I get a tremendous feeling of loss watching Wagon Train

Don't misconstrue...I *love* this series with a passion. But watching it during the early seasons I get a tremendous feeling of loss as S2 winds down and S3 approaches.

Knowing that Ward Bond was only able to do 2 full seasons is one reason. Watching those two seasons I love the teaming of Bond and Robert Horton. To me that pair was one of the greatest teams of the classic TV westerns era.

But as S3 begins the feeling of loss becomes quite palpable...knowing Ward Bond only has a few episodes left is truly sad. After Bond's death the series was never quite the same, and comparing the early years to S6 & S7 one can't help but notice the feel of the show was different.

Another reason I feel loss is knowing that Robert Horton's time was also short and he would be leaving not too long after Bond died. Knowing that he would never experience the same success he had on WT adds to that feeling of loss.

The cast dynamic also changed after Bond's death. There aren't a whole lotta episodes with both Flint and Chris Hale, and Horton hardly appears at all in S5, as if he was being written out. In one episode (The Lizbeth Ann Calhoun Story) Bill Hawks takes on Flint's role as the ladies man, and I found that one a bit strange.

And lastly, the theme. The S1 theme was the first theme I heard back in the 80s when WT aired on Nickelodeon on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. I'm in the minority on this topic, but the S1 theme is by far my favorite of the 3 used. Something about that melody really gets to me, and knowing it was only used the first year adds to the feeling of loss.

I guess I have such great love of the series that I can't help but feel this way. Not that the later seasons were bad, they just weren't quite the same as the brilliance of the early years.