The Lone Ranger (1949)

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Although the program was broadcast for 8 seasons, there were only 5 seasons with new episodes: 1949-1950, 1950-51, 1952-53, 1954-55, 1956-57.
The Lone Ranger's young nephew, Dan Reid, who appeared occasionally on the TV series, was the father of Britt Reid, The Green Hornet (both characters were created for radio by George W. Trendle).
Tonto's horse is called Scout.
The "Hi-Yo Silver!" shout at the beginning of each episode is a recording of Earle W. Graser, who played The Lone Ranger on radio from 1933-1941.
Premiered on ABC on 15 September 1949 (Thursdays 7:30-8:00). Last telecast: 12 September 1957. This was the only ABC program to rank in the top 15 when the A.C. Neilsen Co. began compiling national ratings for network programs. In 1950 it ranked #7 with a 41.2% share. The show was on ABC throughout its run. Reruns began on CBS on Saturday mornings in 1953 and continued to September 1960 and then on NBC for another four years. ABC showed reruns of it in late afternoons from 1958 to 1961. None of the network reruns featured John Hart as "The Lone Ranger", the other "Lone Ranger" from 1952-53.
The first 16 episodes from season one, and one episode from season five ("A Message from Abe" - Season 5, Episode 22) are in the public domain. These 17 episodes are available in numerous combinations from many distributors. The full list of public domain episodes, in order, are as follows: Enter the Lone Ranger, The Lone Ranger Fights On, The Lone Ranger's Triumph, Legion of Old Timers, Rustler's Hideout, War Horse, Pete and Pedro, The Renegades, The Tenderfeet, High Heels, Six Gun Legacy, Return of the Convict, Finders Keepers, The Masked Rider, Old Joe's Sister, Cannonball McKay, and A Message From Abe.
On 11 August 2009 the US Postal Service issued a pane of twenty 44¢ commemorative postage stamps honoring early USA television programs. A booklet with 20 picture postal cards was also issued. On the stamp honoring "The Lone Ranger" is a picture of star Clayton Moore as The Lone Ranger with his horse, Silver . Other shows honored in the Early TV Memories issue were: The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), "The Dinah Shore Show" (1951), Dragnet (1951), "The Ed Sullivan Show" (originally titled The Ed Sullivan Show), The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Hopalong Cassidy, The Honeymooners, "The Howdy Doody Show" (original title: "Puppet Playhouse" (1947)), I Love Lucy, Kukla, Fran and Ollie, Lassie, Perry Mason, The Phil Silvers Show, The Red Skelton Show, "Texaco Star Theater" (titled The Milton Berle Show, 1954-1956), The Tonight Show (which began as "Tonight!" (1953)), The Twilight Zone (1959), and You Bet Your Life (1950).
In the early 1950s the show was so popular with the TV audience that ABC, for a short period of time, ran it on late Friday nights for those who missed the earlier Thursday 7:30 PM broadcast.
In 1955 at the height of the show's popularity, just before the release of the movie feature The Lone Ranger (1956), both ABC and CBS aired "The Lone Ranger Rides Again" (1955). This was a one-hour condensed version of the series' first three episodes depicting "The Lone Ranger's" origin.
Both Republic serials The Lone Ranger (1938) starring Lee Powell and The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939) starring Robert Livingston have never been released to television. They have, however, been available on home video.
In Spanish, the name Tonto mean "stupid" or "dumb", however in Native American, Tonto means "wild one."
The 52 episodes in which John Hart portrayed "The Lone Ranger" have been rarely seen on TV or home video since 1952-54, when ABC ran them twice. John Hart returned to star in 1957 as "Hawkeye" on TV's Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans (CA), unnoticed by most viewers as a previous masked man.
In the early 1950s a popular staple with the younger viewing audience were the bubble gum trading cards, which featured color scenes from several installments of the series.
Uniquely, "The Lone Ranger," as televised on ABC, offered 4 seasons of a new episode each week for at least a year without a rerun. From 1949-1951, the first 78 episodes were aired and then rerun in the same order. For the subsequent seasons beginning on Sept. 1952, Sept. 1954, and Sept. 1956, the same format was followed with 52 consecutive new episodes which were aired and then rerun in the following 12 month period. The young viewers would have to wait "until the same time next year", often coinciding with their school year or summer vacation, to see a rerun of a favorite or "missed" episode.
The series' budget was $12,000 per episode from 1959-1954, then it was increased to $18,000 per episode from 1954 until production of new episodes ended in 1957, though the series remained,on network TV (CBS, NBC) weekly until 1963.
Going back to the earlier days of "The Lone Ranger" on radio , as well as the 2 movie serials,"The Lone Ranger"(1938) and "The Lone Ranger Rides Again"(1939), the TV series relied heavily on classical music to fit the many action sequences. In addition to the series' theme of "The William Tell Overture". other classical pieces featured included "The Flying Dutchman" by Richard Wagner as well as "The Preludes" by Franz Liszt, who himself reportedly led quite an "action filled" life, for his time. During 1956-57, which was to become the last season of new episodes, the usual musical score supporting the action scenes was replaced by contemporary and less familiar compositions which did little to enhance the action. This was a least a contributing factory for the series' sudden decline in popularity.
Gerald Mohr is uncredited as the narrator for the series.
Kemo Sabe means "trusted friend."
The fifth season is the only one to be in color.
The Lone Ranger's real last name is Reid, but his real first name is never given on this series or the original radio series.
Series creator Fran Striker added Tonto to give the Lone Ranger someone to talk to.
The Lone Ranger is never seen without a mask or disguise.
Clayton Moore sat out 52 episodes. The studio claimed it was a pay dispute, but Moore insisted up until his death that it was over creative differences. John Hart was hired to replace him, but the change did not sit well with audiences. When George W. Trendle sold the rights for the series to Jack Wrather in 1954, Wrather immediately re-hired Moore.
The Lone Ranger never drinks or smokes.
The Lone Ranger is never captured or held for very long by lawmen or outlaws in order to avoid the chance of him being unmasked.
After the series ended, Clayton Moore began making public appearances as the Lone Ranger. Jack Wrather filed suit against Moore claiming ownership of the character. In 1979, Wrather won the suit so Moore wore wraparound Foster Grant sunglasses as a substitute for the mask. Moore later won a countersuit allowing him to resume wearing his costume.
Don Diamond's TV debut.
John Hart plays Henchman Duke here. He would play The Lone Ranger for one full season later in the series.
This was the last episode filmed in black and white.
This was the first episode filmed in color.