THE TEXAN. “Law of the Gun.” CBS, 29 September 1958 (Episode 1, Season 1). Rory Calhoun, Neville Brand, John Larch, Karl Swenson, Helen Wallace. Story and co-screenwriter: Frank Gruber. Director: Jerry Thorpe. Currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

   The “Texan” of the title of this Western TV series, which lasted for two seasons on CBS, was a fellow by the name of Bill Longley, played by Rory Calhoun. Even though this is first episode of the first season, they didn’t really go out of their way to explain what this fast gun hero does and why he does it. There is just a general impression that over the course of a season he goes from one small town in Texas to the next, sometimes for a reason, perhaps more often not.

   In the case of “Law of the Gun,” he has a reason. A friend of his, Les Torbit, a small rancher in the area, is in jail, accused of shooting and killing a young teen-aged girl. While the incident was accidental, bad things always seem to happen during range wars, no matter who’s in the right. And he will hang for it, and sooner rather than later if the girl’s brother has anything to say about it.

   And egging the local townsfolk on is what he’s doing when The Texan shows up. The sheriff is an honest man, but he’s only one man, and he isn’t a guy that can hold back an entire mob of roiled up men.

   It’s only a thirty minute show, including time for the sponsor, so the summary above is about all that can said about this episode, but it’s a good one, and Rory Calhoun is off to a flying start from his first day — not only a fast man with a gun, but a fellow with some common sense as well.

   What I also noticed in the production, though, is that there are several stretches of time where there is not only no dialogue but no background music either. Small things, to think about, but they’re noticeable, if and when you do.