Season 8

Season 8 is certainly a change from the preceding seasons.

The episodes returned to a 60 minute format and are also in black and white.

Robert Fuller is first billed in the opening credit with John McIntire second.

Michael Burns is also included as the last credit in the opening. The Barney character is grown up in this season and even wears a gun, like the rest of the cast.

I haven't seen the season 8 episodes before, and am glad Starz Enocre Westerns is showing them. Sure hope they do include all the episodes.

The next-to-last series episode, The Silver Lady, is being shown on Starz Encore Westerns today. It was meant as a pilot for a new western series featuring Don Collier, Don Galloway, and Michael Burns as the Earp Brothers. However, it wasn't picked up as a regular series. That's right, it's not a mistake, Michael Burns plays Morgan Earp in this one, not Barnaby West.

Other than Michael Burns, only Robert Fuller and Terry Wilson are in this one, and they are only at the very beginning and the end, as Coop tells Bill the story of the Silver Lady in flashback.

The series final episode was the Jarbo Pierce Story, which guest starred Rory Calhoun. Once again told in flashback, it has Charley telling Bill how he used to work at a trading post run by Jarbo Pierce. According to my cable programming guide, that one will not be seen tomorrow. Instead, The first episode, The Willy Moran Story is scheduled to be shown tomorrow.

I don't know why that final series episode is left out, but I will be glad to see Wagon Train continue on Starz Encore Westerns.