About this season
An unwitting city slicker is made the marshal of a lawless town in this absurdist Western that pokes gentle but clever fun at the genre's stock plots and characters. Best of the West is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 1981 through August 1982.
Episodes (22)
1. Pilot
Aired 10 September 1981 • 30 min
Sam arrives in town intending to run the general store, then runs into all kinds of trouble after turning down the protection racket.
2. The Prisoner
Aired 17 September 1981 • 30 min
Sam must face a prisoner's outlaw brothers after the sheriff who was taking him in becomes ill on his way through town.
3. The Calico Kid Returns
Aired 1 October 1981 • 30 min
The Square Deal Saloon's new cook is the Calico Kid; he has sworn to never again kill anything he can't eat.
4. They're Hanging Parker Tillman (1)
Aired 15 October 1981 • 30 min
Sam goes out on a limb and manages to save Tillman from a lynch mob, but at the trial, his mixed-up testimony has him back at the end of a rope.
5. They're Hanging Parker Tillman (2)
Aired 22 October 1981 • 30 min
Sam infiltrates an outlaw band to try to prove Tillman is innocent of cattle rustling.
6. The New Marshal
Aired 29 October 1981 • 30 min
Sam loses his badge in a special election to Tillman's squeaky-clean candidate.
7. Daniel's First Love
Aired 5 November 1981 • 30 min
Daniel is as surprised as anyone when a few innocent kisses lead to a shotgun wedding.
8. Laney in Love
Aired 12 November 1981 • 30 min
Laney is smitten with a smoothie who bids high for her at a social—but he turns out to be a low-down heel.
9. The Reunion
Aired 8 October 1981 • 30 min
Elvira's die-hard Confederate father (Andy Griffith) stays at the Square Deal Saloon while he is in town. His wife is trying to patch things up with their daughter; she married a Yankee!
10. The Railroad
Aired 19 November 1981 • 30 min
Sam and Tillman try hard to convince the railroad to come to Copper Creek.
11. The New Jail
Aired 26 November 1981 • 30 min
Sam's image as a lawman quickly loses its edge after he manages to shoot himself in the leg; the jail collapsing around him doesn't help.
12. A Man, a Woman, and a Horse
Aired 17 December 1981 • 30 min
Sam doesn't pay attention to signs of discontent from Elvira until the day he comes home to finds her packed to leave.
13. Frog's First Gunfight
Aired 7 January 1982 • 30 min
Frog meets a woman who was recently jilted by her beau, but neither realizes he wants her back.
14. The Calico Kid Goes to School
Aired 14 January 1982 • 30 min
The reformed Calico Kid decides he wants to be a United States Marshal. But he lacks one qualification: a third-grade education.
15. Tillman Held for Ransom
Aired 21 January 1982 • 30 min
Tillman has been kidnapped and the kidnappers are demanding a ransom, but the Copper Creek citizens have no intention of paying up.
16. Mail Order Bride
Aired 28 January 1982 • 30 min
Doc's mail-order bride has a vivid personality with a past to match it.
17. The Cave-In
Aired 12 February 1982 • 30 min
Elvira and her stepson explore an abandoned outlaw cave, unaware that it is booby-trapped to collapse.
18. Daniel Fights a Bully
Aired 19 February 1982 • 30 min
Daniel's refusal to fight a relentless bully leads to Sam having to fight the bully's father.
19. The Pretty Prisoner
Aired 26 February 1982 • 30 min
Sam is handcuffed to his prisoner—a flirtatious female outlaw—for an overnight journey.
20. Elvira's Old Beau
Aired 7 June 1982 • 30 min
Elvira's former fiance' comes to town, intent on taking her away with him.
21. Sam's Life Is Threatened
Aired 14 June 1982 • 30 min
Sam receives an anonymous threatening note.
22. The Funeral
Aired 21 June 1982 • 30 min
Sam and Tillman try to foil a holdup by holding a funeral for Frog; the coffin contains the $20,000 the thieves are after.