Best of the West - Season 1
1 - Pilot
Air Date: September 10, 1981
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
Air Date: September 17, 1981
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
Air Date: October 1, 1981
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)
Air Date: October 15, 1981
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)
Air Date: October 22, 1981
Sam infiltrates an outlaw band to try to prove Tillman is innocent of cattle rustling.
6 - The New Marshal
Air Date: October 29, 1981
Sam loses his badge in a special election to Tillman's squeaky-clean candidate.
7 - Daniel's First Love
Air Date: November 5, 1981
Daniel is as surprised as anyone when a few innocent kisses lead to a shotgun wedding.
8 - Laney in Love
Air Date: November 12, 1981
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
Air Date: October 8, 1981
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
Air Date: November 19, 1981
Sam and Tillman try hard to convince the railroad to come to Copper Creek.
11 - The New Jail
Air Date: November 26, 1981
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
Air Date: December 17, 1981
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
Air Date: January 7, 1982
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
Air Date: January 14, 1982
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
Air Date: January 21, 1982
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
Air Date: January 28, 1982
Doc's mail-order bride has a vivid personality with a past to match it.
17 - The Cave-In
Air Date: February 12, 1982
Elvira and her stepson explore an abandoned outlaw cave, unaware that it is booby-trapped to collapse.
18 - Daniel Fights a Bully
Air Date: February 19, 1982
Daniel's refusal to fight a relentless bully leads to Sam having to fight the bully's father.
19 - The Pretty Prisoner
Air Date: February 26, 1982
Sam is handcuffed to his prisoner—a flirtatious female outlaw—for an overnight journey.
20 - Elvira's Old Beau
Air Date: June 7, 1982
Elvira's former fiance' comes to town, intent on taking her away with him.
21 - Sam's Life Is Threatened
Air Date: June 14, 1982
Sam receives an anonymous threatening note.
22 - The Funeral
Air Date: June 21, 1982
Sam and Tillman try to foil a holdup by holding a funeral for Frog; the coffin contains the $20,000 the thieves are after.