.^[2] Annie and Tagg live in the fictional town of Diablo, Arizona with their uncle, Sheriff Luke MacTavish, who is frequently away when trouble starts; it is then up to straight-shooting Annie and her "silent suitor", Lofty Craig, to rescue law-abiding neighbors and arrest outlaws.^[2] Tagg is often told to stay in town and out of the way. When the need arises to relay important new information or capture by outlaws, he usually ends up in the middle of each episode's adventure.

Annie usually wears the same fringed cowgirl outfit, of which 15 (or more) copies were made during the show's production.^[3] She wears her hair in braided pigtails. Additional episodes were considered, but Hawkins had a growth spurt and outgrew his role as Annie's little brother.^[4] Annie Oakley was one of Gene Autry's Flying A Productions.